#aspyn

Settling in (The Grey Witch Bucky x OC)

Once we arrived at the compound Nat directed me to the communal kitchen and lounge area, where a few unfamiliar faces were lurking. The rest of the team had apparently gone off to train or prepare for an upcoming mission so Wanda and Nat would hang out with me until Tony returned.

"Hello everyone this is Aspyn the new recruit." Wanda announced to the room.

Before I could say anything the man sitting in the corner with the dark hair and striking blue eyes, made a hasty exit. Clearly he wasn't a fan of me yet.

"Don't worry about him, he's just a grumpy old man with trust issues." The man in the kitchen stated. "Oh I'm Sam by the way or Falcon. The one that stormed out is Bucky."

"Well I'm not expecting this transition to be easy and I know about his past so I don't blame him." I said, revealing more than I should've.

"Wait how do you know about Bucky's past?" Wanda queries.

"Oh umm I just heard some SHIELD agents talking about him before I left." I covered.

They all looked suspicious about my answer but didn't get a chance to ask anymore questions as I was bowled over by a black mass. At first everyone was alarmed until I started patting the creature and cooing praise at seeing Hades.

"So this is the mighty beast you mentioned earlier, how beautiful." Wanda cooed.

"Yes this is Hades and I swear he's less excitable than this under normal circumstances." I said.

I rose to my feet and Hades sat between my legs facing the group of people in-front of me, this is one of his ways of keeping me safe.

"Well Sabrina the teenage witch, he's definitely not a sociable creature with anyone other than yourself. He refused to sit anywhere near me in the car." Tony revealed.

"Fury did say nicknames were your forte, but yes he'll warm up to you all eventually but other than that you won't see much of him throughout the day." I shared, gently patting his head.

"Doesn't bother us, we see more of Tinman's cat then him sometimes." Tony said, obviously referring to Bucky and his cat Alpine. "Alright well let me show you to your room so you can get settled in and then I can get home to the missus before midnight."

"Yeah sure. Thank you Wanda and Nat for being so kind to me. It was nice getting to meet you all, I'll see you tomorrow I assume." I said, waving to everyone whilst following Tony down to the elevator with Hades in tow.

We walked in silence and got onto the elevator pressing the button to the third floor. Tony seemed occupied with his phone and I didn't want to disturb him incase it was something important. Hades sat in the corner of the room monitoring everything going on around him. The elevator dinged as it reached what was supposedly my floor, the doors slid open and revealed yet another hallway lined with doors but this time there was only two. Tony stepped out motioning me to follow him.

"Here we are this is your door and just there across the hall is Barnes' room. You won't see much of him, he's a bit of a recluse and he isn't your biggest fan at the moment. You are free to decorate your room as you please, there's a door with a stair case down to the open field for you and Hades to get some air." Tony stated.

"Thank you Tony for everything and for not making assumptions about me." I openly shared.

"Don't sweat it, here's your key. Goodnight, I'll see you at 6am tomorrow in the lounge room Wanda showed you to before. Now I've got a wife and daughter to get home to." He said, already walking towards the elevator by the end of his sentence.

I let him leave without another word, sparing a glance at my neighbours door but not bothering him is my best options at the moment. So I slid the key into the door and twisted the knob, pushing it open to reveal a large room with three doors and a giant wall of window with a door leading outside like Tony said.

Boxes of stuff was scattered throughout the room with my few belongings and furniture. The bed was already assembled and made ready for me to fall onto and let darkness consume me. But before I could sleep I had to do a few things to honour my heritage as a witch. I opened the box labeled magic and miscellaneous things pulling out my sage and lighter. I went through and cleansed the open space before opening one of the three doors to find a large walk in wardrobe, then a bathroom with a bathtub sat close to the window. The final door was a dark room with only a small window close to the ceiling. To which I decided would be my practice room where I would set up my altar and a potions bench. After the sage had burnt out I set up my practice room and started feeling tired, I only got my altar finished before deciding to go to bed.

"Come Hades." I commanded, Hades had been sitting by the window watching for any threats. He quietly stood and followed me to the bed, he jump up and spread himself across the bottom of the enormous bed.

Sleep found me easily but didn't last long as I was awoken by Hades moving to the window. Indicating he wanted to go out to hunt, checking the time on the alarm clock it was only 4:33am but I let him out anyway. I couldn't get myself back to sleep so I decided to explore the rest of this floor and surely it wasn't just two rooms.

I was right the hallway lead out into an open space which had small kitchen area with a lounge space that had a bookshelf, TV and a few games shelves. The kitchen had benches, a fridge and a microwave, but I assume that's because meals were consumed as a team on the lower level. I went and opened some cupboards looking for a glass so I could have some water. Having missed dinner yesterday had me looking forward to seeing Tony so I could either join the team for breakfast or find my own. Finally opening a cupboard I found the cups and grabbed one moving to the tap.

"Making yourself at home?" A deep voice said, alarming me so much that I dropped the glass of water. I simply watched as it shattered at my feet, the shadowy figure moved into the room. "I'd say sorry but I wouldn't mean it."

"I don't expect an apology it was my fault for not staying alert." I stated, looking up to see Bucky resting against the bench in front of me.

"I know you." He shared.

"And I you or at least a version of you." I replied.

"We met at Hydra didn't we." He stated rather than asked.

"We did." I responded.

"Look I know I'm coming off like an asshole but I wasn't informed on who the new recruit was." He shared.

"It's ok I understand believe me I think we both share the same issues." I joked.

"It's good to see you, I only just started getting my memories back and you were one of the first things I remembered." He admitted, rubbing a shy hand up and down the back of his neck.

"It's good to see you too. If anyone in that shithole deserved redemption it was you." I said, warmly smiling at him.

"Do the team know we know each other?" He asked.

"No but they are slightly suspicious as to how I know about your past." I replied. "I didn't know if you'd remember me or want them to know what we were in Hydra."

"Thank you for that but I'm sure the team should know about our past." He responded, moving around to my side of the counter, grasping my hand a rubbing soothing circles on my palm. "I thought about you a lot."

"I think about you too, you'd be happy to know that I've started learning about what Hydra did to me. Im still practicing my magic but I've also got super soldier serum to my advantage." I shared, gazing into those oh so familiar ocean eyes.

"Im glad to hear your still doing what you love, little witch." He grinned.

"Well Sarg, it's apart of who I am." I admitted, not wanting to let the conversation end.

For a moment we simply just stood there hands connected, looking into each others eyes looking for answers as to why we still feel like we're drawn to each other after everything. Our bubble was burst by a booming voice coming from the hallway we reside in.

"BUCK! Are you coming or what? We gotta go." The voice exclaimed.

"Sorry I've been summoned, I'll see you around. If you're free later today we should catch-up and go get a coffee or something." Bucky said. "Coming Steve!"

"Go enjoy being a free man, Buck." I say, playfully teasing him but truly meaning what was said.

He simply smiled at me and grabbed a bottle from the fridge making his way towards Steve. Once again leaving me to gather my thoughts and reminisce about the good things Hydra brought me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Flashback

It was a frosty winter morning, I had been left in the lab after yet another experiment. This one was excruciating they injected me with some glowing liquid that made me feel like fire was coursing through my veins travelling the expanse of my body. But now I dread what comes next as they'll test me and push me to the brink of death looking for a new development in my ability. I was broken from my thoughts by the sound of the lab doors opening and revealed the scientist and Hydra agents who were tasked with my case. They dragged me off to a training room where I would be physically assaulted by multiple agents before I eventually showed an ability or almost die.

But they weren't alone this time there was a tall masked male figure waiting for me with four agents on each side of him. I was stupid I knew who this was, I'd read his file . The Winter Soldier. Hydra's greatest weapon and assassin. He wasn't done any justice in his file, his presence was enough to chill me to the bone. It was clear he was here to be the one to break me this time.

"Begin." A voice commanded over the intercom.

Without any hesitation the soldier made an advance towards me, the agents stepping away and standing close to the door as if to prevent any runaways. I was still recovering from the injection so I could barely stand. I tried to will my body to move even just to collapse but it wouldn't listen I was frozen in place. I couldn't do anything but take the beating for the soldier. It went on for 10 minutes before I finally got some control of my body, it was only enough to remove the soldiers googles. The look within his eyes shattered my soul, he looked lost and at war with himself. I knew he wasn't here willingly and that he was under mind control but the eyes are the window to his soul and his soul is eternally tortured by his actions. He seems remorseful towards me for a second but he quickly averts his gaze as he delivers the final blow to my left temple, I'm instantly unconscious from the force. I can feel the agents lifting me from the floor and placing me on a cold flat surface. I felt their presence leave the room but I wasn't alone yet. I focused my sense on this presence, if I hadn't I would've missed the broken and tormented words of the soldier.

"I'm sorry, forgive me." He whispered.

If only I could've comforted him maybe I could've prevented the trauma coming his way.

_____________________________________

Words: 2044

Summary: Aspyn and Jack are exploring outside the human’s home when they meet a new friend.

Pairing: Aspyn (my borrower s/i) x Borrower!Jack (f/o’s s/i)

Genre: fluff, fluffy comfort, self-indulgent, self-insert

Word Count: ~2,214

Warnings: None? (It’s sooo fluffy❤️) Occasional light swearing

Notes: This is my very first piece here since I started writing again. This is 100000% self-indulgent and I just wanted to write some adorable fluff.

———————

"Ash! Ash! Where are you?" Jack yells. He can't find Aspyn anywhere.

“Jack! Psst. Jack!” Aspyn whispers and gestures for Jack to come over. She’s hiding behind a brick.

“Penny, what are we-”

“Shhh, look, Jack. Don’t scare it away.” Jack watches carefully as Aspyn’s mouse-like ears perk up. He turns to see what she’s looking at.

“Is that a…a squirrel? Oh, Ash.” Jack can’t help but roll his eyes and chuckle to himself.

“But, Jack, just look at it!”

She points to the squirrel sitting comfortably in the grass. It looks content and unbothered by their presence. “At what? That bushy-ass tail?” Jack laughs a little before earning himself a tiny arm smack and an eye roll from Aspyn.

“No, silly. Just watch.”

Jack smiles at Aspyn and takes her hand in his, making her blush.

“But I’d rather look at you, sweetness.”

Aspyn blushes again. Jack has this way with words that always makes her heart flutter and a tiny smile creep up on her lips.

“Okay, let’s both look at it then.” They both watch with intrigue as the squirrel nibbles away at the nut it has in its little paws.

Aspyn smiles. “Jack, I wanna go pet it.”

Jack raises an eyebrow at her. “Pet it? Ash, that thing is bigger than you.”

“But it’s so fluffy looking, Jacky.”

Jack shakes his head and groans dramatically. “Please don’t call me Jacky. It’s embarrassing, love.”

Aspyn giggles. “Aww, but it’s cute. Like that squirrel over there.”

“Darling, please-“

“Okay, I won’t.” Aspyn relents. But the way Jack says ‘darling’ always makes her heart flutter.

Jack smiles at her too. “Come on, let’s go see if we can get it to come over.”

Jack looks around. “Maybe if we find an acorn or something else, we can get it to come over and you can pet it.” At that, Aspyn’s ears perk up with happiness.

“I’m so excited! The little animals are so different from the human beans.”

“True…except the human’s cat. That thing is huge. And those fangs too. I think we both have enough scars.” Jack gently cups Aspyn’s right cheek and strokes his thumb on her scar.

“Jack, that was years ago. And it was an accident. Another borrower got excited after finding an old sewing needle and I was too little to realize that playing with their sewing needle was a bad idea and I scratched my right eye and cheek. I’m lucky it wasn’t worse.”

Jack nods in agreement. Her scar doesn’t look anything like his Glasgow smile, but they both still experience pain from the memories. They both bring comfort to each other. He brings his lips to her forehead and kisses it gently.

“Now… about that squirrel. I say we find some acorns and lure it out.”

Jack grabs Aspyn’s hand and pulls her through the yard in front of the human’s house. “Grab as many acorns as you can, Penny.”

Aspyn starts grabbing acorns. Two, three, four. They spill out of her arms. She goes to pick them up.

“Um, Jack.” Aspyn’s voice sounds frightened.

“Asp- oh my gosh.” Jack turns around and sees the squirrel very close to Aspyn, who’s still crouching on the ground in an acorn pile.

“Jack, its teeth are bigger than I thought,” Aspyn whispers nervously.

Jack smiles and squeezes her hand, “It’s alright, I won’t let it hurt ya.”

Aspyn takes a deep breath and slowly reaches her hand out toward the squirrel.

“Easy, easy, Ash. Nice n’ slow, just like that. I got you.” Jack whispers from behind her.

The squirrel steps towards Aspyn and rubs its head against her palm. Aspyn smiles so brightly and laughs in excitement.

“Jack, look! It’s friendly. Aww, you’re so cute, Mr. Squirrel! What should I call him? Any ideas, Jack? The squirrel needs a name.”

Jack laughs, “How’s about Acorn since he just spent some time rolling around in that acorn pile over there.”

Aspyn laughs so hard she snorts. “Jackrabbit, that’s hilarious.” She turns towards the squirrel and gently pets his head. “Do you like that? Is Acorn a good name?” The squirrel chitters in response and Aspyn smiles. “Acorn, do you want to come home with Jack and I?” Acorn chitters again as Aspyn stands up with Jack’s help. He grabs her hand and leads her away with their new family member following behind them.

Aspyn smiles sweetly as the squirrel follows her. “You’re gonna love it, Acorn. The humans have this cozy house that we live under. We live under the floorboards, and there’s lots of entrances. Like in the kitchen, and behind the old clock, and another one outside that’s by the garden. That’s where we’re going. Come on!”

Jack and Acorn follow closely behind Aspyn through the human’s front yard next to the garden. Aspyn finds the grating in the wall behind the old brick pile - the entrance to their home - and crawls inside, Jack and Acorn close behind her. Once underneath the foundation of the human house, Aspyn turns towards their tiny borrower home - made from old wood, dresser drawers, and discarded items that they borrowed from the humans.

“Well, ah… home sweet home, ain’t it, Mäuschen.” Jack sighs contentedly and gives Aspyn a sly smile.

She smiles back. “Yes, Jackrabbit. C’mere, Acorn.” The squirrel comes over and Aspyn gives him a little head scratch.

“Oh, I see. So the squirrel gets all the loving.” Jack folds his arms and laughs.

Aspyn giggles. “C’mere, Jack.” Jack - who stands at 13.462 cm, rather tall for a borrower - bends down so that Aspyn - a resounding 12.2 cm, a shorter borrower - can reach to give him some head scratches. Jack purrs like a kitten as Aspyn’s fingers work from the top of his darker blond-brown curls to further down behind his ears.

“Oh, yeah, that’s the stuff. A little ta’ the left. Yeah, go~od.” Aspyn giggles and stands on her tip-toes to kiss Jack.

“I love you, Jack.” Aspyn wraps her arms around his middle and pulls Jack into a hug. Jack hugs her tightly.

“I, uh… I love you too, Aspyn.” Acorn chitters sleepily before laying down in a pile of leaves next to their front door, earning a laugh from Aspyn.

“I’m glad Acorn is settling in already. How about we go inside, Jack?”

“Sounds good to me.”

They both head inside, Aspyn hanging her cross-body purse on the coat rack - made from old nails and freshly borrowed toothpicks - and Jack heading towards the table.

“What did the other borrowers bring back today?” Jack asks curiously. Aspyn and Jack recently moved into this house with a few other borrowers looking for a home. The Clock family they were called. Aspyn had become good friends with a younger borrower named Arrietty Clock, although Aspyn called her ‘Ett’ sometimes. They had agreed to share the home with the Clocks, especially since this particular house had lots of rooms.

Aspyn starts looking around their tiny kitchen for something to eat.

“Umm, some sugar, I think. Some cookies and soap. I think some fresh herbs too, from the garden. A bay leaf, which Ett found. A human bean almost saw someone today. I hope Pod and Arrietty are careful. Poor Homily might panic again. And besides… This house is wonderful and I wouldn’t want us to move again so soon. We only just got settled.” The rules are that once a borrower is seen by a human, the borrowers must pack their things - only what they need to survive - and leave to find a new home. The human bean's curiosity cannot be stopped.

Just then, there was a rustling noise coming from outside the kitchen window. Jack stands up and heads toward the sound. “Wait here.”

“Oh…it’s just the human’s cat prowling around the yard. Nothing to worry about. Probably chasing a field mouse or something .”

Aspyn nervously fidgets with her thread bracelets around her wrists. She wasn’t like most borrowers. She resembles a tiny 4-inch human as all borrowers do. Except Aspyn was born with mouse ears and a tail: a hybrid borrower. None of the other borrowers knew why. Jack and the Clock family were the only ones who had taken her in and accepted her for who she is. Other, lesser borrowers had made cruel jokes that she was half-mouse or that she wasn’t a real borrower when she was younger. Aspyn smiled as she remembered who had defended her against those unkind words. Jack had always stood by her side.

Jack walks over to Aspyn and kisses her chestnut-colored hair. “You know… your braids look beautiful today, sweetheart.”

Aspyn chuckles softly. “Thanks, Jack.”

Jack affectionately presses his forehead to hers and closes his eyes. Aspyn smiles and closes her eyes after kissing him. They stay like this for about a minute or two, alone in the kitchen. It feels as though nothing can ruin their tender moment together.

Until they hear a crashing noise. Jack and Aspyn both turn to see Homily - Mrs. Clock - standing in the doorway looking panicked.

“Oh my, there’s- the beans cat. Outside. Running wild in the front yard. Oh, I hope Pod and Arrietty are alright out there. Pod promised me he wouldn’t let our daughter get eaten, or squashed like a bug. Arrietty’s great uncle was eaten by a frog. Oh, and her cousin Eggletina got eaten by a cat. Why is my first thought always that they got eaten by the cat? What’s wrong with me?”

Aspyn walks over to Homily and hugs her gently to reassure her. “I’m sure they’re alright, Mrs. Clock.”

“Oh Aspyn, dear. You can call me Homily.” She smiles softly.

Aspyn’s ears drop behind her mimicking her sad expression. “I’m sorry, I forgot.”

“Oh, it’s perfectly alright, dear. How was your day today? You and Jack find anything?”

Jack gently rubs Aspyn’s shoulder. “We found a squirrel. Penny insisted we bring it home. It’s beside the house sleeping in a leaf pile.”

“A squirrel? With that cat rampaging around outside? How on earth-“

Aspyn practically squeaks. “It shouldn’t bother us, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

Homily smiles softly. “Oh, I’m not worried about that. I’m just wondering how it didn’t get hurt. The squirrel can stay around our house, I don’t mind that. I know you have a soft spot for those animals, Aspyn. Although I’ll never understand why you tried to bring in a bird that one time. Those birds can be so vicious.”

“The crows can, but not that sweet sparrow. She wouldn’t hurt a fly! Besides, I borrowed lots of birdseed that time. I don’t go near the crows.”

“Just make sure you stay away from owls at night, alright? Owls eat mice.”

“Um… I-I’m not…” Aspyn trails off and frowns.

Homily attempts to explain, “Oh, I know! Sweetie, I’m sorry. I just meant that, well… it’s very dark at night and difficult to see, and… owls might see you and think, well… you know.”

Aspyn sighs, ” I understand.”

~~~

Aspyn sits on her shared bed with Jack, hugging her knees and trying not to cry.

“Hey… Aspyn, darling, c’mere.” Jack gently pulls her towards him and hugs her tightly. “You know Mrs. Clock had no intention of hurting you, right?”

Aspyn hugs him back just as tightly. Her ears lower slightly as she tries to hold back a sniffle. “I know. It’s just… when others say that I look like a mouse - not in that cute, sweet, comfortable, endearing, perfect way that you do - but in that insulting way, it really hurts. It doesn’t make me blush like it does with you because I know that you are being kind. It makes me feel like crying when they do it. It’s like I’m little again, right back with those awful borrowers who used to treat me badly. I hear them calling me a rat, which made me cry since rats are very dangerous to borrowers and very scary too. Or I hear them telling me that I’d never be able to go borrowing with the adults. And as a child, I was always so excited thinking about what my first borrowing would be like.” Aspyn sighs and snuggles closer to Jack.

“I know, sweetheart. But you know that this family is different. And that she meant nothing like that towards you. Mrs. Clock was merely concerned for your safety. She knows you’re a borrower, and I know you’re a borrower. But a cat or an owl might not realize that at first. And if anything happened to you…” Jack always feels very protective of Aspyn, especially since she’s a little on the smaller side.

Aspyn smiles and kisses him. “You’re right. Thank you, Jackrabbit.”

Aspyn yawns sleepily.

Jack smiles and chuckles softly to himself. In his opinion, Aspyn always had the most adorable yawn. “Tired, Penny?”

Aspyn nods, “Mhm. What about you, Jackrabbit?”

Aspyn’s world 

Corbinian, he/him

Mabel, she/her

Oliver, he/him

Adam, they/them

Kieth, he/him

Zephyr, they/them

Jamison, he/him

Owen, he/him, she/her, they/them, really anything

Damien, he/him, they/them

Octavious, he/him

Melissa, she/her

Aspyn, they/them

Edward, he/him

Max, he/him

Heron, he/him

Eden, he/him, they/them

Avocado, they/them

Grape, they/them

Apple, they/them

T. Poser, they/them

Sherry, she/her