free for all

[tigriswolf]

And it's time for the regularly-scheduled free for all!

As ever, the rules are:

*No more than five prompts in a row.
*No more than three prompts in the same fandom.
*No spoilers in prompts for a month after airing. Use a spoiler cut as needed.
*If you know the character's full name, use it. Also, give the fandom's complete name, too.
*If your fill contains spoilers, warn and leave plenty of space.

Have fun!

Comments

[pr3tz3ls.livejournal.com]

Any, any, the problem with moral compasses is that like any other compass, they don't always point north.

MCU Fill: True North

[scribblemyname]

They train the Black Widows wisely, girls lifted on perfect pointe in a row down the middle of a sun-streaked studio, girls with blades for dolls. Natalia Romanova has a firm moral compass, a sense of what she should and should not do. It swings around patriotism, honor, strength, and success. It points true Red Room.

---

She has no morality after the Red Room, nothing at all. Her upbringing gave her no sense of guilt for killing children and no concept whatsoever of "innocents." There are targets, marks, obstacles, handlers, employers, and other assassins and spies. Her first kill was a little girl her own age. It never crosses her mind that there is something wrong with shooting Drakov's daughter.

---

The Black Widow sneers at the headlines, but Natalia feels a faint stirring of puzzlement at the things they call her for doing her job. The hospital burning was a messy job, no doubt, but it was hardly a tragedy.

---

She's lost and floundering and she wonders which jobs she supposedly shouldn't take. She was a patriot and a national icon once. She's not a villain.

"You could come with me."

"You have a job?"

He has an arrow pointed at her heart, but she has a knife too close to his jugular for comfort, and neither of them really mind holding this conversation under duress.

"Is it a good job?" she asks.

He looks at her puzzled. "Do you care?"

Her brow furrows. She shrugs.

He lowers his bow. She lowers her gun.

---

She fools herself for eight years that her moral compass points true SHIELD, then Coulson says, "Barton's been compromised," in her ear and she knows it points true Clint. She'd give anything, kill anything, fight anything, barter anything at all to get him back.

---

"Love is for children. I owe him a debt."

[marlex.livejournal.com]

MCU, Steve/+Darcy, how they first met

Fill

[schweinsty.livejournal.com]

The hostage is being held in a closet on the fourth floor with a window large enough for Steve to fit through. It's child's play to scale the building while Natasha distracts the guards downstairs, and the work of just a moment to break the bars off of it. Steve slips through, lands on the floor in a crouch, and blinks to let his eyes adjust to the darkness. He hears someone mutter 'bastard' and opens his eyes-

-to see a delicate hand holding a small spray bottle directly in front of them.

"Wait-" he says-

-and the hostage maces him.

(Later, Darcy tells him it's hilarious, and tells everyone the stories of how she tazed Thor, maced Steve, and dislocated Tony Stark's shoulder at their first meetings. Steve disagrees on its hilarity, but he helps keep her well-stocked in mace and stun guns, just in case. Those things sting like all hell).

[ivotedforsaxon.livejournal.com]

X-Men (movieverse), John Allerdyce/Bobby Drake, soulmates!AU where your soulmate's name appears on your wrist (or somewhere else on your body) when you turn 18.

ignores Days of Future Past

[tigriswolf]

John's been with Magneto's crew for three months when Bobby wakes up with Pyro scrawled across the inside of his wrist.

Bobby's been shouting Pyro's name in Pyro's dreams for two weeks, begging him to come back, when Bobby slowly melts its way onto his skin.

Separated by an abyss of poor choices and pride, neither of them says a thing, even when the fight, shooting fire and throwing ice, and when Pyro finally stumbles, the world ending around them --

Bobby carries him out.

(In ten years, when the names have not faded, when Bobby is called Mr. Drake by kids who seem younger than he ever was, when most people have forgotten Pyro ever went by anything else and he's on the run from the world, Bobby will turn around in the bookstore and see Pyro looking at him from across the room, hands tucked into the pockets of a sweatshirt he's too small for, and Pyro will ask, "Is home still there?"

As always, the answer is, "Yes.")

[marlex.livejournal.com]

NCIS, Abby/McGee, time is running out

[marlex.livejournal.com]

any, any, last people on Earth

Luann Comics Fill: Speculation

[scribblemyname]

"If we were the last people on Earth..." Rosa begins.

"The last?" Gunther swallows and looks out on the Peruvian village he almost regrets coming to. If they were the last, the world be over, civilization ended, everything dangerous, survival uncertain.

Rosa tucks her hand in his. She spares him her own thoughts. She has enough courage and adventure for the both of them. "At least, I'd get to spend it with you."

[marlex.livejournal.com]

Young Wizards, Nita/Kit, telling their parents

[marlex.livejournal.com]

The Walking Dead, Beth/+Daryll, moonshine

Fill

[killing-kurare.livejournal.com]

♡

https://archiveofourown.org/works/30369594

[kryss-delrhei.livejournal.com]

Dragon Age (Any), Any(+/Any), "I thought I'd be dead by now."

[kryss-delrhei.livejournal.com]

Dragon Age (Any), Any, weird things always happen

[kryss-delrhei.livejournal.com]

Author's Choice, Author's Choice, wishing well

original fairy tale (ish), OC, unhappy

[tigriswolf]

She hears the wind whisper, be careful what you wish for and it's already too late.

No takebacks.

.

She wished that no one she loved would ever die. She's lost her brother and her daughter and her mother -- all she has left are her sister and her father, and legends of a well that hears what the heart wants and grants it, should the wisher prove worthy.

She is worthy, by however the well measures, and when it is far too late, she is glad that her heart wanted the living to stay alive more than the dead to return from their rest.

.

Her sister is taken by bandits and survives, but not unscathed.

Her father is thrown from a horse and stands, though his neck is twisted.

.

She goes back to the well and she wishes to undo what has been done. "This isn't what I meant!" she rages, her sister sobbing at home and her father in hiding.

The wind laughs and she is not worthy this time.

[kryss-delrhei.livejournal.com]

Inuyasha, Inuyasha/Kagome Higurashi, "You came back."

[kryss-delrhei.livejournal.com]

Author's Choice, Author's Choice, consequences

Harry Potter, Draco/Hermione, Consequences

[caz251.livejournal.com]

He didn’t think of the consequences, not at first, not when it was just a bit of fun. It had begun as a way to get one over on the mudblood, take her down a peg or two, but then the situation turned on him.

The clever mudblood dragged him down to the level he had brought her to. He found himself infatuated with her, he couldn’t get enough of her, she was his addiction.

Consequences were the last thing on his mind, until his parents found out, and then it was all he could think of. They disowned him.

[pr3tz3ls.livejournal.com]

DCU, Jason Todd (+ or / or gen), So lost for so long to find to my way
I failed to follow, I'm out of place

Crossing lines, small crimes
Taking back what is mine

I'm fine in the fire
I feed on the friction
I'm right where I should be
Don't try and fix me - 10 years, "Fix Me"

[pr3tz3ls.livejournal.com]

MCU verse, Steve + or / Bucky, Waking up in a world surrounded by flames
Where everything I liked is about to fade
How could you be the one if you're not the same - Woodkid, "Ghost Lights"

[pr3tz3ls.livejournal.com]

MCU, any, someone refers to the Avengers' private labs as Tony's brain harem and the name sticks.

It starts at the bottom, with two Lowly Interns...

[classics-lover.livejournal.com]

"You bringing that reprot to the Brain Trust?"

"It's not a Brain Trust, it's a goddamned Brain Harem."

"Duly noted."

*-*-*

"Dr Banner," JARVIS interrupts smoothly, "there is an intern outside the laboratory with some reports for you and for Sir."

"Thanks, JARVIS." Bruce acknowledges the AI as he crosses the room, the door swishing open in time for him to hear a comment intended for the intern's own ears only, "ten floors? It really is a Brain Harem up here."

Bruce pretends he heard nothing, thanks the intern profusely, and turns back to his experiments, reports in hand, wondering how best to pollinate the name Brain Harem before Tony catches on.

[tuxedo-elf.livejournal.com]

DCU, Tim/Kon, playing with Lego. (Inspired by the pile of it I just stepped on...)

[leni-ba.livejournal.com]

any Whedonerse. any.

cause when i see the blood
and the bits of your broken tooth
it gives me the proof that i need
it's the proof that you bleed

[obsessed-psyco.livejournal.com]

"Sometimes I think that you are invincible. Then things like this happen and it reminds me that you aren't and that you still need protection." Simon mopped up the blood around River's mouth and began on the stitches on her lip.

"I don't need protection, Simon. I can look after myself."

Mal laughed from the door. "You're a killing machine when you want to be but you're still fragile."

She shot him a look that he was sure could have killed him if she'd tried. Or at least maimed him. But she smiled a weary smile and turned back to Simon.

"I am not fragile." She stated. "Perhaps a little vulnerable from time to time."

Mal smiled. She was brave, he couldn't deny that. But she was part of his crew and, no matter how brave she was, she was still his to protect. That was how it worked on his boat.

And though she would never admit it, River was thankful for it!

[leni-ba.livejournal.com]

any. any/any. Hand me your hand, let me look in your eyes

MCU Fill: Check-In

[scribblemyname]

Tension drags Natasha awake and she lies still for a moment, assessing the environment. Clint is stiff beside her, too stiff.

She gently twines her fingers into his and lifts his hand. He's holding her back.

She sits up on her elbow and looks into his flat, mildly curious gaze. His eyes are their own proper color, devoid of horrifying blue.

"Bad dream?" she asks quietly.

Clint stays cagey quiet and inexpressive for a moment, then gives a short, sharp nod.

That's what woke her. Natasha drops and settles against his shoulder, warming him with her body, her trust. "Okay."

[leni-ba.livejournal.com]

any. any. You're what keeps me believing the world's not gone dead.

Cap2, Steve, darkish

[tigriswolf]

Warnings for violence, death, mayhem, and vengeance.

also. um. I think this started out less... depressing. and i'm not entirely sure it fills the prompt? sorry.

...

He's spent so long drowning that he lets himself go blank when he surfaces, staring and staring, shoved to his knees, dragged to a van, and it's not until his perfect hearing catches Natasha's little gasps of pain that he blinks and comes back.

He’s spent so long barely living that he’d forgotten he’s alive.

He’s alive. They thawed him and put him to work, aliens and mad scientists and spies and bad guys, Cap, do what you do best, what you were made for.

Because he was. Made for this. Cooked up in a lab.

He’s alive. breathe in, hold it, breathe out. breathe in, hold it, breathe out. that’s it, stevie, you can do this. breathe in, hold it, breathe out.

So is Bucky. Somehow. Bucky is alive and doesn’t know who either of them is, and – and –

Hill breaks them out, takes them to Fury, and he gets platitudes and apologies and half-assed lies, and he burns down Hydra for the second time (for the same man), and Bucky beats the shit out of him and he beats the shit out of Bucky, trying not to scream I’m sorry the whole time, and then he falls.

He hits the water and he’s gone.

.

He surfaces to medics shouting at each other. He goes back under.

.

He’s alive. So is Bucky.

He has to heal. Has to duck the media and the authorities. Has to come up with a plan.

What he tells his friends and what he hoards in his heart are different things.

Captain America has done his duty. Steve Rogers, though, fell down on the job and he’s finally standing back up, getting back in the ring.

Steve Rogers has been drowning for over 70 years but he’s surfaced, now. He’s finally surfaced. He’s alive.

There is only one thing left for Steve Rogers to do.

.

Sam doesn’t say anything the first time Steve executes a blubbering Hydra operative, already on his knees with his hands behind his head. Sam flinches, though, and doesn’t look at Steve for almost five hours.

Sam doesn’t say anything the second, third, or fourth time, either, because the blubbering Hydra operatives were all involved in the Winter Soldier project somehow.

Sam does speak up the first time Steve points his gun at a Hydra operative begging for her life who had nothing to do with the Winter Soldier project.

Steve listens to Sam’s argument. Then he pulls the trigger.

.

Sam goes home and Steve misses him for a little while. But he’s got his mission. He’s breathing and the world’s in color, and he’s not going through the motions because there’s nothing else to do.

He’s doing this for Bucky. There’s nothing else he’d rather do, except be by Bucky’s side.

.

None of Steve’s childhood scars made it onto his new body. None of his new wounds scar.

His lungs don’t stutter and hitch anymore. He can take a full breath and hold it, never have to worry about his lungs failing.

He almost drowned, when he was a kid. Bucky saved him.

Bucky saves him every time.

.

He’s spent more time drowning than he’s spent alive.

But he’s not drowning anymore. He’s alive. So is Bucky.

And when he finally catches up, when Bucky lets him catch up, they’ll face the world together, alive and alive and alive.

[leni-ba.livejournal.com]

any Whedonverse. any male character. Oh there ain't no darkness that I fear

1 sentence

[tigriswolf]

For nearly a decade, he slept outside in the yard on Christmas, and Sunnydale let him survive it; when he looks at a zombie and murmurs, smiling, "I like the quiet," he's completely at peace and unafraid.

[leni-ba.livejournal.com]

any. any.

Half the world is begging
While the other half steals
Where did everything go wrong?

[quitehopeless.livejournal.com]

A/N: I decided this kind of fit with the Persuasion AU, at least it seemed to almost go along with Barbara musing in the beginning about her family's reversal in fortune. I hope it works, at least. And apologies for having to tweak it so much.

---

Barbara sat at the window seat, looking out at the grounds. She imagined them filled with an angry mob, creditors demanding everything they were due and more, crashing down the gates and trampling over the lawn, overturning plants and stones. She could see them ripping paintings and tapestries from the walls, taking anything of value.

She saw all of it being lost in an instant, everything she had once known, everything she held dear, her heritage and the memories of her mother—oh, while her mother had been alive, this house had known economy and moderation. They had not had to fear the knock of a creditor, had not had to hear repeatedly about their debts—lectures that went to the deaf ears of her father and sister.

She had never thought to fear poverty before. She'd been told to, years before, when she was told to refuse the offer Richard had made her. She had been told to, and she'd thought perhaps she had, that she had acted out of it, but she had not truly understood it, not until now.

She wanted to ask how it had come to this, how they had found themselves so close to being thrown out of their ancestral home, how they would lose everything that their family had built, how it had all gone wrong, but she knew there was no use in asking how it had happened.

All that mattered was knowing that it had happened.

They were reduced to begging for an extension—for mercy.

They acted like thieves, like tricksters, buying things for which they did not have any money. Truthfully, that was stealing, regardless of what others thought.

She could not stand it. They were supposed to be a family of nobility. Her father was a baronet. Her father's ancestor had earned his title through a great act of valor, and yet she thought all of that had died out years before her father. Her uncle, was different. He would have honored the title, respected the land and the people dependent on them, would not have squandered a fortune or been so very vain.

If her uncle had been the one to inherit, perhaps all would have been different. He would have married the woman he loved instead of mourning her in silence.

True, Barbara would not have been born, but if she had not been, then she could not have made the mistake that she had, the mistake she now suffered for.

She had thought she'd made the right choice, but now, looking back on it, she regretted it. She traced a finger along the glass. Oh, uncle. I do not blame you, but I wish I had never listened to you. I wish I had not been so easily swayed, that I had been stupid and stubborn and not convinced myself I was being noble. I wish I had been with him all this time.

She sighed. The creditors were not taking it all away, not yet, but that would come. She knew that her uncle was in advising her father about the finances, giving him the options—retrenchment or renting out the hall—and she knew how her father would react to those options.

He would not listen. He would doom them all.

All these years of enduring her sister's heedless and cruel remarks, her father's vanity, and the machinations of her sister's friend Mrs. Armstrong—they would all be for nothing. Barbara would have lost her home and been reduced to poverty, the sort that she had been told that she was avoiding by breaking off her engagement to Richard.

She should have married him. Poverty with Richard was not half as frightening a prospect as it was now. She had not been so scared of it before—she could have married another if she were worried about money alone, but she had not. That man had married her younger sister instead.

She should count that as another mistake, another poor choice, but she did not. He was a good man, better than Pamela deserved, but she had not regretted refusing him, even now, facing the prospect of losing her home. She considered the man a good friend, was honored to have him as a brother, but she did not love him.

She feared, though, that she still loved Richard, that she always would.

[leni-ba.livejournal.com]

Historical RPF. any. Don't underestimate the things that I will do.

[icarus-chained.livejournal.com]

Author's choice, author's choice, playing card symbolism (Ace of Spades, Black Maria, Suicide King, Dead Man's Hand, Man With The Axe, Knave of Hearts, Joker, etc)

FILL: Cartomancy [Batman: TAS, Batman/Zatanna + Batman/The Joker, PG]

[doreyg.livejournal.com]

When he was young, just old enough that dropping school to travel around the world didn’t look too suspicious, he went to stay with a travelling magician. Zatara, his name was, and he taught him a great many things – how to move silently, how to vanish in plain sight, how to escape from any confinement with little damage and much style.

He also had a daughter. A pretty girl who, in another life, would’ve been exactly the type he would’ve wanted to settle down with – beautiful, intelligent, with a penchant for mischief that could light up any room. She taught him a few things herself – how to get away from her father for the night, how to straighten your clothes no matter how much they’d been ruffled, how to do simple card tricks with the paper flickering over her hands like a neverending flood.

On his last day there, his last day with Zatanna, she performed her final card trick for him – a sudden flash of paper, that somehow went wrong at the very last moment and left both of them distracted.

…Now, standing here with the Joker dancing merrily in front of him, he wonders if he should’ve started bracing himself back then.

[likewinning.livejournal.com]

DCU, Damian Wayne(/any), making up for lost time

[tuxedo-elf.livejournal.com]

DCU Dick/Babs 'You weren't supposed to get it wet.'

[quitehopeless.livejournal.com]

A/N: So I started writing this and it decided it was part of this universe (http://archiveofourown.org/series/191786) where Dick is a cop and Babs is a forensic tech. It's piece of a longer section, but this is the part relevant to the prompt.

---

She frowned. “What have you got?”

“Jacket pocket,” Dick said, though he didn't know why he'd still have his jacket if his wounds had been treated. He didn't feel like looking for it because he still wasn't up to moving. “Was on Maroni. Took it from him when the kid disabled him.”

“And this is the key to everything?” Barbara asked, lifting up his coat and rummaging through the pockets. “You should have retired this coat years ago, Grayson.”

“Don't,” Dick choked out, trying to sit up and catch hold of her before she could do anything to the coat. “Be careful with that. It's evidence.”

“The coat is trash," she said. "The notebook is another story. You're a detective. You know better. You're not supposed to get evidence wet.”

“It's not like I dropped it in water,” Dick said, covering his side again. The cut stung, and he was starting to think that Maroni had dipped the blade which meant that Babs needed to analyze his blood and see what was in it.

“Like soaking it in blood is any better,” Babs said, shaking her head. “You scared me, Dick, you know that? And I don't do scared. You are not allowed to do this to me.”

He took her hand. “It wasn't my intention to get caught or to get hurt. I still don't know how he managed to sneak up on me. It's like before, when my parents died. There are so many missing pieces. I only hope some of them are in that book.”

“I'll take care of this,” she promised, leaning down to kiss his forehead. “You just rest.”


Rest is here on A03 (http://archiveofourown.org/works/3157928)