Rating: As a whole, The Fall is rated E due to mature themes (smut, violence, trauma & PTSD, etc.). Content warnings can be found directly on applicable chapters. Please be mindful of your media consumption; take care of yourself.
Content Advisory: mention of child with prosthetic; mention of accident resulting in loss of limb
Chapter: 139/270
Chapter 138 | Chapter 140 | The Fall masterlist
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OCTOBER 31, 2019 — AVENGERS COMPOUND— RÉA
The next afternoon, all of us are sitting down to lunch when Tony makes an announcement.
“I’m sure you’re expecting me to announce a party this evening…surprisingly, Halloween is one of the nights that I don’t host a party. I prefer to hand out candy. Plus, I like to see how many kids show up as Iron Man…the record so far is forty-seven.”
“So that’s what the massive stockpile of candy is for,” Sam says.
“The announcement that the compound will be open for trick-or-treating has been circulating for two weeks. We’ll be handing out candy from five until eight this evening…at Pepper’s insistence, I’ll be here the whole time. She and Morgan will be here for a little while, provided Little Miss isn’t snoozing.” He pauses. “Legolas, I know you’ll be gone so you can make the rounds with your kiddos…Thumbelina, will you be staying or going?”
“Margaret and Jim are going to bring Cassie by, but they’re not staying,” Scott says. “They invited me to go with them but I haven’t decided yet. I kind of want to see if any kids show up as Ant-Man!”
“Uh-huh,” Tony says. “Well then,” he continues, “let’s eat!”
After lunch, Tony pulls me aside.
“I don’t expect you to participate tonight. I know it might be overwhelming, and I just wanted to let you know that you don’t have to,” he says.
I nod.
“Thanks…but I want to. I’ll just do candy duty towards the end, after the crowd has thinned a little.”
Tony gives me an appraising look, then nods.
“Okay, kiddo.”
The rest of the afternoon passes fairly quickly. Bucky and Steve decide to go for a run and do some training, so I spend some time in the music room, recording several pieces I’ve been working on. At quarter-to-five, I meet up with Bucky and we head downstairs.
Tony rented several sets of Adirondack furniture, along with a few outdoor heaters and a small, gas fire pit; they’ve been set up on the lawn across from the front doors. Bucky and I make our way over to the area, where Nat, Bruce, Mitchell, Harris, Scott, and Tony are already seated. We settle onto a bench beside the one Nat and Bruce are on, and listen to Bruce and Scott debating which subatomic particle is cooler: a Higgs boson or a Pym particle.
“Obviously, you’re biased toward the Pym particle,” Bruce says. “But a Higgs boson is part of the Higgs field, and without the Higgs field, no other fundamental particles would have mass…including the Pym particle.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, but theoretically, you could use a Pym particle to travel through time,” Scott says.
Bruce scoffs.
“Time travel? That’s a myth.”
“I don’t know. I went to the Quantum Realm and survived…several times. And time moves differently there. It’s a lot slower.”
“Is what they’re saying true?” Bucky whispers.
“I’m, um…I’m actually not allowed to say,” I reply.
“So that’s a ‘yes’, then,” he says.
I hold a finger to my lips in the ‘shhh’ gesture, then give him a wink.
“Let them debate…it keeps them entertained.”
The debate pauses as the trick-or-treaters begin to arrive. The next few hours are filled with the team handing out candy; Bucky and I stay on our bench. Pepper makes a brief appearance to show off Morgan’s Halloween outfit—a long-sleeved, orange onesie with a jack-o’-lantern face, orange and black striped footed leggings, and an orange and black tutu, along with a black headband with an orange bow—before returning to the compound, saying that, even with the heaters, it’s a little too chilly for a newborn.
Bucky and I take over candy duty for the last hour; during a lull, we listen to the updated Avengers costume tally: thirty-one Captain Americas, fifty-two Iron Men, sixteen Hulks, ten Thors, two Visions, eight Black Widows, four Wandas, twelve Hawkeyes, and eleven Falcons.
“And no Ant-Man,” Scott says with a sigh.
“There’s still time,” Wanda says sweetly.
While the rest of the group debates the odds of a tiny Ant-Man showing up, Bucky and I hand out candy to the next wave of kids.
At quarter-’til-eight, there are pretty much only stragglers left.
“Why don’t you go sit with the others? I’m pretty sure I can handle the last fifteen minutes solo,” I tease.
“Okay, doll. If you’re sure.”
“Yeah. Maybe you can get Bruce and Scott debating again,” I say with a giggle.
Bucky pecks my cheeks and then joins the others; I sit in one of the folding camp chairs by the driveway, waiting for more trick-or-treaters. About five minutes later, a minivan pulls up, and six kids and a woman emerge.
“Oh, I love your costumes!” I exclaim as I stand.
The kids form a line, and I hand out candy to a cat, a pirate, a witch, a dinosaur, and….
“Well hi, you two. Could you hold on one second, please?”
The two boys nod, as does the woman.
“Tony. Steve. Bucky. Come here, please,” I turn my head and call over my shoulder.
I turn back to the boys, holding the candy bowl down so they can see into it.
“What would you like?”
“Hey, kiddo, what’s…oh, I see,” Tony says as he and Steve appear beside me. “Hi, I’m Tony Stark,” he says to the woman. “Let’s talk.”
“Hi, Réa, why did y…Buck, hurry up!” Steve yells over his shoulder.
“Y-y-you’re…you’re Captain America!” one of the boys excitedly shouts. “You’re so awesome! You’re my favourite Avenger!”
“Well thank you. I appreciate that a lot. And I’ve gotta say,” Steve says, squatting down to be eye-level with the boy, “the suit looks way cooler on you.”
The boy’s eyes go wide.
“Th-thank you, sir!” He pauses. “I’m Jacob, and this is Adam,” he points to the other boy, who has moved to stand behind him. “He’s my bestest friend in the whole wide world!” He grins, and I see he’s missing one of his front teeth. “He’s also shy,” he whispers.
“I’m here, what’s with all the yelling?” Bucky asks as he joins us.
The little boy—Adam—looks at Bucky and his eyes go wide.
“You’re Sergeant Barnes!” Jacob exclaims. “You used to be the Winter Soldier but now you’re an Avenger. And you have a cool arm! Adam has a different arm, too. See?” He walks behind Adam and nudges the other boy forward.
As soon as Adam is out from behind Jacob, I hear Bucky gasp. He kneels down next to Steve.
“Hi, Adam. I’m Bucky. It’s nice to meet you.”
Adam just stares at Bucky, eyes still as big as saucers.
“Did you get candy?” Bucky asks.
Adam snaps out of his starstruck state and nods. “M&Ms. They’re my favourite.”
Bucky grins. “They’re my favourite, too. They have been for a long time.”
“I always get them when I go to the movies,” Adam says.
Bucky’s grin widens.
“They’re my movie snack, too.”
Adam falls silent again, just staring at Bucky.
“Hey guys, you ready to go?” the woman asks as she and Tony return.
“Yes, Mrs. Sullivan,” Jacob says. “Bye, Mister Captain America. It was nice to meet you!” he exclaims before he runs to the van and climbs inside.
“Adam, are you ready?”
He nods. “Yes, mom.”
Suddenly, he darts forward and flings his arms—flesh and prosthetic—around Bucky’s neck.
“You’re my favourite Avenger,” he says, before he lets go of Bucky and backs up. “Thank you,” he says to me, then heads to the van.
The woman turns to Steve.
“Thank you. Jacob will be talking about that for…well, forever,” she says with a laugh.
She turns to Bucky, and tears well in her eyes.
“And you…thank you is not enough.” She sniffles. “Adam had an accident earlier this year; that’s how he lost his arm,” she says. “You were already his favourite Avenger before that, though. He’ll tell anyone who listens how awesome he thinks you are.” She pauses. “He’s not ashamed of his arm because of you, and I can’t thank you enough for that. I’ve read about what you endured…about how you got that arm…and I will never be able to understand what you went through. I just wanted to tell you that, because of you, there’s a little boy in the world who isn’t ashamed to be who he is.”
Bucky nods, and I see that his eyes hold the sheen of tears, though he holds them back.
“You’re welcome.”
Mrs. Sullivan turns to Tony.
“Mister Stark, thank you again.”
“No thanks necessary. I’ll be in touch tomorrow, and we can discuss further.” He shakes her hand. “You all drive safely.”
With that, Mrs. Sullivan returns to the van; a couple of moments later, it pulls out of the driveway.
Steve and Tony make their way back to the others; I turn to Bucky.
“Are you okay?”
He nods.
“Yeah.” He pauses for a long beat. “He…he was me. He was dressed like me.”
“He was,” I softly reply.
“And he said I’m his favourite Avenger.”
“He did.”
He’s quiet again, and I once again see the sheen of tears in his eyes, though a small smile is on his face.
“Do you want to go inside?”
He nods.
“Yeah.”
“Okay then. Let’s go,” I say, and the two of us head into the compound.
These are our pieces for Mermay this year, and their sister from last year. The Moon, The Stars, The Sun!
If you join our Patreon Sticker Club for $5 a month, you get your pick of either the Star or the Moon, early access to buy the whole set, AND a sticker based on our May pin design, which is an Art Nerdveau Venus!
#celetial #fairy #tissueboxcover It has an amazing #metalic finish, flashes of copper, gold, silver, green and purple, still need to add some black glitter for extra shine! The #nightfairies or the #steampunkfairies will love it! #fairyhouses #fairyhouse #fae #faerie #paganart #darkfairy #darkfairyhouse #moonandstars https://www.instagram.com/p/BvPasBTAMAc/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1k47yzys4f35j
