Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
â Live Streamingâ Interactive Chatâ Private Showsâ HD Qualityâ Free Actions
Free to watch ⢠No registration required ⢠HD streaming
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
â Live Streamingâ Interactive Chatâ Private Showsâ HD Qualityâ Free Actions
Free to watch ⢠No registration required ⢠HD streaming
going on a date with bucky barnes and it all goes so nicely, so sweetly, so smoothly. you both had so much fun, chemistry and a good time. he's charming, witty and he keeps flirting and complimenting you at every chance he gets. he held your hand all night long, neither of you even noticed it, it just happened naturally, your cheeks hurt from how much you're smiling and both of your hearts are at ease.. that's until the date comes to an end, it's time to pay and you ask him if he wants to go 50/50.
that would be the first time he lets go of your hand that night, it's unintentional just happened out of pure shock. "50... what.." the confusion on his face, you'd think he's an alien seeing earth the first time.
"you know.. 50/50.. we'll split the bill between us"
"split the bill?" he asks and you just nod, he'd blink at you, "50/50.. splitting the bill.. what is this about, i asked you on a date"
now it's your turn to be the alien seeing earth for the first time, "we are on a date, bucky. this is a date"
"no, it's not a date."
"it is a date"
"you're asking me to split the bill, this is not a date"
"oh my god sam was right, you can be such a drama queen." you laugh, he just stares at you, blankly. "it might've been a while since the last time you went on a date so let me break it down for you.. these days, people who go on dates split the bill, they go 50/50" you shrug, "it's normal"
"it's normal? you've done it before?"
you nod, "every date i've been on has been 50/50 yeah"
bucky nearly flips the table. bucky who spent all of his three dollars in the 1940's trying to win a teddybear for a girl he had a crush on, bucky who used to save up most of his income in an old shoe box underneath his bed so he can take his girl to a nice diner, bucky who went to the florist to get you a bouquet of roses and didn't even ask for the price just handed his credit card because to him your smile is priceless, bucky is about to have a stroke.
"you've never been on a date" he says, face still blank.
"yes i have"
"no you haven't. this is your first date." he says, "i'm your first time." he smirks and you blush at the possible implication. "50/50.." he scoffs under his breath, "what else are you gonna tell me next? i should walk on the inside of the sidewalk? keep my jacket on when you're cold? sleep further from the door? not open doors for you? jesus sweetheart what has the world come to?"
you hide your smile, you love it when he rambles like that, he's so calm yet so offended all at once somehow, it's funny and endearing. "what's wrong with walking on the inside of the sidewalk?" you joke and he rolls his eyes making you laugh, "so.. no 50/50? are you sure?" you ask one last time, hands on your purse on your lap.
he keeps his eyes on you as he pays the bill, glaring playfully, gets up and pulls out your chair before putting his black leather jacket on your shoulders, "no doll," he offers you his hand which you quickly hold, intertwining your fingers with his, and opens the door with his metal hand, "no 50/50."
"Bucky who spent all of his three dollars in the 1940's trying to win a teddybear for a girl he had a crush on" might be the greatest line in the history of literature
pairing ; robert (bob) reynolds x reader, thunderbolts & reader
synopsis ; you had one last job before you were free. no more splitting, no more deaths. unfortunately, that job seemed to rope in four other assassins and a... a man in hospital-wear?
words ; 7.8k
themes ; action, angst, slowburn, the beginnings of romance
warnings / includes ; violence/gore/death, human experimentation, reader has the ability to split into multiple bodies (think dupli-kate from invincible), foul language, walker is an asshole, everyone's mental health sucks!
a/n ; this is part one !!! a second part is already in the works :) this was written all today so apologies if there are any mistakes!
main masterlist. read on ao3!
It didnât seem a hard task. One kill. One more. Then you could go. Quit the clean-up business for good. You could practically hear Valentinaâs sickly sweet smile through the phone.Â
âYouâll be in and out of there in no time,â her voice crooned. âAnd I wouldnât worry too much about your target. After all, youâre rather⌠disposable, arenât you?â
You frowned at that. âMy self-copies arenât disposable. I feel it every time one of me dies.â
Valentina laughedâa high-pitched keening noise. You assumed she was waving her hand about in a dismissive manner, as she usually did with you. âYouâll get back up. Thatâs kind of your thing, isnât it? Good luck. Try to have some fun. Itâll be your last one, anywayâmake the most of it.â
âYeah,â you said. Your free hand wound around your midriff, almost as if you were cradling yourself. âIâll take care of it.â
You hung up before you could hear Valentina say one more word.
There were ringing gunshots, muffled grunts, and resounding thuds when you arrived. Who else was here? Your target was only one personâan untouchable woman. A Ghost. Would a thousand of you be able to tackle one of her?Â
Or perhaps the better question was⌠were you willing to sacrifice yourself a thousand times to kill one woman? You definitely have before, on previous missions. Over and over again, the bitter taste of death was stuffed into your mouth, dry as a sock, tainting your innards like black tar.Â
You waited outside the junk roomâs entrance, counting the voices you heard. One man, for sure. One unidentifiable. Two women. You split yourself into two, then three. With a begrudging sigh, you spliced once more to make four.Â
Three copies ran in. One stayed out.Â
You spotted the ghost immediately. She was phasing between the shield of another masked assassin. Were they also here to kill her? Another copy spotted a woman being pinned down by another man, a blade inches away from her throat. Not your mission, not your problem.
Though, it certainly became your problem when the woman croaked, âThere you are!â upon seeing you. âHoly shit, thereâs three of you.â
She bucked the man off after tasing him, scrambling towards her gun. A click, a point, a shot. Your copy dove behind a pile of sturdy cases, but clearly not fast enough. You felt the bullet pierce your chest, the warmth of the blood pool across your ribsâand then you were dead.
âFuck,â you winced, feeling the resounding ache of the gunshot in your own body, eyeing your dead self. Without a second thought, you split once more. Your copies scattered from your assailant, off to find the ghost.Â
You tackled your white-masked target as soon as she materialized once more, managing to get only one powerful strike in before you fell to the ground, the ghost phasing away and disappearing once more. Then your head pierced with the terrible, agonizing pain of a bullet fracturing your skull, and you were dead. Again. And again, and again. Impaled by a shield, stabbed by the ghost.Â
You gasped from outside the room, crumpling to your knees. How many more times were you willing to die? How many times could you?
Then there came a nauseous, gagging sound from inside the room. For a moment, you wondered if one of your copies had miraculously survived and was making that sound. You split yourself and crawled inside. Maybe you could save yourself. Spotting you coming in, the man with the shield seemed to realize there was one of you waiting outside. He sent the shieldâalready covered with your bloodâarcing outside and striking you clean across the throat before you could react. Your decapitated head hit the metal floors with a disgusting, bloody noise, lolling to the foot of the entrance.Â
That left one copy inside the room. You gasped for breath, air painfully dragging within your esophogas as you clutched at your neck, the veins beneath your skin popping. For safety, you duplicated yourself once more.Â
âWoah,â came a voice beside you. There was a man in⌠hospital clothes? You scrambled away from him. He watched you with an open mouth, blinking in a manner not unsimilar to an owl.Â
One of the assassins was dead already, bullet wound in the head, not unsimilar to one of your deaths here. You could see your own bodies scattered about, in varying states of mutilation. The three assassins left were all pointing their guns at each other, then you and your copy, then to the man gagging next to you.Â
âWhich one of you is the real you?â said the blonde woman.Â
âIâm all me,â the both of you said at the same time.
She shuddered. âWell, thatâs not creepy at all.â
The man on the ground made a disoriented noise, as if realizing that he really shouldnât be in a room full of people with guns trying to kill each other. âActually, Iââ He struggled to his feet, then turned to run. Thick metal shutters fell down over all the entrances before he could leave. It crushed your decapitated head as if it were a grape, your blood splattering all over you, your copy, and the hospital-man.
Shit. If you were still outside, you could have gotten away.Â
The assassins all trained their guns at the man, spooked by his skittish movements.Â
âNo, no!â he exclaimed, raising his hands in surrender. âIâmâIâm Bob.â
It didnât look like he had any place to hide weapons. Still, just to be safe, you split yourself again, now three of you. The faux Captain America flinched. âFuck!â
âWho?â said the ghost, eyes trained on Bob.Â
âBob,â said Bob, shrugging.Â
âWho sent you, Bob?â asked the blonde woman.Â
âNobody, why would I be sent?â he said, hands trembling. He was afraid. âYou were all⌠you guys were all sent?â
His question went largely ignored. The womanâs eyes, lined with hazy blue makeup, darted to you. âYouâhow am I meant to kill you if you canât die?â
You raised your hands in surrender now, mimicking Bob. âI can die. Itâs the one thing Iâm really good at.â
Something flickered in her gaze. She lowered her gun just slightly. âWho sent you?â
The ghost rolled her eyes and lowered her gun. âIâm not sure whatâs happening here, but my job is done.â She gestured to the dead assassin on the ground and stepped forward to go.Â
One of your copies blocked her way. âMy job isnât.â
She scoffed, then phased straight through you. You felt a cold chill traverse down your spine.Â
âNeither is mine,â said the blonde woman, turning the barrel of her gun to you.Â
âDonât waste your time,â you snarled. âI have infinite lives. You have finite bulletsâdo the math.â
The man with the shield tilted his head at the woman. âConvenient cover for someone stealing weapons from O.X.E.â
âIâm not stealing, Copy-Cat here is steââ She paused, and realization came over her bloodied face. Then, she raised her hands in the same way you did. âOkay. Itâs clear we have all worked for Valentina in some sort of shadow ops capacity.â
âYeah, so?â said the man.Â
âSo all of this shit is O.X.Eâs secrets. And so are we.â She gestured to the mountainous stacks of boxes and crates.
You felt your heart sink to your stomach. You shouldâve known Valentina would pull something like this with you. It shouldâve been suspicious how easily she accepted your request to leave. How could you be so stupid? So naive?
âWeâre liabilities no one would miss,â said Ghost.Â
The man scoffed. âSpeak for yourself. I was sent here on a mission.â
âLook around!â said the blonde. âWe are the evidence, and this is the shredder! She wants us gone.â
The three began to bicker over who was in the right. From their argument, you learned that the man with the shield was John Walker, officially Captain America for about three seconds before he had murdered a man in public. And the blonde womanâtasked with the impossible mission of eliminating youâwas Yelena. Former Red Room assassin.
Bob began to shuffle closer to you, and you tensed.Â
âHeyââ he said, reaching out a hand to help you up. âAre you okay? I watched you die, like, fifty times or something.â He fidgeted when you hesitantly accepted his hand, pulling yourself up with his help. Bob took turns smiling at you and your clones, all lopsided. He was so⌠off-putting. You scrutinized him with a narrowed gaze.Â
âWhat are you doing here, Bob? You clearly arenât⌠like us.â
âWh⌠Why not?â
âYouâre in a patient uniform. Itâs the kind of shit I always wore as a kid,â you said, beckoning to his pants.Â
Bob was about to respond, but clammed up when John Walker began stalking closer to the two of you. Subconsciously, Bob edged behind you, almost as if he were using you as a shield. You sure as hell didnât know who Bob was, or what he was doing here, but he certainly didnât seem deserving of the piercing glare Walker was sending his way.
âIâm not leaving here without completing my mission,â said the man. âValentina gave me a clean slate, guaranteedâIâm not screwing that up.â
âAnd you believe her?â you said in disbelief, almost a whisper. You stepped back, bumping into Bob in the process. He felt strangely solid behind you. âShe promised to let me go. A rogue, powered assassin let loose out of the cage. I was stupid for letting myself believe her. And you are, too.â
Walkerâs face crumpled with anger. âListen here, you freak. You multiply like⌠like bacteria. Obviously Valentina doesnât trust you. She may be lying to you, but she trusts me. And youââ He rounded on Bob. âYou were part of my job, so I gotta know. Howâd you get in?â
You shifted so youâd be able to see Bob. He seemed to shift with you slightly, unhappy that you were no longer between him and John. Fidgeting with the cuff of his sleeve, Bob shrugged. âI donât⌠Pfft. I donât know. I donât remember.â
One of Walkerâs eyes twitched. âTerrific answer. Great. Well, alright!â He beckoned to you, Yelena, and Ghost. âTie yourselves up. Iâm sure thereâs rope in here somewhere.â
âWow,â said GhostâAva, you remembered reading her name from your mission casefile. âNo.â
âHey,â whispered Bob, tugging on one of your copyâs utility belts. âI just realized I donâtâI donât know your name.â
âNowâs probably not the time for niceties,â you said. After staring at him for a moment longer, you sighed. It was pitiful how lost he looked. âIâm known as Xerox.âÂ
âXeroxâthatâs a⌠thatâs a cool name. Way better than Bob.â
To your surprise, you found yourself giving him a small twitch of a smile. âBobâs a palindrome. Same backwards as it is forwards. That earns it at least half a point on the cool scale.â
Bob paused, regarding you with an equally twitchy, uncertain grin. âI never thought about it that way. Yeah, thatâs⌠thanks.â He let out a nervous laugh that was obviously forcedâand yet still somehow endearing.
As you spoke with Bob, Ghost walked on ahead, intent on leaving. She phased out of tangibility, so you knew there was no way you could stop her even if you tried. You watched her go passivelyâyou no longer cared if you failed your mission. It was clear it wasnât a real mission, anyway. You were glad that Yelena had come to the same conclusion. She didnât seem intent on wasting any more bullets in your copiesâ skulls.
When Ghost drew within an inch from the door, a piercing sound echoed throughout the chambers. You and your copies keeled over in pain. The noise made violent shudders ripple through your body. It reminded you of all those times you had to be strapped down when you were a child before you could control your powers, riding out your seizures with a belt across your mouth to muffle your screaming.Â
You could feel shaking hands drift to cover your ears for you. Bobâs. Your head snapped up, meeting his worried gaze.Â
Eventually the noise subsided, and his touch fell away.Â
âYou didnât have to do that,â you said, eyeing him cautiously. What did he want from you?
âYou were hurting,â was all he said in response, tone hesitant and soft, as if worried heâd done something wrong.Â
You felt your face soften and you let out a weak exhale, suddenly feeling as if your heart was going to fall out of your chest. Why was he making you so flustered?Â
The five of you were left sitting around for the next ten minutes. Walker and Ava took to raiding the dead assassin, Taskmasterâs body. Yelena didnât seem too happy with that, snapping at them to respect the dead, job or not.Â
âYou knew her?â you quietly asked the blonde as she paced to and fro like a caged tiger, watching as Ava took a gun off the corpse.Â
âI did,â she said, nodding solemnly. Then, she gestured to your own dead bodies strewn about. âSorry aboutââÂ
âItâs fine. Comes with the job,â you mumbled, voice soft.Â
Yelena nodded grimly. âYou live and you die, right? You more than most, I suppose.â
You blinked at her. Before you could say anything back, a siren blared across the room. The lights turned an angry shade of red that made the blood on your hands look black as tar. You felt your stomach roil.
Ghost looked upward. âItâs not a shredder,â she said. âItâs an incinerator.â
There was a large timer by one of the entrances that started to count down from two minutes. âTwo minutes before Valentinaâs slate is wiped clean,â said Yelena.
âDonât know that for sure!â John protested. âCould be for when they come to pick me up.â
You could only barely withhold yourself from driving your fist into the smug look on his face. It did, however, make you feel slightly better that you werenât the most stupid, delusional one in the room.
âDo you not feel that? The temperature rising dramatically, as if heat were involved?â Ghost pointed up at the gaps in the ceiling, where heat was filtering in, so strong that space warped and wobbled looking through the columns of air.
âOh, boy, that is no way to go,â said Bob, nervously wringing his hands.Â
Walker scowled. âWell, how would you like to go, Bob? With a hand around your throat choking the life out of you or a bullet to the head? Either could certainly be arranged!â
âStop,â you barked. âYou really want to spend your last moments alive being a complete asshole?â
The man clicked his tongue to the roof of his mouth. Yelena stepped in before another fight could start. âListen, Ghost-ladyââ
âAva.â
âSure, whatever. We need to get you through one of the walls so you can open the door.â
âShe tried that already,â said John, eyes rolling up to the pipes on the ceiling.Â
âI know she did, but we havenât tried shutting off the sound barrier!â
âIf they built a barrier specifically for her,â you said, recalling your casefile. Her weakness was high-frequency sounds that caused interference with her suitâs technology. âThe emitter must be in close-range. Somewhere inside the room. Outside would be too weak and dampened to work.âÂ
Immediately, you spliced a few dozen times and scattered, looking for some sort of power source.
âWhatâwhat exactly are we looking for?â asked Bob, hurrying alongside one of your copies.
âNot stupid questions, Bob!â John said.Â
âIgnore him. Look for something with circuitry. Wires, a battery cell, that kind of stuff.â You tore through a few crates, feeling up the nooks and crannies of the walls.Â
Fifty seconds left on the clock, rapidly ticking down. You were no stranger to dying, but this was strangely a different experience altogether. True, complete death. It sounded like both a blessing and the most terrifying thing possible. You could feel the panic rise up like bile in your throat.Â
To your relief, Ava found the power source, and John immediately hacked away at it without thinking, orange sparks flying with the power of his strike. You wouldâve been angry with his impulsive behavior if it hadnât workedâGhost successfully phased through the walls and disappeared.
Twenty seconds.Â
She was going to come back, right?
Ten.
The furnaces above grew hotter and brighter.
Nine.Â
One of your copies pushed Bob forward, since he was loitering directly beneath one of them. âDonât stand under there.â
Five.
One of you caught sight of Yelena shutting her eyes in solemn acceptance.
Four.Â
You heard Walker curse under his breath.Â
Three.
You braced yourself. Would death be kind to you this time, despite all of its ugly cruelty before?
Two.
And thenâa blaring siren. The slabs of metal began to shirk upwards. The four of you dashed out just as the columns of fire began to spew out.Â
Bob was slow. You split yourself multiple times to keep shoving him forward. You could feel fire engulf your body, shrieking as the searing flames tore through your suit, into your skin, eating at your flesh, burning you to a crisp.
Some of you escaped, thrown by the explosion. One died instantly with a broken spine. Others clung to the walls, injured but alive.Â
You watched in horror as many of your selves wailed in agony, dying a slow, agonizing death. You curled up into yourself, a few tears silently rolling down your cheeks. You supposed that was another one of your talentsâyou were very good at crying quietly.Â
âThanks for coming back,â you heard Walker say to Ava.
âI had to use someone. They cut the power to the elevator.â
âHey,â the ghost said, reaching out a hand to you. You looked up at her, furiously wiping the tears away with the back of your hand, trying your best to ignore the pain. âCome on. Up you get. We need to find a way out of here.â
When she helped you up, she noticed that you were shaking violently. âAre you okay?â
âIâve never been set on fire before,â you murmured. âBurned alive is a new one to add to the books.â You kneeled down to close the eyes of one of your corpses. You caught sight of Bob on the other side of the room, having just woken up from being knocked unconscious beside Yelena. He was uninjured, to your relief.Â
âYou helped me out,â he said, once you neared him. âWhy did⌠Why did you do that? You died for meâso many times. Iâm notâŚâ He fidgeted uncomfortably. You could see the guilt weighing heavy in his eyes. âIâm not worthy enough for that.â
You didnât know what to say. You were never good with sentimentalities.
To your dismay, John cut you to the chase. âI wonât disagree with you on that,â he told Bob. He stormed forward until he was nearly nose-to-nose with Bob, who cowered away just slightly before straightening himself to his full height. âIâm tired of your bullshit! Tell me how you got in here right goddamn now!â
âI swear I just woke up in this place,â he said, placating, as if he were talking to a spooked mare. âOne minute Iâm having my blood drawn for this medical study, and the next Iâm here. I donât know whatâs happening, I really donât.â
âOkay, then show me where you woke up!âÂ
Bob hesitated, then pointed into the incinerated room. âInâin there.â
âWhere everythingâs on fire,â John deadpanned. âThatâs real convenient.â
âWalker, relax,â said Yelena.Â
âYou donât remember anything?â asked Ava. âBag over your head, a needle in your neck?â
âChokehold? Nerve pinch?â Walker asked. It was beginning to feel terribly like an interrogation of sorts.Â
Bob stepped back again. âNo, none of those.â
âI think heâs just a civilian,â said Yelena, eyeing Bob carefully.
With an edge to his tone, John hissed, âOkay, well, if heâs a civilian, he knows too much and if heâs an agent he sucks. Either way I say we throw him back into the fire!âÂ
âNo,â you said, glaring daggers at the man. âI died multiple times just to get him out. Weâre not murdering an innocent man.â
âWhat do you want, a medal? And we donât know heâs innocent!â Walker fired back.
Suddenly, Bob started to laugh. It was a wheezy, chuckling noise. You looked at him in surprise.
âYou said youâre⌠Captain America?â he said, smiling incredulously.
Johnâs countenance grew even stonier than before. âWhatâs funny about that?â
âItâs just, heh, youâre⌠youâre an asshole,â Bob said between his peals of laughter.Â
There was a beat of tense silence. Then John smiled, wolfish. It didnât quite reach his eyes. In an instant, he was an armâs length away from you and Bob, grabbing Bob by the throat and shoving him back so hard his back crashed into the wall behind him. You scrambled forward, multiplying twice to place enough hands on Walkerâs chestplace to shove him back. Yelena also came to help, physically placing herself between the two men.Â
âOkay, woah!â said Yelena, shooting a warning glare at John. âWe swung our tiny dicksâit was a lot of fun, but we need to have some space now. Walker, you go over there. Bob, come with me.â
You watched the blonde woman whisk Bob off to the side, who followed her with no complaint. When you looked back at John, he was toeing one of your burnt corpses with his boot. He caught you staring at him and stopped.
âSorry,â he said. Even he knew that crossed a line.
âForce of habit?â you taunted him with a tilt of your head.
John apparently had nothing to say to that. He turned away from you. Then, he began hacking at one of the walls with the shield. âThere has to be a way out of here if we go in one direction for long enough, right?â
You shrugged. âGo right ahead. Be my guest.â
After a few more pummels, the solid concrete gave in and revealed metal doors. He pried them open, grunting with exertion, revealing an empty elevator shaft. There were no wires or indented surfaces to climb. Just sheer, smooth metal walls for as far as the eye could see. Likely even further than that. You gulped as you stared up.
âHey, are you guys done with your therapy session yet?â John snarked to Yelena and Bob.Â
Yelena, after saying a final few words to Bob, let him go. Bob made his way to you. Whatever it was that Yelena said to him, Bob didnât seem particularly settled. You decided not to dwell on it for too long.
âSo, this isâour way out?âÂ
âLooks like it. No way to climb, though,â you said. You glanced at his head. âYou okay? That looked like it hurt.â
Bob glanced at you strangely, not used to others being concerned over his well-being. First Yelena, and now you. âYeah, Iâm fine. Canât have been as bad as you.â
âItâs no competition,â you said, pursing your lips. Then, to the rest of the group, you asked, âShould we all get in there? Maybe weâll figure something out once we scope it out.â
All of you crowded into the bottom of the elevator shaft, staring up at the endless void above.Â
âSo⌠none of us fly? All of us just⌠punch and shoot?â Yelena asked, looking around.
âDonât worry,â said Walker. âI got this.âÂ
He pushed you and Ava to make more space for himself, ignoring both of your startled noises. Then, he leaped up. An insane distance for a regular human, and what you assumed was just above average for one pumped with super serum. You watched him disappear into the darkness for all about four seconds. And then you heard screaming as he came back down. Bob tugged you back just in time not to get crushed beneath John crashing back down on his shield.Â
âYou should try that again,â Ava suggested, grinning down at him as he struggled back to his feet with a pained groan.
John looked at you and you clones expectantly. âYou can multiply. Why donât you, I donât know, make enough copies for us to climb up there?âÂ
âYou want me to form a human ladder for you guys?â you asked, horrified.Â
âWell, yesââ
âMy clones have limited range,â you interrupted, voice curt. âWeâre a collective mind. If we donât all stick within a few meters of each other, I get seizures and lose control.â
Walker frowned down his nose at you. âIs it not worth a shot?â
âNot unless you want to risk me spazzing out mid-climb and all of us falling to our deaths,â you retorted. âWe need to think of something else.â
Then, Walker turned his gaze to Ava. âCanât you just phase up there and throw down a rope for us, or something?â
âFirst of all, someone other than you would have to ask me,â she hissed. You had to admit, you were starting to warm up to her. âSecond, Iâve only ever been able to hold it for a minute, and who knows how long it would take to get up thereâIâd be crushed under the weight of it before I could phase back.â
âJust a minute?â Walker deadpanned. âWhat is it with you lab rats and your limitations?â
âShut up!â both you and Ava exclaimed at the same time.
âI⌠have an idea,â said Bob, raising a tentative hand.
All of you turned to him expectantly.
Your backs were pressed up together, your legs splayed out onto the metal wall as the group slowly inched upward. For the plan to work, there was only space for one of you, so you reabsorbed your copies into one body again. The rest of the group watched you do it in a mix of muted curiosity and horror. Bob gave you an awkward thumbs up, which made you smile despite the ridiculousness of the entire situation.
A part of you wanted to leave a copy down on the ground in case something happened, but you couldnât risk having a seizure if you got too far away, and with everyone else on the line, too.
âEw,â said Yelena. âWhich one of you is wet?â
âSorry,â Bob winced. âI run hot.â
You shifted the arm looped around his, grimacing at the sweat dripping down your own face. âI get it. Itâs fucking sweltering in here.â
âSomeoneâs got a weird, hard butt,â Walker groaned.
âThatâs not my butt, thatâs my suit,â Ava hissed in return. âPardon me for the inconvenienceâI only spent my entire life in labs, hooked up to machines so I could create this physical cage to keep my material body from disintegrating at all times!â
You heard Yelena let out a bark of a laugh. âYou donât want to start the whole sob story game. Iâd win. Enslaved child assassin over here.â
For some reason, John said, âWell, you were just a kid, soââ
âOh!â said Yelena. âDoes that make it better? Gee, I wish someone had told me that earlier! That makes me feel so much better.â
âNot that itâs a competition, but Iâve spent my whole life quite literally dying over and over again,â you said.Â
âOh, really?â said Walker. âSounds like youâre making it a competition.â
You fell silent, not wanting to waste your breath arguing. The group, panting in ragged, short breaths, simultaneously decided to fall silent. You were so high up now that you couldnât see the bottom of the shaft anymore.
After what felt like eons, Walker finally gasped out, âI see a door!â
âNow what?â Yelena asked.Â
âUhmâI guess one of us should⌠go firstâŚâ said Ava from your other side, uncertainty weighing her words.Â
âNo, then the rest of us would immediately fall!â protested Yelena, breath trembling with the strain of holding herself up.Â
âShit⌠sorry guys, I guess I didnât really think this through,â Bob muttered.
âAlways making things worse,â the man on your right muttered.Â
Your brows furrowed. âBob, weâre all the way up here because of you. Come on, weâre so close. I can duplicate andââ
âWe canât risk your additional weight,â Walker barked out. âOne slip and we all come tumbling down!â
âThen what do you want to do?â you asked.Â
âHand me a baton, I can reach it!â he said.Â
Immediate protesting ensued. âNo way, youâre just going to leave us!â Yelena gritted out.
âWe have to hurry, I donât know how much longer I can keep my bloody boots from slipping!â Ghost said. True to her word, you caught sight of her shoes slowly gravitating downward.
Yelena inched upward. âSpin us around and weâllââÂ
âNo! Are you crazy?â
Bob shook beside you.
âBob, are you alright?â you asked, wondering why he was tossing his head from side to side like a dog shaking off excess water.
âCucumberâcucumber, cucumber!â he said, scrunching up his face.
âWhat the hell is happening?â Yelena asked.
âGrowing up, somebody told me if you have to sneeze, you yell out cucumber to confuse your brain. I have to sneeze, but if I do, Iâll lose control and weâllââ
âThis is insane!â Walker bit out. âI can get us all out of here, I just need to go first!â
âNO!â Ava said. âThere must be another way!â
Bob tilted his head back, knocking against yours. âOh, no,â he said.
âOhââ You began to panic. âCucumber! Cucumber, cucumber! Bob!â
Yelena and Ava both began chanting with you. John, his patience worn thin, reached behind and grabbed Yelenaâs baton. Then, he jumped out of formation.
You felt yourself falling, your heart dropping to the balls of your feet in sheer horror, trying your best to grip onto the slippery metal walls. In your panic, you duplicated yourself in an attempt to slow down your descent. Just above you, Ava punctured the walls with her dagger, braking to a halt.Â
Then, to your shock, you were abruptly smacked against the wall when Ava grabbed hold of your wrist. But only one of you.Â
âNo!â you exclaimed, watching as your copy plummeted downwards with a blood-curdling shriek. After several seconds, you could feel your mind grow hazy, dizzy with the distance. âNo, Iâmââ
Your pupils rolled into the back of your head and you began to convulse. You didnât register that Yelena had grabbed a hold of your ankle as she fell, and she sent a grappling hook down to catch Bob.
He tried his best to catch your copy, but you had streaked past so fast that you slipped right through his arms, and fell into the darkness below.Â
The rest of the group, minus Walker, who had climbed through the opening, watched as you shook about violently. After several agonizing seconds, there was a resounding thud and splattering noise. It seemed a twisted sort of blessing that the fall had killed your copy immediately. You broke free of your seizure but immediately fell into a bout of pain, doubling over. It felt as if you were on fire all over again, and someone had carved you open, poured honey all over your innards, and released a thousand fire-ants to crawl over you.
You were so out of it that you only barely realized Ava was pulling you through the entrance with Johnâs help. Yelena hauled herself up after that, Bob shortly following her.
The ghost kneeled down beside you, gently tapping your face as you came in and out of consciousness. âHey. Donât fall asleep on me.â
With slow, painful movements, you nodded, sitting back up. It took you another moment to realize that the entire group was huddled around you. âOh, God. I felt my brains spill out down there.â
âWhat did you go doing that for?â Walker said in an irritating I-told-you-so tone, kneeling down beside you. âI told you not to duplicate yourself, didnât I?â
âI really donât think a lecture is needed right now, thank you,â Yelena told him.Â
âIâm sorry,â said Bob, looking wearing yet another expression of guilt. âI tried catching you, butââ
âThanks, Bob,â you said, nothing but sincerity in your eyes. âI felt you. Thank you. And thanks for holding onto me, Ava. Even though I tried to kill you.â
The woman averted her gaze, clearly embarrassed. âYeah, well. Would have been a terrible weight on my consciousness. So really, I did it for my own benefit.â
âAlright,â you said, not believing her in the slightest, but you decided not to comment on it.
With the help of Ava and Yelena, you stood up on your own two feet, albeit a little wobbly, and completely exhausted from the climb up.Â
âYou selfish prick,â Ava spat at Walker. âIf you had just waited for one goddamn secondââ
âI made a tactical decision to secure my own safety before ensuring all of yours,â he said, rolling his eyes. âPretty ungrateful, if you ask me.â
Then, something strange happened. Bob placed a hand on Johnâs shoulder, saying, âThanks for saving us, Captain.âÂ
Instead of making a snarky comment, Johnâs face grew dazed. Unfocused. He turned and stepped closer to the elevator shaft, feet just a few inches away from joining your dead clone on the ground.
âWalker?â Yelena asked, wondering what on earth he was doing. Both she and Ava stepped closer to check him out.
You looked to Bob, one of your brows arched. âWhatâs up with him?â
Bob spared you a cursory glance. âI donât know,â he said. You chose to believe him, but frowned nonetheless. âAre you okay, though? You wereâyou were shaking really badly in there.â
âA seizure,â you whispered. âSorry I scared you guys. I panicked and duplicated. It wasnât very smart on my end.â
âNo, I get it,â he muttered. âThe only one you can truly trust is yourself. I get it.â
You tilted your head, regarding him curiously. As much as you thought Bob was a perfectly ordinary civilian, he said some very cryptic things sometimes. âRight⌠yeah.â
âI know I havenât given you any reason to, but⌠you can trust me,â he offered. His hand trembled, and you could read the anxiety plainly across his features. When you took a second too long to respond, he retracted slightly. âBut, I mean, you donât have to if you donâtââ
âI trust you,â you said, cutting him off. You spared him a downturned smile, which made him relax just a smidge. âYou havenât given me any reason not to, Palindrome.â
The mellow blue of his eyes shone with mild amusement. He chewed on the inside of his cheek. âIs that my nickname now? Palindrome?â
âIf you want it to be,â you said, shrugging. âIt is a bit catchier than just Bob. The same forwards as it is backwards.â
Bob looked back to John, who still wouldnât move away from the shaft's sheer drop. âI guess thatâs fitting,â he whispered. âNothing changes even if I want it to.â
Before you could ask him what he meant by that, John finally seemed to snap out of it. He stumbled back from the edge of the shaft.Â
âJesus Christ,â Yelena said, completely bewildered. âAre you crazy? What did you do that for?â
âDo what for?â John grouched, waving her away as if she was a fly. âI wasnât doing anything.â
âUgh, nevermind, then,â said Ava. âItâs time we all get out of here.â
Once Ava pressed a button for the exit to slide open, light spilled in from outside. Butâit was nighttime. You knew because you arrived at 10 PM on the dot, and you also knew for certain that not enough time had passed for the sun already to be rising. The lights were coming from cars. Multiple of them, at least three dozen. There was chatter as well. Boots. Guns. Tactical armor.
It was an entire squadron out there. No doubt sent by Valentina.Â
Ava, John, and Yelena then started bickering about a plan and who was in charge.
âI think I might just surrender, probably,â said Bob.Â
âI suppose she wonât hurt you if youâre just a citizen,â you said. âMaybe itâs for the best.â
âOkay, fine,â John said, shrugging. âEvery man for themself, then.â
âWhy should you be in charge?â snarked Yelena. âYou almost killed all of us right there!â
John propped his fists onto his hips. âWell, letâs seeâIâve been in the trenches of every war-torn country there is, rescued God knows how many hostages, and shook the hands of two US presidents!âÂ
âAnd how, pray tell, does any of that help us in the slightest way?â you hissed.Â
Walker ignored you. âWhat elseâoh! High school state football champs, back to back to back. Go bears!â
You stared at him incredulously. You never met Steve Rogers, but you wished you had that Captain America rather than this one in front of you right now. You were sure Steve was infinitely more tolerable than Walker.
Yelena rolled her eyes. âOh, wow. When I was five, I was in a peewee soccer team named the West Chesapeake Valley Thunderbolts, sponsored by Shaneâs Tyre Shop. We won zero games, and one time one of my teammates did a poo midfield! Anyone else have any pointless stories to share?â
Exasperated, Ava pointed to herself. âGrew up in a lab prison.â
Bob scratched the back of his neck. âMeth-addicted sign twirling chicken. Was a⌠summer job.â He cleared his throat awkwardly.
âHad my entire skeleton pulled out of my body once. Took me twelve minutes to die,â you said, bouncing on the balls of your feet. The rest of them turned to you, horrified. âWhat?â
â... Great,â said Yelena. âNow that weâre all done sharing, hereâs the planâŚâ
It wasnât a great plan, but it was the only one on the table. You and Walker take out the first wave of soldiers coming through, wait for Yelena (and Bob) to turn the lights off and back on once the second wave of soldiers came in with night vision goggles, effectively blinding them, all while Ava went out to find an escape vehicle.
Naturally, Walker didnât wait. He went barreling into the wave of second soldiers, knocking them all down with his shield and picking them off one by one. You hadnât even bothered to step in, watching him punch through all of them on his own.Â
âThanks for the help,â he spat at you once he was done.
âDidnât want to get in your way,â you snarked in return. âNow come on. Letâs get their gear on and head out.â
Eventually, Yelena and Bob came back, the former angry that the two of you hadnât waited for her. John was quick to defend themself, but you merely tossed Yelena and Bob their own sets of tactical wear.
âNo time to argue. We canât keep Ava waiting.â
Walker sneered. âIf sheâs even waiting for us at all.â
Once everyone was changed, the four of you walked out, dragging Bob as if he were a fallen soldier.
âI donât think I want to be carried anymore,â Bob groaned, arms stiff and aching from where they were grabbing him.Â
âShut up, Bob. Youâre injured, remember?â Walker gruffed, which made Bob fall silent.
âJust a little further. Ava should be here somewhere,â came your gritted mutter.Â
âWe donât know where she is. She could be halfway to Mexico for all we know,â Walker retaliated. Behind your visor, you rolled your eyes.Â
And then, from the corner of your vision, you spotted Valentina. Pristine as always, sipping a warm cup of coffee. Envy and white hot rage scratched within your chest, but you swallowed down your anger. It took everything you had in you not to storm right up to her, chug down her coffee, and punch a hole straight through her pearly whites. You had a cover to keep up, after all.Â
Finally, after a few minutes of dragging Bob, a truck pulled up to the four of you. Ava materialized in the driverâs seat. âGet in,â she said.Â
You smiled. A small part of you really did think she was going to abandon you. You were glad she came back.
Yelena and John clambered into the front while you and Bob sat in the back of the tactical vehicle, where there was nothing inside but two wooden benches for seats. âWill you be okay back there?â Ava asked, and the two of you sent her tired thumbs-ups.
Both you and Bob swayed back and forth as the truck began to purr to life and rumble ahead. âI wonder what theyâll think once they see all my bodies down there. Canât be a pretty sight,â you whispered.Â
Bob gave you a sympathetic grimace. âDo you still feel them? After theyâŚ?â He motioned vaguely with his hands.
âAfter they die?â you finished, sucking on the back of your teeth in thought. âI donât feel them, no. I feel the pain right before they die, though.â
Bob slumped into the truckâs wall across from you. âSorry,â he said, to which you just shook your head.Â
âSoâŚâ You started, eager to change the subject. âWhat did Yelena say to you back in the incinerator after your little argument with Walker? You seemed a bit⌠downcast.â
Bob squinted in thought, trying to jog his memory. âOh⌠that. Well, I told her that sometimes I have⌠really high highs⌠and then really low lows⌠and itâs hard to remember things in the middle.â
âMust be a really low low right now, hm?â you said, a laugh lacing your words.
âHah⌠yeah. No, I mean⌠right now Iâm fine, I think. Compared to other times, now is⌠much better.â
âYikes,â you said, now only half-laughing. âGlad youâre having a relatively good day, then.â
Bob laughed along with you, awkward as ever, then cleared his throat. âAhem. And then I, uh, to Yelena I said thereâs this⌠darkness⌠inside me. Never-ending. Like, uhm, I called it a void. Anyways, she said she felt the same way, so I asked her how she dealt with it.â
You motioned for him to keep going, leaning forward. âAnd?â
âSheâshe just said she pushes it down. Deep, deep down. Heh. I mean, i-it makes sense, I guess,â Bob said, stumbling over his words a little. âLike, what else is there to do, even?â
Judging from the way your brows knitted together, Bob came to the conclusion that you didnât seem to think it made much sense. The thought crossed his mind that you looked rather endearing the way your nose wrinkled in thought. You would be a terrible poker playerâthe cards were written all across your face. Bob liked how easy it was to read you. It made him feel safer to be around you. But these thoughts were quick to wash away when he remembered that you were justâanother bump in the road. You would pass, and everything would go back to being⌠nothing. A void.Â
âIt makes sense for an ex-red room assassin,â you told him, not unkindly, roping him out of his drifting thoughts. âDoesnât mean you should take the same advice, seeing as youâre not an assassin. Right?â
Bob itched at his wrist. âRight.â
The truck slowed to a grueling halt when a few soldiers stopped the group. Walker, to no oneâs surprise and everybodyâs dismay, insisted on being the one to talk. They asked for identification and a reason for leaving the base, since the medbay was northside, and they were currently heading southward. Walker tried to bluff his way through, but it was clear that the soldiers were not buying his story.
Bobâs expression twisted as if he had swallowed something sour.
âIâm sorry for this,â he said.
âWhat?â you asked, watching in confusion as he softly took your hand.Â
And then, strangely, you were no longer in the truck.Â
You were in a hospital. The air smelled distinctly of sterilizing chemicals with the sharp twinge of copperâblood. There was a belt in your mouth. Screaming muffled around the stale leather as they hacked away at your leg. Your copy stood off to the side, also bound, but whole. There were tears streaking down both of your faces. You looked younger thenâyour hair was longer, your face rounder. The years had weathered you.
âAgain,â said one of the surgeons. Your younger, whole self trembled, then split into another copy. It took longer back then. An entire minute of straining yourself just for one duplicate. Now, you could make hundreds of yourself in an instant if you wanted. Nurses came in and took the other copy away. Off for more screenings, more tests, more surgeries, more experiments. Thatâs what you were to themâan experiment.
âPlease stop,â you croaked. You werenât sure whether that came from the younger you or justâyou. âPlease⌠I donât want to die again.â
âOh, sweetie,â said the surgeon, coming around the dissecting table to push sweaty strands of hair away from your head. âYouâre not actually dying, though. Not really. None of theseâxeroxes of you are actually you.â
You broke down into silent, heaving sobs when he returned to the other you, and began hacking away more parts of you. âFor science,â theyâd always told you.Â
Present-you turned, desperate to leave. Only, you were met with⌠Bob?
You searched his face, completely dumbfounded. âPalindrome?â you whispered.
âThatâs where Xerox comes from?â he asked, clearly perturbed by the scene he was watching. You didnât spare him a response.
His lips pursed and he reached out to take your hand again. In this strange, hazy world that you knew not to be real, his touch was cold. You rather liked how it felt against the warmth of your own palms, sticky with blood. Was that yours or one of your copies? You couldnât remember. Was there any difference at all?
You held onto him tighter, shutting your eyes. Bobâs free hand raised to cradle the back of your head, shielding you from your own memories.Â
âIâm sorry this happened to you,â he murmured. âIâll fix it. Leave it to me.â
Then, he pulled away from you despite your protests, and the nightmare realm seemed to spin and spin and spin, caving in on itselfâ
By the time you came to, Ava was shaking your shoulders and calling your name, as you were passed out on the floor of the truck. You glanced around with glassy eyes, confirming what you already knew to be true.
Reminder that ao3 does not have an app. Any apps you see are third party and are making money off of the writers without their consent. Theyâre also probably harvesting your data. Do not support this garbage.
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
â Live Streamingâ Interactive Chatâ Private Showsâ HD Qualityâ Free Actions
Free to watch ⢠No registration required ⢠HD streaming
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
â Live Streamingâ Interactive Chatâ Private Showsâ HD Qualityâ Free Actions
Free to watch ⢠No registration required ⢠HD streaming
I find myself thinking "god, I need a cigarette" way too often for someone who doesn't actually smoke. but what can I say. I've been needing a cigarette
um hi I guess @space-taco-beans - Tumblr Blog | Tumlook