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Valentina, of course, has always wanted her grimy little hands on the hotheaded vigilante. But she has no idea who it is, and any digging comes up empty. Her urges to have you on the team grows even more when she puts the Thunderbolts, or the New Avengers, together. But still, she has no idea who you are so there's no way to approach you or contact you for recruitment.
Everyone knows Valentina is desperate when she practically begs Mel to hack into the city's cctv to catch where maybe the Ghost Rider disappears at night. But whenever Mel finds a trail, the cameras loose power. Valentina even begs Bucky and Yelena, high ranking ex-assassins, to hunt you down. They both repeatedly come up empty.
Everyone's none-the-wiser though when Valentina hires a new mechanic to keep up maintenance on everyone's gear, chosen forms of transportation, and to take over the abandoned workshop downstairs that used to belong to Tony Stark. It's a huge upgrade from the garage you used to work in though!
You're a tired little thing, but with sharp eyes and deft fingers. There's always an oil smear on your cheekbone and more often not you're elbow deep in the engine compartment of Alexei's limo. The poor car has so many outdated parts, you feel a physical pain in your chest.
Bucky, particularly, thinks you deal with nightmares or insomnia due to the dark circles under your eyes. And the way you're in the workshop from way early in the morning and til late at night.
You sleep in the early morning though, when the sun just crests the horizon til about 9am or 10am-ish. It's not like the longest sleep, but you take some cat naps during your limited downtime. You always manage to wake up when you hear the elevator ding down the hallway though. It's almost like you have some excellent hearing..
You get along with everyone though, from Alexei to Bucky to Bob, even John. You're friendly and kind. Maybe you like to keep to yourself a little bit, since you're always holed up in the workshop, but you never push anyone away if they want to spend some time and talk with you while you work. If someone catches you on a little snack break, you'll always offer a bit of food their way.
The Thunderbolts appreciate what you do, and they've all claimed you as their "favorite mechanic." Even though you're their only mechanic.. But they all trust you with their gear and welcome any new idea you may have. Maybe some long range widow bites, a comfier full-body suit for Ava to wear on her days off, or just cleaning one of John's guns. Bucky even trusts you to tinker with his arm, which is a huge honor in itself.
You like to personally work on any of the Thunderbolts' vehicles as well, or any of the vehicles that they'll use for transportation. That ranges from Bucky's motorcycle to the helicarrier that they use for missions that are far away. It's gotten to the point where, if a vehicle hasn't been approved by you, none of the Thunderbolts will ride in it. Even Alexei.
There are a couple things... off about you though that even someone like Mel notices. You always run hot, too hot. Maybe even hotter than Bob. If it's literally below freezing outside, which it can get down to in New York, you're just chilling in a tank top and some jeans. You seem completely unbothered by the fact that New York could be going through a blizzard. You don't even flinch if you arm grazes a hot carburetor. Or if you pull away from a hot exhaust pipe, there's only a faint red mark that shows any sign of you being burned. Or if something is so hot that Yelena can see the heatwaves coming off of it, you lean in close like you can't feel it.
Maybe you're just careless. Yeah.. That could be it, everyone tells themselves as they see you palming a steaming mug of coffee.
You've learned to be careful though. Don't full on grab anything hot until you think it's cooled down to a reasonable temperature and stop warming up your coffee or making tea if you're not around a stove or coffee pot. Maybe wear a reasonable jacket for once when it's chilly outside despite practically dying of self-inflicted heat stroke on the inside.
It's so hard to seem normal. But your identity, or keeping it hidden, is important for you. So you keep being "normal," knowing that you can let go at night.
And what do you drive? A motorcycle. A Harley Davison specifically. It's easy to ride and badass. And, Bucky and Yelena totally dig it when they see you pull up with it for the first time. Because you refuse to live in the Tower with everyone else even though it'd be easier. Even though you literally spend more time in the workshop than you do at home.
But after Bucky and Yelena find out what your main transportation is, you go out on rides with them all the time. Sometimes both, someone just two of you. And it's nice, just the wind in your hair and the breeze in your face. It's nice to get out and have fun with your new coworkers. Well, you may as well call them friends at this point. But you refuse to stay out late or go to some dingy bar, making up some excuse about an early morning the next day. Even if Yelena gives you her best puppy dog eyes, you still refuse.
Thank god your motorcycle changes when you do, because when some late night news or some civilian that's up way too late catches you on your late night escapades and it gets broadcasted on the news in the early morning, you'd be caught. Big time. And that's a big no no. And thank god there's no distinguishable features when you're the Ghost Rider too, and that you're just some flaming skeleton dressed in leather.
You almost get caught on time though.
Valentina had requested all her most "valuable employees" be at the gala she's throwing to celebrate yet another win for the "New Avengers." Somehow, someway, that included you. Maybe because you were their mechanic.
So, you were there. Dressed by Yelena and Ava and sipping whatever drink would calm your nerves. Except something is off. Something that makes your skin crawl and your fingers twitch. You're unsure what it is until you spot a New York congressman across the room chatting up a storm with another politician. He's so confident and sure of himself, with an easy smile and lax shoulders. It makes you itch. And it makes that firey demon inside you gnaw at your ribcage.
What that congressman has done with gain his seat is less than morally correct. Laundering money. Blackmail. Trafficking. Even murder as a last resort.
Your body heats and something crawls up your throat. You attempt to swallow it down but nothing works. You have to steadily refuse Bob's kind hand when you stumble to leave, saying that you're okay. You've just had a little bit too much to drink and are heading in for the night.
And when the congressman is broadcasted on the news the next morning on the tv down in the workshop, you turn it off. You know what happened so there's no need to what kind of story the news fabricates.
He's fine. Sort of.. Maybe a little dazed, and announced as crazy and "gone insane." But he's believed when he keeps babbling on about the flame-headed demon that crashed into his car and pulled him out by the lapels of his suit.
You do have to hide the bruise on your cheekbone and the ache in your jaw from when he fought back.. But you got him down and that's all that matters.
The Thunderbolts actually get the opportunity to see the Ghost Rider, aka you (but they still don't know that), in action, in person, one day though. At night, of course.
There'd been a supposed terror attack in some parts of the city late at night, something that Valentina had urged the Thunderbolts to respond to. And a few agents. She wouldn't say why. And when those agents' body cams showed the live action feed of the Ghost Rider already at the scene, fighting the unnaturally-abled terrorized, Valentina couldn't help be giddy. She was so so close!
You're Ghost Rider, and Ghost Rider is you, so of course you recognize the Thunderbolts that have been unknowingly ordered to aid you. But these unnatural terrorists, so unnatural you could say they were supernatural. You knew that no one, except maybe Bob, could really take these guys on. But you let them help in ways that they can, but keep them away from mortal harm with a whip of the chain that you keep around your person (Johnny Blaze style).
The agents that tag along aren't really helping at all. It seems like they're there to watch. And maybe grab when you have to swat away a few hands. And their ropes or capturing lines that they try to lasso you in with do nothing to you. All they get from you is an unimpressed look as you burn to go through the material or, quite literally, a growl of frustration.
When the supernatural terrorists decide to scramble up the building, you huff and growl. Cause your job just got a little harder than you wanted it to be. So you hike a leg over your flammable bike, and turn towards the Thunderbolts when you hear them quickly discussing how to follow the supernatural beings. You level them all, even Bucky, with a firey stare and growl out a "stay" before you pop a wheelie on the bike and start driving up the side of the building. Like literally. Up the building.
Everyone tilts their head up to watch, eyeing the flaming path that the Ghost Rider leaves in its wake. And everyone stays, no one moves to follow you. Even Sentry, who watched with amazement at the flaming creature.
Now, by yourself and worrying about literally no one else, you take the supernatural beings down one by one. Vanquishing them like some flammable knight dressed in leather and with chains as their chosen weapon. And when you say your little spiel to the leader, about how their "soul is stained with the blood of the innocents" and the leader is going to "feel their pain," you leave them high and dry, driving back down the side of the building.
The Thunderbolts and the accompanying agents are still there. Watching with wide eyes and slack jaws cause, holy shit. They've never seen anything like that, like Ghost Rider. In person, nonetheless. And the agents' body cams caught it all on tape.
Before speeding off into the night, because you can feel it in your exposed bones that the sun is going to rise soon, you tell everyone to go home. They're done. And as if catching a few of the agents' conspiring stares, you announce that if anyone where to try and follow you, they wouldn't get far.
They take it as a threat, as they should. Even more so with that unnatural growl of a voice that the Ghost Rider is known for.
Then, you speed off into the night. Melting the asphalt for a couple feet behind you and popping a few streetlight from the shear heat of your flames.
When you're at work tomorrow, sore and more tired that usual, you have to shrug off any of the Thunderbolts' prying questions with an excuse that you worked out a little too much at the gym the previous day. And oh, the bruise on your forearm and the little limp from the ache in your side, also. from the gym.. yeah...
Everything does happen to go to shit though. In the worse way possible. Just a couple days after the crew of supernatural terrorists.
When the side of your apartment building that your room resides on catches on fire due to an "arson attack" and you loose everything except your bike and the leathers on your back, you have no choice but to finally, begrudgingly, take Valentina up on that offer to board up in the Tower.
Valentina, like she's a mother goose, of course is glad to swoop in and offer you a permanent, free-of-charge, room to stay in. Where? Why, the same overly large penthouse floor that the Thunderbolts stay on, of course! You get along with them so well, so why not live with them too?!
The Thunderbolts take you into their waiting arms and practically dog-pile you into an overly affectionate group hug. They say their sorry's and wave off your own worries about being a bother. They love you! You're their favorite mechanic, after all. You could never be a bother. And they've already got a room set up for you over by Yelena.
You can't help but apologize and promise you'll be a good roommate, and that you won't take up too much space. Despite their kind words, you still hunch down on the side of the bed in your new room and drag a heavy hand down your face. And after dragging yourself through a shower, you find a little note from Yelena on top of some pjs and spare clothes. You appreciate the thought and mentally note you'll have to pay her back somehow in the future.
Over the next few days, everyone manages to somehow drag you out of the Tower to go buy stuff for you and your room. You go buy new clothes with Yelena, Ava, and Bob. A fun rug with Alexei and John. And an entire new bedspread with Bucky. Plus some necessities for your bathroom and bedside table.
Doing your best to not be a bother, any time you're not eating something in the kitchen, there's a good chance you're down in the workshop and drowning in your work. Maintaining everyone's vehicles, making any touchups on weapons or gear, or sometimes you can even been found up in the hanger or down in the garage to prepare any vessel of transportation for an upcoming mission. And more often than not, you've been found hunched over your little workstation and sleeping. Which is where whoever finds you will urge you up to bed.
Being in a new place is hard. It's hard to sleep, but it's also hard to find an opportunity to leave for the night. It's hard to learn everyone's nightly routines and you find yourself listening for the penthouse to finally fall quiet before you take the stairs down to the garage. But most of the Thunderbolts also deal with insomnia, so there are some nights where you have to stay holed up in your room and deal with the itch that nothing can seem scratch.
You're not exactly irritable if you don't get out, if the Rider doesn't get its "playtime," but you find yourself pacing around the Tower. Never sitting down to eat and too restless to stay for team movie nights that the Thunderbolts keep inviting you to. Nothing seems to tired you out, not working until your hands are raw, neither working out until you're laid out on the Tower's gym floor with a good layer of sweat on your skin. You still find yourself lying awake at night, with fidgeting hands and heated skin.
Of course everyone notices. They think you're just stressed from the sudden change in your life. In an effort to make you feel more comfortable, a couple of the Thunderbolts, primarily Bucky and Yelena, offer to spar. You take them up on it and manage to surprise them by how much of a punch you pack and how fast your reflexes are. Yelena even mentions that she might've met her match. Might've.
That itch turns into an ache when Valentina brings you all down to one of the lower floors to introduce a new recruit. Since all new recruits have opportunities to train with the Thunderbolts, they get introduced to the crew. Which, again, somehow included you since you worked on most of the vehicles (aka vehicles used by the Thunderbolts).
It's daylight outside, a little past noon but the sun is still shining high in the sky, so you don't have to worry about the Rider clawing its way out of your bone marrow. You'll have to be wary of the shadows though.. But still, there's something about the new recruit that has your eyes trained on him like an attack dog. You have to cross your arms to hide the twitch in your finger.
It's not that there's anything outwardly wrong with the new recruit. He seems eager to learn and eager to help. He's a great team player. Always lax with an easy smile on his lips. He's great at hand to hand combat and a good marksman.
Everyone else seems none the wiser, except maybe Bucky who's always been great at reading people. He asks what you think about the new guy. You have to force a shrug and say that you're just the mechanic. Bucky almost wants to call you out on your shit, but he's called away before you can.
It all comes to a head one night down in the workshop though.
You're all alone, elbow deep in some car. Dressed in a pair of jeans and an oil-stained tank top.
The Thunderbolts are way up in the penthouse. Probably watching a movie or turning in for bed.
You're not sure which, but all you know is that the sun has set and you have a very impatient demon simmering in your veins. Which only gets worse when the glass door to the workshop slides open.
The hair raising on the back of your neck is involuntary.
"Isn't scary all alone down here?" It's the new recruit, sauntering into the place like he owns it.
You straighten up, grabbing a nearby rag to wipe your hands as best as you can. You grip the wrench in your hand, watching the new recruit as he eyes everything that makes up your workshop.
It takes effort to make your voice sound friendly and nonchalant, "No. You get used to it."
The recruit hums. He makes a few steps around the shop before making his way toward you. He comes up from behind, resting a hand over the lip of the engine compartment and scoots in close to peer over your shoulder.
Much to the cliche, you're trapped. With a wall and built in shelf on one side of you and the recruit on the other. It makes your heart race and your skin crawl. A few goosebumps litter your skin, something that this man seems to catch.
"Do I make you nervous?" He practically purrs into the skin of your neck. He wraps an arm around the side of you so he can place a hand on your thigh.
It sets you off.
You push him away first, sending the recruit stumbling over his feet. But instead of taking it as a sign to back off, he comes forward again with a sick form of determination in his eyes. He grabs your wrist, and you retaliate with the wrench in your hand as it makes eye contact with his brow bone.
The retaliation only sets him off.
The two of you tussle across the workshop, knocking into any of the vehicles that you have sitting in your shop for repair or a tune-up and shoving tools from workbenches if either of you bump into them. He grabs and you punch or claw, even going as far to bite out of that primal fear that floods your veins.
The fight comes to a point of climax when the recruit manages to get his hands on a rope of chains and choke you out from behind with it, pulling you back and forcing you on your knees.
You choke and sputter, trying to loop your fingers between the chains to pull them from around your neck. You're beginning to lose air and your consciousness as your vision dots with black.
Sometime during the fight, the Tower's AI, which has access to every room, had managed to alert the Thunderbolts, Valentina, and Mel about the ongoings down in your workshop.
Just as your will to fight begins to fade, something seems to take the wheel. You seem to fall away as an influx of oxygen invades your system, igniting the fire that takes over every inch of yourself. Your eyes flare and your grip on the rope of chains around your neck tightens.
The recruit falls back with a yelp, falling flat on his ass and catching himself with his burnt palms. He scrambles back when he takes in the sight before him.
You, the Ghost Rider, rise to your feet and turn towards him. There's no skin to you, only flames that flare with anger around a skeleton. Your bony, very much on fire, hands hold the fiery chains in your palms. You huff and growl in the same breath, irritated.
"You," You snarl, reaching down and pulling the recruit up to his knees by the front collar of his shirt.
The recruit pleads for his life, babbling nonsense. He's shaking, fearful, and begging you to let him live.
You huff through your nose, flames licking at his face for a moment. You glare down at him, irritation showing through as the tips of your flames glow a firey blue.
But despite the irritation, it feels good to let the Rider out and let them have their fun. Even if it's as something as simple as glaring down at some bold recruit. You've never felt so steady on your feet since you've moved in with the Thunderbolts. You feel almost at ease and like if the wind could blow you away, you'd let it.
With a simple jerk of your arm, you turn and toss the recruit across the floor and to the workshop's glass door. You growl out an, "Out." with a point of your finger.
He doesn't get far before two things happen.
One, due to the smoke wafting up from your flames, it triggers one of the smoke detectors somewhere above you and flame retardant water pours from the ceiling in the workshop.
And two, the workshop's glass door slides open as six people rush in and two more linger just before the doorway. The six stop short of the recruit, eyes rising from him to the Ghost Rider that stands stock-still across the room.
The rain from the ceilings don't seem to do anything except cause steam to rise from your flaming form. You don't even move when Valentina practically squeals in excitement at the Ghost Rider being in the Thunderbolts' workshop. Like, how did the Rider get here? Oh, it's such an honor to have the Rider here! How did they know you needed help? Wait.. Where are you?
The Thunderbolts seem to realize you're missing the same time Valentina does. They fear that their favorite mechanic has been harmed. With no threat in here, to them, except the Ghost Rider, they have no choice but to prepare to fight the firey demon. Except, when the flames fall away, their stances falter.
The Ghost Rider falls away voluntarily, happy to be let out of its mortal cage for even a few moments. The roar of the flames fall away to reveal skin. Skin that belong to the Thunderbolts' favorite mechanic. Skin that belongs to you.
You look like an irritated, sad, wet rat back in your human form. Your hair is rain-soaked and sticks to the side of your face. Your brows are furrowed and your shoulders rise and fall with each rough intake of air. You still grip the chains in your hand, almost defensively.
Alexei takes a step forward, equally soaked in the rain. It looks like he wants to embrace you in a fatherly hug, but he stops short when you take a step back.
You wince when Valentina exclaims, "You're the Ghost Rider?!"
You know that you're probably in some deep shit now. You'll have to explain yourself to everyone, and possibly set some boundaries with Valentina. But for now, you're not willing to break the standoff that you find yourself in with your friends, employer, and the new recruit who you've never liked.