recs and links

Natasha heads back to the field, sneaking off to lie to someone or get lies out of someone, or lie about lies, all that fun lying stuff. Tony sneaks into her bathroom and takes copious advantage of her skincare products. She doesn’t pay rent, so technically she owes him. Pepper told everyone the one time he used hers. Thor didn’t understand, but Steve, Clint, and Bruce thought it was hilarious and amused themselves impugning his masculinity for the rest of the day. He finds the object next to the sink: a single gold ring hooked over the tail of tiny silver cat figurine. Weird. Natasha doesn’t wear much jewelry unless her cover requires it. Once she tried to garrote Tony with a necklace, though, so he’s okay with it. Clint and Natasha secretly get married. Tony is, well, Tony when he finds out. Hilarity ensues.

Because Tony was an engineer, wasn't he, the way Bruce was a scientist, and that was the way his mind worked. And people mightn't see it, might only see the swagger and the charm, insouciant and challenging, the way everyone looked at Bruce and saw the Hulk, but that wasn't what they were. That wasn't them. Bruce figures some things out about Tony. Quiet, feels true.

"I used to mess around, drawing," he told her. "Now that I have a little time in between invasions, I thought I might take it up again." "That is - really good," said Pepper, leaning over to examine the sketch more closely. "I hear you know something about art." "Something," she said absently. "Mostly modern art. Did you study anywhere?" "Nope," Steve said. "I got books from the library, mostly." "You know, you could probably take classes, if you're interested." Steve was definitely interested. Adorable! Steve asks each of the Avengers to pose nude for him so he can ace his art class. And the ending made me so happy! *heart*

Thor smoothes his hand up Steve’s side and plants his palm on Steve’s shoulder. Steve shivers, a little. He’s so strong now, ever since Erskine’s serum, but he’s nothing compared to Thor. Not big, not strong, not sure, and it probably says something about him that he’s missed being the little guy, a little bit. hot, sweet Steve/Thor.

Steve likes to be held down and manhandled during sex, but since the serum, he's been stronger than everyone he meets. Except Thor. Who, once he figures out what Steve wants, is happy to oblige him. Ridiculously hot. Oh, Steve.

It's nice, though, having him around. He and Tony get along well—and lord knows Tony needs a friend who can keep up with him intellectually that he didn’t create for himself out of code—but he’s also just a smart, kind, genuinely interesting person whose company Pepper enjoys. She’s not sure how it goes from the three of them watching movies one or twice a month to—whatever it is now, but obviously it does. Quiet, sweet post-movie Tony/Pepper/Bruce.

"...You realize that in this universe, time-travel is entirely possible, right?" Tony's being sarcastic again, and Steve knows, now, that the best way to deal with Tony's moods is to smile and nod, and wait until it passes. "Hey," Tony says, in a softer voice. "You could see her again." Steve opens his mouth to say no, it would be irresponsible (irresistible) to do anything like that, but then the alert goes off and soon the New York skyline is choked with fast-falling alien debris, like snow but far more horrible, and there's no time left for wistfulness. Steve manages to finally make his date with Peggy. *sobs*

Truthfully, Tony didn’t invite any of them here but Bruce, and that was mostly because Bruce had nowhere else to go. The part of it that wasn’t about that was because Tony needs company sometimes and needs solitude the rest of the time and Bruce understands both of those things. The others don’t, always. Tony might have invited them anyway, because the only other place that Clint and Natasha live is SHIELD and that’s too depressing to think about, Steve still doesn’t like to spend money on himself so his apartment is barren, and Thor’s other residence is in another world altogether. It probably worked out better this way. If Tony had actually invited them, they most likely wouldn’t have come. What it says on the tin. ♥TEAM♥ I especially like all the Natasha bits.

Steve gets along with skinny artistic kids, having been one himself. Really lovely story of Steve settling into life in the 21 c. after the movie, and maybe striking up a romance with Pepper (and a friendship with Natasha). Also, Steve Rogers: accidental hipster is totally happening here.

The day she can best him is the day she becomes invincible. She doesn’t let herself think about the probability that she is being raised to kill him someday, doesn’t think about whether she might falter if she was ordered to put a knife to his throat and cut, doesn’t think about whether she might flinch if she was told to put a gun to his head and pull the trigger. She doesn’t think about the two of them together, partners, working together and watching each others backs, ten steps ahead of anyone who might want to stop them. The Red Room trains operatives just like Department X, single, solitary, alone. There are no partnerships from either of them. But until then, she is his to train and to spar with and to fight in tandem with, and she intends to take full advantage of that time. Natasha trains with the legendary Winter Soldier. Sharp and achy and lovely. And a wistful, lovely Bucky POV on the relationship: Tin Man by

Short, highly stylized AU in which Jane is the one Loki commandeers instead of Erik. Lovely.

"What are you doing here, Widow?" he called out to the shadows. The shadows answered "I don't sleep." He knew. Mother Russia's idea. She didn't get tired. Didn't sweat. Didn't age. Could quote the Communist Manifesto in its entirety. All that, and people had still had to line up for bread. "So you decided to watch me sleep." "You're not sleeping," she retorted. Natasha watches over Clint in the days following the events of the movie.

Bruce, discovering that people actually do care about him, post-movie. (I don't know why pairings are listed - it's a totally gen story.)

Natasha was entirely too old for crushes. But she did enjoy watching Steve work, and it was a skill set that she was treated to far more often than she had been before the invasion. Because before the invasion, he'd stayed in his S.H.I.E.L.D. funded apartment and pounded away at the punching bags, growing angrier and angrier that they wouldn't punch him back. It was almost hard to believe that, with the amount of enthusiasm he put into a good sparring match. So much so that it was easy not to be resentful when he grinned at her after their match without so much as a slight increase in breathing rate. Natasha and her various lunch dates. I liked this post-movie look at her and the others, and especially her burgeoning relationship with Steve.

Bucky and Darcy being all bantery and smoldery at each other!

"We, uh." The agent pauses and clears his throat. He's young and round-faced and he's doing a terrible job hiding how nervous he is, and Steve fully expects the next thing out of his mouth to be there's more aliens, sir, and this time they've got it in for the Bronx. But what he says is, "We can't find Agent Barton." "Is that so?" Fury asks mildly. The agent's face colors in two bright spots on his cheeks. "No, sir. I mean, yes, sir. He's supposed to be under observation, and there's been no perimeter breach that we can detect, but we're still looking, and he kept demanding to be told--" "I know what he wants to know," Fury says. "Agent Jefferson, if Barton doesn't want to be found, you're sure as hell not going to find him. Go back to whatever you're supposed to be doing. I'll take care of it." Steve and Clint have a conversation in the aftermath of the movie. Oh, my heart.

Tiny perfect slice of post-movie heart-clenchiness.

Wars blur into one another. The landscapes are much the same. His codename is no longer the operative, is now and forever the Winter Soldier. Leningrad is all he will answer to, the mark on him of things everybody else is trying their best to forget. He does not like forgetting. He has never had a choice, why should they? In Kosovo he is an agent of chaos, the knife in the night who is not on anybody’s side. He wears a bandanna above his eyes, holding back dark hair thick with dirt. He wears the bandanna into Algeria, an agent of chaos once more. He travels the length of Africa, destabilising and propping up regimes as his orders see fit. He flees on a boat full of what the press call pirates, and then it’s Chechnya, once more. He walks in snow and through deserts, he eats when he can and he hides his arm unless he’s the last thing you’re ever going to see. There’s a tracking device beneath his skin, wrapped around his carotid artery, and if he pulls it out, he’ll die in seconds. They’ve got a wolf on a leash and he’s never heard them so pleased with themselves, so sure that this is the only weapon they’re ever going to need. Brutal, sharp, heartbreaking story of the Winter Soldier through decades of war in the 20th century. (first of an as-yet unfinished trilogy, but absolutely can stand alone.)

"I thought it would be different. Berlin, I mean. I thought that it would be so different that I wouldn't find my way." "1961 was the first time I was here," Natasha says. "It's remade itself many times over since then but there's still so much of the Berlin I used to know that I never get lost." "You don't strike me as the kind of woman who gets lost all that often, Natasha," Steve says. She laughs. "You'd be surprised," she says, and they both know she's not quite talking about geography. Steve and Natasha share a lovely, quiet moment.

*sobs*

Abed, Annie, and Troy work out their relationship. This is really lovely - hot and warm and sweet and touching all at once.

All it takes is one. Just one person to think they're safer with Nicky Parsons dead. One person who can make one call and send someone like him to hunt her down. The day her name gets mentioned in testimony seals it. He can't wait to be sure. If there's a chance they're going after her, then he has to get there first. Another lovely post-movie story of Nicky and Jason trying to put a life together.

Hot and achy post-movie Nicky/Jason.

Nice look at Nicky, and Pam, after the movies.

Adorable Clint/Darcy from his POV. (really needs a good beta, though)

Really warm and lovely Troy/Abed/Annie.

Darcy makes an offhand remark to Tony that snowballs. This is adorable and hilarious.

Gorgeous Nick/Cassie art Amber made for ME!

Working for SHIELD is even more exciting than Darcy expected. This is adorable and kind of hilarious.

otp of otps! I draw a million sparkly hearts around this adorably charming Nick/Nora vid. *happy sigh*