Two Ghosts (Standing in The Place of You And Me)
Relationships: Robert "Bob" Reynolds/John Walker (Marvel), Thunderbolts Team Members & John Walker (Marvel)
Tags: Slow Burn, Fake Marriage, Hurt/Comfort, Found Family, Post-Movie: Thunderbolts (2025), Post-Canon, POV: John Walker (Marvel), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Developing Relationship, Healing, Mutual Pining, Self-Esteem Issues, Internalized Homophobia, Past John Walker/Olivia Walker (Marvel), Angst with a Happy Ending, there is fluff I promise, John Walker is kind of an asshole, I can fix him (tm), Missions Gone Wrong, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Seven months into the formation of the New Avengers, scandal strikes. The execution footage resurfaces, dragging John’s past back into the spotlight. Whispers about The Void—and its connection to Bob—are gaining traction. The public is afraid. Reputations are crumbling.
So Valentina makes a call: spin a narrative. A surprise wedding. A love story between two misunderstood heroes who found each other in their darkest hour.
The marriage is already legal.
Their teammates know it’s fake. Of course they do. But with the media in a frenzy, management demands full buy-in: shared dormitory, matching rings, joint interviews, public hand-holding.
Jokes get whispered in the elevator. Alexei starts winking too much.
John’s ex won’t return his calls, but somehow, she’s seen every staged photo of him holding Bob’s hand.
Through the forced smiles, the late-night silences, the uncomfortable proximity, and the leaking wounds neither of them want to show—the lines between fiction and something far more dangerous start to blur.
But it’s a ghost of something.
Let's freaking GOOOOOO!!! I've been sitting on this fic for a while. I'm so excited to finally share it with you all. Updates will be posted biweekly until the conclusion of the story. I hope you enjoy <3
Also: I LOVE using em-dashes. Always have and always will. I can guarantee that this work is fully of my own creation. Thanks. :)
Read it on AO3! // Chapter 1