that is definitely jonathan walker on ava's left. bro's not about to let her future wife meet with unknown dangerous people without him and his taco shield 😭
i’ve been rewatching thunderbolts so much lately and every time i watch it i like walker more and more, would you want to share some of your headcanons for him??? it can be literally any you have for him lol
im honored you asked me !!
he's trying his best to stay sober, but sometimes when his mind gets to loud he needs something to drown out it all, he ends up regretting it later
he's the team's chef, his specialties are mac and cheese and sweet tea
sometimes his southern accent comes out for certain words like "yall" and "honey"
he loves loves loves pranking yelena
he jokes around about his attempts, "once i jumped off the tower and nothing broke, i should find a higher building "
he's OBSESSED with AC/DC
he hates physical touch
whenever his son comes over he's very protective of him and only let's ava hold him
notes: wrote this for ghostwalker week back in oct, deciding to post it here now
Fifteen is an amazing year, they said. It’ll be fun, they said. You’ll find love, they said. You’ll glow up, they said. You’ll have friends, they said.
Look how that turned out. I’m almost sixteen and I’m single, depressed, ugly, and friendless. Great. Just freaking great.
I walk past the bleachers; my high school’s football game was about to start. If I could get out of going, I would. But my guardian, Bill, wouldn’t let me. I found a seat next to my lab partners. That’s right, I’m a geek. Ava Starr. The lab geek.
“Hi.” I say, as I sit down a seat away from everyone. And of course they ignore me. I sigh and watch as the game starts. The other school’s team walks out onto the field. Then I hear the announcer shout, “and give it up for our quarterback, John Walker!!”
John Walker runs out onto the field as the crowd goes insane. Like a pack of zoo animals yearning to be set free. His hands hit his chest and legs in some sort of beat as his teammates come out doing the same, shouting the I-believe-that-we-will-win-chant. The crowd joins in on the chant, hyping up the team. It’s loud. So loud. After the first quarter, I head to the hot dog booth. Our team was losing. Ten to six. While in line I look to my left and see the champion John Walker standing off in the sidelines, and some older man yelling at him. It’s not his coach. Maybe his dad. As the line moves forward I get closer to them, I can hear them better.
“Get your f**king head in the game! I can’t have you lose this game! Do you hear me!?” The older man shouts in his face, spit splattering in his face.
John doesn’t answer. He just looks numb. And hurt. The man slaps him across his face, John stumbles back.
“DO YOU HEAR ME!?” He roared.
“Y-yes sir.” John muttered, regaining his balance.
“What did you say?” The older man shouts.
“Yes sir!!” John yells, angrily.
The man shoves him back onto the field, I quickly grab my hotdog and rush back to my seat. I watched the rest of the game. As it ends, I head to the locker rooms and wait. I kinda wanted to see if he was okay. But I didn’t want to intrude. I mean, he is just some random jock. Maybe I should go back. No. Just stay. He’ll be here any minute.
Moments later, the whole football team rushes past me. Roaring in victory. I look for John, but I can't find him in the mess of things. I groan and decide to head home. Giving up on my plans. I walk through the field, looking up at the stars. The cool breeze sends shivers down my neck; I tie my hair up in a messy bun.
“What are you still doing here? Everyone’s left.”
I turn to see John Walker sitting on one of the bleachers. His expression was cold and bitter.
“Uhh.” For some reason I couldn’t find the words to explain why I was here. Maybe it was because he was approaching me rapidly. Maybe it was because his hair was dripping with sweat, and the sleeves of his t-shirt framed his biceps perfectly. What was I thinking? It was John freaking Walker for Pete’s sake. A jock. And a douche bag. He’s not my type. Pull it together Ava.
“I was just getting water in the bathroom. Didn’t realize it was so late.” I say, as chill as I possibly can.
“No one but the team is supposed to be here after ten.” he says, sternly.
“I’m sorry, I-”
“It’s fine,” he laughs. “I’m kidding. You can stay. If you want.”
“Oh. Uh, I think I’ll go. Bye.” I start walking past him when he grabs me by the arm, “Ava, right?”
“Yeah?” I confirm, confused.
“We went to kindergarten and middle school together,” he says. I look up at his face. The stadium lights lighting up his icy blue eyes. The wind rustled his short blonde hair. His mouth parted so perfectly. His lips, so soft looking. His freckles mark his face so faultlessly. Like specks on a painting.
“Oh. Cool.” she cringes at her response.
He lets go of my arm. “I… haven’t seen you around in a while.” he says, looking into her eyes.
“I’ve been here. Can’t really go anywhere else.” she fake chuckles. He laughs. God. His laugh. It’s so… dry. It sounds painful.
“I don’t mean to intrude. But I saw you with who I’m assuming is your dad earlier…” I say cautiously. He groaned. His posture shifted. Clearly annoyed. “Go on.”
“Is everything okay at your home?” I ask, trying to sound genuine.
“Just fine. Now, if you don’t mind. I have to go.” he says as he walks away.
I sigh. I messed up. I shouldn’t have said anything.
I take the next week off. I need a break. When I get to school the first day back everyone is laughing at pointing at their phones and me.
“Did they really hook up?”
“She’s so not his type.”
“Her? Really?”
“Yeah, he must be desperate.”
Confused, I checked my Instagram, immediately seeing what everyone was talking about. Someone photoshopped me and John and posted it under an account named ‘totally-not-ava-starr’ . I checked the account; it has all of my posts. Not that I post much. But it looks like my account. But it’s not. Because I’m on my account.
Suddenly someone pulls me into a corner. Panic rushed through my body. My instincts kick in, and I elbow the person behind me. I turn around to see John clutching his gut. My eyes widen with surprise and fear.
“God, Ava,” he spat. “What was that for?”
“I uh, self-defense.”
“From what???”
“You?? I mean you did just pull me in a corner, and I didn’t know it was you. I didn’t know who it was, I’m sor-”
“Ok, ok, calm down,” John says. And of course I didn’t calm down. Whoever does when someone says that?
“Why did you pull me aside?” I ask.
“Did you make this?” he says, shoving his phone in my face. The photoshopped image of us glowing from his phone.
“No??? What makes you think I’d do that?” I shake my head in disbelief.
“It’s posted from your account!!” he exclaims.
“Shh. Don't yell, idiot,” I sigh. “And no. It’s not.” I shove my phone in his face with my account on it. “This is my account. That’s a fake”
Realization hits his face like a slow punch. “Ohhhhh,” he shakes his head. “Well, it’s too late now.”
“What do you mean?” I say with a worried look.
“My parents have already seen it,” he sighs. “They think it’s real. They think I have a girlfriend, and they think it’s you” I stare at him with a blank expression on my face. He did not just say that. “What?!” He steps back. Almost like he’s scared that I’ll hit him again. “You didn’t think to tell them that I wasn’t your girlfriend?!” I step closer to him.
“No, I did! They just didn’t listen to me. They said that they want to have you over for dinner tonight.” He steps back, throwing his hands in the air in defense.
“Uh huh… well what do you want to do?” I sigh.
“You have to come over for dinner. And we have to act like a couple.” He says, running his hands through his hair. God. How can that simple gesture be so attractive?
“Fine.” I sigh, shifting my posture. “What do we need to do?”
He crosses his arms, “Well, we have to get to know each other. So maybe, we can have lunch break together.”
“That’ll only raise suspicion IN the school.” I roll my eyes.
“Right, right. Well, maybe meet me by the bleachers after school.”
I roll my eyes again. “Sure.”
After school I head to the field. Bill is on a work trip, so he won’t need me to be home early or on time. This is really stupid. Fake dating the jock. God. What happened to being invisible? I pull my bag over my shoulder and sigh. I mean it can’t be that bad. At least he’s not ugly. I reach the bleachers and set my bag on the ground. Sitting on the lowest one. I sigh and pull out my sketch book and start drawing a face. I’m not sure who I’m drawing, he’s smiling though. He has dimples. His eyes are very prominent. I imagine them being blue. One of his eyebrows is slit. Messy hair. Broad shoulders.
“Drawing me already?” startled by the voice I dropped my sketch book. I turn around and see John walking down the bleachers, football in hand, his letterman jacket slung over his shoulder.
“What?” I bend down to pick up the sketch book, when I look at the page, I realize I was drawing him. What a freaking weirdo I am. I shake my head and place the book next to me. “I didn't realize I was. My bad.”
There's that dry, painful laugh again. “Sure, you didn't,” he tosses the ball to me, and I catch it. “Hey, nice catch!” He sits down next to me. Hands resting in between his legs. “So, tell me about yourself, Ava Starr.” his shoulder nudges mine.
“Promise not to laugh?” I joke.
He laughs. “Promise.” He holds out his pinky. I grasp it with mine. “I use pinky promises as a legitimate way of keeping promises by the way.” He says, laughing again.
I nod, “That's great. Okay, about me. Um I dress like this,” I gesture to my sheer black tights, black combat boots, mini skirt, and oversized sweater.
“It's cute.” He says, I look at his face. The compliment seems genuine. I smile.
“Thanks. Anyway, I like to dra-”
He laughs and picks up my sketchbook and points to my drawing of him. “I can tell.”
I shake my head, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear. “Please stop interrupting me.”
He nods, “Sorry, sorry.”
“I like to draw. Mostly animals but sometimes people. I write poems. Nothing good though. I play guitar. Both acoustic and electric. I read. Mostly historical fiction, sometimes fantasy. And I'm a music addict. My favorite movie is Lord of the Rings; Return of the King, and my favorite show is Avatar: The Last Airbender.”
He laughs. I punch his shoulder. “Shut up,” I stand up and grab my bag, “Walk with me.”
And he does. “What do you listen to?” He asks as he catches up to me.
“Eyedress, girl in red, cigarettes after sex, and alex g.” he nods, like he knows those artists.
“Okay, my turn, football is my life, obviously, I've had a few girlfriends, but they were just hookups. I'm obsessed with The Weeknd. Outer banks is my favorite show, don’t watch many movies and yeah.” he pauses. “Oh, I also play guitar”
I nod. And nudge him to keep walking. “Okay…I could’ve guessed that just by looking at you, but whatever”
He shoves his hands in his pockets. “Yeahhh. I figured as much.” He shrugs. “Anyway, we have to act like an actual couple tonight. So, don’t be stiff around me. Be clingy, even. Okay?”
I nod as we reach the parking lot. “Alright.” he starts to walk away, then he turns around. “Oh uh. My parents are very political. So, yeah.”
I raise my eyebrows, “Ah, good to know. See you tonight.”
That night, I arrive at the Walker's house. I wasn't sure if I should change my clothes at all, so I just added an oversized leather jacket. I nervously walk up the sidewalk to the house. Once I reach the steps I take a breath in. I walk up the stairs and knock on the door. After a few moments I hear someone walking towards the door, John opens the door with a smile on his face.
“Ayyy, Avaaa welcome to my home!” He smiles and gives me a hug. I tense, for a moment I forgot why I was here and then I remember. I hug him back. Smiling. “Hi John.” He takes my jacket and hangs it up.
He holds my hand and walks me into his house. The kitchen is the first room when you walk in from the front door. A girl, younger than him, jumps off of the counter and walks up to me, giving me a side hug.
“Heyy girlll!! I'm Kate!! John's sisterrr.”
“Hiiiii.” I smile politely.
John's hand is resting on my waist. Lightly gripping my side. That's all I can think about. His hand is strong and firm. But gentle and careful.
I look around the kitchen and see the man from the football game last week and his wife. The woman comes up to me giving me a side hug, “You must be Ava. I’m Emily. John’s mother.” She forces a smile. I smile back.
His dad shakes my hand, “I’m Caleb, his dad.” I smile, “Nice to meet you all.”
“We’re having Chicken Pot Pie and Tiramisu after dinner.” his mom says, leading me to the dining room table, gesturing me to take a seat. I sit down, followed by the rest of the family. The topic of interest for most of dinner is politics. Arguing over who should’ve been president. I don’t care much for politics, and I can tell John doesn’t either. While slowly eating my dinner, I listen to the bickering for a while and then I zone out.
“Guys. I thought this was a dinner to get to know Ava. Not talk about Kamoola or whatever her name is.” John says, his voice snapping me back to reality.
“Oh my gosh, you’re right! I’m so sorry Ava! You must be bored out of your mind!” His mom exclaims.
“Oh no, it’s fine.” I smile politely. John sighs and puts his arm around my shoulder.
“Right well, tell us about yourself Ava.” Caleb says. So, I do. I tell them everything I told John. I hold his hand, the one that's draped over my shoulders, caressing it gently. We talk about me. And John’s childhood. But judging by John’s expression, there were some stories that were left out. His dad acts like a good dad. But all I can see is him hitting John that one night. And it’s hard to look him in the eye. Dessert came out not long after Emily told me about John’s first touchdown.
When everyone had finally finished dinner and dessert, I join John in the kitchen.
“It’s raining pretty bad outside,” he says, washing a plate. “I can barely see the tree outside the window.”
I walk over to the window and shrug. “I’ll be okay to walk home.”
“Uh, that’s not very smart.” John says, as a lightning bolt flashes across the sky, thunder rumbling loudly above the house. Emily walks into the kitchen, “Ava, why don’t you stay the night?”
“Yeah, I can get the guest bedroom ready.” John offers, putting away the dishes.
“No, no. You're dating. Ava, you can sleep with John.” Caleb says smirking.
I freeze. John does too. But he quickly regains his posture. “Yeah, okay. We might as well go to bed now. It’s ten thirty”
I nod, “Yeah.” I say, yawning and stretching.
His parents say goodnight and John leads me to his room. The walls are painted white. His trophies are lined against the wall on floating shelves. A few The Weeknd posters hang on the wall. On his dresser were photos of him and his team, some of him and his best friend Lemar.
“You can have the bed; I’ll sleep on the floor.” He says, grabbing a pillow and blanket and placing them on the floor.
“What? No, this is your house, your room. I’ll take the floor.”
“Um. Yeah, that’s not happening.”
“Why?”
“I’m not letting you sleep on the floor, Ava.”
“Fine. But you’re not sleeping on the floor either.”
He sighs, running his hand through his hair. “We can both sleep on the bed, I’ll be as close to the edge as possible.”
“Yeah, okay” I slid into the bed, getting under the blanket. John does the same, turning the lights out. His LED lights are the only light in the room. I close my eyes, trying to sleep but the rain is pounding on the window too loud.
“Ava?”
“Yeah?”
He sits up, I turn to face him. “I… I really like you.”
I freeze. Wait. He what?
“What?” I sit up.
“You heard me.”
“I don’t believe you.”
He looks offended. “Why? It’s true.”
“I don’t believe you because how can a jock like someone like me? You’re like the perfect blonde boy who is so annoyingly perfect and I’m just-”
“Stop. No, I’m not.”
“Yes you are! You’r-”
“Ava stop! I’m not!” he pauses. “I’m not this…” he gestures to his room and himself. “I hate football. I hate it. I hate The Weeknd. I hate Outerbanks. It’s the worst piece of media ever made. I’m not the person everyone thinks I am. This person, the quarterback of the Bears, it’s not me. It’s who my parents want me to be.” He turns to look at me. “I’m not all about girls. I’ve never been in a serious relationship. I’ve never had sex. I’ve never been to clubs. And I’m not a douche bag!”
He takes a breath in, and then out. “I like Twenty One Pilots, Fall Out Boy, and Arctic Monkeys. My favorite movie is Scream. I like to read horror books in little cafes with a small cup of espresso. I like to skateboard down the sidewalks; I love playing my guitar to Paramore songs and screaming the lyrics as loud as possible. And if you don’t believe that I have feelings for you, well…” He pulls up a screenshot of a conversation with Lemar. “Read this.”
I take his phone and read the texts.
Lemar: who is the most beautiful girl in school?
John: Honestly, Ava freaking Starr.
Lemar: 😂really?
John: Yeah, I wanna make her mine but in the most innocent way possible. I wanna comfort her when she’s not okay, I wanna kiss her under a mistletoe on Christmas, I wanna cuddle her until she’s asleep, I wanna braid her hair, I wanna go to cafe and listen to TV Girl with her talking about small things, I wanna take her to a park and push her on the swing, I want to bake with her every night, I wanna watch horror movies with her at midnight.
John: I just want her.
Lemar: oh dam, boys in love.
I put the phone down and looked into his eyes. His gaze seems so genuine. Like this is actually what he wants.
“Really?” That’s all I can manage to say. Not because I don’t believe him. But because I need it to be true. Because everything he wants, I want, and I have for a while.
“Yes.” he says, voice breathy.
And suddenly my lips are against his. His hand grabs the back of my neck. Mine are holding his face. His hands slid down my body, pulling me onto his lap. We break apart, he tucks a piece of hair behind my ear. I giggle and kiss him again. He breaks the kiss and lays me on the bed, kissing my forehead, he lays next to me. Wrapping his arms around me. Holding me. I close my eyes and slowly start to drift off to sleep. This feels right. Everything feels okay when I’m with him.
pairing: john walker x ava starr ~ ghostwalker (requested)
summary: after a mission, ava and walker are stuck for a night in a safehouse.
warnings: lightly suggestive but nothing crazy; bonding, bullying, and bickering; john walker is an asshole but he can be a softie; ava starr deserves the world, actually
word count. 3k (I got a bit carried away with this one) | masterlist
The safehouse didn’t have air conditioning. To someone who was formerly deployed in the military and someone who grew up in laboratories, you’d think that wouldn’t be a big deal. It shouldn’t have been, really, but southern Florida in August was a bitch and so was John Walker.
“How mad do you think Barnes would be if I killed you here? Like, kick me off the team mad or a slap on the wrist mad?”
From across the room, Walker glared at Ava as he yanked the curtains closed with a little more force than necessary. The thick material blocked out the hot rays of the sun but made the safehouse darker, prompting him to switch on the lamp.
“You couldn’t kill me if you wanted to,” he said.
Ava scoffed and phased behind Walker, snatching the gun from his belt before she appeared back in the kitchen with a smirk, waving the weapon around with a smug air to her.
Walker glared at her. “Not funny.”
“No, what’s not funny is the team not being able to extract us until tomorrow,” she replied, tossing the gun onto the kitchen counter before she started to rummage through the cabinets for something to eat. “Me stealing from you is actually quite funny.”
The safehouse was pretty well stocked, which somewhat made up for the broken air conditioning.
Walker shrugged and collapsed onto the couch. The mission had been a success with minimal issues or injuries, which is what the team had assumed and only sent the two of them to carry it out.
“I see it as a couple of hours off,” he said, cracking his neck and kicking his feet up on the coffee table. With the title of New Avengers, they were busy tackling incidents all around the U.S and the occasional international trip. It was a lot, but rewarding all the same. Any time they had a break from super-heroing, Walker took it in stride.
With a scoff, Ava said, “Please, if I had a couple of hours off, you’re the last person I’d choose to spend it with one-on-one.” As a team, that was different. Ava was still adjusting to being a part of a team and having people to rely on, report to, and live with. It wasn’t the worst thing in the world, but Walker was certainly the one she butted heads with the most. Their bickering had become a staple within the group, with the others learning to tune them out.
If she had said something like that to Walker several months ago, he would have retorted with some shitty remark. Instead, he just smirked lazily at the woman digging through boxes of snacks. He would have been defensive, mean, and tried to make her feel worse than the comment made him feel. The odd thing was, the comment didn’t make him feel bad; he found it had little bite to it.
Living with the team, being with a group of people with enough issues to make a therapist cry, Walker found himself less wound so tightly. Sure, he knew he had a tendency to be an asshole and say the wrong thing from time to time, but despite the scoffs and eye-rolls, be did see the team as his friends- no matter how fucked up they all were and thus their relationships to one another were.
“And yet, here we are,” he said. “I think I’m starting to grow on you.”
“Yeah, like a disease.” Ava settled on a snack and took a seat on a bar stool in the kitchen. She ate in silence while Walker sat in silence, thinking about this mission report the following day and what they’d be sent off to do next.
It wasn’t until beads of sweat started to form on his forehead did he break the silence. He tugged at the collar of his suit, heat stuck within the confines of his thick uniform. He wiped his forehead with the back of his hand before he unclicked the buckles on the side of his suit top.
The noise drew Ava’s attention. She furrowed her brows and looked up from the spot she’d been staring at on the counter. Walker loosened the top of his suit before he tugged the material off his arms, rolling it down his shoulders to expose a white t-shirt underneath.
“What’re you doing?” she asked.
“Preventing a heat stroke,” he muttered, leaving his suit bunched around his waist. It only cooled him off slightly, but it was a bit better than it had been a moment ago. The windows of the safehouse didn’t open, a safety measure that Walker hadn’t thought was stupid until then. “Jesus, it’s like we’re back in that fucking incinerator.”
Ava felt it too, the heat that wrapped its way around the house. Her suit was heavy, compressing the complicated molecules of her body in a comforting weight. The thick material also amplified the heat. She shifted uncomfortably on the stool and tried to ignore it.
“That’s a bit dramatic,” she said, focusing on irritating him rather than how the heat was irritating her.
He shot her a look. “Says the ones who sweating.”
Ava didn’t even feel the sweat until it rolled down from her hairline. She wiped it away in annoyance and slight disgust. She hated the feeling of sweat, especially as it started to roll down her back and cause the clothing underneath her suit to stick to her body.
“Don’t they ever check these places?” she grumbled, glaring at the thermostat on the wall as if she could intimidate it into working.
“It’s pretty low on the list of priorities,” Walker answered. “Food, water, and first-aid being stocked usually is all they care about. Vanity amenities, not so much.”
“Won’t seem like vanity when we’re peeled over,” she said. The heat made her even more pissy than usual. She opened the freezer and grabbed an icepack before placing it on the back of her neck.
Walker rolled his eyes, deciding to discard his utility belt and then the rest of his suit. It was the fastest way to cool your body off, eliminate the layers, since there was no threat of the sun burning the skin from inside the house.
“We won’t peel over,” he said, scoffing at her sudden dramatics, not noticing her gaze on him as he kicked his suit from around his ankles and tossed it aside, leaving him in his cotton shirt and boxers.
“For the love of God,” Ava complained. “What happens to manners, golden boy? I doubt Captain America strips in the middle of the living room.”
Walker breathed a sigh of relief at the lack of suffocation from the heat and his suit. The house was still hot, but the exposed skin allowed for breathing room. He had no shame in that.
“Not overheating overrides manners, Starr.” He said her last name with a tone of teasing, dragging it out playfully. “I think Captain America can shove aside his modesty. So can I. You, on the other hand…”
The growing discomfort was easy to spot on Ava’s face, despite her usual closed-off attitude. Her suit looked heavier and was more complicated than Walker's. He didn’t understand half of the features of it, and every time he tried to look at her to figure it out, it earned him a harsh glare that had him huffing and turning away.
“It’s not about modesty,” she snapped, any trace of humor gone from her tone.
Despite that, Walker pushed further instead of sulking back in silence. “Then what is it? Because, from what it looks like, you’re too stubborn to admit you're uncomfortable in that thing.”
Her eyes narrowed in a glare, but it wasn’t pointed at him. Rather, she kept her gaze on the counter in front of her. “I don’t need to explain myself to you,” she said.
He nodded slowly. “Whatever.” He honestly didn’t care, not really. Walker was just trying to make conversation, but clearly that was the last thing she wanted. So, he rested his head on the back of the couch and stared at the ceiling, busying his mind with whatever came to it.
Ava sulked in the kitchen. She was hot, irritated, and there was an uncomfortable feeling aching inside of her, not from the heat. The thing with Ava is, she didn’t like talking about herself, especially not her abilities. The team knew their pasts were all messy, but for her, what they knew didn’t stem much past contract killing. Obviously, they knew of her phasing as she could do it at free will with little pain anymore. They didn’t know how she acquired them; they had tried to ask a few times, as subtly as they could muster, but the look on her face alone shut down that topic of conversation before another word was muttered.
She assumed Yelena and maybe Barnes had looked more into her, but they never brought it up.
The time ticked by as they sat in stretching silence and growing discomfort. Ava stubbornly stayed in her suit as long as she could muster, with the stupid feeling of needing Walker not to have a point or be right. But she was forced to relent when the heat became too much for her to handle in her suit. She slid off the kitchen stool and tugged the top half of her suit off. It landed on the floor with a thud, drawing Walker’s attention. She readied for some smug comment, but it didn’t come.
Ava shot him a look, only to find him just looking at her, not with a smirk or an “I told you so” look, but just looking at her, which she found out of character.
A tank top hung loosely around her frame, the dark material hiding the sweat stains. She narrowed her gaze at Walker. “What?”
He blinked and shook his head before returning to staring and scrolling through his phone.
Ava kicked off the bottom half of her suit, leaving her in a pair of shorts. She folded her suit with a certain amount of care and placed it alongside the rest of their belongings on the kitchen table.
It helped a little, but the house was still hot, and she was irritable. Ava was also bored. You’d think she’d be good at entertaining herself by that point in her life, but she had grown a bit spoiled living with someone chatty like Yelena or full of stories like Alexei. There was no more work they could get done at the safehouse, which left Ava roaming around, looking at the stock photos on the wall until she realized that if she wanted to cure her boredom, even just a little, she’d have to talk to Walker, who was rather content sitting in silence.
“The suit is a second iteration,” she blurted out, eyes fixed on a photo of a black and white flower, the kind of image that came with frames when you buy them with the intention to be swapped out.
Walker looked up from his phone, brows furrowed. “What?”
“My suit, S.H.I.E.L.D. created the first one to stabilize by molecular disequilibrium. That one,” she pointed to the folded suit in the next room. “Was given to be my Valentina when I started working for her.”
Walker was quiet for a moment before he repeated, “Molecular disequilibrium?”
“Mmhm,” she hummed with a nod. “The phasing, it used to be random, uncontrollable. The suit helped, but I used to want a cure.”
“You wanted to give up your superpowers? That’s stupid,” he said, more so thinking of himself if he were in a situation. He wouldn’t go back and not take the super soldier serum if given the chance. It made him different than most, alike with some greats and some not-so-greats. He liked feeling strong, with a different upper hand than most.
Ava turned around, her lips pulled in a thin line. “Stupid? It isn’t some fun, quirky superpower. I had that suit because without it, my body was becoming non-existent. It was excruciating.” The stress on the word was more intense than Walker had expected. He was taken aback, regretting his ‘stupid’ comment almost immediately. He didn’t have the chance to say something before she spoke again, telling him for reasons he was too clueless. Ava didn’t talk about her, her past, anything unless it was poking fun at him, discussing dinner plans with Yelena, or asking Bob was the latest book he read was about.
“I had some help getting it under control, managing it. A cure fell through once the Blip occurred, so Valentina gave me a purpose, a new suit that helped correct the last bit I have trouble controlling. I can be without it; unlike I used to.”
“Why are you telling me this?” Walker couldn’t help up ask. It made him a little squeamish, with sudden vulnerability. It was a new theme amongst the 'New Avengers,' after the whole Bob situation. Not all of their pent-up feelings and shoved down emotions could manifest into the Void, but Yelena still found it necessary for everyone to try to be less “emotionally constipated” - her words, not Walker's. But Yelena wasn’t around, and no one was asking Ava to open up. Walker, before that moment, had been almost certain Ava would only open up to him if they were on the brink of certain death.
She sighed, standing stiff on the other side of the coffee table. “Because I don’t have to explain myself to you, but what’s that bullshit Alexei always says about us being a team? We have to…be friends, not just co-workers.” Ava thought that was stupid, but she found it a little less stupid as time progressed.
The part she wouldn’t admit to Walker or anyone is that there were very few things she wanted more than friends, people to rely on, and who relied on her. She had craved any kind of intimacy, closeness with people since she was a little girl who lost her parents and couldn’t be touched without hands passing through her or needles poking and prodding her. She wanted friends, and now she had them within the team thrown together by chance, whose bad choices made on their own somehow led to them becoming the poster children for good as a team. Ava didn’t know if she could be considered ‘good’ yet, but she was trying.
Walker scooted from the middle of the couch to make space. He didn’t invite her to sit, but the option was out there.
“Does it still hurt?”
Ava hugged herself, despite the heat. “Not anything like it used to. But, sometimes when I’m out of the suit, I phase in and out and…I can’t really tell if it’s real pain or just a memory of how it used to feel.”
A beat passed, and Ava strode across the room and sat on the cushion beside Walker. She pulled her legs up to her chest and sighed. “It’s weird sometimes, being solid. There was a time it felt like everything passed through me, everyone, like I wasn’t really there. Yet, whether they could touch me or not, it hurt all the same.” Even when she curled into herself, there had been times and on the rare occasion still, where she wasn’t even solid to herself.
Walker knew what he was about to do could end in him getting hit, hard, by the woman beside him, but believed it to be worth it. He bumped his shoulder his hers lightly.
“Seems solid to me,” he said casually.
The faintest smile tugged at the corner of her lips. She outstretched her leg, kicking him in the ribs, but not hard enough for it to hurt even a non-super soldier. He laughed in response, and her smile grew just a little more prominent.
The day stretched into night, the heat lessening only a little as the two made themselves comfortable on the couch.
“At least, if you ever do get cured, you’re not too bad at the whole ‘punching and shooting’ thing,” Walker said.
Ava narrowed her gaze for what felt like the hundredth time that day, only Walker found no trace of actual annoyance beyond it. She had relaxed slightly, less curled into herself as time progressed. “I’m sorry, was that a compliment?”
Walker shrugged. “More or less. I’m still better, obviously, but you’re not the worst.”
She laughed, actually laughed. It was a wheeze, short and sweet, but it was nice. Walker wasn’t sure exactly why ‘nice’ was the first word he’d used to describe it, but he didn’t bother to dwell on it as she shook her head and said, “No, you are the worst.”
The conversation drifted off, and Walker was about to turn in for the night, retreat to one of the safehouse bedrooms. But as he glanced at Ava, he noticed her eyes fluttering to a close and her head tipping forward as she dozed off. He grabbed the pillow from behind him, planning to place it between the two of them and prevent her from face-planting on the cushion, but before he could, Ava’s head landed on his shoulder.
With slightly wide eyes, Walker froze, her weight shifting as she leaned against him, fully out with lips parted in a quiet snore. How she could fall asleep so fast, Walker had no idea. He had only witnessed it a few times on a plane ride home from a mission and during Alexei-mandated movie nights.
He probably should have moved, but for some reason, he didn’t want to chance waking her up. Instead, he dropped the pillow back where it had been behind him and carefully rested back on the couch, doing everything to not jostle the shoulder she leaned against. He closed his eyes, knocking out not long afterwards, knowing that when they woke up, if he so much as uttered a word about what had just happened, she’d kick his ass into next Tuesday.
Walker fell asleep with a small smile on his thinking of that.
notes: this might be sloppy, not in the mood to proof read it right now, enjoy!
The op could've been done with anyone, but no, I had to be stuck with John freaking Walker. Bucky said it's because he fit the profile the best, but I think he's doing it out of spite.
I sigh and run my hands down the black satin dress Valentina insisted I wore. It wasn't the dress that pissed me off, I looked rather good in it. No, it was the fact that I had to be around John in this dress, but what makes it even worse is I have to play the part of his fiancé.
I slip on the shiny black heels I was given and look at myself in the mirror. Something was missing. Rummaging through my things I find my red pendant necklace that matches perfectly with my nails and lip color. I latch it around my neck and leave my room. The hall was quiet and dim- something that was a rare specialty with Alexei around- I round the corner and knock on Walker's door.
“It's Starr. Ya ready yet? We have to be there at 10 o'clock sharp.”
The door opens slightly and Bob- the roommate Walker was forced to have- peaks his head out,
“He's still in the shower…”
“Of course.” I mutter annoyed, I start to walk away when I hear,
“Nononono, I just got out! I'm changing into the suit as we speak!” Bob opens the door more and invites me in, telling me Walker's clothed enough for it to not be weird. Begrudgingly I step into their room, my heels clicking on the hardwood floor. Walker emerges from the bathroom in his dress pants and white tee that fits him like a glove. His biceps bulge under the sleeve of his shirt, causing something in my stomach to stir up. I ignore the feeling and flop onto his bed.
“Hurry up, we have 15 minutes to get ready and then we have to leave.” I say with a sigh.
“Oh my God, ok mom.”
He says with a playful tone. I watch as he buttons up the dress shirt, his defined abs becoming less visible. He leaves the last button open and grabs a tie that somehow matches my necklace and fiddles with it until it magically turns into the way a tie is supposed to look. He then takes his jacket and puts it on in a way that makes my stomach act up again.
“What?”
Crap, he caught me staring.
“You're literally the slowest person ever, Walker.” I manage to say before I get all flustered and make a fool out of myself.
He rolls his eyes and heads back to the bathroom. I assume he's doing his hair so I leave the room in a rush. Quickly I head down the stairs and sit at the bar near the stairwell. God, why is he making me feel like this? He's a douchebag, how on earth am I attracted to that? Hearing his footsteps coming down, I say a quick prayer and pick myself up.
“Are you ready now?” I say, biting my lip hoping it'll distract me from how dreamy he looks. Instead it makes him stare at me more, great, just what I needed.
Once at the gala we moved around a bit, talking to random people to keep our cover. The room was bright with chandeliers covering the ceiling, the noise of chatting and music filled the air.
Walker mumbles something but I don't pay attention, my gaze is on our target, a middle aged man with a greasy mustache. The grey steak of hair reminds me of my old S.H.I.E.L.D. handler and I shiver. He was a horrid person. Something about Donovan was off. He looked sickly, he was much paler than he was in the file I was given, skinner too.
Supposedly he was one of Wilson Fisk's- aka Kingpin- most trusted “employees”. Our task was simple. Find his office, and grab the evidence that would put him away. Nothing could go wrong.
I was still thinking about our task when Walker pulled me towards the bar.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. I thought you were sober?” I say, forcing us both to stop.
“It's a distraction idiot, Donavan saw you staring,” He pauses, “you've been doing that a lot lately… is everything alright?”
He sounded genuinely concerned?
“I, uh yes! Of course, why wouldn't it be?” I put on a smile.
“Just checking, princess.” He says with a smirk.
I groan, “God, you're such a douche.”
“Whatttt, it's for the act!” He winks and then lowers his voice, “Okay, Donovan has a deal outside around 11:30 and that's when we can go in and out, it has to be quick and quiet. All we have to do until then is keep the act up and be friendly and kind to others, you think you can do that?”
“Obviously, Walker.” Annoyed, he thinks I can't be nice and flirty.
“Good, now, let's dance. They're playing Alicia Keys, my favorite.” He smiles and drags me to the dance floor.
While we're swaying to the music I can't help but chuckle at the fact that he loves Alicia Keys. It's kinda adorable that someone so big and strong likes her, maybe he's not as cold as I thought. Maybe he's-
He dips me.
“Walker?”
“Sorry, sorry, my old general is here, if he sees me, he'll blow our cover.” He pulls me up and nods towards the general's direction and then we continue swaying.
“Crap. It's only 10:40. How am I supposed to hide you until 11:30?” I grab the back of his head and burrow his face into my shoulder as the general moves closer to us. He lets out a soft gasp, his breath tickling my neck, a shiver goes down my spine.
“I-I don't know..”
I grab his hand and slowly lead him towards a corner of the dance floor, “as long as you face the wall, we should be fine.”
He nods and we continue swaying. His hands rested on my hip, and the small of my back. Mine on his back and neck. There's really nowhere else to look except his sharp blue eyes. He glances down at me, his gaze softening, he lets out a soft breath that somehow soothes me. I relax my jaw and look deep into his eyes. Tilting my head I say, “Your eyes have brown specks in them.”
“Yours are green..? I thought they were brown.”
“That's silly, why would they be brown?”
He shrugs, smiling.
11:30 rounds the corner and we notice Donovan head outside for the deal.
“Okay, if we don't move now, we won't have enough time,” I say letting go of him, “you ready?”
“Yeah, let's go.” He takes my arm and leads me out of the ballroom. He tells me the office should be on the second floor, we head up the stairs. The steps creaking underneath us.
“OK, let's check every room.” He says opening a door that ends up being a bathroom. I nod and do as he says. Checking room after room, “Ah found it.” I hear him say. We head into the room, checking every drawer in his desk, feeling for hidden compartments. Suddenly something beneath my fingers clicks and a small drawer opens and there lies the USB flash drive, with all the information we need.
“I got it!” I say, holding it up for Walker to see.
“Perfect, let's get out of here” He says taking it and putting it in his jacket. Just as we're about to leave we hear footsteps and the door handle rattles.
“Crapcrapcrapcrap.” He says looking around frantically. His eyes stop on me. “Forgive me for this, Ava.”
“John..” he gently pushes me against the wall, sliding his hand in the slip of my dress, caressing my thigh, his lips landing on mine. Soft at first and then rough and passionate, his tongue slips into my mouth and a groan escapes my mouth. His other hand grabs the back of my neck, his body molding with mine.
The door opens and Donovan enters the room. “Oh my!” He exclaims.
John pulls apart from me. I sigh, I can't help but imagine what would've happened if Donovan didn't enter.
“Omgosh I am so sorry,” John says flustered and gasping for breath, “is this your office?”
“It is.” Donovan says, clearly disgusted.
“Apologies! We will leave at once, come on my love.” He grabs my hand and rushes out the door. Flying down the stairs he calls Yelena.
“We need you to come get us now.”
Yelena mumbles something on the phone and he hangs up. As we enter the ballroom we hear, “They have the file!” a flood of men rush down the stairs, gun shots fire at us as we close the ballroom doors, people around us scream and scatter.
“We have to get outside!” John yells as they break open the doors, firing another round of bullets. He grabs my arm and pulls me outside like I'm not capable of doing it myself. They follow right behind us, one of his men comes up behind me and grabs my arm and flips me on my back. John freezes, turns around and punches him straight in his face. Knocking him out. I chuckle as I use his hand to pull myself up.
“That was comical.”
“Anything for you, love.”
I roll my eyes and head towards the back of the building, Yelena should be here with a car any minute. I hear more gun shots and then John yell, “Bomb!” He leaps on me, pushing me to the ground. I tense as a bomb goes off a few feet behind us, even though my vision is blurred and my ears ring I can't help but think about how close we were, our chests pressing together, the slight bulge in his pants on my hips, his breath on my face, making me shiver yet again. A blurry figure jumps down from what looks like a helicopter.
“John! Ava! Let's go, let's go!!” Yelena says, pulling us up and into the helicopter. I clumsily sit down, trying to buckle myself. John grabs my hand, and does it for me. Sitting down next to me once he is finished. He smiles slightly and then closes his eyes.
Later that night, at the tower, I come out of the bathroom, drying my hair with a towel. John's voice frightens me. “Omgosh John! Good Lord, you almost scared me to death.”
“Oh, oh I'm sorry. Um I uh I wanted to say, well listen, about earlier, I just wanted to make it clear that I-”
I put my hand on his shoulder, “I get it. It was a distraction, nothing more. Part of the job. I know.”
He nods nervously, “Right but I uh..” he sighs, “I enjoyed working with you, St- er Ava.”
“Ugh John, why are you like this?” I sigh and grab the back of his head, pressing my lips against his, he kisses me back, my arms wrap around his neck and my legs around his waist, his hand slides down my back to my thighs, holding me in place. He pushes me against the wall near his door as he tries to open it, the kiss intensifying, his tongue slipping into my mouth again, the door clicks and he slowly moves into the room, closing the door behind us.
Favorite film | favorite series | comfort character
Favorite male presenting | favorite female presenting | favorite duo
Favorite trio | favorite ship | favorite siblings
Life as a Rhodey as a fan builds character 🥲 War Machine and Iron Man didn't have near enough team-ups (and Rhodey, screentime in general)
But yep, predictably, Thunderbolts/the New Avengers are the best (post-endgame MCU, they'll never make me hate you) and Ghostwalker is my number 1 ship, though peter & MJ is a close second XD
The space crisis is underway, Sam and Bucky are at each other's throats, Bob is trying his best to stay calm and grounded with all the chaos, Alexei is loudly defending their right to the avengers name, but everyone pauses and just stares in utter befuddlement as Ava and John come stumbling into the meeting room, disheveled and still shaking off the sleepiness, before they both realize everyone else is awake and seeing them and they just try to "play it cool" and ask what's going on.
theartofmadeline
discoholicmusic
titsay
areudirty
