#hello sunflower

[elceeu2morrow]

via Helen Seamons IG story [FITFWT 2023 Asbury Park, NJ / 7.28.23]

[stressisakiller]

Enter Sandman

Tony Stark x OFC Soulmate AU

(Metallica Really? Part 1)

Summary: Tony Stark doesn’t believe in soulmates. Yes, he could admit that everyone gained a tattoo on their 18th birthday that supposedly led them to the perfect person for them but he refused to accept it. This mainly stemmed from the fact that when he turned 18 nothing showed up. Was he so unlikeable that not even the universe could find someone who would deal with him? So he did what any heartbroken person would do, he threw himself into his work and into the girls that he surrounded himself with.

Warnings: Cursing

Word Count: 2.3k

A/N: Beginning of Tony's installment of the Hello Sunflower universe. This is going to be a slloooowww burn, at least that's the plan and what the characters called for. Oh and some of the soulmarks don't make an appearance for a while... Hope yall like it! Can be read as Tony x Reader but the main character is given a name but no real description.

Next

Masterlist

You have been working for Tony Stark for the last 10 years as his PA along with Pepper Potts. Pepper focused on all of his work-related issues while you dealt with his personal day-to-day life, including most of the charity events he attends. You love working with Pepper. She has become like a sister to you which is a blessing considering all of the time you spend together. Tony on the other hand does an amazing job of getting on your nerves and being totally endearing at the same time which also gets on your nerves.

Waking up to a text from Tony after a late night of attending one of his award ceremonies that he didn’t even have the decency to attend was not how you wanted to start your day. Especially when the text is at 5 am and is asking you to take care of the woman that is currently warming his bed. Sighing you pull yourself away from the comfort of your bed and get dressed for the day. Grabbing some coffee you make your way to Tony’s house. Apparently, he and his friend didn’t even make it to the bedroom before getting undressed so luckily for you the maids had already sent the reporter's clothes to the dry cleaners. Walking into the dry cleaners you greet the woman working with a smile and ask her how her family is, she talks your ears off about her new grandbaby and you happily listen. Without asking she hands you Tony and the reporter’s clothes and you give her a gracious smile and a large tip, Tony wouldn’t mind.

Tony’s house in your opinion is too large and too clean. There isn’t enough personality to it and it feels sterile. His workshop on the other hand you love, it's dirty and loud and actually feels lived in unlike the rest of the house. As you step through the foyer into the living room you hear Jarvis telling the reporter that something is off-limits. Of course, she would try snooping around, what type of journalist would she be if she didn’t take every opportunity to get the inside scoop. Squaring your shoulders for the imminent confrontation you take a deep breath and paste a smile on your face.

“Good morning don’t worry about the voice, that’s Jarvis he runs the house, I have your dress here from the dry cleaners and there is a car outside that will take you wherever you need to go.” You speak calmly to her while holding her clothes and taking a sip of your coffee, you are already over the day and don't care how rude it may seem.

“Oh yes, of course, you must be the famous Liza Martin, or are you Ms. Potts?” she asks a small smirk gracing her face. You keep yourself from rolling your eyes at her tone and instead answer the mostly rhetorical question, she knows exactly who you are.

“My name is Elizabeth only Mr. Stark calls me Liza, is there anything else I can do for you before you leave?” Your voice stays level as you speak, you don't allow your annoyance to show.

“All this time and he still has you getting the dry cleaning.” her smug tone is blatant but you just smile at her weighing your next words before thinking fuck it and speaking.

“I do anything Mr. Stark requires including occasionally taking out the trash. Please try not to trip on your way out.” You don’t let your smile fall until you are out of sight heading down the stairs to speak with Tony.

“Jarvis please make sure she leaves, get Happy to walk her out if needs must.”

“Yes, Ms. Martin.”

“You picked a real peach with that one Mr. Stark.” You state as you walk through the door. Pepper would never say anything like that to Tony but you lost most of your filter concerning him a long time ago, and honestly, he found it very refreshing.

“How many times do I have to ask you to call me Tony, Liza?” you huff out a small laugh before answering.

“As many times as I have to tell you to stop calling me Liza, Mr. Stark.” He stares at you for a moment before smiling widely and chuckling.

“You love it, and someone's a little testy this morning. Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed?" The glare sent his way does nothing to deter him.

“5 am Mr. Stark. You woke me up at 5 in the morning to deal with a woman that you decided to take to bed. Did you sleep at all last night? I know for a fact that Rhodey had to pull you out of a casino around 1 am. Speaking of Rhodey, you are supposed to be halfway across the world right now!” you keep your voice surprisingly level but can't hide the heat of your words.

“You have plans today? it seems like you’re trying to get rid of me.”

“As a matter of fact I do, it’s Pepper’s birthday and we have plans to go out.” You can see the mild panic in his eyes before he composes himself, it wouldn’t have been noticeable to most people, except you and maybe Pepper.

“Did I get her something nice?” He asks still ignoring your earlier rant.

“Yes, Mr. Stark it was very nice, very tasteful. Now go get your ass on that plane before Rhodey gets even more pissed off at me.” smiling at the shock on his face at your words you head out calling out to Jarvis as you go. “Jarvis, make sure he stops working and gets to the airport.”

“Yes, Ms. Martin.”

“Thanks, J,” you say heading out to your girls' day with Pepper.

You are woken up the next morning by your phone ringing off the hook, you look to see it's Rhodey. “Rhodey, it’s 3 in the morning, what the hell?” your voice is croaky with sleep and your eyes are struggling to stay open as you wait for his reply.

“Our caravan was attacked, they took Tony.” You sit straight up in bed wide awake,

“What?” your voice cracks, “What do you mean this has to be a mistake” you are starting to hyperventilate, as much as he annoys you, you really do care for Tony. You can vaguely hear Rhodey’s reply on the other side of the line but you aren’t able to comprehend the words that are being said. You aren’t able to fall back asleep and spend the rest of the day in a haze trying to find ways to fill your days without Tony around.

Three months Tony is gone for three months before there is a lead somewhere in the middle of the desert. You spend that time working for Stark industries in any way that you can in order to make ends meet, the bastards refuse to pay you otherwise since Tony isn’t there. You end up living with Sarah; she worked hand-in-hand with Tony before his disappearance and her subsequent firing by Obadiah, which never sat right with you. She is young but you enjoy her company and she helps to get your mind off of your worry for Tony. She is like a little sister to you now and you take care of each other. Rhodey is the one to call you and let you know that they found Tony, that they are heading back to the states, that he is ok. You are at the airport with Pepper and Obediah when he arrives. He jokes around with Pepper and Obie before turning to you.

“There is my favorite girl, have you been doing alright without your favorite person?” he sounds the same as ever but you see past his facade, you can tell he is hurting but you decided to go along with his act.You playfully roll your eyes at him,

“Who says you’re my favorite person? I’m rather fond of my new roommate Sarah, she may have knocked you down a couple of pegs. At least she doesn’t scare me by almost dying and then disappearing for 3 months.” Your voice is playful but he can hear the undertone of worry that you are trying so hard to hide.

“Touche." He gives you a soft smile before looking around at all the people gathered, a look of concern crossing his features. "Where is Sara, I half expected her to be here?”

You clear your throat taking a moment to contemplate your words. “I think she was wary about being around Obadiah since he fired her pretty quickly after you left.” You murmur not wanting the man in question to hear you, something about him makes you nervous.

“Wait what? Rehire her immediately and raise her salary as an apology.” At his words you smile, a real smile this time.

“Yes, Mr. Stark. Right away.” You hear him calling out to Pepper as you start typing away on your Stark pad to get the paperwork for Sarah’s rehiring.

“Pepper, call a conference and Happy take me to get a cheeseburger before we head that way.”

The conference is a disaster but you can’t help but be proud of Tony for making a stand for something he believes in, even if it does majorly affect his whole empire. You don’t tell him as much but you do find little ways to make sure he knows you're on his side. Such as making sure he had his favorite drinks and snacks stocked in his garage, and baking his favorite dessert as a welcome home gift. You also decide not to tell him about how you were treated while he was gone, he has enough on his plate without your problems, although if you asked Tony he would disagree.

You are in the middle of updating Tony’s calendar to coincide with the one that Pepper just sent you when you hear Tony calling for you over the house speaker.

“Liza, how big are your hands?”

“What?” you can’t help the tone of your voice as you answer, what a strange question.

“Your hands, how big are they?” you blanch a little bit at the repeated question, your brow furrowed as you try to decide how to answer.

“I don’t under..”

“Get down here I need you.” You roll your eyes at his demand before closing out the program on your tablet allowing it to take over, you would double-check everything later, before heading down the steps to Tony’s lair.

“What the hell are you doing?” is the first thing out of your mouth when you step into the room. Tony is sitting with his shirt off, medical equipment strewn all around him.

“I need your help switching this out for the new version, Dumee here doesn’t have small enough fingers.” Your head fills with questions most of which you decide to keep to yourself.

“You want me to put my hand into your chest and take out the one thing keeping you alive? Correct?” You raise your eyebrow at him in question, waiting for him to prove you wrong… no such luck.

“You’ll put a new one in” he says defensively. You walk up to him and take a deep breath muttering under your breath, “I need a raise for the shit you make me do." before speaking normally for him to hear, "Why exactly do you need me to do this?”

“There is an exposed wire under this device and it’s contacting the socket wall and causing a bit of a short, so I need you to reach in and take the wire out.” His voice is calm as he speaks and you can’t help but let out a small laugh, holy shit you need a raise.

“I really hate you right now.” You state as you take the arc reactor out and reach into the socket to pull out the wire. “This is the grossest thing you have ever made me do.” You gag a little bit at the feeling of what you can only describe as puss, while you feel around for the wire. “What the everloving fuck makes you think that I am qualified to do this?”

“You’re fine, you are the most capable, qualified, trustworthy person I have ever met, you are going to do great,” he states, the lack of sarcasm or condescension takes you aback, but you turn your focus back to the task at hand.

“Ok I found it, what do I do?”

“Just gently pull it out without touching the side walls.” There is a buzzing and a screech from Tony as you accidentally do exactly that.

“Fuck sorry,” you pause for a second before starting to pull it out again as Tony starts to speak.

“Just, as you're doing that there is a magnet at the end, don’t pull it out” He barely gets the chance to finish talking as you accidentally pull it out, “And you just yanked it out,” you panic and start to lower it back in, his voice stopping you. “Don’t put it back in!” He is taking deep breaths as you place it to the side as he mumbles something about having a heart attack and you yanking the magnet out like a trout before he tells you to plug in the new arc reactor.

“Don’t you ever make me do anything like that again,” you state as soon as the new reactor is in its proper place and you no longer have a dying Tony sitting in front of you.

“Who else would I ask?” You look at him for a long moment after he says that, noting the honesty in his expression, before he claps his hands and breaks the moment.

“Ok, so what do you want me to do with the old one?” you ask while picking it up and turning towards him.

“Get rid of it, incinerate it, I don't care.” He’s back to his usual brisk attitude acting as if the last 30 minutes didn’t happen.

“You mean you don’t want to keep it?” you ask, eyebrows furrowed.

“I have been called many things Liza, nostalgic is not one of them.”

You just sigh as you turn and leave the room, old arc reactor in hand. He may not be nostalgic but you are, you are also a bit petty, so instead of destroying it, you put it into a display case with the words ‘Proof that Tony Stark has a heart.’ and leave it wrapped up in the garage for him to see.

[buy-me-a-color-tv]

We really putting a lot of trust in tattoo artists no? They always look like they could fuck you up and yet I haven't met one who wasn't the most happy, bubbly person you could imagine.

Idk I have a lot of love for tattoo artists. They are the best people. 💞

[jamesdeerest]

hello, sunflower {prologue}

pairing: sirius black x reader

request: @goingbacktothegoodolddays asked “Hello dear! I was wondering if i could get something with Sirius Black and a Hufflepuff reader! Im atucl between the thought of maybe a tutor for Sirius who he never quite noticed before their sessions or after bogart comfort where either Sirius or hufflepuff reader has to deal with their greatest and traumatizing fears and recieve the confort from other. Please and thank you!”

notes:  i’m using the first idea in your request! <3

warnings: swearing

word count: 515

part one | part two | part three

“bad luck, prongsy. she’ll come round eventually, i know it.” sirius slapped james on the back, consoling his friend as lily walked off, before he was startled by slughorn slamming his essay down on the desk, and storming off.

sirius raised an eyebrow at the retreating man, before picking up his work, and immediately dropping it again when he saw the big red P scribbled at the bottom. P?! 

...shit.

sirius sat quietly for the rest of the lesson, lost in his thoughts. he’d never gotten that low before. even though he acted indifferent, he did like to get good grades. the bell rang, cutting through his thoughts, and he jerked up, fumbling to put his books away. slughorn cleared his throat, and sirius looked up, eyebrow raised. “i’d like to speak to you.”

sirius nodded, waving james off, and slung his bag around his shoulder, swaggering up to his desk. “yes?”

“i’d like you to start tutoring sessions.”

sirius’ eyes widened comically, and he choked on his breath. tutoring sessions?! no fucking thank you. sirius opened his mouth, ready to refuse the offer, when slughorn spoke over him, beckoning you forward from where you had been hovering at the back of the classroom. you smiled awkwardly at sirius, who stared blankly at you. 

“this is y/n. she’ll be helping you out. you can sort out the timings yourselves, and black? if i find out you’re not turning up, i’m failing you for the end of year. y/n’s a good tutor, and she can help you out.”

sirius just gaped at the potions professor, and you wisely held your tongue. 

slughorn looked at sirius expectantly, and seeing he wasn’t going to say anything, sighed. “that’ll be all. you’re dismissed.”

you nodded gratefully, eager to get out of this situation, and hurried off, slughorn disappearing into the storeroom, sirius still standing there, before slowly walking out, james leaning against the wall. “what did he say?”

sirius rolled his eyes, walking past the boy, making james groan and run to catch up. “i have to get tutoring sessions.”

james snorted, pushing his glasses further onto his nose. “is that why i saw y/n walk out?”

sirius glared at his best friend. “yup. any idea who she is?”

james sighed dramatically. “y/n l/n. hufflepuff. girl next door type. overly nice? to everyone? like, even snivellus? i mean, i like nice people alright, but she must be slightly insane to be able to talk to that git without throwing up.”

sirius laughed, his mood slightly lifted. “hopefully she’s a decent tutor.”

james’ eyes widened, and he nodded emphatically. “oh yeah. she helped me with herbology last year? you know, when i got an O instead of an A?”

sirius chuckled. “oh yeah, when sprout thought you cheated.”

james elbowed him. “yes, but as soon as i mentioned y/n, she completely dropped it! the teachers love her. she’s just a nice girl, pads. nothing sinister.”

“i didn’t know you knew what sinister meant, prongsy! well done, dear.”

james preened, batting his eyelashes. “oh stop it, darling. you’re making me blush!”

send me an ask if you want to be tagged!

[stressisakiller]

Metallica Really? Masterlist

Part of the Hello Sunflower Universe

Summary:

Tony Stark doesn’t believe in soulmates. Yes, he could admit that everyone gained a tattoo on their 18th birthday that supposedly led them to the perfect person for them but he refused to accept it. This mainly stemmed from the fact that when he turned 18 nothing showed up. Was he so unlikeable that not even the universe could find someone who would deal with him? So he did what any heartbroken person would do, he threw himself into his work and into the girls that he surrounded himself with.

Enter Sandman (Part 1)

I am Iron Man (Part 2)

For Whom the Bell Tolls (Part 3)

Cure (Part 4)

Confusion (Part 5)

Nothing Else Matters (Part 6) Tony POV

Hero of the Day (Part 7)

Until it Sleeps (Part 8)

[stressisakiller]

As You Wish Masterlist

Hello Sunflowerverse

Summary:

In a world where everyone gets a soulmate tattoo when they turn eighteen, Steve doesn’t.

The Beginning (Part 1)

As You Wish (Part 2)

I'm Glad it's You (Part 3)

Moving Forward (Part 4)

[stressisakiller]

Moving Forward

Steve Rogers x Reader Soulmate AU

(As you wish Part 4)

Summary: A Bit of a filler chapter 

Warnings: None really

Word Count: 1,379

A/N: NEW CHAPTER. Sorry it has taken me so long between being pregnant and giving birth, I now have a 2 year old a 2 month old, a husband, a job and ADHD so my attention has been lacking. Let me know what you think and if you have any requests for future chapters! Thank yall for reading!’

<< Previous   Next >>

Since her arrival in the tower you and Alison grew to be very close. She taught you how to fight and how to throw knives with surprising accuracy and you taught her how to speak sign language, your younger brother is deaf so your whole family learned. You trusted her with your life and she felt the same. She talked to you about Bucky as much as she could at least. Trying to give you and Steve leads about where he might be and how to find him. She mentioned the name Winter Soldier but you hadn’t found much out, SHIELD’S files on the matter were strangely lacking. Your distrust for SHIELD during the whole thing increased, and when you told Steve of your concerns he said that he didn’t trust them much either, but at least they gave him a goal to work towards for the good guys.  

You were training with Alison in hand-to-hand combat, much to Steve’s chagrin, when you decided to ask her more about her life before Steve saved her. Her answers broke your heart, she spoke of cold rooms and terrible pain. Of hatred and death. You could hear in her voice how much she hated herself for the things that she remembers being forced to do. She spoke of a father without compassion and her scheme to keep Bucky safe when she got her tattoos. She showed you hers and the cover up that she got and you showed her the dog tags on your arm. She laughed for the first time in front of you when you told her about Steve’s tattoo. And as, well… not happy… but as content as she seemed at the tower, you could see the underlying tension and fear Alison had about Bucky and the fact that he no longer had her there with him. As you trained and talked you didn’t hear Steve sneak into the room to watch. 

You nearly jumped out of your skin when Steve spoke although Alison seemed unsurprised. “What is he like now? Bucky?” he seemed a little nervous to ask as he leaned against the doorframe. Alison sat down and looked at him. 

“Are you sure you want to know?” A short nod was all that she got in answer.

“He’s not the Bucky you used to know. Honestly most of the time he isn’t even Bucky. They broke him a long time ago. There were times when they brought him out of cryo that he would fight but from the times that I was there to see they were few and far between.”

You watched Steve’s face the whole time that Alison spoke, seeing the myriad of emotions flit across his face, the overarching one being utter devastation.

“There were times when we were on long missions when I would get to see more of Bucky and less of the soldier. Times when he would joke a little with me. Times he would recognize me and times he wouldn’t. Those times were the hardest… to have him look at me but not see me.” Her voice trailed off and you could see the tears in her eyes. You stepped towards her but she stood quickly and walked to the door. Before she could get out of the room Steve spoke again.

“We will find him and get him out, Alison, I promise.”

“Not if he gets to you first.” She said with a sad smile before exiting.

You walk over to Steve and simply wrap your arms around him, hearing such things about his best friend couldn’t be easy. After a moment of soaking in your warmth he pulled himself away. 

“I have something I need to talk to you about, but we should probably speak in private.” You nod at him and follow him to your shared apartment in the tower. Pulling the door closed you see Steve take a deep breath before turning to speak to you.

“Fury has asked me to move to DC in order to be closer to SHIELD headquarters. They need me for more missions now and want me to be nearby for the next year or two. I know that your whole life is here, your job with Stark and your friends and I won’t make you come with me if you don’t want to” you cut off his rambling with a gentle kiss. 

“Of course I will move with you, if I need to I can work temporarily at SHIELD. But now that I’ve found you, my soulmate, you are stuck with me. And anyways if Tony really needs me it's not that far for me to come visit.” You gave him a soft smile before pulling him onto the bed with you to cuddle, it had been a long day for both of you and you both needed the comfort.

You were a little sad when you pulled away from the Tower for the last time. You don’t regret your decision to move with Steve to DC, but you were leaving your work with Tony, one of your closest friends as well as Alison and Elizabeth who had quickly become your closest girlfriends. You had enjoyed your time in New York and you would miss your home in the Tower but you understood why Steve needed to move and he had promised that it would be temporary. So with that in mind you looked to the future in a new place with Steve by your side.

Your new apartment is nice, it's an older apartment in a brick building, you can understand why Steve chose it, it’s cozy. He bought a record player at a resale shop, the records he gathered ranged from 40s music to some more modern options, mostly some of your favorites. You grew to love the sound of the record player, the soft crackling was the perfect background noise, especially when Steve pulled you in his arms for a dance. 

You started helping out at SHIELD, sure you weren’t as diligent at your job there as you had been with Stark. You still don’t trust them, but it’s a job. Steve gets into a routine, he goes for a run in the morning and then has breakfast with you before you both head to work. Your main problem was the lady that lived down the hall, she always seemed to be in the hallway when you got home and left. You didn’t consider yourself a suspicious person but something about her and her habits worried you.

It lasted 6 months, your life in DC. Steve came home one night after a mission, concerned, there was something about it that didn’t quite sit well with him. Something that Nat did. It came to bite you on the ass one night when you both got home to an injured Fury chilling in your living room. From what you could gather from his typed out words, Shield was compromised and they are now trying their hardest to kill Fury. He tells you that outside of the two of you and Maria he doesn’t know who he can trust. You are surprised that you are one of the people he decided he could trust, considering you trust him as far as you could throw him, which isn’t very far, although that may be one of the reasons that he does trust you.

Before he can tell you much, there is the sound of gunshots and you watch him fall to the ground as Steve jumps to hide both of you behind his shield. The shooting stops and Steve sprints towards the shooter while you check on Fury, he is bleeding badly and you know you have to make the call. You call Agent Hill, and she states that she will be there soon. Fury gets your attention by grabbing your hand. You look down at him as you feel him place something into your palm. 

“Don’t let them get this.” you nod, you would do everything in your power to keep it safe. The door bursts open as you slip it in your pocket, drawing the gun at your hip as you turn towards the intruder. It’s your neighbor, holding a pistol… 

“Agent 13 from Shield at your service.”

Tagged users: @writerwrites

[stressisakiller]

Hello Sunflower

Bucky Barnes x Reader Soulmate AU

Hello Sunflower Part 1

Summary: Your soul mark appears on your 18th birthday. What do you do when your father is a part of Hydra and your soul mark binds you to the Winter Soldier.

Warnings: Mentions and slight descriptions of torture, violence and brainwashing

Word Count: 2.6k

A/N: 4/23 New edit: fixing some timeline issues and integrating a little of the steve x reader I’m working on. Ok guys I reread this and decided to edit it and make it longer and add more dialog. I hope that you like the changes. I plan on going back and editing the other chapters as well, but that will be between writing and posting new chapters. Let me know what you think and if you have any requests for future parts. Also I originally got the idea for this after reading Wolf, Partner Gloves... by @revengingbarnes so check it out!

Series Masterlist

Next >>

You have always hated your dad. For as long as you can remember you have hated him. Every time he dragged you with him to "work" at Hydra that hatred grew. It came to a point when he decided that you would be the perfect subject for their new round of super-soldier serum testing.

So, here you are at 10, 10 years old, on this freezing metal table with a syringe in your arm screaming your head off as the serum burns through your veins. Pain. All you can think about is the pain. It feels like every single one of your nerves is on fire, and at the same time, they feel like ice. The pain blazes through you as your DNA is rewritten turning you from the child you are to the soldier that they want you to be. 

Faces come in and out of focus as the scientists look you over, studying you to see how the serum is affecting you. Your head is fuzzy, only catching every couple of words that are being spoken around you. Everything is coming into view as your eyes adjust to the lights and the new information that your DNA is sending. Flexing your hand on the table you feel pins and needles from the tip of your fingers up to your shoulder, causing you to wince. A couple of tears slip from the corner of your eyes from the overwhelming ache the is present throughout your body.

A voice drifts in through the door. A voice that you know all too well, your father. 

"She survived?" You have never noticed how sinister his voice sounds before.

"Yes sir, and it seems like the serum took, we aren't sure how exactly it has altered her yet." The other voice is weaker, trembling, scared of the man in front of it.

"Begin testing on her then, we need to know before we begin training her." 

"Yes sir." 

One set of footsteps retreats down the hallway while the other comes closer. You look towards the door, waiting to face the man that is about to walk in. You make sure your face is blank when the door opens, you don't want him to know you heard the whole conversation.

A slight sniveling man steps through the door and you immediately decide that you hate him. He walks over to you and undoes the straps on your arms and legs.

"Come little soldier, it's time to find out what you can do." He orders, his voice is a little stronger now that he isn't facing your father. He leads you down a maze of hallways, your bare feet make no noise as you follow after him. 

Entering a different room you are met with the site of another metal table as well as a two-way glass mirror, a treadmill, and a large set of weights. The man points you to the treadmill and the tests begin. They force you to run, full sprint until your body shuts down and you fall to the floor, flying off the belt as soon as you hit. When you come back to consciousness they force you to lift more and more weight until you feel your arm muscles give out. The weights come crashing down on you breaking multiple ribs. You are given a day to heal before they begin shocking and beating you to figure out what your pain tolerance is, before cutting you in different places at different depths to discover how quickly you heal.

You aren't sure how many days have passed before you are thrown into your new "bedroom" to rest and heal. A meal of bread, milk, and some sort of meat substitute is all they give you to eat. With every test and beating your hatred for Hydra and the man who called himself your father grows. You haven't seen your father at all during the testing but you know that he has been standing behind that stupid mirror and watching as you are put through every test that the scientists could think of. As soon as he had taken you to be injected, you had decided that this man was no father of yours. No real father would willingly subjugate their child to this torture and watch as it happens. 

You are given no rest before they begin to train you, throwing you into a ring with the other assets, teaching you how to shoot every type of firearm imaginable. You are taught how to throw knives and how to use poison, how to kill a man without leaving a trace and how to evade arrest. They make you into their perfect little child soldier, and you despise them for it. 

Your memories from that point on are disjointed, you know that there is a machine that they would force you into, you can remember the pain, but not much else. Then there are these words, six of them. The scientists say them and you lose all control of your own body. But then they take you back to that other machine and you fall into blessed whiteness. After an unknown amount of time, they decide that they no longer need to take you to that machine or to use those words. All you have ever known is Hydra, after all, there is no way you would turn against them. That's their first mistake. You bid your time, and slowly they give you more freedom. The idiots.

  As your 18th birthday had approached you set a tattoo appointment. You would rather die than let Hydra find out what your soulmate mark would be. You had decided beforehand that you would go in and get multiple tattoos on your birthday to mask the one that would betray the person that fate had deemed you destined for.

 Waking up the morning of your 18th birthday you run to the mirror. Seeing the markings on your skin you die a little inside. It can’t be, he can’t be your soulmate, how are you going to be able to save yourself and him? There on your hip, the size of a nickel, in bright red ink is a star, not just any star but the blood-red star that is a prominent feature on the arm of the Winter Soldier. But that isn’t the only thing that catches your eye. You have another tattoo, on your left bicep a bouquet of marigolds, white daisies, baby’s breath, and yellow gladiolus, with the howling face of a wolf emerging from the center. You hurry around your apartment, hiding your marks with a heavy layer of makeup. You can’t run the risk of anyone seeing them now, not before you have the chance to cover them.

You rush to the tattoo parlor in a panic and tell them the two tattoos you want. You insist that they do both of them while you are there. You cut through the protests assuring them that you have a high pain tolerance and that you heal very quickly. In the weeks preceding this day you had contemplated what exactly you needed. You had reasoned beforehand that just one tattoo would be too suspicious, but now that you have two marks you decide that you only need to get one other tattoo. You know that you will be punished for this but it is worth it, he is worth it.

To cover the soulmate mark on your hip you get a galaxy with stars of all different colors that make up multiple constellations. It takes them most of the day to finish it, walking over to the mirror you study the new art on your hip. It stretches from the middle of your thigh up to your bottom rib. It's large enough that the stars fade into the background, making it practically impossible to tell that one of them is your soulmark. 

The second tattoo is a bird in a cage that spans across the ribs on the opposite side as the galaxy. You have them make the bird abstract, using all types of different objects to create the shape of the bird and the cage. You leave the other soulmark alone, it is impossible to tell that it is a soulmark or at least who it pertains to, not with the other two tattoos vying for attention.

  You leave the parlor late that afternoon and head home. As you open the door to your apartment you are met by the overly happy face of your father. You had expected him to be there but the look on his face causes you to pause.

"My daughter, where have you been? I have been waiting for you almost all day?” the fake concern in his voice makes your teeth clench. In response, you shrug noncommittally,

“I had to run some errands and they ended up taking longer than I expected.” He is suspicious of your lie, but it won't take long for him to discover exactly where you were all day.

“No matter my child, you are here now. As you know you turned 18 today, which means your soul mark has appeared. Show it to me so that we may begin to look for the man who will hold your heart." He oozes smugness, believing that he will soon have the key to keeping you in check. You stare him down, you will die before he finds out who your soulmate is.

"Sorry to disappoint dad,” you spit, “ but I had it tattooed over. I didn’t even look at it. So I will never know who my soulmate is but neither will you." as soon as the words pass your lips your father's face contorts. His rage at your defiance shifting him from your father to the lead scientist of Hydra.

His grip is bruising as he drags you from the apartment and to the lab. The table is freezing as he straps your half-naked body to it. He snarls at you as you glare up at him.

“You think that you can defy me and not face the consequences? You think that I would not punish you because you are my daughter? I don’t give a shit about you except for what you can do for the cause. You are nothing but a puppet for us to use.” he walks away ordering for you to be tortured until you reveal what your mark is. The only condition he gives is that you are not to be killed, after all, they still have use for you.

  You spent days on that table, days of being tortured with every instrument they could think of. You were waterboarded, choked, burned and they paid extra attention to cutting every inch of skin that was covered by tattoos. At the end of every day your father would come in and ask if you had something to tell him, and every day you spit in his face. 

After three days they decide to brainwash you, they can’t wipe you since they need you coherent enough to remember what they want to know. The words wash over you, and yet to your surprise, you still have complete control. You quickly use it to your advantage. You allow them to think it worked, answering their questions as if the soldier is in control. You tell them what you told your father. You didn't look at your mark, you immediately had it tattooed over. They believe you.

After all that must be the truth, you are their soldier and their soldier cannot lie. You are just relieved that they have finally given up, you aren't sure that you could have made it another day without blacking out or losing it.

  When they drag you off the table and throw you into one of the cells you can barely move or even think. Curling into yourself on the hard cot, you allow sleep to take you. Your father doesn't allow you to rest for long, as soon as your body is in mostly working order you are thrown back into training.

“Fight or die.” He states, looking down at you as though you are the scum of the earth. “It matters not to me which you choose.” You act as their soldier and obey their commands as well as you can without losing yourself. Walking into the training ring you are dismayed to see that you are fighting none other than the winter soldier, your soulmate. You fight with everything you have, your hatred for Hydra growing with every bruise and cut you are forced to bestow. You use the moments you have alone in your cell to plan. 

When you were younger you were forced to watch as Hydra wiped and programmed the soldier before they made you into one as well, at this point, you know his words by heart. You start to wonder, if they can make a series of trigger words to turn him into the Soldat, maybe you can come up with a phrase that will help bring him back. You spend the rest of the night creating the sentence that you will use, deciding on a nickname for him that has meaning to you.

Sunflower, that is the name you decide on. They are, after all, your favorite flower and if fate is to be trusted then he is to be your favorite person. The next day you begin implementing your plan, taking the opportunity to speak with him in the moments that you have him pinned down or he has you pinned down. 

  Every time it's the same phrase, spoken to him in Russian, “Hello Sunflower, the sun is up and your dreaming is done." This continues for months until one day Hydra decides that you are fit to go on missions with the Soldier, they believe you to be thoroughly under their control.

Every mission you find a chance to say the phrase to him. In the time you spend with him you learn to read him. He isn’t expressive, Hydra made sure of that, but when you pay enough attention you start to see the minute changes in his eyes or stance. You begin to notice a difference in him whenever you speak the phrase, no matter when his last brainwashing was. He begins to recognize you, even when in full Winter Soldier mode. When you speak to him while training his hits get a little softer and less aggressive, and when you are on missions he speaks just a little bit more.

You are 23 when the unthinkable happens, while on a mission, without the winter soldier, you fall into a river in some backwater town in Europe. You are saved from drowning by a man that you just shot. A man you have only read about in the soldier’s files. Steve Rogers. After retrieving you from freezing water, he takes your unconscious body back with him to the medical wing in the Avengers tower.

As you wake up your first thought is where am I, your second thought is this bed is way too fucking comfortable for Hydra. Your eyes shoot open. The blinding light of the room causes you a headache to make itself known. You start to move, feeling a tug at your wrists, you slowly open your eyes and look down. You are cuffed to the railing of a hospital bed, great. You flop back onto the bed, cursing your luck and hoping that whoever has you is willing to listen. Your gaze shifts to the door when you notice a figure behind the glass. The glass doors slide open, and Steve walks in. This revelation causes you to tense up, even more, you did shoot him after all.

“Oh good you're awake,” he says, noticing your open eyes and tense figure. “Now I get to ask you all of the questions I’ve been wanting to ask for the past three days.” He takes a seat next to you, his whole body screams intimidation. "Who are you? Why did you shoot me? What were you doing in that town and where did you get these?" He questions not bothering to hide the anger in his voice. 

He is holding up Bucky’s dog tags in front of your face and waiting impatiently for you to answer. You want to snatch them out of his hand and place them back around your neck, after taking them from his file about a month ago you haven’t taken them off. You were going to give them to him after you got him out, which you were planning on doing within the next couple of weeks. But now you are stuck here and there is nothing you can do to get back to him. You look at Steve, desperation coloring your voice as you explain, praying that he will listen.

"My name is Y/N, my father is Hydra and forced me to become an experiment, a soldier for them. I was planning on escaping but I never could, I couldn’t escape and leave him there. Not when I could do something to save him. I couldn’t leave him there all alone." It came out in a rush. Your heart shatters as you realize that you have done exactly what you have tried so hard not to, you have left your soulmate in the hands of Hydra. You have to convince Steve to help you get him back.

"Wait a minute, you're Hydra?" He spits at you. Fuck, you forgot that he knew what hydra is and that he hates them with a passion. Well, at least we have something in common.

"Not by choice." You answer quickly, not liking the vehemence in his voice, yet unable to hide the hatred in your own. You notice the way his jaw relaxes the tiniest bit when you say that, if you hadn't had years of practice watching Bucky for the tiniest hints of himself you would have missed it.

"Alright then, who is this ‘he’ you keep mentioning?" Steve leans back, crossing his arms as he waits for your answer.

"My soulmate, the Soldier, the man on the dog tags, James Buchanan Barnes." Steve's eyes immediately narrow, his body goes stiff,

"You’re lying. I watched him fall from that train” His teeth are clenched as he speaks. “I watched him die! There is no way he's your soulmate!" you can practically feel the anger rolling off of him.

"I'm not lying! I swear!” you are terrified of what he will do if you can’t convince him. “Hydra got to him. They made him into a weapon, they brainwashed him and put him on ice when they didn’t need him so that they could control him better. I swear I'm not lying!" You can’t stop yourself from becoming slightly hysterical. Usually, you would remain calm in this type of situation, but this time you can’t. This time it’s Hydra and this time it’s James.

A girl, that you had noticed in the corner earlier, steps forward, resting a hand on his shoulder. You hear her murmur something to him, but you aren’t able to make out what exactly she says. His countenance softens when he looks at the girl and you are reminded of how you sometimes look at James. Turning back to you he stares for a moment before he making a decision,

“Fine, I can’t fully trust you and I can’t let you go, so you will have to live here in the tower, under surveillance. If you want us to trust you, you will have to prove yourself trustworthy." He stands, unlocks your cuffs, and strides out of the room, you understand, what you just told him is a lot to take in.

The girl that was with him turns to you, “I’ll make sure that they have a room ready for you as soon as you are well enough to leave the hospital.” She gives you a soft smile and turns to leave, pausing for a moment at the door.

“I have just one more question.” You nod at her when she pauses, you will try your best to answer it. “I know you shot Steve.” she starts. “But you missed anything important on purpose, didn’t you?" You just smile at her, she's right, but you know nothing you say will change anything. She studies you for a moment before walking out of the door.

  Your arrangement works for a year. In that year you have become close to the avengers that live there. During the first six months you and Steve’s girl, Sarah, spend every morning together. She wants to learn how to fight and you are willing to teach her. You become close, she is the first person in the tower to trust you. In return for teaching her to fight she teaches you sign language. Apparently, one of her siblings was born deaf so her whole family knows how to sign. You become closer to Steve during this time as well, he still doesn’t fully trust you but he is willing to tell you more about his best friend. He always calls him Bucky and you find yourself calling him that too. But they end up moving to DC, leaving you in the compound with mostly Tony for company. Natasha and Clint are in and out of the tower and you come to a mutual understanding. You and Natasha have similar upbringings and it forms a bond, not friendship, but definitely trust.  

Then after about a year of freedom from Hydra shit hits the fan. Fury is shot and Steve discovers that Hydra has been a part of Shield since the beginning. You have to escape the tower before Hydra gets to you, so you do. You keep an eye on Steve and Sarah, at a distance, of course, you know they will send Bucky after him and that will be your chance to get to him.

Then the bridge happens and you see your soulmate for the first time in a year. Your heart feels like it’s beating out of your chest as you run towards him. You watch as he attacks Steve, you see Steve's shock as the mask falls off and you hear his heartbroken voice when he calls out for his friend. You hear Bucky’s crushing answer. You run, tackling him to the ground, just like you had done so many times in training. He fights back, you knew he would. You struggle with him, dodging punches and his knife. You are finally able to flip him onto the concrete and pin him down. Your heart in your throat as you stare into the eyes of your soulmate, praying as you speak that he will remember. Knowing that he has an unconscious reminder of you etched on his skin in ink. Here goes nothing. 

“Hello sunflower, the sun is up and your dreaming is done."

Tagged users: @calwitch @writerwrites