#stark!readerverse

So, on one of his many daily missions of finding out what his kid and her geriatric boyfriend were up to, Tony found himself navigating the tower. They weren’t in either of their rooms, nor the living room, the lab, nowhere. Everywhere he happened to look was a dead-end, so Tony had to rely on the work of Jarvis to spy on his kid.

“Sir, the two are currently in the gym.”

“The gym?” Tony raised an eyebrow as he set down his smoothie. “Cap trains in the mornings.”

“I’m aware, sir.”

“Y/N has to be dragged to the gym for combat training.”

“I’m also aware of this, sir.”

“Oh, god. They can’t defile the gym, those stains will never come out!”

“I’m curious to know what you think is exactly in super soldier sperm that it wouldn’t —“

“Ah, don’t say sperm!” Tony shouted as he leapt up from his seat and made his way to the gym. “That’s a hex upon this household, Jarvis, you know that.”

Jarvis would have sighed deeply if he thought it would help Tony to register how ridiculous this was, “Sir, need I remind you of the many conquests of yours I’ve witnessed and had to order particular cleanings for?”

“No.”

“Very well, sir.”

Tony was approaching the gym and he was horrified. He could hear a deep guttural groan and it made the hair on the back of his neck stand up.

“Oh, fuck, Steve! Right there.”

That son of a bitch.

“Yes, yes, yes, don’t stop.”

Tony wanted to die. Next, he heard a sharp squeal and an intake of air that made his heart drop to his ass. He quickly looked through the gym doors but could only see you, laying on a yoga mat, hands white-knuckling it as you lay on your stomach with a pained look on your face.

“Steve, you’re too deep! Stop, stop!”

“Come on, doll, if you want it to get better, you’ve gotta take it as deep as I can get.”

Tony Stark was officially going to kill Steve Rogers.

“Get off my daughter you wretched, geriatric, overage, disgusting old pervert!” Tony shouted as he threw open the gym doors and ran inside.

However, when he ran inside, he skidded to a halt.You were laying comfortably on your stomach and staring at him in surprise. You were also fully clothed, which he was surprised, given the sounds he heard and the fact he couldn’t see your bottom half from outside.

Behind you, Steve was sitting on a chair. Your knee was bent, your foot up in the air in front of Steve’s lap. The man’s thumb was pressing into your heel while his other hand held your ankle in place. Steve gave Tony a blank stare while your father stared right back at the two of you, red in the face, vein pulsating on his neck.

“What the hell is this,” he seethed.

“Doc said I have plantar fasciitis, so he’s murdering my heel for me,” you explained. “What did you think we were doing?”

Tony’s jaw tightened, “Nothing. Nothing at all.”

“Really?” Steve raised an eyebrow. “Sounds like you thought we were fonduing.”

Tony pointed a finger at him, “Don’t you dare make a funny right now. You have no right.”

You rolled your eyes, “You know, dad, we do have sex.”

“Stop it, Y/N.”

“It’s pretty crazy. With that strength of his, he can just hold me in the air and —“

“Enough — “

“I mean, gosh, I —“

“She’s kidding, Tony,” Steve said quickly. “I respect her too much to do such intimate acts in a public setting.”

“Good, good. As you should, you old fart,” Tony nodded and scratched the back of his head. “Well, I’m glad we got that settled. I will be in the lab if you need me.”

He left feeling more uncomfortable than he ever had in his entire life. Once he was gone, you two laughed uncontrollably. Steve held his side as you let your face fall to the mat and laugh. Eventually, you rolled onto your back and held your hands up. Steve leaned over, pulled you up, and sat you down right on his lap.

“I think he’ll leave us alone now, don’t you?” He hummed as he kissed your neck softly.

You snickered, “You are such a little shithead, Steve. I love it. Yeah, he’ll definitely give us some space. Which is good, I have a plan.”

“Oh? What’s that?”

“He has a really beautiful red car I’ve always wanted to have a little fun in.”

Steve blushed, the tips of his ears turning red, “Doll, I meant it when I said — “

“Yes, yes I know. You’re so very respectful and a gentleman, but you have my full permission to defile me in my dad’s car.”

“Is this a late-stage act of rebellion?”

You blinked twice, “Yes.”

He sighed and shook his head, “Doll —“

“What? I’ve always wanted to do it in a car! Haven’t you? He’ll stay far away from us now because he’s traumatized. It’ll be fun,” you sang as you draped your arms around his shoulders. “Can really get that car rocking.”

He shook his head as he studied you, “You’re devious, Ms. Stark.”

You could hear Pepper snort over Morgan’s maniacal giggling, “So, you’re coming?”

“Yes,” you sighed dramatically. “Fine. Fine, I’ll be at the dumb compound for dumb Thanksgiving. I thought it was only going to be us at the house, by the way.”

“It was, at first,” Pepper began. “But with everything going on with everyone, I thought it would be nice to get everyone together.”

You sighed dramatically. Spinning around in your chair, you looked at the monitors to see Shangqi using the training facility in the new West Coast Avengers towers.  

“I guess I won’t have to skip tonight’s flight, then.”

“Good, good. And about Steve — “

“Does he have anyone he can even go to?” You asked, already regretting the question.

Pepper sighed, “I wanted to know how you felt about him being there before I asked Wednesday to just lock him in his room the entire time.”

You sighed heavily, “He’s stupid and I hate him. But, ugh, that’s just….that’s fucking depressing. Fine. I’ll allow his presence there.”

“That’s big of you, sweetheart. I’m proud. And Shangqi is still coming, right?” Pepper asked.

You watched Shangqi practicing against the dummy and sighed, “Yeah, yeah. He’s excited. He said he’s been training for Morgan’s robot dragon fights.”

“And we will be victorious for the land of Das’Morganthia,” Morgan chimed in quickly.

You blinked, “What the fuck did that child name her imaginary land?”

Pepper chuckled, “I don’t ask questions about her naming strategies. It changes by the day. Your car will be at the airport for you. I love you. We’ll see you tonight.”

You hung up the phone and leaned over to press the red button to activate the intercom system, “Hey Bus Boy.”

He groaned, “I hate that name!”

“But I love it,” you grinned. “Change of plans. Dinner’s at the compound.”

“Why?”

“Pepper thought after everything that’s been going on that we should all be together. Which is fair, and nice, I suppose. I tried to get us out of it.”

Shangqi hummed. He crossed his arms over his chest and glanced up at you through the observation window, “You want to avoid Steve, don’t you?”

You shifted in your seat, “I just don’t feel like hearing him say, ‘Here, doll, I buttered your roll just how you like it.’”

“Ew, babe.”

“Sorry.” You cleared your throat, “Do you want to skip?”

“No, no. It’ll be fine,” Shangqi said. “Besides, I still have to fight dragons with Morgan. I can’t miss that.”

You smiled softly, “Then go shower, Bus Boy. We’ve gotta head to the airport.”

~*~

When you two approached the compound, you could see the various vehicles parked outside and you knew you guys were some of the last to arrive. You felt fingers dancing on your arm before a hand slipped into yours, and you glanced over to see Shangqi smiling.

“It’s going to be fine. I doubt Steve’s going to try to win you over during the holiday.”

“You’d be surprised how stubborn and determined Steve is,” you remarked.

Shangqi snickered. Shaking his head, he brought your hand up to his mouth and kissed the top of it, “Well, something tells me it’ll be really special, regardless.”

You laughed, “It’s just Thanksgiving. Come on, let’s get inside. I’m on dessert duty.”

“I feel like you’re always on dessert duty.”

You shrugged, “No one can be trusted but me. They have no patience for the process, they just want to eat it all. The monsters. I ever tell you about my dad and brownies?”

Shangqi smiled brightly as he grabbed your lug from the car. You’d been more open recently, and he’d been falling more in love with you. You openly told him stories of the past, now, and even more about your dad, even a few about your mom. He was enjoying this.

“I don’t think so.”

“Well, let me regale you, handsome,” you said as you grabbed one of the bags and walked in with him. “One time, I made brownies for when the team came back from taking down a Hydra base. I didn’t go because I had a project I was working on that was time sensitive. Anyway, I’m asleep. They came back and I had left the tray on the kitchen counter. My dad took the entire tray away so no one else could have it and he stashed brownies all around the tower so he had a snack for the week.”

He laughed, “Wow, that’s excessive.”

“You’re telling me. Thor and Clint were rabid going around the tower trying to find them. They never did. He was so good at hiding snacks it’s insane.”

“I can’t blame him. I would do the same.”

“You did. You hid cupcakes. From Katy. On her birthday.”

Shangqi pursed his lips as you stared up at him waiting for a response. He shrugged his shoulders, “She understood. They were really good.”

“I’m surrounded by children,” you snorted and adjusted the bag strap on your shoulder as you two went to Shangqi’s room. While you were heading there, you heard a voice that made you stop in your tracks.

“Well, well, well, look what the cat dragged in. Almighty Starkling gracing us with her presence. My, aren’t we all just so blessed?”

You turned around and saw Clint shutting a door behind him with a smirk on his face. He leaned against the wall as you dropped your bag on the floor and ran towards him. He groaned when you launched yourself at him, crushing him with a hug that made you hear several of his bones cracking.

“I missed you, you big dumb idiot,” you mumbled as you hugged him tightly. “You look good. Old, but good.”

His smile was lopsided as he tutted and returned your hug with just as much love, “I missed you too, kiddo. You look like shit, as per usual.”

“Oh, fuck off.” You laughed.

Clint laughed and ruffled your hair. He looked up to see Shangqi heading over to the two of you after setting the bags down. Offering a smile, Clint stuck his hand out, “Nice to see you again, Shangqi.”

“Yeah, likewise, man,” Shangqi shook his hand. “You know, without the panic that this one ran off to another country.”

“She does that,” Clint nodded. “You ever hear about those Earthquakes a couple years ago that shook the whole midwest?”

“Yeah.”

“Panic attack,” Clint nodded. “Oh, or that massive, massive avalanche in the Alps? Her.”

Shangqi’s eyes widened, “What?”

Clint nodded, “Yup. Someone threatened Tony and she destroyed that facility, and everything in a five mile radius. Come on. Let’s get a beer. I’ll tell you more about her running away by herself instead of facing her issues with people.”

You sighed and watched them walk away, “Men,” you muttered under your breath and grabbed the bags to drag to his room.

“Hey, look, man,” Shangqi whispered as they walked together. “I’m glad you’re here. I have something I wanted to ask you about —“

“I know,” Clint nodded. When Shangqi looked surprised, he shrugged, “I could tell by the way you were fidgeting you wanted to get away from Stark for a bit. You talk to Pepper about it?”

He nodded, then looked shocked, “Wait. How — “

“Spy,” Clint said easily, pointing to himself. “People are predictable. So, hit me with it, kid.”

~*~

After dropping your bags off and being rid of your best friend and your boyfriend, all on their accord, you decided to go straight to the kitchen to get started on the baking. On the way there, you felt yourself get grabbed around the waist and lifted into the air. You screeched and looked over your shoulder to see Bucky laughing at you.

“Wow, you didn’t see that coming, Stark?”

“I wasn’t listening like that,” you huffed. “Hi, Bucky.”

He grinned and gave you a hug, “Hey, Stark.”

You shook your head as you returned the hug, “When’d you get in?”

“Ah, came in with Barton. Bike’s in the garage looking like shit. Do you want to —“

“You know I’m not as good as dad with cars,” you said quickly.

He shrugged, “Help me then?”

“Later, I’ve got to get baking.”

“Fine,” He sighed dramatically and followed you to the kitchen. “No Katy? Thought she was coming.”

“She did, actually. Shangqi and I got her on the way in but she stayed in the city to do something. I don’t know. She said it was something personal to take care of. I didn’t pry.”

“Shocking,” Bucky remarked and leaned against the counter to watch you peer into the box of baking necessities you had sent to the compound. “What are you making?”

“Well, Sam’s bringing sweet potato pie and pumpkin pie, so thank god for Sam.”

Bucky rolled his eyes, “He’s just fine. Not that great.”

“You are such a child,” you admonished. “I’m making my mom’s cookies, some apple pies, cupcakes, brownies.”

“Jesus, Stark.”

“You should’ve seen the list of things I said no to,” you remarked. “Getting everything done tonight so I can rest all day tomorrow.”

“You mean micromanage everyone else doing the cooking.”

“I don’t — I don’t micromanage.”

“You’d micromanage how we eat your baked goods if you could,” Pepper remarked as she entered the kitchen with two giant bags and Morgan hot on her heels. “Actually, sometimes, you definitely do.”

Bucky took the bags from her, the two giving each other a kiss on the cheek in greeting as he set them on the island. When Bucky turned around he bent down and made a fist to bump against Morgan’s. Clutching her Bucky Bear, she gave him a fist bump before running around the counter to greet you. She waited for her mom to finish hugging you before she hugged your legs.

“And hello to you too, Morgan,” you bent down to hug her tightly. “Nice bear.”

“Thank you,” she grinned. “Where’s Shangqi?”

You laughed, “Why, you miss him?”

Morgan rolled her eyes, “Because he’s going to be my uncle, duh.”

You made a face, “Huh?”

Bucky and Pepper shared a look that you missed entirely, a look of panic and frenzy as Pepper bent down and placed her hand on Morgan’s shoulder.

“She just means that she’s considering giving him the title. You know, she’s still evaluating him,” Pepper lied.

You nodded, “That’s true. Hey, tell him he’s on probation but don’t tell him why. I think it’s funny.”

Morgan’s eyes lit up at the possibility of mischief, “Okay!”

You beamed, “Good. And later on when I start making brownies, why don’t you come join me? Brownies were dad’s favorite dessert I made.”

Morgan clutched the bear tightly to her chest, “Really?”

You nodded, “Yes. He liked chocolate even more than Pepper. Crazy, right?”

Morgan beamed. She nodded along and ran away to look for Shangqi. Pepper was chasing after her trying to get her coat from her. You glanced to Bucky who asked if you had needed anything before he split. You shook your head and sent him away.

“Wednesday,” you said aloud. “Play my music.”

~*~

“I think it’s really, really cheesy and kind of ridiculous, but I think she’ll be happy,” Clint said with a nod. “good for you.”

“Thanks. That means a lot coming from you. You know, after talking to Pepper she told me I should come talk to you, so — I mean, because, you know, her dad isn’t —“

Clint groaned, “Stop. You’re making me feel old. I get it. I’m her fake big brother, it’s fine.” Clint took a sip of beer and glanced around Shangqi, “Oh, speaking of older siblings. Hi there, Ms. Morgan.”

Morgan smiled shyly at Clint, “Hi, Legolas.” She turned her attention to Shangqi and climbed onto the sofa while Clint sat there quietly stewing over the nickname that was, apparently, never going to leave him. Shangqi outstretched his arms to hug Morgan, who wrapped hers tightly around his neck. “Hi Uncle Shangqi.”

Shangqi chuckled, “I’m Uncle now?”

“You’re on probation,” She said rather flatly. Shangqi looked surprised, but Pepper finally caught up to her speedy little girl.

“Y/N told her to say that,” Pepper explained.

“Ha,” Clint laughed.

“But I didn’t even — wow,” Shangqi shook his head while Morgan was laughing. “And how are we today, Ms. Morgan?”

“Good! I’m going to make brownies later with my sister,” Morgan explained. “Can we play?”

“In a little bit, okay?”

“Okay.” she nodded and turned to jump off of the sofa. She gasped and pointed ahead of her at the doorway. They all looked up to see Steve entering the room to people he hadn’t seen since the snap. He cleared his throat and nodded to Pepper as he quietly said hello.

“Steve,” She said flatly. “You look well.”

“You as well. Thanks for letting me come.”

“That wasn’t my decision,” Pepper explained with a smile. “I would’ve put you back in the ice so you can suffer another lifetime with absolutely no one familiar around you. Again.”

Steve blinked, “Duly noted, ma’am.”

Morgan jumped off of the sofa and walked over to Steve. He glanced down at her before kneeling down. She could see that he was the same man that showed up on her doorstep long ago to talk to her father, and not shortly after, her dad was gone, her sister ran off and was sad, and this man was, apparently, no longer her uncle.

“Old Uncle Steve,” She said, finally able to enunciate the ‘v’ in his name.

He nodded, “Morgan.”

Winding back, Morgan surprised everyone by punching Steve in the face. Pepper gasped, hands coming up to cover her mouth in pure shock that her daughter punched Steve in the face. Shangqi’s jaw fell open because he never thought she would actually punch someone in the face. As for Clint?

“Ha!” Clint howled with laughter after choking on his beer. “That is the greatest thing I’ve seen so far, littlest Stark.”

“Morgan!” Pepper gasped and looked at Steve. “I — wow, I am sorry, Steve. I can’t believe —“

“It’s okay, Pepper.” Steve said as he stood up. “I know everyone wants to do worse than that to me anyway. I’ll just get out of here, Clint, Shangqi.”

“Rogers,” Clint nodded while Shangqi simply raised a hand, still in disbelief over what Morgan did.

Steve left the room, and Morgan turned around to see Shangqi leaning down to her level.

“Morgan, you are my favorite Stark.”

“Well, duh.”

~*~

Humming to yourself, you were working hard on your baking. Sam, his sister, and her kids had arrived and put the pies in the refrigerator for tomorrow. Happy, Peter, and May were on their way. Scott was bringing Cassie around soon, and you were still waiting for Katy.

And, at the moment, you were struggling with a can.

“What do you mean I can’t open this fucking can?” you growled to yourself. “I will end you. Oh, maybe I need a laser — ugh I don’t feel like leaving.”

An idea hit you. You had pretty good control over your powers. You’d done some crazy shit in your lifetime, so maybe you could open this can without making the entire thing explode, right?

You held the can in your hand, took a deep breath, and tried to make the lid pop off without making the filling shoot out completely. It did not work. The can opened up instantly. The lid shot off the top at a violent speed and hit the ceiling. The rest of the can exploded in your hand. Part of the can split and sliced the flesh between your thumb and index finger.

“Oh my god, Y/N!”

You looked up to see Steve had entered just in time to see your hot mess. You pursed your lips and looked down at the blood rushing from your hand before looking back up at him.

“Happy Thanksgiving, Steve.”

He sighed and went to grab a kitchen towel. He shook his head at the mess you made as he wrapped the towel around the hand. “Starting early on the holiday injuries?”

“Not on purpose. The can opener broke.”

“So you turn the can into a bomb while it’s in your hand.”

“I thought it would work,” you mumbled, watching Steve bring your hand to the sink to run it under water and get rid of the pumpkin puree.

He sighed and shook his head, “I’m surprised you’re letting me even help you.”

“I said I’d be civil,” you remarked. “And I’m going to be. Unless you give me a reason not to be.”

“I won’t,” Steve shook his head. “But, Y/N — “

“Steve — “

“Thanks for letting me be part of this,” he said. “I know you and everyone basically want to murder me, so.”

“It’s a front,” you explained. “They’re mad at you for what you did to me, yeah, but they still love you. They’re just hurt.”

He snorted in amusement, “When did you get so wise?”

“My boyfriend is very good at listening and giving advice. Not always on the execution of it.”

“Sounds like you,” Steve mused and told you to wait for a moment. He bent down and grabbed a first aid kit from under the sink. Standing back up, he kept your hand outstretched on the counter so he could clean it up and stitch it for you. “You know, for what it’s worth, he does seem like a good man.” 

You gasped, “Wow. Steve Rogers complimenting my boyfriend? Color me impressed. Does this mean you’ll back off?”

“No,” he said confidently as he cleaned your wound. “I still love you, Y/N. I’ll make it up to you and prove to you how much you mean to me, and that I’m still  —“

“Stubborn, pig-headed, self-righteous idiot?”

“Yes. That,” He sighed and placed the steri-strips across your wound. “I love you. I still do. I always will. I will make sure you know that, whatever it takes, starting with this kitchen.”

“Oh, hell no,” You laughed. “No, get out. I got it.”

Steve crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the counter. He gestured to your hand with his chin, “You can’t roll your mom’s cookies with that hand. It’s gonna hurt too much — I know you’ll try but you’ll stress yourself out because you’ll be fearing something unsanitary happening, even with gloves on. You’ve still got crusts to pinch, dough to roll, batters to make, nuts to grind. You need help.”

“And why does my help have to be you?”

“Because I’m the only one who has helped you in the kitchen that you have yet to yell at,” he pointed out.

“Bucky used to help his mom and sister though.”

“Bucky will eat everything before it leaves the mixer,” Steve deadpanned. “Sam’s capable, but he keeps wanting to experiment on your recipes rather than listen to you.Pepper mixes up the steps sometimes because, well, you write recipes in the worst way —“

“No, I don’t!”

“Your pumpkin pie recipe says ‘five seconds of milk’. You know that, right?”

You pouted, “Well, Clint —“

“Will eat it. Like Bucky, and Bruce doesn’t have the patience. We don’t even know how Scott will be.”

“Bet I can get Peter to help.”

“If he were here.”

“Well, Shangqi — “

“You and Morgan banned him from helping. I heard about that. Come on. No funny business. I’m right here. Just let me help. I’ve done this with you for many years. I know the drill.”

You didn’t want to admit it, but he had a point. Steve was the only person who didn’t test you in the kitchen and actually listened, like a good soldier taking orders. Plus, he knew your lingo, so to speak, when you did your recipes, and he was familiar with all of it.

“Fine. No funny business,” you repeated.

“Yes, ma’am.” He nodded and grabbed an apron off the hook. “You have more pumpkin?”

“I always buy extra,” you said. “Can opener doesn’t work, though.”

You watched as Steve quietly grabbed a knife, stabbed the lid, grabbed the opening he had made, and rip the lid off with ease. You scoffed and muttered that he was a show-off before you two started working.

~*~

If Shangqi had made it obvious that Steve baking with you made him want to set the man on fire after stabbing him six million times, it would’ve looked like he was horribly insecure about his presence even though he would repeatedly say that he felt nothing for that man because he wasn’t intimidated. However, when he went with Morgan to the kitchen to get water and saw you two silently baking together, he felt like committing treason against the country by murdering a relic.

And he definitely knew he could quietly sneak up on him. Or maybe he’d use the rings and really Pummel Steve’s perfect face into the ground — forget it. Nope. Not worth it. He totally shouldn’t do this.

You two had baked everything together, and Steve only left after helping you prep the brownies so you and Morgan could do that together and he could leave so he wouldn’t intrude on family time, and so Morgan wouldn’t commit another act of assault against him. He figured this was a good, passive way to get on your good side. 

You finished baking together, everything was ready tomorrow, and you made an announcement to everyone that if they touched a single dessert before tomorrow, you’d slaughter them.

~*~

Come Thanksgiving day, everyone was there. Rhodey and Happy had crushed you in hugs. Seeing you sent them back to thinking about their long-gone best friend. Everyone was as nice as they could be, with the exception of friendly roasting. That was allowable.

During your snacking phase of the early afternoon while waiting for the Turkey to be done, you finally heard Katy’s voice. Grinning, you got up and ran over to see Katy and were surprised to see someone else with her.

“Oh, shit,” you blurted out. “Hi, Xialing!”

She smiled and nodded her head, “Hi, Y/N. Katy brought me.”

“Yeah, thought I’d surprise someone with a little Ling Ling action!” Katy shouted as she grabbed Xialing’s shoulders. “Where is he?”

Everyone turned to look for him. Shangqi was spotted only because they could hear him making dragon noises. You snorted and crossed your arms over your chest, watching your boyfriend chase Morgan and her wooden sword around.

“Hey, dragon breath!” Katy shouted. “Look!”

Shangqi stopped short when he heard Katy. Frowning, he turned, thoroughly prepared to insult her own breath when he saw Xialing standing there, “Mei mei?”

Xialing waved, “Surprise?”

Shangqi grinned and made his way over to her, giving her a hug as he expressed how happy he was to see her. Xialing explained that Katy wanted to surprise him by bringing the two together for a holiday. Shangqi looked to Katy and grinned to hug her just as tightly.

Shangqi proudly introduced his sister to everyone, stopping specifically in front of Morgan.

“Ms. Morgan,” he began. “This is my little sister, Xialing.”

Morgan stared up at her, “Hi Xialing. I’m a little sister too.”

“Oh?” Xialing asked and looked around before her eyes settled on you, “Her?”

Morgan nodded, “We have daddy’s same unamused face.”

Xialing blinked, “Your vocabulary is fantastic.”

“I know. Thank you.”

~*~

Katy introduced Xialing to Bucky, and you couldn’t but notice the biggest smirk on Bucky’s face as he watched Xialing and Katy talk to each other. You made a mental note to ask him if he also agreed the two were a thing.

Dinner went very well. The table was loud with conversation. Morgan was telling Peter about her latest adventures, and Sam was spending his time roasting the life out of Bucky to his own sister, to try to make sure he humbled this man in front of her, at least a little bit.

After a massive dinner, there was a break before you guys would move on to dessert. Bruce suggested movies, which turned into Scott suggesting Thanksgiving movies, which lead to an argument that there weren’t really any good thanksgiving movies, so Clint suggested they come to some sort of compromise: action Christmas movies.

While everyone started saying what movies could fall under this category, Shangqi tapped you on the shoulder and leaned over you to whisper in your ear from behind, “Meet me outside?”

You shrugged and nodded. Setting down your drink, you slid off the back of the sofa and followed Shangqi out the glass doors. You both leaned against the railing. The cold fall air made you shiver, so Shangqi slipped off his jacket and put it around you.

“What a gentleman,” you teased with a smile on your face.

“I try,” He grinned, and for the first time today, you noticed he was sweating in the cold. 

“Are you okay? You look, well, sick.”

He laughed nervously again and fiddled with his hands, “Um, well. Uh. You know. I thought this was smart at first, you know, making you be here with all your loved ones and people who cares bout you. Even my sister is here, which is wild and so awesome.”

You blinked, “Uh huh…”

He cleared his throat, “And uh, I know I was sneaking around a bit.”

You nodded, “Yeah, Wong told me he sent you on some missions. It’s fine.”

“That’s a lie,” Shangqi said.

“Oh,” you blinked. “Do I…do I need to, like, murder you now?”

“What? No, no! Okay. I’m shit at this,” he took a deep breath. “I love you, you know? Remember our conversation during that snow storm? How I wanted you to be the mom of my kids one day when we’re both ready?”

You nodded, “You uh, you’re not ready yet, are you? Because I’m definitely not ready for that.”

He chuckled and shook his head, “No, no, but I’m ready for something else.”

You pushed off the railing when you saw him move from the corner of your eye. Looking over you gasped when you saw Shangqi on one knee and holding out a black velvet box with the prettiest ring you’d ever seen.

“I’ve kind of been doing a few fights at the club because, let’s face it, valeting doesn’t pay a ton and I wanted to be able to get you a ring before we’re old and grey. Y/N, I love you and —“

“Yes!”

“I didn’t even ask.”

“Okay, fine, hurry, hurry!”

He laughed, “I love you. I want every part of the rest of my life to be with you, all the adventures, the good and the bad, all my memories, I want you in them. Will you marry me?”

“YES!”

You tackled him to the ground after he put the ring on your finger. He laughed as you two lay on the ground with you planting kisses all over his face. He felt the ground rumbling beneath him, and he knew it was because you were so happy. For once, your powers released from happiness and not stress or rage.

You both stood up. Holding hands, you walked back inside the living room where your friends and family shouted and raised their glasses in a toast. Pepper and Clint smiled at each other, and you wondered if they knew what was happening as everyone offered their congratulations.

You could see Steve standing in the background quietly sipping his beer. He gave you one nod of his head. He was being polite. You could see how forced it was. But you knew that look in his eye was determination, and you wondered what he had planned.

“Uncle Shangqi!” Morgan said as she hugged the two of you.

You quickly pieced it together and looked down at her, “You little fucking shit. You knew.”

She nodded her head excitedly, “Yes, yes I did.”

You glanced at Shangqi who shrugged, “I asked Pepper.”

“And me too,” Clint added.

“What the fuck?” You laughed. “Wow. That’s…that’s adorable.”

“Hey, I didn’t give the okay, though,” Peter chimed in.

You rolled your eyes, “Next marriage, Peter.”

“Cool.”

Shangqi blinked, “Wait, what?”

“I’m kidding, I’m kidding,” you laughed and kissed him sweetly on the lips. “I love you, Shangqi.”

“I love you too, Y/N.”

As everyone was about to celebrate with dessert, you noticed that Katy and Bucky had been uncharacteristically quiet. You looked around until you saw the two of them quietly trying to decimate a pumpkin pie by themselves.

“You mother fuckers!” You yelled. “Really?”

“Eat, eat faster,” Bucky said quickly and quietly.

“Shit, she’s getting closer,” Katy said as she grabbed the whipped cream can and sprayed it into her mouth. “Hurry up, Barnes!”

“Yeah, mother fuckers!” Morgan shouted happily.

“Morgan!” Pepper groaned, “Damn it, Y/N!”

However, while on his patrol, Spider-Man fell into trouble. He’d gone dark for about 16 hours before you heard anything from him. You knew he was in trouble, and you were having difficulty finding him and getting a response, until the images started flooding in. They were horrible. Videos of him being beaten with bare fists, kicks, bats, crowbars, stabbed, electrocuted with jumper cables. They ripped his face mask off and showed you how bloody, battered, and bruised he was: beyond recognition.

Leave him alone. You’d send a simple text, what you considered to be a fair warning, they laughed loudly and showed Spider-Man.

Why don’t you come and stop us yourself, my love?

Aw, they had no idea what was coming, did they?

Give me the location.

You were already dressed and ready to go. Once the coordinates had appeared on your phone, you were pulling up your hood and picking out keys from the fishbowl by the elevator.

“Do you need backup?” Tony asked, watching you toss keys left and right before settling on stealing Bucky’s motorcycle.

“Nope,” you replied. “I think it’ll go very, very smoothly.”

Tony watched you closely as he took note of your suit missing the gauntlets that usually kept your powers somewhat restrained. He let out a low whistle, “They fucked with the wrong couple, didn’t they?”

“And they don’t even know,” you replied, turning to glance at your father. 

“Honey,” Tony said tentatively as he noticed your eyes started to gain their familiar golden glow. “Just how hard are you going to hit them?”

“They stay down, they live,” You replied as you stepped into the elevator. “They get back up? Dead.”

~*~

They were laughing.  Tombstone, Rhino, Kingpin. They all thought this was going to be the best day of their lives. Not only did they manage to pull Spider-Man into a trap to beat him within an inch of his life for hours and hours, but they were going to get his girlfriend in the building.

“If you think about it, it’s rather poetic, isn’t it, Spider-Man?” Kingpin asked as he looked down at the bound and tortured hero. “Neither one has to suffer without the other. You both may die together and be reunited.”

“But there will be some suffering,” Tombstone chimed in.

Rhino laughed loudly, “Going to torture her and make you watch, Spidey! And there’s nothing you can do about it.”

Spider-Man could sense you. The second you stepped foot in the warehouse, he felt your presence. His spider senses were going crazy, but he knew he wasn’t the one in danger. The imminent death he was sensing? He looked up at the three men before him, then at all of their minions and henchmen surrounding him. Spider-Man mumbled something under his breath that no one understood.

Kingpin grabbed him around the throat and lifted him up in the air, feet dangling helplessly off the ground as he brought him closer to his face, “What was that, boy?”

“It’s been an honor,” he rasped.

Tombstone himself looked a little stunned as he stared at the hero, “I think he may actually be dying now.”

“No.” Your voice chimed in from the shadows of the warehouse. Where you were? They had no idea. “He just knows that we play on a different level. See, Spider-Man is the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. He holds back. He gives you a chance to do better, to be better. It’s honorable, noble, even.”

“Show yourself, pretty girlie,” Rhino challenged. “We won’t bite! Not too hard, at least.”

You laughed. They still had no idea where you were. You were changing your position, walking around, keeping them on their toes. Peter lay their on the ground as Kingpin tossed him aside. He knew where your voice was coming from, but he kept his head down as he waited for you to do what you had to. At that moment, Peter knew you were furious.

“Let’s play a game,” you said. “The game is called, fuck around and find out.”

“I’ve never heard of that game,” Tombstone muttered while Kingpin rolled his eyes.

“It’s simple, really,” you laughed as you stepped out of the shadows and into a conveniently located spotlight. The only one to visibly have a reaction to your presence was Tombstone, as he took a step back realizing he was in front of an Avenger with god-like powers. Kingpin remained stoic, almost unamused by your entrance, but inside he was planning his escape.

Rhino? Rhino was up for the challenge.

“The first hit knocks you down. You stay down? You live. You get back up, I make your heart explode in your chest.”

Tombstone laughed, “You can’t do that. You’re an Avenger. You don’t do that sort of thing. Captain America would never.”

“Look around, Tombstone,” you said as you stepped closer. “Do you see Captain America here?”

You figured it was the right time to demonstrate. Picking a random victim for your display, you spotted one of Kingpin’s mercenaries. You locked eyes with him, smirked, and held your hand out, fingers spread wide, almost like you were grabbing his heart. Suddenly, you clenched your open hand into a tight fist. Everyone watched in horror as the man suddenly gasped, eyes rolling to the back of his head, blood pouring from his mouth as he fell over, dead on the ground.

“You can’t take all of us, Miss,” Kingpin politely pointed out. “And how would this look for the Avengers if you killed all of us?”

“Like I did the world a public service,” you retorted. “So, are we ready to play?”

Tombstone seemed afraid. He looked around hesitantly before nodding his head to Kingpin.

“Get her,” Kingpin ordered.

Your first blast of power sent the three bosses back on their asses as every single henchman opened fire on you. With a smile on your face, you threw both hands out to your sides. You were surrounded by a semicircle of bullets floating mid-air. As you made them vibrate around you, the bullets turned to dust, creating nothing but a circle of gunpowder and dusted bullet shells. Your power surged out more, and they watched in horror as their guns began to turn to powder as they vibrated out of their grasps.

“Shall I go on?” You challenged.

The bosses tried to leave. They tried to leave to make an escape while their men took their deaths. You blasted a column and watched as it cut off their escape route. 

“Screw this!” Rhino shouted and turned around. “I won’t be stopped by some stupid little bitch!”

You stood your ground as Rhino charged forward. He didn’t care about how many men he took down in his path. He was hungry for blood, and he had his eyes set on you. You held your hand up when he was only an inch away from touching you. You watched in amusement as Rhino tried his hardest to push against your power, screaming as he tried using all of the strength his suit could pull together.

You blasted an arm, first, and then the other. You took away the legs, blasting them to other parts of the room and using the blasts to knock over more men and crush them under the pieces of his suit. He was left unable to support himself. Without the legs to support the torso and the head, he fell over, legs dangling pathetically out of the chest piece as he struggled to break free.

He didn’t have to break free. You raised your fist, and using your powers, punched through the chest of the suit, through his own chest cavity, and stopped only when you felt concrete beneath your knuckles. You pulled your hand out, flesh, blood, muscles, and chips of bone sticking to your arm as you withdrew it.

“Perhaps,” Kingpin began as you stalked towards him and Tombstone, your hands flying out in different directions to knock back their henchmen, whether that was into heaps of pipes that impaled them, or onto wooden studs and nails that stuck out in various places, you did not care. Kingpin watched as you went so far as to blast a hole through one of his men in the chest with your intense abilities. “Perhaps we can reach an agreement of sorts.”

“We will,” you smiled darkly and glanced at Tombstone. “You don’t want a turn?”

“Powers are cheap,” Tombstone scoffed as he marched towards you, a newfound confidence filling him. “You’d never beat me in a fair fight.”

“Why would we have a fair fight?” You asked. “Nothing about this plan with Spider-Man was fair. This meeting was to the death, no? Then let’s make good on it.”

Tombstone charged at you with a hook ready to sink into your cheek. You sidestepped him with ease, watching as he nearly stumbled over his own feet because he put so much power into it. You dodged another fist, then another, and another, and he tried to grab you. You held your hands up and used your vibrations to shatter every single bone in his hand, his arm, shoulder, all the way up his collarbone where you moved on to snap his neck before you blasted him through glass and out of the warehouse.

The only one that was left was Kingpin, who stood tall, but didn’t say a word as you slowly walked towards him.

“Your peers respect you, or fear you, I don’t really give a shit,” you began as you stared up at him. “But you can relay a message for me.”

“And if I choose not to?” He hummed watching you raise your hand. 

You sighed and stopped his heart from beating. He sucked in a breath, but he was trying to remain composed under your power, “If you don’t. I’ll kill you. Which is a shame, if you think about it, you’ve got a strong, healthy heart. It beats slow. Be a shame to waste it.”

Kingpin nodded his head once and you released your hold on him. Dusting your hands off on your suit, you looked up at him and crossed your arms over your chest, “Let this be a lesson. You try to kill Spider-Man? I will kill you. I don’t fuck around. I don’t chase. He’s kind to let you all live with the shit you do. Me? I’m not so nice. I’ve got bigger shit to worry about than petit larceny and the other bullshit you do. As long as Spider-Man doesn’t die? You don’t die, and if you pull this shit again, I will personally go on an insane vendetta and murder each of you without you ever seeing it coming.”

“I will relay your message.”

“Good. If you live.”

Before he could do anything, you used your power and threw him back into the wall, his head slapping against it and falluing unconscious. You shrugged and looked up, shot down some rafters and beams, and made it all collapse on him.

He was a big, strong man. He’d probably live to send the message.

You made your way back over to Spider-Man. Crouching down in front of him, you untied him and pulled his face onto your lap, “Talk to me, sweet boy. Can you hear me?”

He hummed as he nuzzled your thigh, eyes closed as he let relief wash over him, knowing you’d taken care of everything. “I can hear you just fine, darling. You sound exhausted, though.”

“I ate, like, ten protein bars on the way here.”

“Ah, all-natural steroids,” he teased.

“A smart mouth even when you’re half-dead, incredible.” You shook your head and reached into your back pocket, producing a new mask for him. You slid it gingerly over his head to hide his identity for when the two of you left. You pulled him up, draped his arm around your shoulders, and dragged him out of there.

~*~

Back in the tower, Peter was laying in the bath you had prepared for him. He was sipping on a milkshake you made, quietly enjoying the massage you gave his scalp as you washed the blood and debris out of his hair.

“Thank you, by the way,” he said to you, hand reaching back to grab yours and intertwine your fingers together. “I wish you didn’t have to do that. You shouldn’t have to —“

“Peter Parker, you are not the only hero. Hell, you’re a lot nicer than me, but you are not the only hero,” you said as you leaned forward and kissed his jaw from behind. “I would rip this planet in half for you if I had to.”

“That is so sweet, and a little scary, because I know you can actually do that.”

You chuckled and squeezed his hand tightly. “I love you, Peter. We still have a long life together, you and I. As long as I breathe, nothing will come between the two of us, that’s a promise.”

“I promise the same to you, Y/N Stark,” Peter murmured as he kissed your hand a few times. “If you were in that position, I….I’d have killed them too.”

“Well, I let one live,” you said. “Always leave one to spread the word.”

“You think they’ll listen?”

“You fight street-level crime. You think they want someone who kills aliens to come down and kick their ass?”

He pouted, “I fight aliens too.”

“Not as much as I do, luckily,” you joked. “How’s that milkshake treating you?”

“Just what the doctor ordered,” Peter declared. “I think it’s missing something, though.”

“What’s that?”

“I believe she ordered that I receive more snuggles and kisses, please,” Peter turned his head slightly and gave you a mischievous, bruised grin. “What do you say?”

You sighed as you reached up and wiped a little bit of milkshake away from the corner of his mouth, “I say that you’re lucky that you are so cute and have a healing factor so I can really give you what you deserve.”

“Well, as much as you do, at least.”

“Oh, I don’t think anyone comes close to me on that,” you countered, “but I love that your hatred of him has grown. Let your hate consume you, Shangqi.”

“Don’t, don’t go all Palpatine on me. We both know you’re more of a Jedi than Sith leaning anyway,” He sighed as he leaned on his arm.

You chuckled, “Well, definitely more grey-leaning at the least.” You parked in front of Clint’s building, ignoring the fact that the spot you chose definitely wasn’t a spot, and you were likely to get a ticket if some traffic cop came around in the middle of the night. “I see his bike down the block.”

“Great. He’s here,” Shangqi groaned. “This was not how the night was meant to go.”

“I know.”

“You were going to do deplorable things to me, and I was going to do deplorable things to you!”

“Trust me, I’m aware.”

“We were going to traumatize people in a random hotel! I needed this!” He whined and loosened his tie and undid his jacket buttons. “Ugh, let’s just go. At least Clint’s there, he’s cool. Do you think he has food?”

“Honey, I’m nearly positive that man has food.”

Shocking absolutely no one, when you got to Clint’s floor, you could smell pizza. You looked to Shangqi who sighed in relief. You didn’t want to know where that man had gotten pizza from this late at night, but, hey, it was New York, after all. 

The door was already open since you had rung the bell downstairs to be let in. You both walked right into the apartment and were hit by the smell of pizza even more. Clint muttered that Steve was in the kitchen, and you all walked right over there to see him leaning against the counter, his hands gripping the countertop behind him while Natasha leaned against the refrigerator. 

Natasha caught your eye, a tiny smirk forming at the corner of her lips as she addressed you, “Hey, Stark. Still in shock I’m here?”

“What? No. I’m totally fine with the fact that you’re back and we had a totally different relationship in your world.”

“Well, you were dead for most of it in my world, so,” Natasha nodded. “Anyway, Steve’s here.”

“Great,” Shangqi muttered under his breath and grabbed a slice of pizza off the countertop before shoving half of it in his mouth. “So what is it this time, Rogers? You found out we were having a nice night out on the town, and you just felt it in your bones to try to steal my wife from me for the millionth time?”

“No,” Steve cleared his throat and lifted his head to look at you with those pitiful blue eyes. “We have a problem.”

Rolling your eyes, which earned a smirk from Clint as he leaned over to whisper in Natasha’s ear, you hopped up and sat on the last empty counter, “Speak.”

“I think there’s a version of you from an alternatte universe here,” Steve confessed.

This was it. This was exactly your fear, another you in your world trying to cause trouble. You sat there listening to Steve plead his case, how he explained that you, or rather, this version of you, came to him saying how you loved him, that you and Shangqi were no more. He explained that the two of you had been sleeping together and that Steve thought this was the chance he’d been waiting for, but how he realized it was too good to be true the second she called him ‘Stevie’, but he was so enamored with the idea of having you back, he kept on doing it until the guilt got to him.

“So, let me get this straight,” you cleared your throat. “You thought I left Shangqi, and you decided that it was totally normal for me to appproach you and fuck you after leaving my husband.”

“Well, there was a tan line on your ring finger, and you were wearing that blue sweater I really like — “

“I don’t even own that anymore, Steve! I burned it! I can’t fucking believe you. I can’t believe you honestly thought it was me and you just went with it thinking with your fucking dick first! This is unbelievable! And, what, you had your fill of her and you’re telling me this now, why?”

Steve groaned, “Like I said, Y/N, I, I just wasn’t thinking. I thought it was you, okay? I love you, and I —“

Steve did not finish his sentence. Shangqi had quietly taken one step forward, just enough space for him to reel back and throw his fist against Steve’s cheek. The super soldier stumbled but quickly recovered to see Shangqi fuming.

“You need to stay the hell away from my wife,” Shangqi growled. “Just keep her name out of your fucking mouth, Rogers.”

Clint cleared his throat to get your attention, “You gonna stop that?”

You crossed one leg over the other and grabbed one of Clint’s discarded beers to drink from, “Nope.”

“Shangqi —“

“No,” he said, cutting him off quickly. “No, Steve. I’m sick of it. Ever since.I met you, you’ve been trying to get her away from me. Now you’re just standing here telling me all about how you slept with her and thought we were done, so you swooped in like a vulture? I mean, what kind of brazen piece of shit are you?”

“I get you’re upset, but you’ve got to understand our history here —“

“No —“

“Gentlemen,” Natasha said loudly to cut over their bickering, “You’re missing the point here. Y/N Stark from another universe is here looking for family. What does that mean?”

Steve shook his head, “She just said she wanted me back and how she loves me.”

“And what have you been doing?” Natasha asked, then rolled her eyes when she saw Steve turn red, “Aisde from sleeping together, Steve.”

“She kept talking about starting over, and having a family together and stepping away from all of this,” Steve explained. “It was...very domestic, I hadn’t heard you say anything like that for a long time, Y/N.”

You hummed, “Well, I haven’t been feeling very domestic for a long time, and you were gone, so, you know —“

“Before that —“

“Whatever —“

“She talked about wanting kids,” Steve said. “But she kept it short, like it upset her.”

Clint frowned, “Where is she, Steve?”

“She’s at the compound. I left saying I was meeting Bucky.”

“Wow, Captain America lying again, amazing,” Shangqi snickered.

“Out of curiosity, where’s Morgan?” Natasha asked.

“At home….” you trailed off. “Do you think she’d go after them?”

“I think if she’s desperate for a family, who knows what she’s capable of.”

You knew you had to act fast, you jumped off the table and went to grab your phone from your clutch as you started barking orders, “Steve, call my father. Clint, get the special arrows —“ 

“They’re all special — “

“You know which ones,” you said quickly, locking eyes with the man who cringed and nodded.  You nodded to yourself, “Shangqi, rings?”

“Car.”

“Okay. I’m calling Strange, we’re gonna need him.Here’s the plan. We’re teleporting to either the compound, or the lake house. Clint, I want you nowhere near. I want you as far as you can get while maintaining sight. Shangqi, you, Steve, Sam, and Bucky are on quake watch — after we kidnap them, of course.”

Shangqi balked, “Excuse me?”

“Oh, let me make myself clear:  If one or both of us gets close to breaking the planet in half, you have to stop us. Your rings can, at the very least, match my power. They have vibranium, Stephen can teleport them, and Clint —“

“Has knockout arrows and a very special netting arrow where the netting is very thinly laced with vibranium, made it after the snap, not sure how strong it is yet, but I guess we’ll find out,” Clint added as he threw his quiver on his shoulder. “Let’s get going, shall we?”

“No plan for me, Stark?” Natasha asked after a moment, head tilting to the side as she stared at you. “I’m hurt.”

You chewed on your bottom lip, “I’m sure you can guess what I need from you.”

Natasha’s eyes flickered over to Shangqi. She watched as the man gave her the most confused stare on the planet as he looked between her and you. Natasha looked back to you and gave you one quick nod in understanding.

~*~

After gathering everyone in the middle of the night, you went to the compound to prepare for something potentially horrible. Tony said that no one had come to the compound yet, but he did have his sensors go off for seismic activity near the property before it stopped. 

You deduced that, perhaps, you realized that the other you had been detected and decided to back off of the lake house for now. This way, when everyone was at the compound and in position, Shangqi several feet behind you with Steve, the rest of them laying in hiding, you expected to see yourself. You were waiting for it, but watching a version of you suddenly land in the dirt in front of you, ground cracking by her feet, it was unnerving. When she stood at her full height, you felt a little uneasy watching her stare at you with such intensity.

Is this what it was like when people saw you? Wow, this was a lot.

“So we finally meet. You found me out. It took you long enough,” she said to you. “I’m not here to fight.”

“Good,” you replied. “Why are you here?”

“It’s simple,” she explained. “I lost everything, and I want my life back.”

You shook your head, “You can’t have it by taking mine.”

She laughed in your face, “Is that what you think? That, that you and your band of merry friends hiding in the trees could stop me from taking what I want?”

“Well, clearly,” You shrugged and nodded to her. “This is my life, not yours. I think it’s time you go.”

“You’re not sending me back,” she shook her head. “You got your dad back, your friends, you got Stevie back and you don’t even love him like you should.”

“He hurt me — “

“We hurt him,” she snapped. “We failed him.”

You laughed in disbelief, “We didn’t do shit. Fuck that guy, he’s a prick. I knew my self-esteem was low, but damn, that low to think you’re missing out with Steve of all people? Rough, buddy. I — “

“Don’t talk about him like that!” She threw her hand up and made your heart stop. You gasped for air and clutched your chest as you went straight to the ground. Shangqi ran forward, his hand shooting forward to hit her with a ring, but she deflected his own ring back to him and sent him flying in the air until Steve jumped up, caught his arm, and brought him down.

“Stop it!” Steve shouted. “Stop hurting her!”

The alternate version of you lowered her hand. You gasped for air as the pain stopped and your heart started pumping blood once more. You looked up as she started approaching you in a slow, sinister walk.

“You don’t know what it’s like to watch your husband die,” she hissed. “To watch the life leave his eyes because he died for you. You have no idea how that feels.”

You held up your hand, your index and thumb close together, “A little bit.”

Laughing, she knelt down in front of you, “I lost everything, and you have everything I want, well, almost everything I want.”

You stared up at her and narrowed your eyes, “Oh, right. You wanted a baby, right? Did you think you can just take my sister and raise her as your own? Fat chance. Why not just keep letting Steve use you as a cum dumpster? He’s stupid enough to think you’re somewhat like me.”

She chuckled again and shook her head, “You don’t even know, do you?”

“Know what?”

“We can’t have children, Stark,” she explained to you. “Have you never tried? Two husbands, and not a single attempt at kids? Sad, pathetic, even,” she shook her head. “We can’t have children.”

You laughed at her. She was lying, clearly. You were perfectly healthy, so why would you be unable to have kids? That wasn’t even a thought that had crossed your mind, it wasn’t a concern, nothing ever came up. “That’s, that’s just not true. You, maybe, but there’s nothing wrong with me —“

“Miscarriage, after miscarriage, after miscarriage, and you know what I learned?” She stood up tall. “We’re just too physically unstable to have a kid. All that power we hold in, it’s too unstable an environment, and when we use it? It’s even worse. You will never be a mother, Y/N Stark. You will never have that picture-perfect family that I know you want, but I will.”

Now, given that this was you, you knew what to expect. Your hands came up just as hers did, and the two of you were intent on using your powers to kill the other, but you were locked in a stalemate. Shangqi tried to throw his rings into the mix, but the power emanating from you two, they couldn’t even penetrate.

Steve’s shield hovered in the air near you, but it was flung right back. You and yourself were making the earth beneath you shake and crack, a split forming in the dirt between you. Chunks of the ground started to shoot up, and as the earth started to split, you both started to lose your balance, but neither were giving up.

“Just let me have this!” She shouted at you, “Let me have him! You don’t even want him!”

“You’re right, I don’t,” you agreed. “But I’m not letting some cunty, harpy version of me have him either. You will not have my life.”

She nodded frantically, “Fine, then die!”

While you were sitting in traffic, you leaned against the window and sang along to your music. Nothing else mattered unless it was the car in front of you moving, and right now, nothing was moving. Groaning, you banged your head on the steering wheel before sitting up and sighing. Everything came to a standstill, and upon peering through your windshield, you realized that traffic was not moving for miles ahead of you, and there were strange colors in the sky. In fact, it almost looked like the sky was being ripped apart.

“Oh, shit,” you muttered and dug around your glove compartment. Grabbing an earpiece, you put it in your right ear. “Wednesday? What’s going on.”

“I’ve detected anomalies in the fabric of space and time,” she explained.

You nodded, “Is this a Doctor Strange thing?”

“Boss, it seems like this is going to be an everyone problem. I’m detecting lifeforms entering through the ripples in the sky. I can’t get in contact with Doctor Strange.”

“Shit,” you swore under you breath. “Fuck it. You know what? I’ll say it. Avengers Assemble.”

There was a pause, “Does that mean you’d like me to contact everyone?”

“Yes, Wednesday, get every single person here! Contact Wong, see if he can make portals. Do anything and everything we can. Geez, Steve says Assemble and you go on autopilot but when I do it you hesitate? The nerve.”

“Boss, you’ve overused the term and have said it just to get ice cream. I had to ask.”

“Rude,” you muttered. “Contact Shangqi and Katy — shit, they must know what’s happening. Tell them I’m on the way.”

You shed your jacket and tossed it in the backseat. After rolling up the sleeve of your blouse, you looked down at the watch you had clearly stolen from your father and worked on tirelessly to fit your needs. You tapped the face of the watch three times and sat still as a suit of nanotechnology enveloped you. It wasn’t an Iron Man suit, not by a long-shot, but it was your old suit with a bit of a design upgrade.

Exiting the car, you shut the door, locked it behind you, then took a deep breath.  As you were about to leap into action, you nodded to yourself and ran into the nearest corner store and grabbed a protein bar. You went to pay, realized you had no cash on you in this suit, had to run back to your car to get cash, run back into the store, pay, inhale the bar, and then leap towards the chaos.

Finally someone was able to relay some information to you. Karen was able to send a message from Peter to Wednesday who was able to tell you a brief version of what was going on. In short, Stephen Strange and Peter Parker had fucked up.

You met up with Shangqi and Katy by landing with a mighty thud behind them. Shangqi had his rings, and Katy was equipped with a bow and arrow set she had looted from a nearby sporting goods store. You looked to the two of them and exhaled deeply.

“Wow, you look fucking hot,” Katy blurted out. “You should honestly go back to being a full-time Avenger because. God, wow, what a look.”

“I agree. Please, please wear that more often,” Shangqi nodded as he stared hard at you.

“Thanks, guys,” you laughed. “Well, welcome to the shit show,” you exhaled slowly and looked around quickly. “Katy, you’re not going to be good here.”

“Hey! I’m plenty capable and — “

“I’d never mean it that way,” you said quickly as you looked around. “You need a vantage point. You’ve only got a set amount of arrows, too. Okay. Here,” you opened your palm and gave them each an earpiece. “It’s already set to the channel we need, it’s 3, always 3. Katy, I want you up in that building, that window, right there,” you pointed. “Can you do that?”

Katy nodded, “Yeah, yeah. I can do that.”

“Good. We’re going to get you there. When we do, you’ll stay there. Give us aerial support. Clint’s in town taking care of some shit so he’ll be here too. I’m sending him to you.”

Katy nodded quickly, “Tell him to bring extra arrows.”

“Oh, he never remembers that. Okay. Shangqi, ready?”

He nodded, “Let’s go.”

You and Shangqi fought to get Katy to her designated location. He was using his rings far more than usual, just because these were giant aliens with armor and guns he’d never seen before in his life. You were using your powers to blast holes into their bodies, disintegrate their weapons, or knock them back. Katy was shooting off her arrows as well, and each time an enemy fell, she scooped up her arrow and tucked it into her, also stolen, quiver.

You reached the building. Katy held onto your shoulders as you launched into the air. You both went tumbling through the glass window of the building. Dusting yourselves off, you looked each other over to make sure the other was okay. When she was all set up, you leapt back out the window and landed next to Shangqi who was looking ahead of you.

The world was splitting. The multiverse was exploding all around you. Chitauri aliens you had defeated in 2012 were suddenly energy through ripples in the fabric of time, along with various other monsters and other people you’ve never seen before or you’d already defeated.

You looked to your left and saw Shangqi using the back of his hand to wipe the blood dripping down his brow. He looked to you after seeing the horde ahead of the both of you.

“Ready?” He asked you as the rings glowed on his arms.

You nodded quickly, “We don’t separate. We move forward, but we’re not letting them get past this point.”

He nodded back just as quickly, “And I’ve got a Snickers bar somewhere in my pocket if you need your energy back.”

You snorted at him, “Gee, thank you.”

“What? I can’t have you fainting on me at a time like this.”

Rolling your eyes, they began to glow a beautiful, bright golden color as you raised your hands ahead of you.  “I appreciate the honesty.”

The two of you charged. Shangqi launched himself into the air while you sent your hands forward, your powers knocking down dozens upon dozens of aliens, if they didn’t turn to dust or drop dead from your powers. When Shangqi landed, he used the rings as whips extending from both of his arms to knock them back. The two of you were creating a pathway to connect with the rest of your team as they entered the fray, all while trying to get this under control.

Exhausted, you slumped against a lamp pole as Shangqi skidded to a stop next to you. He took a deep breath and reached out to hold your hand, muttering that you two were almost there. Just as he said it, four massive Chitauri dripped from the sky and landed in front of you, guns ready to blast you both to smithereens. Both of you held your hands out, prepared to stop whatever came at you, but nothing ever did.

You heard a familiar whir that made your heart stop. You gasped when you heard the noise, and when you saw a red and gold suit drop in front of you, you thought you were dead. Arms reached out to cover the both of you, and rockets launched from the back of the suit. When they were dead, you all stood up, and you stared at this Iron Man suit wondering who had the nerve to steal something that belonged to your father.

Whoever was in the suit was staring at you. They barely looked at Shangqi when asking if they were all right, but when looking to you, this person froze and stared at you for a moment.

You heard the mask open up and you stared into the face of your father. His eyes were red and overflowing with tears as he stared at you in shock.

“You’re alive,” he croaked.

You couldn’t believe it. Your dad was standing in front of you. Tony Stark, flesh and blood in his suit like so many times before. His breathing was heavy as he stared at you, and you felt like your legs were turning into jelly. It was hard to stand, but thankfully you were already leaning on the pole. You felt like you could faint at any moment. You were frozen in place as Tony’s hand reached towards you, the thumb of his suit running down your cheek.

“You’re alive,” he laughed in disbelief. “You’re alive. You’re alive! You’re alive!”

All you saw was a blur before you felt yourself be lifted in the air. You glanced back and noticed his suit was totally open and he was no longer in it. Glancing down, you realized Tony had lifted you in the air and was hugging you.

“My darling little girl,” Tony muttered into your hair as he hugged you. He sucked in a deep breath as his hand cradled the back of your head, “God, I missed you.”

You were speechless. Your dad was holding you again, something you had craved for so long and never thought you’d experience ever again. A cry escaped you as you finally lifted your arms to return the hug, a gesture that made Tony silently cry into your neck. But as you were hugging him, something was running through your mind on repeat.

You’re alive.

“What, what do you mean I’m alive?” you asked quietly.

Tony pulled away from you, unsure of what to say. He avoided your question and looked to Shangqi. He suddenly straightened up, his body on high alert as he studied him. “What are you doing with Kid Mandarin, here?”

“My husband?” You asked, sniffling and wiping your tears, “We’re kind of killing aliens.”

“Husband?” Tony was in disbelief. “What happened to Steve?”

“Oh, here we go,” Shangqi muttered under his breath.

“Long story — Why did you call him Kid Mandarin?”

Tony stared at you like you were insane, “He’s the leader of the Ten Rings. You know this, right?”

“Not here he isn’t…” you trailed off. 

“Honey,” Shangqi said quietly, “You did say it was the multiverse. I mean, he’s….well, he’s not your Tony. Do you get what I’m saying?”

You did. You did. You knew it. But you didn’t want to believe it. You just nodded your head, stood tall and looked at your father.

“There’s a lot going on right now, but we can’t focus on us, as much as I want to. Get in your suit. We’re trying to get to the statue of liberty.”

Tony couldn’t help but smile at how you were taking charge, “Okay, cupcake. I clocked Legolas and Kid Mandarin’s sidekick, Mini Nectarine a few blocks back.”

“Jesus, that’s not even funny that’s lazy fruit naming.”

“Anyway, I can give them a lift. We’ll do a loop around, meet everyone there.”

“Okay,” you nodded. “Be careful, please.”

“You too,” he nodded and stepped back into his suit. Before taking off, he locked eyes with Shangqi, “No funny business, Tangerine.”

Shangqi pursed his lips as your father took off, “So that happened.”

“I genuinely cannot even begin to address that right now,” you said.

“Yeah, I figured.”

“I need that Snickers bar right now, please.”

Shangqi nodded and handed you the candy bar. He stood beside you as you ripped it out of the wrapping and ate it in three bites. When you were ready, he nodded, and the two of you took off once again to your destination.

On your way there you came across a mammoth of a monster. It was double the size of the Hulk and looked intimidating beyond belief, but you, you were impatient and wanted nothing more than to get to the bottom of this.

Glaring at this creature, you raised your hand and did a move you had only done to Steve once before, but it was so much harder to do this time around. Your outstretched hand clenched into a fist and you patiently stood there, glaring at this creature as you made its heart stop beating and watched the light fade from its eyes. He collapsed in a heap on the ground, blood seeping from all of his orifices while Shangqi stared at you. He frowned seeing a hint of blood drip from your nose.

“You can’t do anymore right now,” He said quickly. “That was too much for you. Calm down.”

“We gotta get to the statute,” you said quickly. “At least it looks like they’ve stopped coming in. Come on, we have to do this.”

“Fine, but we’re stealing a boat —“

“I can do it,” you said quickly.

You two reached the dock and looked in the distance at the statute. You looked to Shangqi who nodded to you and held on to your shoulder and forearm. Crouching down, you launched yourself into the air. Three times your feet barely skimmed the water before you launched off again. On your final landing, you just barely made it to the edge of the park. You collapsed on the ground with your nose bleeding, and Shangqi quickly crouched down to you.

“So stubborn. I told you we had to steal a boat,” he sighed as he helped you to sit up.

You shrugged, “I’m impatient.”

“Oh, trust me. I’m aware,” he muttered and looked around. “Okay. Easy, babe. I’ve got you.”

You both finally reached the welcome wagon. Bucky, Steve, and Sam were staring at a man on fire who suddenly was no longer on fire and looked alarmingly just like Steve. Peter was flanked by not one, but two other Spider-Man’s and what looked to be a girl in a spider suit that was white and pink and black with turquoise. You were so confused. There was a man built like an orange stack of rocks, a beautiful blonde woman, and another brunette man with streaks of grey on his temples. 

Then there was the Black woman with stunning white hair, a man in a wheelchair, another with claws coming out of his hands, and what looked like a giant blue beast.

Then you saw her. Natasha Romanoff stood among everyone, and you knew immediately this wasn’t your Natasha. Her hair was short like you remembered, but it was back to being red. Her armor was unlike anything you’d seen her wear before. It looked apocalyptic. She looked tired. There was a sadness to her eyes that you’d never seen before.

Everything was so, so quiet, until you heard the whir of your father’s suit. Then suddenly, a gasp.

“Natasha?” Clint breathed when he stepped away from Tony and saw her.

Natasha turned her head. She looked to Clint and smiled softly, “Hey, stranger.”

It was rare to see Clint emotional. He was always so stoic. But that man collapsed to his knees right where he stood, sobs prompting his body to shake as he fell to the ground. Natasha holstered her weapons and quickly made her way over to Clint. He shook his head in disbelief, repeating over and over again that she wasn’t real. 

Natasha rested her hand on his shoulder which prompted him to look up at her. When she touched his cheek, he reached out to touch hers. His thumb caressed her cheek, her lips, then he pulled away as he sobbed and Natasha wrapped her arms around him to hold him tightly to her.

Katy made her way over to the two of you. You were now leaning against Shangqi, who hugged Katy tightly and muttered that he was glad she was okay. Your attention was elsewhere, and Katy understood why. She said nothing as she watched you.

You were staring at your father. Tony looked around at this group of people, most of which felt like they were seeing yet another ghost. Tony’s head stopped as he spotted Steve. Quickly rushing over, he pulled Steve in for a hug that surprised everyone around.

“It’s good to see you, Cap,” Tony said. “I’ve missed my friend.”

Steve stuttered as he returned the hug, “I—yeah, Tony. It’s good to see you too.”

Tony pulled away and kept a hand on his shoulder, “Now, where’s my little girl?”

Steve glanced at Bucky and Sam who reached bowed their heads and took one step away from that shit show. Steve pointed across the way to you. Tony turned around and started to walk towards you. He left his suit behind as he stood in front of you, hands on your shoulders as he gave you a long, thoughtful look.

“I never thought I’d see you again,” Tony said softly. “I should’ve told you this before, and I never got the chance.  You, Y/N, you are my first greatest creation.”

And just like that, you shook the park that the Statue of Liberty was on so violently that the torch fell clean off of her. Tony pursed his lips and studied you. Since you had seen him, you were sad. Your eyes were full of tears, and you stared at him like you’d never seen him before.

After a moment, it clicked for him. He took a deep breath and nodded to himself, “I’m the one that died here, aren’t I?”

Tears fell as you nodded quickly, unable to form any words at the moment. 

“That’s how it should’ve been,” He nodded and pulled you in for a tight hug.

That phrase from earlier, you’re alive, kept replaying in your head. Sniffling, you clutched onto him tightly as your eyes darted back and forth as you processed this.

Strange’s head tilted back slightly in surprise. He opened his mouth to offer a snappy remark right back at you, but Sam reached out and put a hand on the man’s shoulder. 

“I wouldn’t do that,” Sam whispered. “She learned to stop a person’s heart. It would not end well for you.”

He did not like the idea of letting this go, but in the interest of self-preservation, he didn’t make a smart comment. Instead, he rolled his eyes and created a portal back to the Sanctum, telling everyone to get inside so they could discuss what had happened there.

~*~

Of course, Stephen Strange had no idea how to reverse the spell. He didn’t know what to do. All he could tell everyone was that things were going to be different for a while, which wasn’t something that was very comforting to anyone considering what was going on. People were displaced from their own worlds and placed in a new one. Plus, everyone was learning that the multiverse thing was, in fact, real. This was a lot for anyone to take in.

And then there was you, staring at your dad the entire time, shocked that he was standing here. What were you going to tell Pepper, or Morgan? Could you even tell them? How the hell would that even go about? The amount of therapy alone everyone needed was going to be enough to put eight generations of therapists’ kids through school, you were sure of it.

Plus, god, you had a hard time looking at Natasha. She was your best friend for so many years. From the moment she entered Stark Industries until the day she died, that woman was as important to you as Clint was. You had barely processed her death yourself, and here she was, well, a version of her, standing there and listening to Strange drabble on and on, even elbowing Clint to make a face during Strange’s speech.

You excused yourself, muttering that he was boring you half to death. In doing so, you prompted everyone to agree that he was utterly obnoxious, prompting a bunch of them to split off. You exhaled slowly as you wandered around and found the kitchen in the Sanctum. Shangqi was hot on your trail with Katy, and you realized Tony was there as well only after you had poured yourself a glass of water and turned around.

“Hey, cupcake,” Tony said. He glanced around, an eye settling on Shangqi which made your husband stop and do a double-take.

“Are you sizing me up, really?” Shangqi asked.

Tony shrugged, “It’s weird. You’ve always had a thing for her. Now you’re married. Gross.”

Katy blinked, “Hold on. Mr. Iron Man Stark, sir, Tony, guy, did you just say that the evil little dark Shangqi from your world has a thing for your kid?”

Tony shuddered, “It was so annoying. We’d come across him, he’d flirt with you, do his little evil flirting shit, you’d flirt back if Steve was there for reasons that were too TMI that made me want to drown myself, rinse, and repeat.”

Katy found this hysterical while Shangqi was standing there wondering what the hell happened on Tony’s earth that made him the leader of the Ten Rings.

You, however, found no amusement in it. You cut straight to the unanswered question from earlier, “How did I die?”

Tony sighed, “Right, right. Well, we were fighting Thanos.”

“After the snap?”

Tony looked at you confused and shook his head, “No, there wasn’t a snap.”

“Huh?”

Tony leaned on the kitchen counter, “Steve filled in some parts for me. Well, Steve on my Earth, your husband. You thought I was dead when Thanos arrived, and he had taken everyone out. It was just you and Wanda left. Hell, you thought Steve was dead, too. Thanos and Wanda kept doing this dance with each other. He’d rewind time, she’d nearly kill him, and, from what I was told, you were just so angry and upset. You used a lot of your strength that day. Blasted Thanos back, you protected Wanda. You’d never really gone very dark before, but they told me that you were destroying his body from the inside out.”

“Oh,” you muttered. “And he killed me?”

“No,” Tony shook his head. “You killed yourself. All the strength you used to rip Thanos apart, destroy him and the gauntlet? Thanos was dead before he could use those stones again, and you gave yourself an aneurysm and died.” Tony looked down at the floor, arms crossed over his chest, “You’d never done that much before. Hadn’t even done anything close to that scale. You were so concentrated on using your power on Thanos alone and not spreading it everywhere else that seconds after Thanos was dead, so were you.”

“Holy shit,” Katy breathed and turned to stare at you. “God. So what did I even see of you today? I mean, that was amazing, but, is that, like, what, child’s play?”

“No,” Shangqi said quickly. “Because she got a nosebleed taking out that really big ugly looking thing before we hit the statue.”

You rolled your eyes, “That’s because I had already done a lot. I could probably do that now, easy. I almost destroyed the entire planet when —“

“When what?” Tony asked with a frown. “What happened?”

You chewed on your lip as you watched him, “You died. Thanos snapped and half of us were dead, myself included. Five years later, you guys fought again, and you snapped. It was too much for your body, your suit.”

Tony hummed as he mulled this over, “I guess we both have a bit of a martyr thing going for us, don’t we?”

You snorted and shrugged, “Yeah. I guess we do. Wonder where we get it from.”

“Your mother, obviously,” He remarked casually.

You nodded, then straightened up, “Wait, my mom. Is she?”

Tony glanced at you and shook his head, “Car accident when you were young.”

“That checks out,” you muttered darkly under your breath.

You two were very quiet. You almost weren’t sure what to do. He was your father, but he wasn’t. He technically wasn’t supposed to even be there. You wanted to get close to him and yank him back into your life. At the same time, you didn’t know if Strange was just going to magically fix one of his mistakes (finally) and send him away within the day.

Luckily for you, your father did not like awkward silences unless they were at the expense of someone. He lifted his head when he heard the crunching of potato chips. He spun around to see Shangqi and Katy trying to quietly, but failing, eat a bag of potato chips together. Your father turned around completely, one arm crossed over his chest with the other lazily pointed between you and Shangqi.

“So, how did this shit happen?”

Katy beamed and grabbed Shangqi’s shoulders with her greasy fingers, “Well, this one is a good little boy. His dad was the leader of the Ten Rings, but he’s dead now. Now Shangqi is a good boy who fights bad guys and loves your daughter very much.”

Tony blinked, “So your dad died and you didn’t take up his legacy? Weird.”

Shangqi frowned, “How is that weird?”

He shrugged, “You did it in my world.”

“Okay. That’s fair,” Shangqi muttered.

Tony hummed and stared at Shangqi wondering how this could have happened. On his Earth, you and Steve were it for each other. You two had such a magical relationship before your death that Tony couldn’t possibly have pictured somebody any better for his daughter.

You, on the other hand, were often used to your dad staring at people, usually men in your life, and making them horribly uncomfortable. So, you ignored him and outstretched your hand to Shangqi. He smiled and told you there was a tax to pay. You pouted while Katy made barfing noises. Shangqi grinned, leaned across the counter, and puffed out his lips. You chuckled and leaned forward to kiss him before shoving your hand into the bag and shoving the chips into your mouth.

“So,” Tony said after a moment, snatching the bag from you both to feed himself, “What did Steve do?”

“What do you mean?” Katy asked, “Like, here, on this…realm thing?”

“Why aren’t they married?” Tony asked. “No offense, kid, you seem way nicer than your evil counterpart, so far, but I thought my kid and Rogers were endgame. Did that never happen?”

You stared at your dad, “We got married. I got snapped away by Thanos. When I came back, after your funeral, your perfect son-in-law left me to go back in time to live out his life with Peggy without even telling me. Then he came back, and a spell from Doctor Strange made him young again. Oh, and he wants me back, apparently.”

Tony blinked twice, “You don’t say.”

“Yup,” the emphasis on the ‘P’ making your lips smack together. “Funny, isn’t it?”

“Rich, rich in humor, definitely,” Tony nodded. “Excuse me for a second.”

Tony left the kitchen and you realized what you had done. Your eyes lit up with delight as you started to chase after your dad.

“Wait, what’s happening?” Katy asked as she followed you, and Shangqi was hot on her heels.

“Everything I’ve ever wanted,” you sighed happily as you followed your dad all the way to the grand staircase.

Steve was sitting on the steps casually talking to Sam and Bucky. Tony was making his way towards him, and Steve sent him a smile, happy that this Tony seemed to actually like him. Before Steve could ask him what was going on, Tony reeled back and threw a fist into Steve’s perfect jaw.

“You left my daughter for some fucking pin-up you kissed once!?” Tony shouted as he started to pummel Steve.

“Oh, fuck that,” Sam muttered as he quickly moved away from the stairs.

Bucky followed his lead and moved away. He stood next to Katy who elbowed him, “Not gonna get in that?”

Bucky shrugged and shook his head, “Nah. I mean, oh, Sam, we should really help,” he said flatly as he crossed his arms over his chest.

“At the rate that’s going, we might have to,” Sam muttered.

“Tony!” Steve shouted as he was shoving the man back, “Tony, stop!”

“How could you of all people disrespect my daughter you geriatric piece of shit?” Tony yelled and grabbed him by the collar of his suit. “My little girl? For some woman you kissed once after how long, Rogers?! You fucking idiot!”

Shangqi slowly moved until he was standing next to you. You were smiling at the scene, hands resting on your hips as you watched your dad scream at Steve. This was just as satisfying as you had imagined. Shangqi took one look at your face, shook his head, and crossed his arms over his chest, “Is this everything you wanted, babe?”

“I’m loving it,” you looked over at him and nudged him. “Come on. You don’t love this?”

“Oh, no, I do.” Shanqi sighed and draped his arm around your shoulders, “I love seeing your father beat your ex-husband. But, wow, you really are a daddy’s girl, huh?”

You shrugged your shoulders, “You want to open that can of worms, mama’s boy?”

He shook his head, “Nope.”

“Good boy.”

~*~

Everyone ended up going to the compound that night. You didn’t know what to tell Pepper. You told her the suit caught on the news was an old suit of Tony’s that Wednesday found and was piloting. You were confident she didn’t believe you, but you were happy with the fact that she was not pressing this issue. Maybe she needed time to understand this as well.

For right now, you were at the compound with the entire team. You’d offered space to the others who had entered, but both groups said they knew places they could go to, which was…odd, but given that the guy in the wheelchair, who you learned went by Charles Xavier, seemed to have everything figured out, you really didn’t feel like pressing for more info.

Your brain was occupied as it was.

You went to the kitchen in the middle of the night intent to get some sweets. When you got there, you already saw Clint sitting on top of the counter with a spoon breaking into a fresh carton of ice cream. He looked at you, reached across to pull open the utensil drawer with his foot, and gestured for you to grab a spoon. 

Snorting, you grabbed a spoon and jumped onto the counter to sit beside him and eat ice cream, “Can’t sleep either?”

“Well, I saw my dead wife today, so, no.”

You frowned, “Sorry. How ya doing?”

Clint shrugged, “We were just best friends where she came from. We weren’t married.”

“That’s gotta hurt,” you muttered.

“You weren’t even her best friend. Not close at all, actually.”

“Okay, thats super rude,” you muttered.

“Right?” He smiled and shook his head. “Yeah. She was the last man standing on the entire planet. She got sent here. And she’s my wife…but not my wife.”

You pursed your lips, “This sounds like you need chocolate syrup.”

“And whipped cream, please.”

You grabbed the sweets and drowned the ice cream in more sugar. You both stuffed your faces, and sat in silence for awhile.

“So, your dad’s back. Call your therapist yet?”

“Shut up,” you muttered. “You’re right here, anyway.”

Clint rolled his eyes, “What are you going to tell Pepper?”

“I don’t know. I almost don’t want to, but I know I have to. This is a mess.”

“Tell me about it. How’s the husband feeling about it?”

“Eh, he loved seeing Steve get his ass kicked. He’s pretty happy about it. Doesn’t love all the nicknames, though.”

“Eh, could be worse,” Clint shrugged. “He’ll get used to it.”

“If Tony sticks around,” you mumbled.

Clint pursed his lips, looked up at you, and raised his spoon full of ice cream, “Cheers.”

“To what?”

“I don’t know. Whatever this bullshit is?”

You shrugged. You clinked your spoon against his. You two finished the carton of ice cream and went your separate ways. When you went back to your room, you climbed into bed next to Shangqi and placed your hand on his chest.

He hummed as he pulled you in close, “How was that midnight snack?”

You sighed, “Cold. Tasty.”

“Bring me any?”

“We ate it all. How about a Pop-Tart?”

He hummed and opened his mouth. Snicerking, you opened the package and shoved a piece into his mouth. Shangqi chewed and rolled over so he was facing you. He pulled you closer again and buried his face into your neck as he inhaled your scent, “Doing okay, honey?”

“I don’t know…” you trailed off. “My dad’s asleep a few door’s down. Technically not my dad. But, yeah. He’s there after not being here for so long.”

“He’s not asleep.”

“What?”

Shangqi yawned, “Threw the door open, barged in, demanded that we be decent, said to not be as stupid as Capcicle, then he left and said he was going to try to sleep. No idea why. I think he’s trying to scare me.”

You groaned, “That man is going to sit in the garage all night and pass out in three hours.”

“Oh, sounds like someone I know.”

“Shut up,”

He chuckled and kissed your forehead, “One step at a time, babe. You talk to Pepper, first. If Morgan’s around, I’ll go play with her, keep her distracted.”

“Don’t slip up. You know how Morgan tricks you.”

But, people would find out, eventually, and you figured, even though you hated him, this was a good way to cover for Steve as well so he didn’t spend more of his life in hiding, even if you had enjoyed him suffering a little more.

To get away from all of that, Shangqi suggested you both went away for a little bit. You agreed fairly quickly. It was going to be just the two of you. No Katy, no Bucky or Sam joining in and turning your vacation into a mission, it was just going to be the two of you away together, and your destination of choice?

“I can’t believe I’m in London,” Shangqi laughed. “It really is super rainy out here, though. Is that why you picked it? Want to live out some emo fantasy?”

You snorted, “No, I just wanted an excuse to keep you under the covers.”

Shangqi laughed. He reached across the table and took your hand in his. He brought it up to his mouth to bite your knuckles playfully before kissing them, “Honey, please. I’m more than just a sex tool for you.”

“Are we sure about that?” You teased. “I mean. It’s not a bad tool, ya know. Some men would love for me to use them.”

“Well you can go find some of those men then, those men who just want to be nothing more than an object for you.”

“Well, if you insist — “

“No, no, I’m kidding. Use me all you want,” He laughed and pulled your chair closer to him. “I’m all yours, babe.”

You grinned and leaned over to kiss him. Shangqi smiled softly, closed his eyes, and held your chin as his lips gingerly pressed against yours. The two of you took a leisurely time in finishing your coffee before heading out on more adventures together.  You both went on a Jack the Ripper tour, which made Katy infuriatingly jealous when you sent her pictures about it.

However, you both had different interests. You wanted to go to the Natural History Museum, but Shangqi was interested in seeing a football game that day. Chelsea was playing that afternoon. You really didn’t want to, you knew you’d be bored, but he seemed like he really wanted to go. Plus, you knew he’d be bored to death at the museum.

“You go,” you told him. “Go see the game. I’ll go to the museum. Why don’t we meet up again later tonight for dinner? We can meet at 8, gives us time to do some other things the other might not be interested in. I’ll text you some restaurants and you can tell me which one you want to go to.”

Shangqi sighed happily as he grabbed your hands and held them against his chest, “How did I get the coolest wife ever?”

“Eh, you’re cute,” you teased. “Also, what makes you think I’m not just tired of you?”

He gasped, “Baby. You trying to get rid of me already?”

“Nah,” you kissed him on the lips. “But we can do our own things. I still got the whole rest of the week with you, and we’ve got a few other countries to go to. Enjoy the game, babe.”

He sighed happily, cupped your face, and pressed a tantalizingly long kiss on your lips. He pulled away soundly, kissed your forehead, and happily ran off in another direction towards the stadium. You shook your head and went off to find a cab to take you to the museum.

~*~

There was something so nice about being a Stark sometimes. Well, often you had a lot of attention on you that you didn’t like to deal with, and you pawned it off on your dad every single time. However, when it came to finding the best places to eat? You didn’t care. You threw that Stark name out there if it meant you were going to get a seat at an amazing restaurant. Sometimes it worked in your favor and you were amazed. Other times, they served a soup spoon’s worth of food as an entree and you left feeling incredibly hangry.

For now, you were at the restaurant you had settled on with Shangqi. You had gotten there first. You were on the bottom level of the restaurant. It was dark, secluded, dimly lit by candles. It was definitely for their wealthier clientele given all the privacy that was available. Quite frankly, you just really, really liked how it looked.

As you were perusing the wine list, you noticed someone heading towards you. You glanced up and saw your husband heading towards you with a purposeful stride. He wore an all black suit, the top two buttons undone, his hair combed and polished, different than how he had looked, all disheveled and giddy earlier that morning.

“You look amazing,” you blurted out as you stared at him. “I—I didn’t even realized you had packed that suit.”

“I’ve got to surprise you somehow, don’t I?” He smirked as he hovered over you, eyes slowly scanning you from head to toe. “You look absolutely ravishing.”

You turned bright red under his gaze in the restaurant. Your eyes followed him as he took the seat across from you, his eyes still glued on you almost like he’d never seen you before. “That’s a new dress, isn’t it? You weren’t wearing that this morning.”

“Yeah, I, I uh, I saw it in a shop. Decided to get it on a whim.”

“Good. You look like a goddess,” he replied as he leaned forward and stared at you. “You deserve to get whatever you want.”

You laughed a little and pushed your hair behind your ear, “Did you get hit in the head with a soccer ball at that game today, Shangqi? You’re smoother than usual.”

He paused for a moment to study you almost like he was trying to pick the perfect thing next to say. “I clearly don’t worship you as much as I should. I’m trying to play catch up. How am I doing so far?”

“I’m not complaining,” you giggled and noticed the sommelier approach. “Oh, I was looking at the wine list. I was thinking — “

“I’ve got it,” he raised is hand slightly to you to signal he had this covered. You leaned back and watched him as he ordered the exact wine you had wanted. You were impressed. You raised an eyebrow, and he noticed this. “I browsed the wine list online on my way here. I had a feeling.”

“Wow. Put on a full suit, picked out the wine. You’re extra smooth tonight, Shangqi.”

“Yes, is it working?”

You hummed, “It’s something.”

He smirked at you, and you felt like he was piercing your soul. You were putty in his hands. Shangqi could have his smooth moments. Especially when you both were undercover in Maripoor. He has it in him to be more suave and dark and seductive, you knew that, you just didn’t expect it to be happening right now.

You also didn’t expect him to maintain eye contact with you as he drank his wine. He stared at you like you were ice water in a desert. His tongue ran across his bottom lip, and his eyes flickered down to gaze at your body once more before he decided to be even more bold. He stood up from his seat and went over to your side. You were both sitting in a small, intimate booth, and he moved you over to sit next to you and wrap an arm around you.

“What are you doing?” You asked as his fingertips played with the ends of your hair.

“I can’t get enough of you, baby,” Shangqi remarked as he studied you. “I’m a lucky man, aren’t I?”

“I’d say so.”

“I know so,” his hand gingerly held your chin and turned your face  so you were looking up at him, “You’re the smartest woman I know. You are so strong. You are stronger than anyone around. You’re a goddess, my love. All that power, that intelligence. You are ethereal, and you could have men kneeling at your feet at your every whim.”

Red in the face, you chewed on your lip and leaned back slightly, “You saying you’d get on your knees for me, Shangqi?”

He leaned in close, his lips ghosting over yours, “Say the word and I’ll show you how much I mean it.”

“Yeah? Right here, right now?” You snorted.

His other hand landed on your knee and started to slowly creep up your thigh, “Do you want to find out?”

Your eyes widened, “I believe you. Wow. No need for us to get arrested for public indecency.”

“But what a story it would be, wouldn’t it? These people would be so lucky for a show like that.”

That was off-brand, even for your goofy, horny husband. You brow furrowed slightly as you studied him. Your hand rested on his chest, and unbeknownst to you, he knew you were trying to monitor his heartbeat while you spoke to him, likely about to question him.

“Are you sure you’re feeling okay?” You asked.

“When I’m with you, I feel amazing,” He replied.

His heart rate was perfectly fine. He wasn’t lying, but something seemed off. Before you could ask him another question, you could hear shouting. You leaned over to your side to see who was rushing towards you with waiters following him, while Shangqi rolled his eyes and slowly turned around.

In front of you, you saw Shangqi. Again. He was wearing what he wore earlier, minus his wedding ring. His hair was disheveled, he looked like he’d been dragged through dirt. His sleeves were rolled up, rings on his arms, and he looked furious.

“Get the fuck away from my wife,” he seethed as he glared at the man sitting beside you.

Your eyes flickered back and forth between the two men quickly. It was almost like a little timer went off in your head. Your eyes widened and you swore loudly as you went to stand up. The Shangqi next to you, however, quickly pulled you down and kept you beside him.

“You don’t deserve her. You poor, pathetic excuse for, well, me,” he laughed. “Just like Captain Rogers, you are nowhere near good enough for her. I’m doing you a favor,  Shaun. Move along. Let a real man take it from here.”

Shangqi was huffing and puffing, “That’s not my name.”

“No?” He raised an eyebrow, “It was my understanding that in this world you left that namesake behind and adopted a new identity. Isn’t that right, Shaun? You’re no leader. You’re no man. You don’t deserve Y/N Stark, but I do.”

“Ohhhh fuck….” you mumbled to yourself as your dad’s words came flooding into your brain. Once again you tried to pull yourself away from this other Shangqi, but his grip on you was tight. Huffing, you put a little more force into your shoving, and you knocked him clear out of the booth before sliding out and preparing yourself for a fight.

“She doesn’t want you.” Shangqi said. “All of this bullshit? She doesn’t like that. She doesn’t need a guy like you in her life.”

“No?” This other version of Shangqi laughed and leaned against the wall ever so casually. “Let’s check that seat then, see how wet I got her while you were all tied up.”

Your husband lost his mind. He shot his rings at this darker version of himself, who easily side stepped them with a maniacal laugh. “Is that all you’ve got? Fine, I’ll play. I’ll even make it easier for you.”

He opened his black suit jacket and revealed the rings hidden carefully in the lining of the jacket. The rings floated out and surrounded him in a dark glow. He rolled up his sleeves and stared at Shangqi as the rings circled him.

“I’ll take two away.”

Suddenly two of the rings shot towards you in the time it took you to just blink. The bands slipped onto your wrists as you were trying to force them away. With a flick of his wrist, the new Shangqi had you pinned against the wall with your wrists over your head.

“Sorry, my love. I don’t want you to get caught in the crossfire.” He spared a glance in your directions, shamelessly admiring you from head to toe, “But at least you look so good like that, just for me.”

“Son of a bitch,” your husband ran at him. Charging, he threw an absolute flurry of fists at this man, who met each and every attack of his. The two were painfully evenly matched, because they were quite literally fighting themselves.

In the meantime, you were focusing your power on the rings. You needed to get them off of you and free yourself without bringing the entire place down. Fueled by only a glass of wine and some bread, you shut your eyes, took a deep breath, and managed to launched the rings off of your wrists and send them through the ceiling.

Oops.

You fell down on one bended knee. You looked up and could see both men stuck in a stalemate with one another. As your husband had his copycat in a hold so he could rip his wedding band off of him and take it back, the other Shangqi hit your husband with a cheap blow between the legs and seemed very intent on using the rings to smash his head in. You quickly ran in front of him, held up your hands, and managed to stop the rings midair. Now the two of you were in a stalemate, and you couldn’t miss how this man’s eyes lit up.

“See? You are a god. That man is no true holder of the rings. That boy is beneath you, love. I’m what you truly need.”

You tilted your head to the side as you stared at him, “You will never be my husband.”

“You’ll see.” Shangqi shot you a devilish wink before using the rings to break through the ceiling and launch himself out of there. You considered chasing after him, but you turned around and knelt down in front of your husband. 

“I can’t believe I kicked myself in the balls,” your husband groaned as you helped him sit up. “Fuck. Baby, are you okay?”

“Are you?” You asked quickly as your hand rested against his cheek. “I’m so, so sorry honey. I didn’t know. I mean, I suspected right when you got here — I mean — I — it was like Madripoor.”

Shangqi sighed dramatically, “I knew you liked that suit, and you said you didn’t,” he teased.

You rolled your eyes. “I’m sorry. Can you forgive me?”

He thought about it, “Is it cheating if it’s an alternate version of me?”

“Can we say it’s not because it was an accident and I love you?” You squeaked.

“I’ll let it slide,” he replied as he rubbed the back of his head. “Goddess, huh? So that’s your thing too? Got a little praise kink going that I don’t know about?”

You smacked his arm, “Are you okay?”

“Head hurts. He took me by surprise, but I’ll be fine.”

“Come on,” you helped him to stand up and gently caressed the back of his head. “Let’s get you back to the hotel. I’ll take care of you.”

“I kind of feel like you should after this whole thing. I might be traumatized, babe. You were stepping out on me with me. That can mess with a man.”