Since I unfortunately don’t have anything new for reading today, I thought I would finally create a masterlist of my OFC works, along with a little commentary on each one. I hope you find something new and lovely to read within this list!
@atc74 @alleiradayne
Not Listening When You Say Goodbye - Dean x South
South Mosely has said goodbye to almost everyone near and dear to her. She thought she had gotten used to it, but that was before the lights started flickering wherever she went; that was before a blast from the past came cruising into town in a 1967 Chevy Impala.
This was the first Supernatural fanfiction I ever wrote. I started and finished other things before this one was completed, but I remember feeling so accomplished when I finished writing it! I also remember feeling like their story isn’t finished; and Marie, another OFC within the fic, her story has yet to be told. I had so many plans for these characters, though none have yet to come to fruition.
Out of the Blue - Dean x Nicole (Me)
A series of random events turns out not to be so random.
Another idea that never fully came to fruition -- that’s such a pattern with me, unfortunately. Also, not the only YouAU (because self-insert kinda sounds dirty, ha) on my list. Pretty sure the idea came to me during a night working in the ER.
Promised Land | Let It Rock | Out of the Darkness - Dean x Israel
Dean bonds with a woman he never expected to be such a big part of his future.
This three-part mini-series is intended to be an insight into some “episodes” the reader in Angeles is part of; Israel is the character she plays. It was a lot of fun writing this enemies to lovers trope, working in Amara a little ... just a fun little series to write! And I really love Israel, personally. She’s one of my favorites.
The Demon’s Pet | Angels Among Us - Dean x Zephaniah
Dean goes to kill a woman, unaware of who and what she really is.
Dean and Zephaniah’s story continues as he fights against The Mark of Cain taking hold, and she avoids waging war with Heaven.
My baby. My heart. My labor of love. This series -- these series -- is/are a story I’m so proud of. Zephaniah’s character is one that I really worked to develop, and the scenes in these stories are ones I really visualized before putting them into words. Specifically (a little spoiler, nothing that ruins the fic) the scene in The Demon’s Pet when Dean tortures Zephaniah in hell ... I’m very proud of that scene. The third installment, The Demon & The Darkness, has been in the works for a long time, but I’ve learned that these are not characters I can rush; their story has to tell itself.
Someone Like You - Dean x Hartley, Sam x Andell, Castiel x Florence, Gadreel x Phedra, Travis x Hartley
Another fic that I started early on in my SPN-watching days! The OFCs are based on myself and three friends. Inspired by the Ashley Judd movie of the same name, this fic was intended to be a cute little rom-com type thing, with a touch of drama (which, of course, turned out to be more than a touch) and a smidge of the supernatural. Mechanic!Dean, Professor!Cas, GradStudent!Sam, SWATteam!Gadreel ... lots of fun stuff in this one!
Love & War - WWII AU - Jensen x OFC Lucy, Misha x OFC Odette - Collab with @d-s-winchester
Best friends Lucy and Odette navigate life in the wake of the Pearl Harbor bombing.
My first collab with Ashley! We wrote this story in FIVE DAYS. It was magical. Totally meant to be. A sweet World War II love story .. check it out if that’s your thing!
If Walls Could Talk - Jensen x Nicole
AU Me moves into an apartment in Vancouver and befriends Jensen ... and then panics about moving our relationship beyond friendship. (As if.)
A while back, I hosted a writing challenge called the YouAU challenge (again, because self-insert sounds kinda dirty) where I challenged other writers to put themselves into their fic in some capacity. I mean, I know a lot of us do it mentally anyway, so why not just put it out there? I had fun writing this, pulling the post-it theme throughout. Occasionally I add to it because, meh, why not?
The Charade - Jensen x Boden, Misha x Adeline - collab with @d-s-winchester
Boden and Adeline make a deal with Jensen and Misha -- the girls need an article, the boys need stand-in girlfriends. What could go wrong?
Another Ashole collab! Which unfortunately did not take only five days to write, ha. Still fun to write though, and one I often go back to re-read. I love the easy yet hesitant relationship between Jensen and Boden.
Take It All Back - Jensen x Macy, Jensen x Journey
Shocking news from home prompts Jensen to bounce a quarter into a whiskey glass and make a drunken wish. The next thing he knows, he’s catapulted into something straight out of Supernatural.Will Jensen be able to get back to the life he knows? More importantly, will he want to?
This idea hit me in the middle of a concert! Inspired by Take It All Back by Judah & the Lion, I thought about Jensen moving on from a sweetheart when he begins acting, and then hitting this traumatic moment where he wonders what would have happened if he could go back and stay with her -- and that maybe things wouldn’t be quite the ‘what if’ scenario he had imagined. Another passion piece that I am extremely proud of!
A Hit and A Miss - Misha x Ashley
A special moment goes slightly awry.
I wrote this for a Ships challenge ... I was alllllllll about some Mishley! Since I created the ship, you can guess why, haha! This ship may have sailed but I can’t complain about a fic that involves baseball!
Pictures in the Park | Guide Me Home | Meaning in the Moments
Speaking of ships, let’s talk Robelina.
My dear friend Ang -- @atc74 -- and Rob Benedict. The epitome of short and sweet. One of my favorite ships to write. Though we all know Angelina is passionate and Rob can entertain with the best of them, I see their relationship as the calm place for both of them. Quiet in the chaos. *dreamy sigh*.
Okay friends, I’m pretty sure that covers all of my OC fics. I hope you find something you can read and love, and maybe even some inspiration to create your own original characters! Happy OC Appreciation Day!
Summary: Grace Cleveland and Eleanor Baker both thought their lives were over, until they became part of something much bigger – the Avengers.
Pairing(s): Clint Barton x OFC, Steve Rogers x OFC
Word Count: 1290
Blanket Warnings: Death, mentioned a couple of different ways, but not detailed; canon divergence; more based on Marvel movies. In the infamous word of Steve Rogers, “Language.”
Masterlist
A/N: This was the first Marvel fic I ever started, and I’m super excited to share it with you all! Thanks to @captain-s-rogers for your help, approval, and encouragement on this one!
“She isn’t ready, Fury, not to be on her own,” Clint told his director through clenched teeth.
Nick took a good look at the angry man. “She’s either ready, or she isn’t, Barton.”
“She still won’t talk about him and you want to send her right back to him? Undercover?”
“We have to know what he’s up to, and there’s no one that man trusted like he trusted Grace.”
“I don’t like it.”
“You don’t have to — this isn’t your call.”
Fury made the statement with such finality, Clint knew the conversation was over. Fine; if he couldn’t get through to Nick Fury, he would convince Grace what a horrible idea this was.
She was packing her bag in her room when he found her. He knocked on the door frame; Grace looked up and gave him a nervous smile.
“Time for me to fly the nest, I guess,” she said.
“Don’t go,” Clint replied.
Grace sat on the edge of her bed. “Clint, did I ever tell you why I joined this initiative?”
“Fury told us -- because you witnessed the murder of a senator while on a job and wanted more protection than the FBI could offer.”
“That’s partially right.” She got up to pull a classified folder from her nightstand drawer, and held it out to Clint. “I was going to give this to you before I left -- just in case -- so that you would know everything.”
Clint took the folder, but tucked it under his arm. “I want to hear it from you.”
“Fine. Joel Rockley, the man I’m going undercover to find information on, was my boyfriend. We started the bounty hunting business together back home, but he got mixed up in some bad stuff. I bailed him out, put him on a bond with my name. He cleaned up his act, came back to work.” She took a moment to compose herself before delving into the harder details. “S.H.I.E.L.D approached him about The American Initiative before they even found Ellie. They started out with a series of injections, to make sure that it would work. The Senator that Joel killed was heavily involved in the project. He believed that S.H.I.E.L.D makes our country a safer place. Anyway, Joel’s record had been sealed, so they didn’t find it right away when they took him for the program. The senator found out and threatened to out him to Director Fury if Joel didn’t come clean on his own.”
“That’s why Joel killed him,” Clint surmised.
Grace nodded. “Yes. He missed a check-in with his probation officer, so I went after him. I was on the job, since I could lose out if he went back to jail. Tracked him to the Senator’s office -- I had my suspicions of what he was going to do, but I didn’t warn anyone. I didn’t want to believe that Joel was capable of murder. So, after I witnessed it, I went to the police. The FBI put me in protective custody, but I had to do something to reconcile what happened to the Senator.”
“Gracie, that wasn’t your fault.”
“Maybe I didn’t put him on his knees or put the gun to his head, but I could have stopped it. I could have gone to the police before it happened.” She got up, zipped her bag, and pulled the strap onto her shoulder. “That’s why I joined, Clint. So that I could have the chance to make this right -- to save somebody else. Maybe I can’t bring the senator back, but I can stop Joel from hurting anyone else.”
Clint shook his head. “No. I don’t like it.”
“It’s not up to you.”
“I trained you!” Clint argued. “You’ve known this was coming and you didn’t say anything! I’m going to talk to Fury again -- if I have to pull you from the team, so be it!”
Grace caught him by the arm. “You. Don’t. Get. A. Say. I appreciate everything you’ve done for me, I really do. But just because -- just because you kissed me, that doesn’t make you anything other than a teammate. I’m going.”
She pushed past him out of the room and out to the front of the facility. Clint cursed and slapped the folder against the wall before storming out of the room as well.
“Have a good time, kid. Give ‘em hell,” Tony was saying to her when Clint caught up. “Oh, and — something to remember me by.”
He clasped a delicate gold bracelet around her wrist; there was a small opal, Grace’s favorite, centered on the chain. She smiled up at him.
“Thanks, Tony. I’ll see you.”
Grace kissed the older man on the cheek, then she was gone. Clint made himself known only after Grace was out of earshot.
“You got something going with her?” Clint asked suspiciously.
“Yeah, I do,” Tony answered, stopping when he was shoulder to shoulder with the archer. “Faith. You should try it, Barton.”
Ellie was reading a book in a quiet, secluded area she had found in the facility. She wasn’t used to people finding her here, so when Steve showed up, Ellie was more than a little surprised.
“Thought I was pretty well isolated here,” she said, smiling shyly.
“Didn’t mean to interrupt.”
“You’re not,” Ellie promised, shaking her head for emphasis. “I’ve been reading a lot. Figured out I like it — love it, actually. Mostly fiction.”
Steve shrugged. “Nothing wrong with that.”
Ellie nodded. “True. Did you need something?”
“I wanted to check on you after Grace left. You two have a connection you’ll never have with anyone else.”
“True,” Ellie ceded, “but Grace is doing what she came here to do. How can I be upset about that? I’ll be lonely probably, and I’ll miss her, but I also know she’ll come back.”
Steve smiled. “You’re right. She will be back. In the meantime, you don’t have to be lonely, Ella. You have Natasha — and you have me.”
Ellie couldn’t help but grin at that; having Natasha as a stand-in for Grace was far more than okay, but having Steve fill in for her friend — that was a different kind of comfort.
“Jarvis, initiate the OTS,” Tony said, walking into his lab and waking up all the systems.
“Osprey Tracking System initiated, Mr. Stark.”
Tony stood back and waited, arms crossed over his chest, while the computer locked on to Grace’s coordinates. It took a couple of minutes, what with her being in the air somewhere between LaGuardia and Logan, but soon enough, Jarvis alerted Tony that Grace had been found.
“Right where she’s supposed to be,” Tony smiled. “Jarvis, keep the tracker open on the back burner. I wanna be able to find her at a moment’s notice.”
“Will do, sir.”
Grace was watching the clouds as the plane sped by them when the opal on the bracelet Tony had given her vibrated. She glanced down at the bracelet and whispered, “Hello, Jarvis.”
She had no earpiece to hear anything Jarvis might say in return, but if she was in trouble, all she had to do was call Jarvis via the bracelet, and the team would be on their way. Much like the repulsors and wings that were part of her Osprey suit, this bracelet was her fall-safe in case the undercover case went south.
Settling back in her chair as the captain announced the plane was beginning its descent, Grace smiled to herself. She would have to act far more lost once they touched down in Boston, but, for now, she could revel in the fact that Joel had no idea what was in store for him.
Summary: Rob finds another opportunity to capture in pictures a moment with Angelina; she’s not so sure. Sequel to Pictures in the Park.
Pairing: Rob Benedict x Angelina (Robelina)
Word Count: 655
Warnings: Sexy flirting.
Square Filled: ‘I Didn’t Mean to Turn You On’ for BTZ Bingo.
Square Filled: Photographer AU for @spngenrebingo
A/N: As I mapped out some of my bingo squares and realized I could make this combination, I really wanted to do this for our dear @atc74. I ship her with Rob SO HARD. No disrespect to his family, of course, I just think they’re adorable. Enjoy :)
Eleven dates later, Rob showed up on Angelina’s doorstep with his camera over his shoulder and her favorite lemonade in hand.
“You must be buttering me up for something,” she giggled, kissing him before taking the lemonade and sipping it. She closed her eyes and sighed contentedly. “Delicious.”
“Me or the lemonade?” Rob asked.
Angelina shrugged, turning back into the house with Rob right behind her. “Both. Okay, now tell me. What’s with the camera?”
Rob set the bulky bag on the coffee table and dropped next to her on the couch. “Well, do you remember when we were laying out on the hammock in the backyard last weekend?”
Angelina thought back. “Yes, I believe I was there for that.”
“You were,” Rob smiled. “And so was I. You were dozing off but I was watching you —”
“Ah, being a creeper again.”
“— and the natural lighting was perfect. The wind was in your hair just a little bit … anyway, I’ve been waiting for weather like that, and today’s the day, sweetheart.”
Angelina set her lemonade on a coaster on the coffee table and sighed. “Rob. You still haven’t even given me copies of the pictures you took in the park when we met. I can’t tell you how much I love that you think I’m beautiful and that you want to take these pictures, but I’m not sure I’m comfortable …”
Rob thought on that for a minute, while Angelina chewed on her bottom lip and stared at her hands in her lap. Finally, he hooked a finger under her chin, lifting her eyes back to his.
“This isn’t just about you, it’s about — it’s about how I feel when I’m with you. You looked gorgeous under that tree when you were reading, and you did when we were laying in the hammock, too, but that — that was different. Okay? It was different. It was about this beautiful woman who, despite the creepy way I approached her in the park, agreed to go to dinner with me one night and, suddenly, instead of wondering what the rest of my life would look like, I could see it all stretched out before me. I’m not trying to rush anything, I only want to maybe help you understand why I want to capture a moment like that.”
She pulled her face away from his hand, but only to push forward and smash her lips against his. Rob’s hands came up to hold her face, his tongue sneaking past the barrier of her lips. Angelina pushed forward even more, until she was straddling his lap, and Rob’s arms were wrapped tightly around her. His hands moved over her back, into her hair, down to her hips, all in an effort to find the best place to settle. He simply couldn’t get enough of her.
Minutes later, Angelina pulled back, standing from the couch and breathing heavily. “I’m sorry. I wanted to respond by making you understand how beautiful and cared for you make me feel, and that’s what my brain came up with, I guess.”
Rob pulled a throw pillow onto his lap. “Yeah, no, it’s fine. I guess we’re on the same page, then.”
She picked up her lemonade and took several strong gulps. “Yeah, I’d say so. Shall we get these pictures done with so we can move on to dinner?”
“Can you give me a minute?” Rob squeaked out. “That kiss … that was hot, babe.”
Angelina frowned, until she noted the pillow and the his obvious attempt to not make eye contact with her. She giggled and set her lemonade down, then leaned over him where he sat on the couch.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Photographer,” she said in a sultry voice, brushing her lips over his, “I didn’t mean to turn you on.”
Rob’s nervous chuckle turned to an eager moan as Angelina tossed the pillow to the side and resumed her position on his lap.
Keep It Original: @ashleymalfoy @atc74 @melbrandes @smoothdogsgirl @illisea @ravenesque @spnbaby-67
Summary: Grace Cleveland and Eleanor Baker both thought their lives were over, until they became part of something much bigger – the Avengers.
Pairing(s): Clint Barton x OFC, Steve Rogers x OFC
Word Count: 1428
Blanket Warnings: Death, mentioned a couple of different ways, but not detailed; canon divergence; more based on Marvel movies. In the infamous word of Steve Rogers, “Language.”
Masterlist
A/N: This was the first Marvel fic I ever started, and I’m super excited to share it with you all! Thanks to @captain-s-rogers for your help, approval, and encouragement on this one!
For a couple weeks after that rooftop kiss, Grace and Clint both acted as though nothing happened. The kiss had been electric, and it was a lot to take in for both of them. They went back to training and bantering as usual, when Grace wasn’t in Tony’s lab, putting the finishing touches on hers and Ellie’s suit.
“I think you’ve done about all you can do here,” Tony finally told her. “Barton’s got somewhere to take you — go meet up with him.”
Grace nodded, knowing that meant her time as an official Avenger was close. She kissed Tony on the cheek before practically skipping out of the lab. She took the car Tony had ordered for her back to the facility, excited for her outing with Clint. She knew it wasn’t a date, and that was okay — especially considering she was pretty sure this was the day she was going to be told her codename.
She dressed casually, grateful for a day to be out of training clothes. Clint was waiting for her in a cab in front of the facility. She was anxious to know where they were going, and Clint was kind enough not to keep her in suspense.
“Alley Pond Park,” he informed her. “Hopefully we’ll see what I wanna show you.”
Grace clapped her hands excitedly, watching out the window for most of the ride. Before The American Initiative, she had never been to New York, and she loved taking in the scenery when she could.
The drive wasn’t awful; soon enough, the pair was getting out of the cab and venturing into the park. They made their donation at the vistor’s center, then picked a walking trail. They made small talk until coming to a wetland area with a pond. It was quiet and peaceful; Grace took a seat on the grass, Clint followed suit. They wowed over the animals they did get to see, darting back and forth in front of them.
“Whoa! Did you see that hawk? Came down so quick, back up just as quick, and still caught itself a fish!” Grace exclaimed.
Clint nodded. “That’s what I wanted you to see — an osprey. They come down quick and catch their prey. They’re stealthy and quick, as you can tell. They can live anywhere. They have these unique characteristics and behavior that helps them hunt and catch their prey — so unique, in fact, they have their own genus and family. So, even though it is a hawk, it’s still —”
“It’s own bird,” Grace smiled.
“Exactly,” Clint smiled back. “That’s why you’re Osprey. You and I have a lot of similarities, but you’re still your own.”
As another osprey came down over the water to catch its prey, Grace took in a deep breath; she felt an overwhelming sense of pride and only hoped that she would live up to the codename she had been given.
Ellie checked that the duffel bag Natasha had dropped off to make sure she had everything she would need for an overnight trip. They weren’t going far, just a trip into the city, but Steve was adamant that they also stay out for the night.
“You’ve never been anywhere but the facility and Tony’s place, as far as you can remember. We’re going to expand your horizons a little,” Steve explained.
Ellie simply shrugged; she trusted Steve with her life and then some. If he said she needed time away from the facility, he was probably right.
In the couple of weeks since discovering her ability to control a mind enough to make someone see her where she was not, they had discovered another of Ellie’s new abilities: she could take that mind Control and channel it to her hands. She could use it as a shield, or divert weapons and bullets and whatever object was thrown her direction. This was something that would aid her when reading a mind or controlling it wasn’t an option, but it also helped Steve pick a codename for her.
After checking into the hotel — which Ellie was grateful to see had two beds — Steve took them out on a tour of the city. They saw Central Park, including the zoo, Times Square, and took a ferry out to see the Statue of Liberty.
“She stands for the place our country is supposed to be — a place of freedom and comfort and strength. In the last few months, you’ve found yourself. You found your strength, your abilities, who you are.” He leaned on the rail of the ferry. “You, Eleanor Baker, are a force to be reckoned with, whether you realize it or not.”
In a moment of excitement, Ellie read Steve’s thoughts. “Liberty Force?”
Steve nodded, chuckling at her anticipation. “Liberty Force. That is, if you don’t mind being teamed up with ole Cap.”
Ellie shook her head. “Not one bit.”
The sound of running water woke Ellie the next morning. The hotel bed compared to her bed at the facility was infinitely more comfortable, and she had slept all the more better for it. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes, and looked up to see Steve coming from the bathroom, drying his hands with a towel.
A half-smile tugged at her lips at the sight of him in jeans and an undershirt, muscles clearly defined. He was a man if there ever was one -- Ellie knew in that moment, when all she wanted was to close her eyes and not see him, but feel him close to her, that she had fallen for Steve Rogers.
“Hey, good morning,” he greeted, noticing that she was awake. “Hungry? I’ve got room service bringing up the best breakfast in Manhattan.”
Ellie nodded, sitting up fully. “Good morning. Breakfast sounds great.”
Steve tossed the hand towel back to the bathroom counter, then went to his bag and pulled on a t-shirt. “What would you like to do after breakfast?”
“Oh, um … I don’t know. I don’t really know what the options are, I guess.”
Steve nodded, sitting on the edge of his bed. “Well, there’s a few more sights we could see, or we could go to --”
“Tony’s,” Ellie said, reading his thoughts again. “I want to see Liberty Force’s suit!”
There was a knock at the door. “After breakfast?”
She nodded. “After breakfast.”
“Liberty Force,” Tony said, “you, my dear, we went roundabouts on a shield for you -- that is, until we found out you have a shield of your own.”
Ellie smiled sheepishly, stamping down her pride over the uniform in front of her. She could see that it was derived from Steve’s suit, but was going to be more fitting. She loved the fingerless gloves and the Avengers patch on the shoulder.
“What’s this?” she asked, pointing to the weapon on a stand beside the suit.
“That was my idea,” Natasha spoke up. “Similar to my Bite, yours will land a harsh electroshock to your opponent. We changed up the color, of course, so that Liberty Force also has a Torch.”
Ellie couldn’t hide her excitement anymore. She let out a full on grin and approached the suit, checking it out up close and admiring the suit she would get to proudly don when she was deemed ready for a mission.
“Gracie,” Tony beamed, putting his arm around her and bringing her to a suit not far off from Clint’s. “With the coloring of the osprey, we went with grey instead of Barton’s very manly purple.”
Clint rolled his eyes.
“You’ve got your bow, your arrows, all same as Barton -- but I have upgraded you a bit, as requested.” Tony pressed a button on bow, and wings expanded out from the quiver. “The osprey is able to dive down to hunt and catch its prey, and now, so can you. The boots are complete with repulsors, not unlike mine, the wings are aerodynamic, and the quiver has a repulsor as well.”
“Fall-safe,” Grace smiled, winking at Clint.
“A fall-safe,” Tony repeated. “Is there champagne in this facility? I think we need a toast to the two newest Avengers -- Liberty Force and Osprey.”
There was applause all around, the sound growing louder as Nick Fury entered the room. The six original Avengers took their chance to view the suits up close, and Fury approached Grace subtly.
“Agent Cleveland, may I speak with you in private?”
Grace looked to the tall man beside her; she didn’t have Ellie’s mind reading capabilities, but somehow, she knew what this was about.
Summary: Grace Cleveland and Eleanor Baker both thought their lives were over, until they became part of something much bigger – the Avengers.
Pairing(s): Clint Barton x OFC, Steve Rogers x OFC
Word Count: 1897
Blanket Warnings: Death, mentioned a couple of different ways, but not detailed; canon divergence; more based on Marvel movies. In the infamous word of Steve Rogers, “Language.”
Masterlist
A/N: This was the first Marvel fic I ever started, and I’m super excited to share it with you all! Thanks to @captain-s-rogers for your help, approval, and encouragement on this one!
Without Grace to keep her busy in her downtime, Ellie had more time to think -- about a lot of things. She found out more about herself in the first couple of days that Grace was gone than she had in a while. Furthermore, she discovered that she wasn’t the kind of person to bottle up her feelings; she could be in control and not let on to them, but she wasn’t going to hide them from herself, either.
This realization prompted her to cautiously broach the subject of relationships with Steve.
“I don’t mean to make things awkward, for either of us,” Ellie assured, “I just — I’m trying to figure out how to handle it now, I suppose.”
Steve nodded. “That’s perfectly understandable, Elle. Even if you remembered things from before, being an Avenger is a whole new can of worms.”
Ellie smiled at his analogy. “Something like that.”
“I don’t know much about relationships overall, to be honest. Before the injections, I was a scrawny Brooklyn kid with asthma and zero allure. After the injections, there was Captain America — but there was also a woman. Her name was Peggy; she was part of the initiative, I suppose. Smart and tough and kind -- not a lot unlike you, actually. She had faith in me when no one else did. I suppose there was something between us, but then I had to put that airplane in the ice and everything else happened …”
Steve trailed off, a nostalgic sheen glazing his eyes. Ellie bit her lip and looked away, giving him a moment of privacy with his memories.
“Did you ever think about finding her, you know, when you woke up?”
Returning from his trip down memory lane, Steve chuckled, albeit sadly. “I thought about it, sure, but life went on without me, Elle. Peggy would be an old woman by now.”
“Oh, right …”
The two of them had lingered in silence for a few moments after that, before Ellie showed him some mercy and changed the subject. The thought occurred to her that, old woman or not, Steve was still in love with this Peggy woman -- perhaps he would always be. For that reason, though she had accepted her feelings, Ellie decided it was best to keep them to herself.
* * * * *
Grace shouldered the one bag she had with her, pulled the hood of her jacket up over her head, and walked down the streets of Boston towards the last place she had known Joel to live. Thanks to S.H.I.E.L.D intel, she knew he wasn’t there anymore, but she figured it looked less conspicuous if she didn’t go to a place Joel assumed she didn’t know about.
Taking a deep breath, Grace hurried up the steps of the apartment complex, heading straight for the place she had called home, for a while. Another deep breath before knocking, and then there was no turning back.
A familiar man opened the door. “Gracie?”
“Heya, Frank. I’m lookin’ for Joel.”
Frank smiled and hugged her tight. “I told the ole boy you’d be back before we knew it. Joel don’t stay here anymore, though.”
Grace frowned. “Where’d he go?”
“C’mon in here,” Frank said, pulling her out of the hallway. “I’ll call him. He’s in hiding, ya know.”
“Yeah, I figured.”
She sat on the couch -- the one she and Joel had picked out together for the apartment -- dropped her bag on the floor and pulled her knees up to her chest. Frank spoke in a hushed voice in the kitchen not far away, and Grace could hear every word. When he disconnected the call, he came back around.
“Gimme ten minutes, Gracie. I’ll take you to Joel.”
Grace nodded, focusing on the TV while Frank went in the other room to change and get ready to leave. Her heart was racing, and she was hypervigilant of her situation. Though she knew how secure S.H.I.E.L.D was, there was part of her that feared he knew what she had been up to the last few months.
“All right, let’s go.”
Frank hit the power button on the remote; the cessation of sound broke Grace’s train of thought. She shouldered her bag again and followed her old friend out the door.
* * * * *
Amidst her routine of getting up to date with intel, a regular training schedule, and otherwise occupying herself, Ellie did her best not to think about her feelings for Steve. His heart was taken, that was clear. Ellie could only hope that, in time, her feelings would wane and she could move on.
She was sitting in a conference room on her own when Natasha came to meet her. Ellie smiled a greeting at the other woman and put her hand on the brown file folder in front of her.
“Thanks for meeting me. I think I’m about ready to do this, but I didn’t want to do it alone.”
“What is that?” Natasha inquired.
Ellie took a deep breath. “My entire life, up to the point that Fury came to claim me at the hospital. I haven’t looked at it before, and I only know a few things from what I’ve been told about how I came to be part of The American Initiative. Something someone said to me recently -- I’ve been thinking about life after we’re gone. I’ve been wondering how my family is getting on, and who all is left. I want to know the things I don’t remember.”
Natasha pursed her lips together and picked at her nails. She re-directed her focus to Ellie, but couldn’t make herself ask the question.
“You think this is a bad idea?”
Natasha shook her head.. “No. Not if it’s something you feel the conviction to do, Ella. I just -- are you going to be able to handle all of the things in this folder? You don’t know what’s in there, and -- you make the decision for yourself, I’m here if you decide to go ahead. Sometimes though, I think it’s best to remember that the things left in the past, are left there for good reason.”
Natasha’s advice was good advice. Ellie took it all into consideration, and finally decided to open the file. The first page was all about her.
“I was a teacher,” Ellie smiled. “US history, for a high school.”
Natasha smiled, too, and continued to do so as Ellie went through all the things in her background. She listened as Ellie talked about her parents and her sister, about family pets she didn’t remember she ever had.
As Ellie came to the end of the section on her family, her jaw dropped and her eyes filled with tears. She shoved the file away and stood, fleeing the room and eventually the building.
Natasha pulled the file in front of her, her jaw going just as slack as Ellie’s had as she took in the information in front of her.
* * * * *
“This is some shady shit, Frankie,” Grace muttered as they walked down a concrete staircase. “What the hell is going on?”
Frank glanced at her, but said nothing before turning forward again. A single light bulb dangled from a wired fixture at the bottom of the staircase. Grace watched it swing back and forth a couple of times before Frank got the heavy door unlocked and motioned for her to enter.
Her jaw went slack as she entered the makeshift laboratory; it wasn’t entirely unlike the S.H.I.E.L.D lab where she had been enhanced. This place, however, lacked the technology to be up to par with the agency’s facilities.
“Gracie?”
The voice broke through the silence, causing Grace to turn and face the man she knew so well. He was bigger now, taller and more muscular — she wondered what else had changed about him.
“Joel,” she said, letting his name out on a breath of feigned relief.
He opened his arms and Grace dropped her bag, running to him. The couple embraced, and Joel lifted her face to his, kissing her roughly.
“I missed you — how did you get out?”
Grace swallowed hard. “They cleared me, put me in witness protection. I got the drop on my guards.”
“Always a runner,” Joel smirked, pushing the hood away from her. “Your hair got longer.”
“Yeah … Joel, what is all of this?” Grace gestured to the machines and computers around them.
He stepped away from her, took a deep breath, and sighed. “After I was dropped from the enhancement program, I couldn’t let it go. I found someone within the agency to sneak me the serum — I have to take it via IV, which is apparently changing the way the serum works. It’s better in some ways, but taking time in others. But — it’s happening. I’m becoming the man I was always meant to be.”
Grace smiled as she stepped up to him again. “I always said you had great potential.”
Joel chuckled and kissed her again. “C’mon, I’ll show you the rest of the place.”
* * * * *
As soon as Natasha showed him the file, Steve took off in a full run to find Ellie. A mix of emotions swelled in his chest; pride that she had the courage to open the file was churning with heartache at what she had just discovered she left behind.
He found her near the archery range. She was standing but with her head in her hands, her shoulders shaking. Steve slowed and reached out a hand to her shoulder.
“Ellie …”
Her head lifted and she sniffled as she turned to look at him. Stepping right up to him, Ellie bit her lip as she took Steve’s face in her hands and pressed her lips to his.
He knew he shouldn’t respond, but he couldn’t stop himself from returning the gesture. The saltiness of her tears combined with her own sweet taste; the scent of her invaded his nose. Steve never wanted to let her go.
Ellie was the first to pull away, stepping back and out of his reach. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have just done that out of the blue. But, Steve, don’t you think that if I had a — a husband, who died in the same wreck I was in, and a little girl left behind, I should have felt some sort of guilt in kissing another man? It should have sparked something about my former life. But it doesn’t! I read this file of this person who has my name and my face but I don’t know her. It’s like — it’s like I ruined everything!”
She dissolved into sobs again, but this time, not alone. Steve stepped towards her again, pulling her against his chest and promising her that everything was going to be all right.
Summary: Finley gives as much information as she can on The Division; she and Castiel do their best to ward away anyone who may wish to harm the hunters.
Pairing: Dean x OFC Finley
Word Count: 2360
Fic Warnings: Language, angst, canon-typical supernatural elements.
Chapter Warnings: None, other than above. I think.
Masterlist
Mary and Cas had already stocked up on beers and one hotel room by the time Finley and Dean met them at a hotel in downtown St. Louis. Tensions were still present, but Cas and Dean managed to more or less ignore each other long enough to focus on the conflict at hand.
Finley opened a beer and took a seat on one of the beds. “Okay, everyone ready for this?”
“We’re listening,” Mary assured.
“Right.” Finley took a good swig of her beer and set the bottle on the night table. It was going to be easier to do this if she was standing. “After I turned eighteen, I got out of the life. You knew that. I went to college, I graduated. But nothing stuck. I found reasons to not work anywhere that would require a commitment. I took my college degree and I worked in diners — places that I could up and leave without it being any big deal. One day, I was just waiting tables, and this old guy walked in — Cuthbert Sinclair. The head of The Division. He knew that I didn’t belong in that diner, but he also knew I didn’t belong with some other government agency.”
“That’s when you joined The Division,” Dean interjected.
Finley nodded. “Yes. They took what I already knew and they built on it. See, you know about the Men of Letters. What you don’t know, or maybe haven’t entirely figured out, is that they didn’t entirely disband after Abaddon’s attack. The British Men of Letters came over from London and signed responsibilities over to the American government — or at least that’s what we were told.”
Cas nodded. “But now you don’t think so.”
“I think the American government was a funding front. What I saw when Cuthbert was killed — what I heard — was the Brits telling him that he had broken policies. If the American government was really behind The Division, why would the Brits insist their policies be followed?” She gulped down another swig of beer. “They want hunters who don’t want to do things their way dead. That’s what Gordon wanted out of me, and I think that’s what Cuthbert was fighting against. We all fight the same monsters, we all fight for the same cause. Maybe we go about it a little differently, but that’s no reason to go around killing an entire community.”
Mary shook her head. “So they’re going to keep coming after us — especially Finley. But if they’re holding strong that Cuthbert was violating policies, why would they frame you?”
Finley shrugged. “This is what they do. They pick a target and they break you down until you give in or you die. Those are your choices. Really, The Division wasn’t so different from the British Men of Letters. We were trained that our cause and our purpose was so sensitive, anyone who dared to go against us or leave the organization would threaten all of our lives. Turns out we were the threat the whole time.” She ran a hand through her hair. “They’ll use any means necessary to break us down. They’ll break us apart from each other, they’ll torture us. They’ll turn people we thought would always be loyal against us. I think our best bet is for me to keep on to the headquarters, and the three of you to gather as many as you can to go against them. There will be strength in numbers, and with me on my own, they’ll be distracted long enough for you to build a defense.”
Mary interjected. “No, we’re in this together. Even if we have to part again, we do it strategically. This isn’t another hunt — this is our lives.”
“Exactly,” Castiel agreed, stepping behind her. “We do this together, win or lose.”
Finley looked at Dean. He didn’t say anything; his gaze bore into her so intensely, tears welled in her eyes. She feared he would give her up, until he spoke.
“We need something to throw them off our trail, buy us a little time.”
Castiel cleared his throat. “I may be able to help with that. We’ll have to locate another angel, but I think I can do it.”
“Do what, exactly?” Finley questioned.
“A warding. It’ll be stronger than the tattoo I’ve got, but I can’t promise it’ll last.”
“I can. There’s a warding spell that’s — well, it’s pretty fucking old. But we won’t have to find an angel, which means Castiel won’t have to steal anyone’s grace.”
Dean frowned at his friend. “That’s what you were going to do?”
“Wouldn’t be the first time,” Castiel admitted.
“The spell,” Mary prompted. “What do we need?”
A couple of minutes passed while Finley tried to remember both the ingredients and the words for the spell. Once she had it all written down, they made a plan to search in teams for them around the city before convening back at the room. There would be some danger to searching out the ingredients, but once they had them and the spell could be completed, that wouldn’t be a problem.
The foursome ended up splitting women and men; while Castiel fetched something from Mary’s car, Finley pulled Dean aside.
“You don’t have to do this, if you don’t want to. I’ve told you before, I’m fine on my own. If you want to walk away, I won’t hold a grudge.”
“Well, yeah, you would, first of all,” Dean snorted. He held loosely to one of her hands. “But the point is, I’m not going anywhere. You knew to run to me when you were in trouble, and there’s no way I could run from you when you’re in trouble — and it isn’t just you now, Fin. It’s all of us.”
He kissed her forehead before getting in the Impala, leaving Finley to watch him drive away.
Finley carefully navigated the streets of St. Louis, searching out the first store where they would check for the needed ingredients for the spell. Mary wasn’t ever up for small talk, but if Finley didn’t start talking and stop chewing on her bottom lip, she was going to draw blood soon.
“Something on your mind?”
Finley glanced over to the passenger seat before fixing her eyes back on the road. “Just thinking about that wraith hunt.”
Mary frowned. “Something wrong about it?”
“No, definitely not. Those final moments were nearly flawless — that spell’s one of my favorites, to be honest. But I keep thinking about how we would have gotten out of it if I had never joined The Division, if I had just stayed in the life. I would have known another way, I guess, because I probably would have been fighting wraiths all the time.”
“There’s something about being a hunter,” Mary acknowledged. “We live a seemingly normal life, but there’s all these secrets and close calls underneath it. When I met John, when I knew we were going to have a life together, I couldn’t wait to stop hunting. But then we got married and the boys came and I still couldn’t stop. It’s embedded in our DNA, I think, for people like us. Our parents were in it, and we can never get out. Not really.”
Finley pulled into a parking stall and turned off the engine. “It’s not only about hunting. How did I get here? How did I become an enemy of the state? All I wanted was out of hunting, but like you said, there is no getting out of it when the connection is familial. I thought I found a compromise in The Division, but now it feels like I’m in it deeper than ever.”
Mary did something then that only a mother might know to do in that moment. She surveyed Finley’s eyes searching out the windshield, trying to get the bearings on her life, and responded by pulling Finley into a tight hug. She said nothing, she didn’t try to comfort Finley, or tell her everything was going to work out. In truth, there was no way to know that. So, Mary hugged Finley, who took a few seconds to respond in kind, but when she did, she hugged Mary tighter than she had hugged anyone since her own mother.
“Thank you,” Finley whispered.
They all returned to the hotel several hours later, empty-handed. Dean ran a hand over his face, trying to come up with another option.
“Cas, what about finding you some grace?”
Mary’s brow rose. “As in, stealing it from another angel? Have you done that before?”
“Only in dire circumstances, which I would say these are,” Castiel responded. “We’d still have to find the ingredients to summon an angel, or figure out another way to hunt one down. Finley?”
“We can do it without an angel. There’s another spell, one only taught to elite agents of The Division, in keeping with the Men of Letters tradition. It would keep us from any interference — even archangels.”
Castiels eyes went wide. “Life-bound warding? You know how to do that.”
Finley nodded. “Our best bet is to do the drawing on the cars, but the second part might be trickier. Here, everyone grab a paper from this, find a pen or something. We’ve got to get this right if it’s gonna work.”
“What’s the second part?” Dean asked.
Castiel and Finley exchanged a look before Castiel came out with it. “The second part is to draw it on our chests above our hearts.”
“How do we do that? Sharpies or something?”
Finley cleared her throat and shook her head. “Knives. It’s got to go into the skin.”
“Great,” Dean sighed, setting about finding a pen so he could copy the sigil Finley and Castiel were teaching them to draw. After a few rounds of practicing, they could carry out the warding, then get back on the road.
Benny Lafitte checked his surroundings before sitting at his desk and calling his field agent. The other man answered on the second ring.
“They’re in St. Louis. Gordon, Christian, and Cole are all down. They’re on their way back to headquarters for a debriefing.”
“Hunters got to her before they did?” Benny asked.
“For the most part. From what I can tell, they’re working on a warding sigil, then they’ll continue on to Topeka.” The other man chuckled. “Thank goodness for thin motel walls.”
Benny chuckled, too, and it had a sliver of relief to it. “I’ll second that. Have they suspected you’re following them?”
“Not as far as I can tell. I’m keeping my distance — no reason to break my cover. If they make me, I’m not sure I can get them to trust me, which means I’d likely end up in a position I don’t wanna be in.”
“Yeah, I’ll bet you would,” Benny agreed. “Keep that distance, but keep your eye on them. We’re working on things here at home base, so we’re ready when they come. If it looks even for a second that they’re spooked, you’d better let me know.”
“Will do, sir. I’ll check in first thing, unless you’ve got updates before then.”
“Sounds good.”
Benny hung up the phone then, checked again for anyone who may have been listening, then gathered his things to leave for the night.
Finley put her gun on the nightstand, propped a pillow against the headboard, and leaned back against it.
“When’s the last time you slept?” Dean asked, quiet so as not to wake Mary or Castiel, laying close to each other in the other bed. That fact was eating away at him, but he wanted to avoid the same conflict they had run into before. He didn’t understand, and he didn’t like it, but he was doing his best to keep those thoughts to himself.
“Before they found me in Saint Louis. When’s the last time you slept?”
“Little before that, when someone dropped me and made her getaway.”
She couldn’t help but smile a bit. “Did I apologize for that, by the way? I really thought I was doing what was best. Figured you’d never leave on your own.”
“We’ve been over that,” Dean reminded her, propping his pillow up the same as her. “You should sleep while you can. We’re warded. No one’s coming tonight, Fin.”
“I know that,” she whispered. “Doesn’t mean I can convince myself of that, though. Runner by nature, remember? I’m just used to being on the ready.”
Dean put an arm around her. “You don’t have to be ready anymore. Not with me. Not unless we’re running together. For right now, I’m stationary. I’m going to try and get some rest, which is a new thing for me, but maybe we can give it a shot together.”
Figuring it was a stretch for Dean to talk about sleeping instead of staying up to keep watch, Finley compromised. She kept herself upright, kept her gun on the nightstand, but leaned into him. He ran his fingers up and down her arm, the best thing he could think of to help her relax.
“Your mom hugged me earlier.”
Dean smiled and kissed her hair. “She did, huh?”
“Yeah. I think she didn’t know what to say. Or knew there was nothing she could say, to make me stop thinking what I was thinking.”
“What were you thinking?”
Finley licked her lips; her eyelids were already getting heavy. “Trying to figure out how I got from where I started to where I am now. This isn’t the life I always wanted to escape, but it’s not the life I wanted, either.”
Dean wanted to say something, but like Mary earlier in the day, he understood this as one of those moments when it was better not to say anything. He held her a little tighter, continuing to rub up and down her arm until he felt the deep, even rhythm of her breathing in her sleep.
She wouldn’t like it if she woke up and realized, and Dean would never tell her if she didn’t figure it out on her own, but he had every intention of staying awake and keeping watch until morning came.
Keep It Original: @ashleymalfoy @atc74 @melbrandes @smoothdogsgirl @illisea @spnbaby-67
The Division: @xtina2191 @itsallaboutthedean @roxyspearing @adoptdontshoppets
Summary: Grace Cleveland and Eleanor Baker both thought their lives were over, until they became part of something much bigger – the Avengers.
Pairing(s): Clint Barton x OFC, Steve Rogers x OFC
Word Count: 1198
Blanket Warnings: Death, mentioned a couple of different ways, but not detailed; canon divergence; more based on Marvel movies. In the infamous word of Steve Rogers, “Language.”
Masterlist
A/N: This was the first Marvel fic I ever started, and I’m super excited to share it with you all! Thanks to @captain-s-rogers for your help, approval, and encouragement on this one!
After the party, Steve decided it was time to really get to work with Ellie’s training. She was a perfectly capable being, but her confidence was wavering. Despite all of the strides she had made since they began working together, she hadn’t been able to handle being at Tony’s party on her own.
Not that Steve was complaining at all. Having Ellie on his arm in front of all of those elite -- well, he wasn’t sure that the pride he felt was entirely appropriate.
“No training room today?” Ellie asked, meeting him outside like they had the first time they met together.
Steve clapped his hands together. “No -- not yet, anyway. I want to talk to you about Tony’s party.”
Ellie frowned. “Did I do something wrong? Maybe I shouldn’t have said as much as I did.”
“No, no,” Steve said, offering a reassuring smile. “You did just fine. My concern, Elle, is that you couldn’t be on your own. I am more than happy to be there with you, but it won’t always be that way. We need to work on your confidence.”
He hadn’t planned on getting right to the point, but maybe that was the best way to go with the subject. He observed her expression; she was certainly surprised. Her outburst that came next, however, he wasn’t expecting at all.
“Do you know what it’s like? To have your life change in a single second? I was perfectly normal -- I think, but that’s not the point. My life ended. Do you get that? It was over. I was brain-dead. My family mourned for me, I know that much. Maybe they still do. But I woke up one day, this completely different being. I have these powers, these abilities, and all of these people telling me what I can do, what I’m supposed to do, but I don’t even know who I am!”
“Okay, all right,” Steve said, pulling the crying woman into a tight hug. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have bombarded you with this. I’m sorry.”
Ellie shook her head, wiping away her tears. “No, I’m sorry for the outburst.”
“That was good, I think,” Steve said. “And for the record, yes, I do know, somewhat, what that’s like. I went into the ice and when I woke up, it was seventy years later. I shouldn’t be alive right now, either. I know who I am, but I don’t know how to be that person in this day and age, sometimes. We just -- we have to figure out who you are.” He thought for a second. “I have a great idea of where to start. Something to take the edge off.”
Steve took her hand and led her back into the facility. Before they got too far, Fury stood in their path.
“Sorry, kids, gonna have to interrupt. Steve, we’ve got a mission.”
Steve looked at Ellie, then back at Fury. “A mission …?”
“No offense, Agent Baker, but you and Agent Cleveland won’t be going on this one.”
Ellie nodded. “Understood, sir.”
Fury left then, no doubt to inform the rest of the team. Steve turned to Ellie, who was smiling excitedly.
“You’re excited?” Steve asked.
Ellie shrugged. “Someday, it is going to be me, going with you guys. And that’s exciting. You go save the world, I’m going to start figuring out who I am.”
Steve had to stop himself from kissing her, but at the same time, he scolded himself for even thinking that.
The Glock in Grace’s hand was a welcome familiarity while she and Clint worked on target practice on the gun range. She emptied the magazine with expert precision, reloaded, and did it again. After a fifth magazine, she ejected the magazine, locked the chamber, and set the gun on the counter in front of her.
“I could do this all day, Clint,” Grace huffed. “You’ve taught me focus, I’m zeroed in. I used a gun before, it’s nothing new. Give me something new.”
Clint smirked. His charge was nothing if not determined, and he liked that about her. Since their dance at Tony’s party, Grace had been slightly distant from him, but he figured it was mostly because of the increase in intensity of their training.
“All right, champ. We’ll hit the archery range.”
Grace clapped excitedly, following Clint out of the facility and down to the archery range. She waited patiently while he got things set up, taking in a deep breath when he handed her a bow, and slung a quiver over her back. He took out one arrow, helped her with her stance, then showed her how to hold the arrow in the bow.
“Clint.”
“What?”
Grace rolled her eyes. “This arrow has a suction cup at the end of it.”
Clint nodded. “Good observation. Ever shot a bow before?”
“No,” Grace sighed.
“Exactly. We’re starting with the basics, here. Learn your weapon, then I’ll give you the real thing.”
“But that doesn’t --”
“Just -- will you please just go with this?”
Taking a deep breath before exhaling, Grace took up her shooting stance and focused in on the bullseye. She let the arrow go -- and missed the target.
“What the hell!” she exclaimed. “I was so focused!”
Clint chuckled, and pulled another arrow from the quiver for her. “You’ve got the focus, you’ve got the accuracy, but like I said, you’ve got to learn your weapon.”
“Maybe I should stick to guns.”
“No, c’mon, now. You can do this.”
He stood behind her, showing her how to change things up just enough to get the shot she wanted.
“Deep breath in, out … just like with a gun, shoot between the heartbeats.”
“How’s that gonna work when I’m firing one after the other?” Grace asked.
“Basics, Grace,” Clint smiled. “You’ll get there, I have faith.”
She turned to give him a grateful smile at the same time Clint turned his head to face her as well. They were centimeters apart, and Grace’s heart quickened. She lowered the bow and arrow; Clint’s smile softened and he placed one hand at her waist.
The distance between them was closing when Clint’s phone rang. The two of them separated. Clint answered his phone, and Grace squared up. The suction-cup arrow sailed down the range before sticking smack in the middle of the target. Clint smiled proudly as he disconnected the call.
“There you go,” he congratulated. “So, that was Fury. There’s a mission.”
Grace’s eyes grew wide. “Already?”
Clint winced. “Sorry, I should have clarified. It’s the six of us -- you and Ellie aren’t ready.”
“No, I get it, that’s -- that’s good. You should go. I’ll work out here.”
Clint nodded, resisted the urge to kiss her forehead, and headed back up to the facility. “Wait, Clint!”
He turned around, walking backwards. “Yeah?”
Grace pursed her lips together. “Be careful.”
He smiled. “I will.”
Grace and Ellie stood together, watching the quinjet take off, the wind and the exhaust blowing their hair back from their faces.
“That’s gonna be us, sooner rather than later,” Grace yelled over the sound.
Ellie nodded. “Think we can do it?”
Grace grabbed her friend’s hand and squeezed. “I know we can.”
Summary: Grace Cleveland and Eleanor Baker both thought their lives were over, until they became part of something much bigger – the Avengers.
Pairing(s): Clint Barton x OFC, Steve Rogers x OFC
Word Count: 1429
Blanket Warnings: Death, mentioned a couple of different ways, but not detailed; canon divergence; more based on Marvel movies. In the infamous word of Steve Rogers, “Language.”
Masterlist
A/N: This was the first Marvel fic I ever started, and I’m super excited to share it with you all! Thanks to @captain-s-rogers for your help, approval, and encouragement on this one!
Even with the team gone for a few days, Ellie and Grace didn’t stop their training. They worked out a routine between the two of them, training both together and separately, so that when the team returned, they wouldn’t be behind.
Ellie did a lot of reading, and a lot of writing. She thought about the things she wanted in life, about her likes and dislikes -- she even considered reading the folder that Director Fury had given her, but quickly shoved it aside. She thought about Steve, too, about how she really felt about him. In the end, that was a thought she shoved aside as well.
Grace spent a lot of her free time on the archery range, hoping to impress Clint when he returned and cursing those stupid suction cup arrows every time she missed the target. She reminded herself that she needed to focus for her accuracy enhancement to be, well, accurate. The memory of Clint so close to her, his hand on her waist -- it was a serious distraction.
“You’re thinking about him again,” Ellie sighed over dinner one night. “I’m sorry, I’m not trying to listen, but your thoughts are kind of … loud.”
“I’m sorry,” Grace groaned. “I just -- the dance at Tony’s party, and what happened on the archery range -- this wasn’t supposed to happen.”
“You weren’t supposed to fall for him?” Ellie asked, innocently enough.
Grace picked up her plate, scraped the picked-at contents into the trash, and dropped her plate into the sink. She leaned against the counter, trying to calm her breathing.
“I just thought that when I -- once I was enhanced, especially with all the logic and intellect, that feelings would go away.”
Her voice was weak with the threat of tears; Ellie could sense her friend’s frustrations and hurt, but she had no idea what to say. Before the blonde woman could come up with something, Tony Stark came into the kitchen.
“You’re back,” Grace said, forcing a smile as she turned around, back against the counter now. “How was it? What did we miss?”
“A lot, actually,” Tony said, nodding to Ellie. “Gracie, can I talk to you for a minute?”
Ellie took her plate with her and left the room. “I’ll get out of your way.”
Tony gave her a grateful smile. “You and Ellie seem to have gotten along okay with us gone.”
Grace crossed her arms over her chest and approached him. “You’re stalling, Stark.”
“So I am,” Tony said, clearing his throat. “This mission -- we fight a lot of bad people, all the time. Even with all of our abilities, sometimes, they get the jump on us. Barton was hurt.”
Her arms dropped to her sides. “How badly?”
“Natasha and I evac’d him back here. Steve and Bruce stayed behind to finish the mission. Natasha and I will be joining them again shortly to wrap things up. Fury -- he wasn’t sure how you’d react, so he wanted me here to tell you.”
“He was evac’d -- so it’s bad?”
Tony cleared his throat. “It’s not good.”
Grace rushed past him, out of the kitchen, and straight for the medical ward of the facility.
After Natasha filled Ellie in on the news about Clint so that she could be there for her friend, as Tony and Natasha weren’t staying behind, Ellie took some deep breaths. She didn’t want to ask the question that was in her head, but it came tumbling off her tongue before she could stop it.
“Is Steve -- Captain Rogers -- is he okay?”
Natasha tilted her head. “He’s a little worse for the wear, same as the rest of us. He’ll recuperate. We all will.”
Ellie nodded, relief flooding her expression. “Thank you, Agent Romanoff.”
“You know, you could call me Natasha. We could be friends. Doesn’t have to just be the agent thing.”
“Natasha. Thank you.”
“Something else going on, Ella? The reason why you’re so worried over Captain Rogers?”
“I don’t know,” Ellie whispered. “Honestly, there’s been -- since the first time I worked with him, I get these flutters in my stomach whenever he’s around. My feelings seem to have grown, but everything is still so new. Grace said that the feeling would either go away, or it would grow. I don’t know what it means, since it seems to be growing.”
Natasha nodded. “I know what it’s like, to be unsure. To feel like you don’t even belong in your own head. Steve gets that, too. He’s a good man to discuss your frustrations with. As for the ‘feelings’ … you’re right. Everything is new to you. I won’t lie and tell you there hasn’t been talk between the team of what may be transpiring between you and Grace and your trainers, but maybe that’s just the way these things happen. People get close, there’s an attraction …”
She shrugged, and Ellie frowned. “So you’re saying I only feel this way because we’ve been training so closely the last few weeks?”
“That could be it,” Natasha said, “or the feelings could be real. It’s a tough decision to make, but I’m sure you’ll figure it out. If not, you have Grace to talk to about it -- and you have me.”
She smiled at Ellie before venturing off to find Tony, ready to board the quinjet once more and help Steve and Bruce finish the job -- after all, it seemed better that Steve returned to the facility sooner rather than later.
Grace stopped running when she reached the entrance to the medical ward, pausing for a moment to wonder what in the world she was doing, rushing down here like this. She realized she had probably negated everything she had told Tony the night of the party by running out of the kitchen the way she did, but she would find a way to explain it away later. Right now, all Grace wanted to do was see Clint and know that he was going to be okay.
She entered the code for the door to slide open, and stepped carefully inside. The doctor and his nurse and assistants weren’t rushing around the way she had expected, so she took that as a good sign.
“May I help you, Agent?” a nurse asked Grace.
She realized she probably looked a little lost. “Um, yes, Agent Barton -- may I see him?”
The nurse nodded and motioned for Grace to follow her. They went down a hallway and entered the third room on the left.
“Agent Romanoff let us know that he was coming, and thanks to the technology on the quinjet, we were able to begin monitoring him before he even arrived.” She opened the door. “Has anyone given you the details?”
Grace took in the sight of Clint lying on the bed, hooked up to wires. She swallowed hard and shook her head.
“It was a gunshot -- sniper. Fortunately, Agent Barton was able to dodge it, somewhat, and it missed any vital organs.”
Grace nodded and thanked the other woman before approaching Clint’s bedside. Until the moment that Tony had told her Clint had to be evacuated from the mission, she hadn’t realized just how in deep she was. She could try to fight it, she supposed, but something told her that wasn’t going to be easy to do.
“Hey,” Clint said, his voice hoarse. “How long you been here, staring at me like some creep?”
Grace couldn’t help but chuckle. “A minute or so. Tony and Nat brought you back, but they’re going to help Steve and Bruce finish the mission. I, uh, was worried, I guess.”
“I’m gonna be all right, Grace. Gimme a few days, I’ll be back up and at ‘em, and we’ll get back to your archery lessons.”
“With real arrows?” she asked, half-teasing, half-hopeful.
Clint chuckled, wincing at the pain it caused. “We’ll see how you’re doing with the kiddie arrows, first.”
“Agent Cleveland, the doctor needs to see him now.”
Grace turned to the door and nodded at the nurse. “Okay, just one more minute?”
The nurse smiled. “Of course.”
Grace thanked her and turned back to Clint. “Glad you’re gonna be okay, Agent. Can’t have anything happening to you -- you know, not until I’m ready to replace you that is.”
“Shut up,” Clint said, allowing himself another short laugh. “Get outta here.”
Grace gave him a little wave before she turned to go, letting out a deep breath. Yes, getting past these feelings was going to be difficult, but maybe it was time to request training with someone other than Clint Barton.
