I wrote this like five months ago and posted it on Tumblr, and I just now realized it would be a good idea to upload it here too.

The story behind this was that I really wanted to write some Marvel fanfiction, but I was having trouble coming up with inspiration for a plot, so I gave myself a little challenge. I put my music on shuffle, and when a song came up, I started writing about whichever characters came to mind, and stopped writing when the song ended (or, y'know, a minute or so later. I might've pushed it a little bit on a few of them).

Song 1: Never Seen Anything Quite Like You, by The Script

Leopold Fitz really couldn't believe his luck sometimes.

In the last fifteen years, he had seen Jemma Simmons in a white t-shirt and plain jeans, hair pulled back in a rushed ponytail. He had seen her in a white coat, working beside him in the lab.

And this afternoon, he had seen her in a white dress as she walked down the aisle and stood beside him and said "I do."

And tonight as she lay beside him in their bed in the honeymoon suite, bathed in the white glow of the soft light above them, looking at him as if he meant the sun and moon and stars to her, Leopold Fitz couldn't help thinking that she had never looked more beautiful than she did right now.

Song 2: Close to Home, by Vienna Teng

Natasha leaned back against the wooden slats of the park bench and looked over at her partner. Clint was staring off into the distance, his eyes fixed on something across the pavilion. She followed his gaze to the fountain in the middle of the square.

Two young children, a red-haired girl and a blond boy, were playing in the shallow water, laughing and splashing each other and running through the spouts.

"Do you think that could've been us in a different life?" Clint asked quietly.

Song 3: Who I Am Hates Who I've Been, by Relient K

Heavy metal blasted through the garage, louder than usual. In the middle of the room, surrounded by tools and spare parts and engine grease, Tony Stark was working with a feverish intensity on his newest project.

"Sir," the concerned voice of JARVIS spoke up over the music. "Your vitals are looking alarmingly high. Might I suggest a cool-down routine?"

"Not now, JARVIS," Tony said dismissively. "I've got to finish this before…before…" he faltered.

"Before what, sir?"

"Before I screw something else up!" Tony exclaimed. "Before anyone else has a chance to get hurt because of me."

Song 4: My Fault, by Imagine Dragons

The Potomac glimmered faintly, its shifting waters reflecting the moonlight.

Steve walked along beside the river and stopped when he came to the water's edge.

He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. It was nights like this that he really missed home, Brooklyn in the early 20th century. He and Bucky used to sneak out late at night and go sit on the bank of the Hudson, skipping stones and talking about the future.

Neither of them had anticipated this future, though.

"Is it my fault?" Steve whispered into the darkness.

Only silence answered him.

Song 5: Red, by Taylor Swift

Their love story wasn't exactly what you would call a "whirlwind romance," but sometimes it felt like it in hindsight.

As Peggy poured the last drops of Steve's blood into the river, she reflected on all of the times they shared during the war.

She had spent many nights wondering what they would have become if he had lived. But it was time to move on now. It was time to focus on who she was becoming without him.

She would never forget him, but trying to hang onto what they never had was a dead-end street.