Chapter 7
"Sam," I call when he walks by a few hours later after we've picked up Nebula and he comes over, letting me shut the door to my Quarters with Zemo and the other Avengers.
"What?"
"I have been so damn curious about this."
"About what?"
"Do you have a lover?"
"Why is that any of your business?"
"C'mon, everything's my business because I make my business."
"Well, no, I don't."
"Sam, why are lying to her?" Zemo asks and I look at him then at Sam as he glares at him.
"No. No. No way." They look at me and I look between them. "Do not tell me that it's Zemo." He doesn't respond and I throw my hands up slightly. "SAM!"
"What? You said not to tell you that it was Zemo, so I didn't say anything! I did what you asked!"
"We're bros, dude! It's bros before hos!"
"But, I am-"
"Shut the fuck up, Zemo!"
"OK..."
"What's wrong with Zemo?"
"Where should I start, Sam? He fucked with Bucky! He fucked with me! He completely fucked up my mental state! He made the God damned Tundra Soldier, for fuck's sake!"
"And he helped you get over that too!"
"That's not the point! He was the cause of it! Just because he fixed the mistake doesn't make it better!"
"He's apologized! Numerous times!"
"Yeah, cuz that makes it better! Like, 'hey, yeah, I made you a killing machine for a bunch of nutcases! My bad!' See how stupid that sounds? That's what he did! So why are you sleeping with him?"
"Because-"
"Shut up, Zemo!" He throws his hands up slightly and leans against a wall.
"Why is that any of your business? It's my love life! Butt out, kid! Or I'll kick your ass in training!"
"Oh, you'll kick my ass?"
"Yeah, I will!"
"Willing to bet on that?"
"Yeah! What's your punishment if I lose?"
"You gotta clean all the toilets for a month," I say simply and he shudders slightly at that.
"Fine! And if I win?"
"You get Lead Strategist and Tactician."
"Deal!"
"Good!"
"Good!" He glares at me and I glare back. "When are we doing this?"
"Let's do it now!"
"Fine!"
"Fine!" I take off my duster and look at him as I shift into a fighting stance.
"This is stupid."
"Shut up, Zemo," We say together and he rolls his eyes. Sam attacks me and I block his blows easily, ducking out of the way of a few.
"Gonna fight back or just be on the defensive?" Bucky asks, having popcorn from Strange.
I kick Sam in the stomach then directly above it before doing a fancy spin and kick move, kicking him toward Zemo as I land with a three-point landing easily. "Where the Hell did you learn that?"
"I was trained by two former battle slaves and was one myself. Where do you think?" I stand and Sam comes back over, pissed off as he attacks me with more vigor. "Sam, Sam, Sam," I sigh as I easily slide between his wide-spread legs to avoid a hit and he spins to look at me. "Come on, now." I sweep his legs and he grunts as he falls on his back. "You know better than to get angry in a fight."
"Y'know, I'd say you've never been in a fight before because there usually isn't this much talking!" He kicks me in the face and I fall back, quickly getting to my feet as he advances on me again.
"Not cool!" I wipe some blood from under my nose and he glares at me.
"I could say the same damn thing!" He swings at me and I block a blow only to get one square in the face, stumbling back a couple of steps. He roundhouse kicks me across the jaw and I drop to one knee.
"I relent." I try to stand but get stopped by getting a blow across my jaw and put a hand up. "I said I relent, damnit!" I bark with dimly glowing eyes and he pants, looking at me. "That means I'm done fighting! The fight's over!"
"A fight isn't over until both sides agree it is," He growls and I look at him as I stand.
"This one is. Now get the fuck out!" I press my left hand to the right corner of my mouth to wipe away some blood and he looks at me, seeming to calm down.
"Raziah-"
"I said get the fuck OUT!" My eyes glow as my voice goes deeper and he takes a subconscious step back, nodding.
"Alright..." He leaves and Zemo follows after a moment.
"All of you out," I growl, pissed, and they leave without an argument, leaving just me and Pietro in our Quarters. I sit on the couch with a sigh and he sits on the table, gently fixing up my face. "It'll heal soon enough..."
"Hush." I shut up and let him continue, wincing now and then. "Now... Care to explain what that was all about?" I don't look at him and he waits patiently. "Raziah, you have been acting strangely for a couple of weeks now. I'm worried. Will you please tell me what's going on?"
"You married a woman..."
"I married you, yes...?"
"But..." I put my head in my hands and he gently touches my knees.
"Talk to me."
"I'm going through a gender identity crisis... And... It all started because someone called me ma'am... What is wrong with me?" He moves to sit next to me and gently pulls me to him.
"Oh, my Rebel... Nothing is wrong with you, Love..." He gently cards his fingers through my hair and I bury my face in his neck, wrapping my arms around his stomach. "What have you learned from the crisis?"
"That I don't like being called ma'am... It's weird... It makes me uncomfortable..."
"OK. What about Sir?"
"It's... I don't know..."
"Let's try something, hm?" He gently pushes me away and brushes tears, that I didn't know I had shed, away with his thumbs. "How are you today, Sir?" He stresses the word and I lean into the touch. "Hm... I have finished the job you gave me, Sir." I purr softly and he smiles a bit. "I think you prefer that, don't you? And you aren't very comfortable in this body, correct?" I nod a bit and he kisses me gently. "Then, are you able to manipulate your body that much?"
"Hm..." I close my eyes to focus and feel my image shiver slightly.
"There we are!" I open my eyes and see that I was in a male form, my breath catching in my throat. "How do you feel?"
"I... I feel..." I whine softly, overwhelmed, and he gently rubs my arm.
"Take your time, Love."
"Better..."
"Then here we are. Your name?"
"I wanna keep Raz..."
"Then you can." I smile a bit and slowly press my lips to his, letting him take control of it easily.
"We might not be able to have kids, though..."
"We're Celestials. We'll figure it out."
"Together?"
"Together," He agrees with a smile and I relax with a sigh, cuddling him. "Now... I would love to explore every single inch of you until you don't know what's up and down. May I?"
"Always..." He grins and lifts me easily, carrying me to our bunk in the upper portion of our Quarters. "Oh, Gods..."
"What?"
"Just thinking about a story Yondu told me when I was a kid..."
"What was that?"
"How he caught Dad in his bunk in the Captain's Quarters with a girl as a teen."
"So... This-?"
"This one. We can worry about that later, though. C'mon, Speedy Gonzales. Make good on your promise so I don't know what's up and what's down."
"As you wish, Captain," He smirks and strips me easily while I just lay there, content with letting him do as he pleases.
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About five annual cycles later, I have ninety-nine of the One Hundred Ravager Clans restarted and we're at the first meeting, our First Mates outside while Pietro stood off to the side as the scribe. "Alright. Rundown of the past annual cycle. I don't care if you were only made a crew five lunar cycles ago, give the rundown, explain any issues, how you're fixing the issues, ask for assistance if you need it, and the plan for the start of the next annual cycle." Some of the Captains of importance were Pepper, Steve, Nat, Rhodey, MJ, T'Challa, and myself. MJ and I had taken over the roles of the Ogords while the others had taken over the roles of Mainframe, Krugarr, Charlie, and Yondu in being important Captains to the One Hundred Clans.
MJ and I pay attention as the other Captains give the rundown and Pietro passes out two extra jobs each for them. "Meeting adjourned." The other Captains leave and I stand, sighing softly. Pietro wraps his arms around me from behind.
"Why are you allowed to have your husband in here but we can't have our significant others in here again?" Steve asks and I look at him.
"He's the scribe. And most of your significant others are also your First Mates. They need to stay out there."
"That's bullshit and you know it."
"He works as Co-Captain for my Crew, happy? And he tends to pay better attention than I do when people talk... I feel like I'm forgetting something..."
"Peter's birthday's in two lunar cycles so we're all meeting up for that, Razzle Dazzle," Tony says from Pepper's side and I nod.
"Right."
"You forgot my birthday?" Peter asks from MJ's side and I shake my head.
"No! I just forgot we were meeting for it."
"Uh-huh."
"Aren't you turning fifty or something around that age?"
"Yeah."
"None 'a yas look yer age."
"Magic, Tullk. Magic. The same magic that makes it look like you, Oblo, and Horuz don't age." He shrugs and I put my hands in my pockets. "I still have one more Clan to form," I murmur to myself and take my right hand out of my pocket to rub the bridge of my nose, a headache forming quickly.
"Cap'n!" Gef comes running down the gangplank and I look at him as he stops in front of me, panting softly.
"What is it, Gef?" He hands me a holopad and I look at it, eyes narrowing. "Set a course," I tell him simply as I hand it back to him and he nods, running to do that.
"What's up?"
"Kree radicals. Behert, past the Corps jurisdiction but in Sovereign. Comin'?"
"You know it, Kid," Steve smirks slightly and they go to board their ships while I board mine with Tullk and Pietro.
"Course is set, Cap."
"Set up Comms with the other Captains in the Big Seven."
"Aye, Cap." He does that as we take off and I look at them as they pop up on video.
"We're going in dark, surprising them. Stay cloaked even after you've landed and use those systems that are installed to make sure you don't land on another cloaked ship." They nod and sign off one at a time as they each go dark, going through the necessary jumps.
"Raz," Pietro asks softly in my ear and I turn my head slightly to look at him. "When did you know you were able to give others the means to become a Celestial?" I think about that and shrug after a moment, turning my head more to whisper to him.
"After I got my life source, I went on jobs with the Captains and First Mates in my family. I had to save a lot of them and the remaining Guardians with, like, mouth-to-mouth and stuff. Then they were just... Seemingly unable... To die from major injuries... Shit," I breathe and he looks at me.
"What?"
"I don't think that they're dead..."
"What?" He looks at me and I rub my face.
"They seemed to be unable to die from major injuries after I gave them mouth-to-mouth after I absorbed my life source. Why would they have died then? It doesn't make any sense, does it?"
"No, it doesn't... What do you think happened then?"
"They were probably picked up by the Kree or Skrull... Gods... That'll be fun if they did..." I rub my face again and we land next to Pepper's ship, the Iron Rescue. "Let's see what's going on here." I grab a blaster from my Quarters and attach it to my thigh, heading toward the ladder to take us planetside with a small group consisting of Tullk, Oblo, Horuz, and Taserface. I slide down easily and take off the blaster across my back, pressing the butt of it to my shoulder to point at a rustle in the trees.
"Whoa, calm down, Kid! It's me!" Bucky holds his hands up and I look him over, not buying it.
"Yeah... See," I shoot him in the right shoulder and he growls, bleeding green. "I'm aware that the Kree radicals work with Skrulls quite often. So..." He lunges at me and I press my left hand to his face. "Let's end this." I send a burst of energy through my arm and the Skrulls head explodes, covering me in green blood while the brain matter goes the other way. "Ew." I wipe my face off and adjust my hold on my blaster, leading the way to the meet-up area.
"Kid," Bucky hisses and shows off his hand with an open cut, bleeding red. I go over to him in a slight crouch and he had a sniper blaster set up, pointing to the scope. I look through it and see that I was right. "I thought they were dead...?"
"Oh, trust me, that dick's gonna get a fucking earful when I see him next," I growl and pull away from the scope, closing my eyes at what was happening to them now. He starts to look and I stop him, covering the scope. "Don't. Here. Take this." I hand him my blaster and take the sniper from him, jaw clenched slightly. "Go with them and work on checking the ships. I'll deal with this." He nods and does as he's told. I lay on the ground carefully and scoot to be in a bush. "Please don't give me a rash or hives, please don't give me a rash or hives," I mutter to myself and look through the scope, aiming at the one beating Mantis.
"Bye-bye." I fire and watch them drop to the ground then the others do the same out of fear. I scoff and quickly deal with them, sweeping the area around them. "Clear." I get up and put the sniper across my back, running over to them.
Someone yells as they run over to me and I blast them in the stomach, watching the Skrull drop to the ground. "Fuck off." I blast them in the head and look at the chains on my family, who are limp with unconsciousness. "Let's get you down from these trees..." I carefully pick the locks and catch each of them as they fall against me, laying them gently against the trees they were chained up to. "Alright..." I gently touch their chests, realizing Mainframe wasn't here since she's an android, and shake my head slightly. "I'm gonna kill that asshole," I mutter and focus for a moment, awakening their life sources.
They each bolt awake and try to attack me. I hold my hands up to hopefully get them to relax and they stop, looking at me. "Kid...?" Kraglin breathes and I look at him before he hugs me suddenly, knocking me to the ground with it. "Gods... Yer... Yer a'ight..." He laughs wryly and I carefully hug him back, patting it gently.
"I'm glad you guys are alive..." He stands and pulls me to my feet. "C'mon, we gotta get outta here. Fast. Follow me." I lead the way to my ship and whistle the Yaka ahead to alert Pietro. The gangplank opens and I lead them on board, supporting Mantis carefully. "Speedy! Strange, now!"
"On it!" He zooms off and I lead them to my Quarters, gently depositing Mantis onto the couch. I turn and catch Charlie when he starts to fall, helping him into a chair.
"Sit before you guys fall over." They do, staying on the edges, and Yondu looks around carefully as Pietro comes in with Stephen. "Excuse me for a moment... GABRIEL! Get your sorry feathered ass down here so I can shove my foot so far up it-"
"You're threatening an archangel. Do you have any brain cells or are you just a pretty face?" He asks from behind the bar and looks at the Captains, First Mates, and Guardians as Stephen works on patching them up. "Well, that's a surprise."
"You said they were dead!"
"I thought that they were."
"You fucking as-" I get cut off when he snaps, making my voice disappear, and look at him, seething.
"Now, if you're done with your little temper tantrum-" He goes flying across the room by a gust of air and grunts as he hits the wall. "I'm going to find a way to mute your powers, you little bastard." I snap myself and he jumps away from the wall as it heats up. "Fine! Here!" He snaps and I have control of my voice again. "Happy?"
I curse him out in every language I know as the other Avengers come in while my crew listens past the door and he crosses his arms, leaning against the bar. "You done?"
"Don't fucking test me, dickhead! I don't care if you're a fucking God, I will gut y- How fucking dare- I wasn't done yelling at you, asshole!" He had disappeared and I growl, pissed off.
"Uh, Cap...?"
"What, Oblo?"
"Taserface. 'E's at it 'gain."
"Gef?" He nods and I growl softly. "Pietro, take Bucky with you and get Gef. Take him to Med and leave Buck there then... Bring Taserface to Controls."
"Aye aye, Cap." He zooms off with Bucky and I see Tullk and Oblo standing just outside the door to my Quarters. I gesture them in and shut the door behind them.
"Wha'? 'Ow-?" Kraglin and Yondu look at me and I let out a huff of breath.
"Even though that guy is a prick, he's helpful. An-" I go mute because of Gabriel again and just flip off the ceiling before I look at Clint, using him to relay messages with ASL until Gabriel gives me my voice back. "Loki was the better trickster, asshole! A whole Hell of a lot hotter! Dick with wings," I grumble and rub my temples. "Gabriel brought your old crew and ship back. And hopefully didn't bring you guys back just to have you go through what you did. And if so, he's a bigger asshole than I thought."
"In my defense, you brag about being a super genius. You should have found them sooner."
"So you did do that?"
"Yeah. Thought you'd find them sooner than you did."
I charge for him and Groot gets in my way with Stephen and Steve. "Let's just take a breath and... Calm down a bit," Steve says carefully, holding his hands up in front of him, and I look at him, clueless to the fact that my eyes are glowing brightly while my body is glowing dimly.
"I'm gonna kill him! I'm gonna rip his tonsils out through his fucking eye sockets after I burn his fucking eyes out! I'm gonna kill him so badly he's deader than fucking dead!"
"I'm gonna take this as my cue to leave."
"Don't you fucking dare, asshole! I ain't done with you!" I start to go over and Steve physically holds me back, struggling. Tony helps with his suit and Gabriel disappears with fear in his eyes.
I swing at Tony and Peter catches my hand, looking at me calmly. "You and I both know I can and will overpower you. You need to chill." I glare at him but power down and he nods slightly. "Good. Now... If I let your hand go, are you going to attack Tony again?"
I respond by yanking my hand out of his hold and growl shortly at him. "Good talk."
We look toward the door as it slides open and Pietro stands there, the crowd parted to show Taserface standing cockily in Controls.
"TASERFACE!" I bellow and he jumps slightly, standing straighter to look at me as I storm out of my Quarters.
"Cap'n?"
"What have I told you about screwing with Gef?" I growl as I take off my duster, handing it to Pietro, and he looks at me.
"I have-"
"Don'cha fuckin' dare lie ta me," I bark and he clenches his jaw slightly. "What have I said?"
"That if I did it one more time, you'd pummel me. I haven't done shit the baby," He sneers and I respond by delivering a crushing blow to his stomach with my right hand. He drops to his knees with a groan and I grab his hair, pulling his head up to look at me.
"Now... 'Ere's the thing... Ah got Crew sayin' ya was messin' with Gef... So... Why the Hell do ya think issa good idea ta fuckin' lie ta me? Eh?" I look at him and he clenches his jaw slightly. "'M waitin'."
"It isn't, Cap."
"Tha's right. It ain't. Cuz it jus' pisses m'off. Cuz ya don't," I punch him in the face with my left hand and leave him with a broken, bleeding nose. "Fuckin' lie ta yer damned Cap'n. An' if ya mess with Gef one more fuckin' time, yer pronouns gonna be was slash were. Git it?"
"Aye."
"Good." I punch him one more time, breaking his eye socket, and let go of his hair. "Git outta m'sight." I turn on my heel and take my duster from Pietro.
"Behind-" I spin and get stabbed in the stomach by Taserface before he yanks it through my chest.
"Ya done?" He looks at me, shocked, and I look at him with glowing eyes. "Cuz now, yer dead." He steps back with his knife and I press my right hand to his skull, sending a strong burst of energy through it to completely obliterate it. "Anyone else?" I snarl as I glance around at the crew and they say nothing. "Get back to work!" They scramble to do that and I go back into my Quarters with Pietro, slamming my hand on the button to shut the door.
"Rebel, calming down is always a good idea. Just a suggestion."
"Tha' power... Tha's new," Yondu says slowly and I shrug one shoulder, flexing my right hand slowly.