Fandom: THE SENTINEL, SG1
Pairing: Jim/Blair, Jack/Daniel
Length: 45150 words
Author on LJ: ladyra
Author Website: http://www.visionsofprettyboys.com/
Why this must be read: - This story involves two universes. In universe A, Jack and Blair have both died; in universe B, a universe where sentinels are known about, Daniel and Jim have died. Jack and Blair (who works for SGC in universe B) find a way to get into A...

Although the development seems at first sight a little far-fetched, it does use Stargate canon.

Lady Ra has been recced here several times, and rightly so. This is another of her many successes. Basically she takes some aspect of each character and develops them according to those aspects, making two completely different, yet recogniseable, Jims, Blairs, Jacks and Daniels.

The story is available in PDF, Epub and mobi formats as well as HTML.

Puzzle Pieces

Fandom: IRON MAN/AVENGERS
Pairing: Tony Stark/Pepper Potts, Tony Stark/Pepper Potts/Steve Rogers
Length: Series Length 128,557
Author on LJ: boombangbing
Author Website: (or a link to where more of their fic is archived) At AO3
Why this must be read: First off, it's the comprehensive backstory of Pepper Potts. Pre-Tony hiring Pepper, their formative years working together, and how they eventually fell in love and eventually became a couple. THEN there's The Avengers and Steve and the three of them venture into a life of polyamory plus being part of the team that saves the world.

The voices here are sharp, the background is richly detailed, it's funny and sad and hot and thought provoking.

I wanted to rec this earlier in the month but decided not to because so much of this is set Pre-Iron Man and Iron Man and then it came to me, CROSSOVER DAY!

Excerpt

From Commitments: Pepper hasn't had a good night's sleep in years, it seems. When she was first hired by Stark Industries, it was work things that kept her up, more nights drinking and talking than she'd ever had in college; once Tony took an extra special interest in her, it was nights drafting letters of apology, organising his schedule, navigating various states' legal systems. Later, it was fielding calls, usually from Rhodey, on the current status of Tony: 'can you get a plane to pick us up? We're gonna need some clothes, too', 'I didn't know that Disneyland security could actually detain people...', 'so, where can one get an annulment in Vegas at four AM?'. And, of course:

“He's-- Pepper... They took... he's been kidnapped. Tony's been kidnapped.”

She didn't sleep for three months.

Now, with Tony in her bed (or she in his, but Tony says everything he has is because of her, really), she can rest a little easier at night, safe in the knowledge that he isn't in an expensive gutter somewhere, or marrying showgirls on a whim. But, still, she wakes up alone, when the sun is just rising over Malibu, or New York, or New Mexico, or wherever they are; because now, Tony doesn't sleep. She remembers Before (there have been a lot of befores in her life: before Tony, before Iron Man, before the kiss, before Steve, but Afghanistan is the Before that takes centre stage in her mind), when he'd work all night and sleep all day and she built up considerable upper body strength hauling him out of his bed. Now he goes to bed with her but wakes four, five hours later, almost without fail, to go down to the basement to work, work, work until he can ignore his bodily needs no longer. When she first realised that he was doing this, before she was in his bed or he was in hers, she tried to draw him out of the workshop, with food, alcohol, lewd comments, anything, but he didn't hear her, so immersed in his own mind. She learnt to let him come out of it on his own.

She hates waking alone, though, stranded in his oversized bed. And then there's Steve. Tony likes to be in the middle – of course, when doesn't he – but once he's up, Steve inevitably shifts in closer and she opens her eyes in the morning to his arm snaked around her waist, not too tight, because even unconscious he's aware of his strength.

Steve wakes at every distinct noise: doors being opened or closed, cars backfiring, creaking footsteps on floorboards, Jarvis clanking around getting the house in order for the next day, but curiously he can sleep through any continuous sound. New York traffic, the television, Tony playing his favourite Black Sabbath records way too loud, way too early in the morning. It lets Pepper do some of her work from bed, tapping furiously at her laptop, BBC World News 24 on in the background, with Steve next to her. He even sleeps politely, on his side with both hands under the pillow, blanket pulled up to his arms, taking up no more space than he needs, unlike Tony 'Starfish' Stark. He never snores, or talks in his sleep, even when his eyes are flicking back and forth wildly beneath his eyelids and his fingers are digging into the mattress. He's the perfect person to share a bed with. Though he is extremely noisy during sex.

What a ridiculous and delightful thing for her to know about Captain America.


Magnetic Series

The Courting of Tony Stark
Magnetic
Holding Pattern
Committments
Robotics
Darcy Lewis: Office Manager

Fandom: Avengers
Pairing: Clint/Coulson, Steve/Tony, sort-of-but-not-really Clint/Fury
Length: 5,279
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Coulson is Fury's daemon
Author on LJ:
Author's Website: Pandelion on AO3
Summary: "Scale of one to Tony Stark, how fucked am I, Dee?"

Feathers brush against his chin. "Somewhere about Steve Rogers, I think," she says.

Why this must be read: Here's a fic that has so many layers it kept me thinking long after I'd finished it. The premise of a human as a daemon isn't exactly new in fic, but here we have Fury (arguably the most powerful character) with Coulson as a daemon. This implies a heck of a lot about both Fury and Coulson (is that why Fury is so hard and why Coulson always follows his orders without question?) but it also presents a great look at Clint, who unknowingly falls head over heels for a daemon--the soul of another person, in this case a person he has no interest in whatsoever. So what is it about Coulson that attracts Clint, and how does Fury fit in? Pandelion only touches on these and more points in a fic that I feel shows the most powerful elements of a story can be the subtlest ones.

I also loved how the Steve/Tony was presented here. They're only briefly shown, but Clint narrates that he wants what they have. Since Steve/Tony is my OTP, I really enjoyed the minor comments on their relationship. Also Natasha and her daemon are fabulous. Definitely an enjoyable read, even my second time through.

Making It Work