#notacyclonefan

Stupid. He’d been an idiot, and if there was anything Tony Stark hated, it was when he let his ego get in the way of his brain. It was right up there with thinking with the little head instead of the big one, which was something he was also famous for. Charging into outer space to fight the bad blue aliens was about as bright as a refrigerator bulb, and now he was without his armor and stuck with Steve.

“What the hell was I thinking?” he asked the ceiling of the Kree cell. “What the hell were you thinking for that matter?” He was bruised, and he kept touching the center of his chest where the arc reactor had been. They’d stripped him of all his tech, leaving him with nothing but his at the moment questionable intelligence to figure out a way to escape.

“I don’t like being a prisoner or a hostage. Been there done that. Got the t-shirt.” Tony rolled onto his side, propping his head on his hand, and stared at Steve. The thin foam on the bunk didn’t offer much padding, and his elbow hurt when he leaned on it. But he didn’t want anyone watching them or listening to know he was uncomfortable, and it was still better than that cave.

“You got any ideas how to get out of here? You are the master tactician, right?” His words came out with a sharp edge to them, which pissed Tony off too. He knew it was stupid to blame Steve for protecting Bucky. Stupid to blame Bucky for what he’d done when they’d scrambled his brains. But Tony wasn’t exactly the most logical of geniuses.

@notacyclonefan.

@notacyclonefan || Fast and Furious AU || Closed 

It was one of those rare moments Tony actually tagged along with the rest of the team, ever since he turned his back to his families business and out of the public’s eyes he preferred to staying behind the scene and upgrade everyone’s cars and provide tech for them when they had a job to do. Even though the public forgot who Tony Stark was it didn’t mean he can’t show off once and a while. 

He pulled up behind the rest of the gang in his Koenigsegg Agera R which he usually drives to show off, yet he wouldn’t be opposed on racing with it, he would just feel bad for the poor sap who would challenge him, yes he was cocky but can anyone really blame him? 

He closed the door behind him and let the others mingle as he stayed by his car, his eyes scanning the sea of people and catching a few familiar faces and some he prayed to whatever god there was that they won’t spot him. He then turned his head when one of the others called him and thats when he spotted a new face.

Pulling his sunglasses off he took the other man in, he looked a little out of place but he could sense he was a racer and he decided to ignore Clint’s rambles and make his way through the crowd until he stood next to the man and his car, “That yours?” his lips tugged into a smirk and leaned around him to look at the car, “she’s a beauty, almost like a kitten among the big cats” he teased light hearteningly and turned back to look at the man. 

((OOC: This is a Christmas related starter for @notacyclonefan))

Two weeks later in a secret laboratory in Paris:

The scent of old wine casks filled the musty air of the cellar. Caged bulbs hung from the cobweb shrouded ceiling, losing a battle against the gloom that had been good for the wine, but Steve didn’t think it was great for human beings. He hunkered in his bomber jacket, sticking his hands deep into his pockets as he took a seat across from his friend, Steve Rogers. Between them was the glowing sliver of some unknown metal they’d found in the belongings of a spy in an SSR base camp.

It was still questionable if they were Hydra or your run of the mill Nazis, but considering the key, as they’d grown to call it, glowed brighter when Captain America was near, was leaning the opinion toward the Hydra end of the scale. Steve thought it was a damned shame they couldn’t get the jack-booted assholes to fight each other and leave the rest of the world alone, but Hydra’s reach within the Reich was insidious and pervasive.

“Do we know where it came from?” he asked the bespectacled scientist who was standing at the end of the table. The guy looked like he hadn’t seen sunlight in months, and when he smiled, he reminded Steve of Dr. Poison—not a good association at all especially since Dr. Karnak was supposed to be on their side. “Is it a key?”

“We believe it is part of an apparatus,” Karnak’s voice was flavored with a heavy french accent that belonged on an aristocrat not a rumpled lab rat. “It is manufactured, but the quality of the metal may be natural.”

“Which you can’t tell since you’ve never seen this kind of metal before.” He let out a huff and met Roger’s gaze. “Sounds like your shield. Has anyone asked Howard Stark about it?”  

@notacyclonefan

@notacyclonefan

If Tony had the capability, he would’ve built a time machine to go back and meet who ever invented scotch just to personally thank him for said beverage. And also, probably ask for a thank you back, since he probably could’ve made the guy rich with the amount of scotch he had consumed within the last couple months.

The clean-up after New York seemed like child’s play compared to this. Now, not only did Tony have to deal with the backlash of people protesting the Avengers, not only did he have to make himself the face of said Avengers and assure that Captain America and such were just on “sabbatical” and not only did he have to do all of this while still being Iron Man, owner of the largest tech company in the world and somehow function like a normal human in between that, but he had to do it practically alone.

Okay, yeah, he still had Vision, and Rhodey and the rest of the team who had not been spirited away miraculously from that underwater prison, but if he was honest, he was on his own here. He had to be the adult, the spokesperson and the guy who took the fire from the media, public and government because, well, he was the only one who could.

So, after six straight months of this and probably with a lack of sleep and food that would kill a lesser man, he couldn’t be surprised to find himself here, barely flying in his dented and sputtering suit as he repelled bullets and dodged rocket launchers from several HYDRA agents in some remote corner of Germany that the government oh-so-kindly gave him permission to fight.

He was on hour 3 of this when he knew he was in trouble. Vision and the rest were still enroute and his suit was only at 16% power. Blood kept getting into his eyes and making the flickering HUD even harder to see. His last mistake came from wrongfully thinking HYDRA wouldn’t fire another rocket at him while he whisked a couple of their agents off the ground and into the sky. 

The missile slammed his right in the chest with enough strength to crack through his armor slightly as it exploded, sending him crashing through several solid tree trunks before landing hard on the cold ground. The HUD blared red, showing it was powering down, even as the HYDRA agents surrounded him.

“Friday! Emergency Protocol Arkantos! Now!” The genius shouted, just barely able to catch the rectangular call image of a man clad in red, white and blue pop up before his suit completely died. “Damn...” 

.

It takes a little while to get used to the feeling in the back of her mind, or maybe her heart, the thing that's connected to something similar in Steve, so she can tell when he's close, can feel sometimes when he's happy or upset. It colors her own feelings, so sometimes she feels a little like she's got warring personalities. It's not a bad feeling, just different.

And she doesn't know if the way he's on her mind constantly is because of that, or it's the normal 'I-cant-think-about-anything-but-him' thing that comes with having a boyfriend. Not that she and Steve have really defined what they are, what they're doing. They mostly just spend time together, hang out to watch a movie, go to lunch when they both have time.

Neither seem in much of a hurry to do it, either. It's the sort of slow build Darcy hasn't really experienced before. She usually preferred relationships with more passion. If he were anyone else, any other guy she liked this much, wanted to see this much, she would've already slept with him. It's strange to be hanging out with this gorgeous, absolutely amazing guy and not have the ulterior motive of getting him into her bed. Oh, that was something she looked forward to, sure. Who wouldn't? The guy was an actual American icon, a real life gentleman, but still sweet and salty enough to be the perfect boy next door. And that's not even mentioning the physique. He could drive a nun to sin. But she's never liked someone the way she likes Steve. It goes deeper than just wanting a roll in the hay. She likes the person he is, the one he's shown her during their shared moments, just the two of them. She wants to know more about that guy.

Though Darcy wasn't trying to tempt him to bed, she couldn't help dolling up a little if she knew they were planning to hang. She'd do just enough to make herself effortlessly pretty, or at least made an attempt at the nonchalant beauty you see in movies, who manage to make a messy bun and sweats endearing. Because she's not actively pursuing it, but if a little effort on her behalf puts him in the mind of getting his hands on her skin, she's happy to set aside a half hour to encourage her hair into loose curls and waves, to add mascara and a touch of shadow to her eyes, to take a moment to gloss her lips, before she heads to meet Steve.

She's selected a pair of comfy jeans and a long-sleeved top for today, turning this way and that in the mirror to see herself from all angles. She and Steve were going out to lunch today, a place she'd suggested, a dive if she's honest, but they've got good coffee and a decent burger, and the blueberry pie is to die for. A glance at the clock hurries her movements. Steve would probably be by to pick her up soon.

She adds a flannel over shirt to her outfit to combat the chill that was rolling through New York, and tugs a pair of boots from her closet. She wasn't expecting there to be any funny business, but just in case, she didn't want any kisses made awkward by height differences.

@notacyclonefan

Evie smiled at the man as she shrugged, “I tend to move pretty quietly.” Her wolf internally huffed at the understatement. Like the man, she allowed her gaze to wander back to the trees as she commented, “It’s perfect. …And I live in a cabin a few miles from here, but I enjoy being outside. Getting lost in nature for a while.”