currently working on [Mafia Bucky x songstress fem reader] Dead on Arrival (10/?)
MCU
Bloody Necessities || After months away from his city, Steve returns home to find that his long lost best friend has returned with a request in mind. [VAMPIRE MATT, HUMAN MAFIA LEADER STEVE ROGERS] (1/?)
The Call Out || You get hired as a live-in babysitter for the city’s most dangerous mafia boss, Pietro Maximoff. [MAFIA LEADER PIETRO X BABYSITTER!FEMALE READER] (1/?)
Count on Me || As a powerful mafia leader, the Reader commands respect and loyalty across every corner of the city. Her trusted right-hand man, Steve, brings an old friend into her world—Bucky Barnes. Drawn beneath her watchful eye, Bucky finds himself standing at a crossroads: will he willingly take his place at her side, or will he resist until the bitter end, spilling blood in a war he was never meant to fight? [MAFIA LEADER FEMALE READER X MUSICIAN BUCKY] (1/?)
Dead on Arrival || He was known as the King of Brooklyn, mastermind of the town and its city limits. Anyone could tell you that and you’d be a damned fool not to know that. He was feared and respected by all who had breathed the scent of his cologne. And God forbid those who wrongly crossed his path. His name was almost like a curse, anyone who wasn’t a close friend or a family member, died within days of speaking out against him. She grew up fearing him. After all, he was the reason her mother had died in a car explosion when she had barely passed the age of twelve years old. Of course, it wasn’t exactly his fault. Her mother happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, or so she believed. He had been targeting an enemy and the explosion just happened to go off just as her mother strolled the streets, bags full of groceries cradled in her arms. [MAFIA LEADER JAMES BARNES X SONGSTRESS FEMALE READER] (10/?)
Dragon Dweller || She longed for freedom, yet when the opportunity arises, will she brave the green lands outside of her prison? [Knight!Bucky x Princess!Wanda] (1/?)
In All Its' Glory || Feeling scared for your life, you confide in your best friend, Sam Wilson for help in order to keep your ex boyfriends away from you. He issues you a business card to the famed businessman Mister Barnes. Will you be able to avoid your husband, or will your life be torn apart? (1/9)
Into the Darkness || It's been decades since you've had a good time. So when the vampire king threw a ball for the town, of course, you'd gather with your best friend - who happened to be an enemy of the king unbeknownst to you. So when he'd murdered her in front of you, you had no idea what would come about in your life. You had no idea about the history of your creatures, your homage, and the wars fought within your races. But the handsome king persuaded you too easily into his confinement, locking you away from the outside world. Would you ever live to seek revenge? or even your freedom ever again? [Vampire au] (4/?)
Little Lion Man || Bucky's living a double life; he'd been keeping horrible secrets about his life away from you for as long as the pair of you were in diapers together. Horrible secrets that he would rather die than tell you about. When his father dies in the enemies' territory, he has no chose but to come clean about his strange secretive life. [Mafia Bucky x Female Reader] [5/13]
Lost Without You || After Bucky’s long-term girlfriend falls ill from sickness and passes away quickly in her sleep, Bucky changes. He’s not the same man he once was. Will a new face moving in next door help him out of his depression? Or will he forever be lost in a world where he was once so happy? [bucky x female reader]
Songbirds and Gunfire || One night off from your career as an officer of the law can't be too adventurous, right? Once a week, you perform songs for funsies at a friend's bar, never expecting anything in return. Until one night, you're informed that the most dangerous man in the city of Brooklyn wants you in his sights, mafia lord, Bucky Barnes wants to see you. Being an officer of the law, you find this opportunity to be a silver plate, getting close to Barnes, finding out his dirty secrets, and getting close to his inner circle. You never expected to get in serious trouble with him. You're an amazing actress, or so you thought. What will happen to you if he finds out about your double life? [Police Officer/Songstress Female Reader x Mafia Leader] [19/?]
Survival Instinct || Memories are to die for [Steve Rogers x Wanda Maximoff] (2/?)
Swab Yer Decks || After the death of Bucky’s father, he inherits his pirate ship and sets sail to find Cortes’s treasure. Along the way, he reunites with you, his long lost childhood friend. But you quickly realise he’s not that innocent child you once knew long ago. (6/?) [Pirate Bucky x Female Reader]
SPN
A Little Piece of Heaven || After the death of their father, John, Sam and Dean Winchester own the city of Lawrence, Kansas, where a mystery surrounds that of a newcomer at Bobby’s bar after the strange circumstances of Charlie Bradbury’s disappearance, who is this newest addition to Bobby’s bar? Is she the reason behind all of Dean's friends disappearing in thin air? [Songstress Female Reader x Mafia Dean Winchester]
In the Lonely Shadows || Crowley's always there to help convince you everything's going to be okay after Dean leaves with Lisa & Ben. (3/?)
Punchline Secrets || Living a double life shouldn’t be so easy. [Mafia Lord/Boxer Benny Lafitte x College Reporter Female Reader]
This Is Gospel || Dean Winchester is quite the troublemaker in his small hometown. He’s had a troubling childhood, losing his mother in a house fire, his dad being killed by a cop when he was barely 23. He’s all alone in this world, only having his brother Sam Winchester to fall back on in times of trouble. Castiel is a police officer who helps him along the way out of trouble and into a life of recovery. [Police Officer Castiel Novak x Criminal Dean Winchester] (12/17)
HARRY POTTER
A Stolen Heart || When Draco discovers his childhood enemy isn't who he says he is, will he be able to keep himself together? What about his marriage and family? WIll he be able to keep himself in check? What happens when Harry discovers that Draco might actually return his secret feelings? [Harry Potter x Draco Malfoy] [Post Hogwarts] [4/?]
OTHER FANDOMS
Runnin' || Jefferson is a common thief. What happens when he stumbles upon a carriage carrying a beautiful woman? Will she convince him to turn his life around? Or will she join him in the life of robbery? Will he abandon her and continue on by himself? [Robin Hood!Jefferson x Princess!Reader] (1/?)
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IDEAS I HAVE THAT I HAVENT STARTED YET
MCU: Title: Forelsket //Title came from @hy-whump-hei absolutely FOREVER ago. Non avengers AU. You and Sam had been friends since you were in diapers together, your parents being longtime friends before the pair of you were born. Being born barely a month apart, you'd claim that you were siblings in a different timeline. The pair of you did everything together; potty trained, learned to ride bikes, spending family vacations and holidays together. In was almost impossible to see one without the other. Sam started dating first, a freshman in high school. You loved the girl, almost like she was another sister to you. You loved that Sam loved her. Oftentimes, you'd spend the weekends at each other's houses growing up. In middle school, your peers assumed you were already together, but both of you denied the claims. Those rumors didn't fall to silent ears with Sam's girlfriend however and the pair had broken up, much to your sadness. He never once blamed you for the breakup, only seeking comfort in the form of taking you to see movies to get his mind away from her. It was months after Graduation, right before the pair of you went off to separate colleges that you realized you couldn't be without him. He'd been by your side your entire life, being in separate colleges scared you. The thought of never seeing him again in person terrified you. You'd spoken to your parents about this feeling several times, only ever receiving small smirks and chuckles in response. It wasn't until the week before he moved away that you'd sat up in bed from a cold sweat only to realize how deeply you loved Sam, and not in the familial sense. You were falling in love with the man he'd become, only to realize it a week before college.
Title: Winter Shadows Summary: Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes were both captured and brainwashed by HYDRA after their supposed deaths in WWII. Steve, however, was deemed too mentally resistant to full conditioning, so HYDRA discarded him as a failed experiment. Before doing so, they planted fabricated memories of a woman named Peggy Carter—a love he never had. Decades later, Steve wakes up in a world he doesn’t understand, haunted by the image of a woman he’s desperate to find. When Bucky resurfaces as the Winter Soldier, fragments of the truth begin to unravel, forcing Steve to confront his true past—and the lies that shaped his life. [TSW STUCKY] [no reader inserts]
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The summer I fell in love with a mafia prince.
Taken By the Sea [Sequel] im half temtped to have her & him raid a town for funsiess
I HAVE AN IDEA: IN AN AU WHERE SAM NEVER RETURNS FROM THE CAGE, RIGHT? DEAN DECIDES TO STOP HUNTING ENTIRELY BC IT HURTS TOO MUCH. HE MOVES TO SOME FUCK ALL CITY AND JOINS THE POLICE FORCE. HE CHANGES HIS NAME, BURNS ALL OTHER IDS AND JUST DECIDES TO LIVE AS MARK MEACHUM
A Kiss to Break [sequel]
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IDEAS I HAD FROM AN OLDER BLOG
Violence is Enough- Mobster!Dean Winchester. Follows his journey of spiraling downhill once he witnesses his father’s death. Will Y/N be enough to help him stay in his right mind?
Addicted- Mobster!Bucky where the reader is a drug dealer for another mob and Bucky rescues her
Dance Your Heart Out- Based off the movie Footloose.
Remember the Name- Based from the movie Anastasia. Bucky is a runaway prince. But his memory has been lost. Will his best friend guide him to his royal home? Or will he forever forget his past?
Beauty Beholds The Skies- Beauty & the Beast au. Jefferson (Or bucky) is a vastly arrogant prince, his parents had abandoned him while he was still just a boy. He’s become gross and arrogant, evil, even over the years. And when a lost dog comes barking at his door, with its’ beautiful owner close in toe, will he reform himself and fall in love? Or will he turn his cheek?
fic idea based on the Disney version of Mulan It’s gonna be semi following the plot line, where the reader signs up for war, taking her fathers place. The troop she is in all think she is a male (since she gave a male name) until one night, Bucky, the captain, sees her wounded chest. Later, they fall in in love. But will the love last, is the question?
Better in Time- Hunchback/Rapunzel crossover fic. (well, the fic will be based from them both) BuckyxReader
Mission: Impossible- Mobster Era. Avengers are part of a mobster crew. Tony gets captured and the team is sent ransoms and letters vowing that the men responsible will indeed kill Tony if the Avengers do not give up money & territory.
Toxicity- Dystopian fic. A nasty virus spreads throughout NYC and somehow the reader/Bucky haven’t caught it. However, they’re nowhere near their friends, the Avengers. Will they reach them in time before its too late? Or will the virus win victory?
Some Nights- Mobster!Bucky the reader’s father is a mob boss and you fall in love with one of his henchmen
The Orphan- This fic is still in the mind-process. It will follow the journey of an orphaned boy, Peter Parker, who gets adopted by a Mobster, Tony Stark.
Over The Rainbow-Mobster!Clint Barton. Everyone believes the reader is homosexual until she starts dating Bucky Barnes.
Reflections-Mobster!Soulmate! Au!- Mobster Tony Stark is a rival of Bucky Barnes. Always has been, forever will be. But what happens when Bucky’s own sister falls for Tony Stark at a first meeting?
Turn Back Time- Au where the reader is the one who gets the vibranium arm. Bucky & the Avengers go to rescue her. [stucky x reader] [HAVE THIS INS GOOGLE DOCS, NEED TO REWRITE]
Till I Collapse - Mafia Sam Wilson
Last Resort - A/B/O DeanBenny (older benny)
Her Portrait in Black - Rewrite of Little Lion Cub (mafia bucky) turning it into a mafia Dean)
Run to the Hills -Prequel to Royally Screwed, focusing on Steve x Reader friendship/ exile
The East Side Tragedy -- Mafia Clint Barton x Reader
Empty Walls - Dean Winchester is a Mob Boss. And when Dean wants something, he will do whatever it takes to get it. And what is he currently after? Oh, nothing, just the beautiful broad singing up on his Uncle Bobby’s stage. [Mafia Dean au]
Chandelier - Boxer Steve Rogers
Preaching for Hell - Rewrite of Fade to black, except Reader's the vampire this time.
Lost & Fading- Finding Nemo!au- Bucky becomes desperate to find his best friend once he realizes she’s disappeared from the Avengers Tower. Will he find her? Or will she forever be lost to him?
Change Your Mind- Brave!au- After an intense fight between you and Bucky, you vow to get your revenge on him. He thinks your kidding around until he wakes up with an arm made of metal. Will he forever have the metallic limb? Or will you both resolve your issues and cause his arm to become human like once more?
Tell Me Baby- Frozen!au- You joined the Avengers at the tower as Tony’s assistant, giving him whatever he wants and doing whatever he wants. Unbeknownst to the team, you’ve been hiding your powers- you can control fire, even spit it form your very fingertips. What will come of you once Bucky finds out this crucial information?
The Number of the Beast- Tarzan!au fic. Bucky grew up inside Hydra’s facility. It’s turned him into a despicable monster. Will the Avengers be able to tame the beast inside TWS? Or will he forever be a monster?
Seize The Day- Rapunzel fic. Steve Rogers fic. An accident causes Steve to discover the reader has been locked away in a tower nearly all her life. Will he be able to save her?
Remember The Name- Based from the movie Anastasia. Bucky is a runaway prince. But his memory has been lost. Will his best friend guide him to his royal home? Or will he forever forget his past?
Better in Time- Hunchback/Rapunzel crossover fic. Bucky’s trapped in HYDRA’s facility & the reader KNOWS Bucky already, so against the team’s wishes she goes all alone… but gets imprisoned herself. And then then team realise she’s missing so they go and find them both.
Based on a Tumblr screenshot (which we can't add here) from : @autisticvoltronld :
How will this work?
You already know who you want to work with? Great! Fill this form!
If you do not have anyone:
I will provide a google sheet to fill for those of you who do not have someone to write with. Please either choose from the people already there or fill it!
The description says 5 chapters, but we only need THREE: each writer will write three (3) chapters, for a total of six!
You (as a team) will choose two (2) tropes and two (2) prompts that are opposite!! This will be most fun if your choice are truly opposite, so keep that in mind as you choose!
Lists to chose from (Please open this link in a new tab because you will need it!)
How many words per chapter? You will decide a range between the two of you. What is doable for each writer always changes so it is up to your team to decide.
Sign up period: June 1st to June 30th
Writing starts July 1st
There WILL be check-ins every two (2) weeks!
I will need to know who is writing which chapters, so we know who to check in with.
updated May 3 2026. I'm separating the dialogue prompts into their respective sections. Went through Anger & Angst Lists the last few days & separated them into smaller lists. Will be working on the horror/Apocalyptic list next!
PLEASE reblog if you use any of these/wanna share with your writer friends!!
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Summary: Arranged Marriage with Thor is a slow emotional roller coaster. But the pair of you learn to love each other. [WC 1K] [Ao3]
Warnings: Fluff, arranged marriage, a hint of angst
Request: @saiyanprincessswanie Requesting a fanfic of Thor and Female Reader. Arranged Marriage & Eventually Falling in Love with Their Spouse. “We were meant to be. I know it.”
The first time you meet Thor, it feels less like a beginning… and more like being dropped into the middle of a story you never agreed to tell. The throne room of Asgard is overwhelming—gold and light and expectation pressing down on your shoulders.
You stand straight anyway. You refuse to look small.
Even when he walks in.
Thor is… exactly what the stories say. Broad-shouldered, radiant, carrying thunder in the quiet way he breathes. His eyes find you almost immediately—and linger. Not with love. Not yet. With curiosity. With something careful. “This is her?” he asks, voice low, not unkind—just uncertain.
Odin answers for him. “This union will strengthen both realms.”
You swallow. Of course it will. That’s all this is. A treaty wrapped in silk and ceremony.
Thor looks at you again. Longer this time. And then, softly he asks, “What is your name?”
You tell him.
Something shifts.
The wedding is grand. It has to be. Crowds gather. Music swells. Hands are clasped. Vows are spoken that feel too heavy for your tongue.
Thor’s hand is warm when it holds yours. Steady. When he says the words, he doesn’t rush them. He looks at you like he’s trying to understand what they mean—what you mean.
“I will honor you,” he promises.
You believe that much. Even if you don’t believe anything else.
—
The first weeks are… quiet. Not cold. Not cruel. Just distant.
Thor is kind in the way of someone who doesn’t yet know how to be close. He walks beside you through the halls, shows you the gardens, explains the stars like he’s offering pieces of himself—but never quite stepping close enough to touch.
You learn his laugh before you earn it. You learn his silences too. And at night, the bed feels far too large.
He never forces closeness. Never reaches without asking. It should make things easier. It doesn’t. Because part of you wonders if he simply doesn’t want to.
The first crack in everything comes during a storm. Of course it does. Thunder rolls across Asgard, wild and restless. You stand on the balcony, watching it split the sky open, feeling something ache deep in your chest.
“You are not afraid?” Thor’s voice comes from behind you.
You don’t turn. “No.”
A pause.
Then he steps beside you, close enough that your shoulders almost brush. “This storm,” he says quietly, “it listens to me. And yet… tonight it does not.”
You glance at him. “Maybe it’s not meant to.”
Another pause.
Then—surprisingly—he smiles, just a little. “You speak boldly for someone who was brought here against her will.”
That stings.
You finally turn to face him fully. “And you speak lightly for someone who married a stranger.” The thunder cracks louder. But neither of you look away. “I did not want this,” you admit, softer now. “Not like this.”
Thor exhales slowly. “Nor did I.”
Something fragile settles between you. Honest. Uncomfortable. Real.
It changes after that. Not all at once. But little things begin to shift. He lingers longer when he speaks to you. Asks questions—not about your realm, but about you. What you miss. What you like. What makes you laugh.
You start to answer. Reluctantly at first. Then… not so much. You catch him watching you sometimes—not with duty, but with something warmer. Something searching.
And one night, when you laugh he looks almost startled. Like he’s just discovered something he didn’t know he needed.
It happens slowly enough that you don’t realize it’s happening at all. Until the day you’re hurt. It’s small—a misstep on the training grounds, a twisted ankle, nothing serious. But Thor is there in an instant.Too fast. Too worried.
“Are you harmed?” His hands hover, afraid to touch without permission—but his voice… his voice gives him away.
You blink at him. “It’s nothing.”
“It is not nothing,” he insists, jaw tight. “You are hurt.”
“I’ll live.”
“That is not the point.”
Silence falls. You stare at him. He stares back. And something clicks into place.
“You care,” you say, barely above a whisper.
Thor stills. Like he hadn’t meant for you to see that. “…Yes,” he admits. The word is quiet. But it shakes something loose in your chest.
That night, the distance in the bed feels unbearable. You sit on the edge, staring at your hands, heart racing for reasons you don’t fully understand. “Thor?”
He looks up immediately. “Yes?”
You hesitate. “Why did you marry me?”
The question hangs heavy between you.
His answer comes slowly. “At first?” he says. “Duty. Obligation. Expectation.”
You nod. You knew that. But then he stands. Walks toward you. Stops just close enough.
“Now?” he continues, softer. “I do not think it was chance. Or politics. Or fate forced upon us.”
Your breath catches. “Then what?” you ask.
He studies your face like it holds the answer. Like it always has. “We were meant to be,” Thor says, voice low, steady—certain in a way that makes your heart stutter. “I know it.”
It should feel ridiculous. Too soon. Too much. But it doesn’t. Because somewhere along the way… you started to feel it too. Not as a command. Not as a duty. But as something chosen. Something growing. Something real. You reach for his hand first this time. And when he holds yours, it’s not out of obligation. It’s because neither of you want to let go.
He hesitates just inches away, like even now he’s giving you time to pull back. You can feel it—the warmth of his breath, the faint tremor in his hand where it hovers near yours.
“Is this… alright?” Thor murmurs, voice softer than you’ve ever heard it.
Your heart is racing so loudly you’re sure he can hear it. “I don’t know,” you admit, barely above a whisper. “But I want it to be.”
That’s all it takes.
He closes the distance slowly—carefully—like something precious might break if he moves too fast. When his lips finally meet yours, it’s gentle, uncertain… and a little clumsy.
But neither of you pull away. Because nervous or not—this feels right.
Hate to be that weirdo but if you follow me or like my posts AND your blog is empty when I get there I'm gonna assume you're a bot. And probably block you. As might other people.
Reblog stuff!! This is the reblogging website - we invented it! It doesn't even have to be my stuff - it can be whatever you like! An empty blog is just weird sorry
Summary: He's watching you. For several nights. He finally tells you why. [WC 647] [AO3]
Pairing: Ex-Hydra Agent Reader x TWS!Bucky
Warnings: being stalked, angst
Prompt: 20. “Always feeling like someone is watching through the window…” Bucky Barnes ✌️ definitely has horror movie potential 👻 @goblin-king-of-anarchy67
3K Writing Challenge (send in a prompt!)
You notice it the third night in a row. That feeling. The slow crawl up your spine. You’re brushing your teeth when you feel it — that prickle at the back of your neck, like static electricity. Like someone’s eyes pressing into your skin. You freeze.
The bathroom window is small. Frosted. But there’s a sliver at the edge where the curtain doesn’t quite cover.
And you swear -with all of your being- something moved.
You tell yourself it’s nothing. You live in the city. Fire escapes creak. Shadows shift. Your mind fills in gaps.
Still.
You start double-checking the locks.
By the fifth night, you stop standing near windows entirely. You keep the curtains drawn. You avoid the living room after sunset.
But the feeling doesn’t stop.
It’s worse when you’re alone in bed. The blinds barely parted, letting in thin silver streetlight from outside of your house. You roll onto your side, facing the wall, because if you don’t look at the window, maybe it can’t look at you.
You almost convince yourself you’re imagining it. Until there’s the faintest sound. Metal against brick. A shift of weight on the fire escape. Your breath catches. Silence. Then gone.
He isn’t there to scare you. Not really. He’s there because HYDRA gave him your face. A target file. Surveillance photos. Routine patterns.
He learned the times you leave for work. The exact minute you turn off your bedside lamp. The way you hum absentmindedly when you’re cooking.
The Winter Soldier does not feel.
But something in him hesitates when he watches you tuck a loose strand of hair behind your ear. When you laugh at a show alone on your couch. When you pause at the window, looking out — almost like you feel him there.
He stays in the shadows of the fire escape, metal fingers silent against rusted railing. He tells himself it’s reconnaissance. He tells himself it’s timing. He tells himself it’s preparation. But he’s been “preparing” for five nights.
On the seventh night, you don’t close the curtain. You’re tired. Tired of feeling hunted in your own home. You stand in front of the window deliberately. Your hands are shaking, but you push the curtain fully aside.
“Whoever you are,” you whisper, voice barely steady, “just stop.”
Silence.
The city hums below. And for a second — just a second — you see him. A shape across the alley. On the opposite rooftop. Half-hidden in darkness.
Broad shoulders. Long hair. A glint of something silver where a hand should be.
Your stomach drops. Your eyes lock. And something strange happens. He doesn’t move. Doesn’t aim. Doesn’t advance. He just… stares. Not like a predator about to strike. More like someone trying to remember something.
The next night you wake up absolutely freezing, the window is open when you sit up. Just slightly. Cold air drifting in. You know you locked it.
You know you did. Your heart pounds as you sit up.
He’s inside. Not close. Standing in the far corner of your bedroom like a shadow pulled into human shape. You can barely make him out except for the arm — matte metal catching moonlight. Your breath shatters in your lungs. He doesn’t lunge. Doesn’t speak. He just watches you.
And when he finally moves, it isn’t toward you. He steps closer to the window. Guards it. Like something out there is more dangerous than he is.
His voice, when it comes, is low. Rough. Rusted from disuse. “…They’re coming.”
Not threatening. Warning. You realize with a cold, dizzying clarity — You were never afraid of the wrong thing. He wasn’t watching to stalk. He was watching to make sure no one else got to you first. He knew exactly who you were -- an ex-hydra agent, trying to live a normal life. He wasn’t there to kill you. He was there to make sure you stayed safe.
Summary: He sees proof that conditioning can fail. [WC; 1.1K] [AO3]
Warnings: angst, EX-HYDRA Agent Reader
Request: @0ccvltism another one re: our yap sessions winter soldier bucky finding someone he trained before hydra can winter soldier bucky finding out that someone is just. living NORMAL which is not a good thing when hydra is on your ass winter soldier bucky trying to come to terms with the two very different things he knows and is seeing
The Soldier notices you because you don’t behave like an asset.
Hydra assets move with purpose. They scan reflections. They count exits. They do not laugh.
You laugh.
The sound is bright and unguarded, cutting through the cold Washington air as you stand outside a café arguing playfully with a barista about oat milk. Your shoulders are loose. Your hands expressive. There is ink smudged on your fingers and a canvas tote hanging off your shoulder that reads City Books in fading print.
The Soldier watches from across the street, unmoving. His targeting lens sharpens automatically.Facial recognition confirms identity in 0.8 seconds.
Former trainee: Delta-9.
Status: Decommissioned prior to full field deployment.
Directive: Incomplete.
His jaw tightens under the mask. Delta-9 is not supposed to exist outside containment. He remembers you.
Sixteen. Thin. Bruises blooming purple along your ribs from earlier evaluations. Defiant in the way only unbroken things are defiant.
You had trembled when they handed you the knife.
He had stepped behind you, adjusting your grip with his metal fingers.
“Your wrist is weak,” he had said.
You hadn’t flinched. You corrected your stance and tried again. And again. And again. Until your hands stopped shaking.
Now you’re shaking from laughter. You take your coffee and thank the barista by name. You use his name. Hydra stripped names. Hydra reassigned numbers.
The Soldier tracks you as you walk down the street. You don’t check the windows. You don’t track footstep patterns behind you. You stop to let a golden retriever sniff your hand.
You crouch. You expose your back to the open sidewalk. Your pulse remains steady. He can see it in the small hollow of your throat. Careless. Or healed. Both options are unacceptable.
You live above a bookstore. He confirms it by watching you unlock the door and disappear inside. He waits. Your lights flick on. Warm yellow. A shadow moves past the curtains. Music filters faintly through the old brick walls. You hum along off-key. He experiences a system irregularity.
You once hummed during training while icing a sprained wrist.
He had silenced you.
“Noise is a distraction,” he had stated.
You stopped immediately.
Now no one stops you.
Hydra will notice. Loose assets become liabilities. Liabilities are terminated. He has executed termination protocol on former trainees before. It is clean. Efficient.
Necessary.
He tells himself this as he steps into the alley behind your building the next night. He allows you to hear him.
Testing response.
You turn. Your weight shifts subtly to the balls of your feet. Knees bend slightly. Not full defense. But not civilian softness either.
Good.
Your eyes move from the rifle. To the metal arm. To the mask. And then they land on his eyes. Recognition is slow. Confused. Then it settles.
“…Sergeant?” you whisper. The word detonates somewhere deep in his chest.
He steps forward. “Incorrect.”
But your expression isn’t afraid. It’s something worse.
Relief.
“They told us you were dead,” you say softly. You take one careful step closer.
He doesn’t retreat. “You are compromised,” he states. “You were not cleared for civilian integration.”
A flicker of confusion crosses your face. Then understanding. “I ran,” you say. “Before final conditioning.”
That is not how the system works. There are no exits.
You swallow. “I got help. I changed my name. I built something normal.”
Normal.
The word feels foreign. He studies you clinically. Your hands are ink-stained, not calloused from weapons. Your stance is relaxed, not coiled. Your breathing steady. But there’s steel beneath it. Subtle. Controlled. You survived.
“You are a risk to Hydra operations,” he says.
Your chin lifts slightly. “I know.”
“If located, you will be retrieved.”
“I won’t go back.” You don’t say it bravely. You say it simply. Fact.
The Soldier’s trigger finger rests along the guard.
Protocol demands elimination.
He calculates angle. Wind drift. Distance.
Your eyes don’t leave his. “You trained me,” you say quietly.
He stills.
“I remember your voice more than theirs,” you continue. “You corrected my stance. You told me to keep breathing through pain. You told me hesitation gets you killed.”
Memory fragments spike violently.
You bleeding from your brow during sparring.You refusing to yield.You asking once, in a rare unguarded moment:
“Do you ever get to stop?”
He had not answered.
He does not answer now.
“You were the only one who didn’t enjoy hurting us,” you say.
Incorrect. He did not enjoy.He executed.
You step closer. Close enough that he could end you in less than a second. But you don’t flinch.
“Why are you really here?” you ask.
Before he can respond, footsteps echo at the mouth of the alley.
Hydra retrieval unit. Black tactical suits. Suppressed weapons.
They tracked him. Or you. It doesn’t matter. They see you.
One operative raises his weapon.
“Delta-9 confirmed.” Termination authorized.
Time fractures. The Soldier moves before he consciously decides to. He steps between you and the team.
Gun up. Fires first.
The alley erupts in controlled violence. Concrete splinters. Muzzle flashes burst white against brick.
You move exactly how he trained you. Low. Behind cover. Silent. One operative drops. Second falls. Third attempts flanking maneuver. The Soldier intercepts with mechanical precision. Impact. Bone crack. Silence.
When it ends, there is only your breathing. And his. You stare at the bodies. Then at him. “They’re going to wipe you,” you whisper.
Probability: high.
He lowers the rifle slowly.
“You will relocate,” he states. “Destroy identification. Avoid digital traces.”
“You’re helping me.” Not a question. He does not respond. Because the truth is destabilizing. He looks at you now and sees two things simultaneously:
Delta-9 — conditioned, sharpened, useful.
You.
Soft sweater. Ink-smudged fingers. A life built from nothing. Hydra failed to break you. And that failure stands breathing in front of him.
You step closer. Careful. Your hand lifts.
He tenses but you don’t touch the weapon.You touch the edge of his mask. Just beneath the metal line. Your fingers brush his jaw lightly.Warm. Human.
He freezes.
“You made sure I survived,” you whisper. “I won’t forget that.” The contact lasts barely a second. But it feels catastrophic. You step back. “I hope one day you get to stop too.”
Sirens echo in the distance.
He cannot stay.
You hesitate. Then you turn and run. Not panicked. Strategic. You disappear into the city.
Alive. Free. Unowned.
The Soldier remains in the alley.
Hydra will review footage. Hydra will note deviation. Hydra will correct instability. But something irreversible has occurred. He has seen proof.
He sees proof that conditioning can fail.
Proof that survival does not require becoming a weapon. He looks down at his metal hand. There is blood on it. Not yours.
For the first time, that feels like a choice. And the Asset does not know what to do with that.
