Raven sat in her seat and watched the unconscious Dreykov for a moment as she bounced with anticipation. Both Wade and Loki noticed the change in her and raised a brow before continuing with their own thing. Loki was going to fly this time while Wade worked on getting as much information down as possible for the mission report. He did not report to Fury, that much was obvious, but he did try to be amicable with Logan and the professor. He didn't fear much but he didn't want to cross his old friend's god father. When they were in the air, both men asked why the injured woman was so giddy.
"Yelena and Kate offered to train me in the ways of a widow. Not just some stuff or enough to survive, but as a widow! Can you believe it?"
Both men pursed their lips before responding slowly. "Noo, I can honestly say that I don't believe it." Loki had to drag the response from deep in his chest. He knew something was wrong if the pair had offered to train the newest soulmate to the soldiers.
Wade was in a similar mindset but for different reasons. "You know that will never happen again, right? None of us would allow you to be in that position again. Why didn't you use your own defense to help yourself today?"
Raven sat up straighter and her smile dropped to a very serious glare. "Wade, you are treading on thin ice. I didn't want to raise any flags. I was a nameless face of a pawn for you two today. If I had used my ability, I would have truly placed a target back on my back, yet again. If you continue to bring that up Wade, I will personally sew your mouth shut. Leave my past where it is. Do you understand me?" Her voice took on an edge that had both men flinching slightly as Loki watched Wade nod once hesitantly.
"Raven, I only bring it up because you still haven't talked to anyone about it. You broke up with Scott and left the school less than a week after they got you back. You ran into me because Logan had planned it that way. Nobody wanted to see you alone and you weren't talking. Babe, everyone was worried. You told them to help you fake your death. They were worried sick."
It was a rare moment when Wade was serious. Loki had gathered that rather quickly just from the day they had spent together and was shocked to see just how genuine he was being with the woman. What made it worse was her look as she listened to him. Loki was only able to glance before realizing this was not the time for multi-tasking and flipped on the jet's autopilot. When Wade was done, Raven sat in silence for another moment before speaking.
"It was all a set up? You never wanted to be my friend. Logan forced you into it? I guess good on you. You're lying skills are definitely something remarkable. I always seem to fall into this crowd of friends. I am an idiot. Let me know when we land."
Without giving either man a chance to speak, she moved to the back of the plane to watch Dreykov as she put her earbuds in.
Loki shifted in order to pat Wade's shoulder before moving to the seat behind him. Just as Loki began to think he would need to prompt the crazed mercenary, Wade spoke up.
"It wasn't like that. I wasn't forced to do anything. Logan only asked me to help the teen version of that girl. She is only a couple years younger than me, five to be specific. I saw her pain the moment we met. I only wanted to help her so I taught her some basic self defense. Next thing I know, she was saving the Mini-Carter at school. After that they were inseparable. Peggy took her under her wing and helped her learn everything she needed to excel at Shield. She never used her greatest defense though. I taught her how to use it in a pinch and we forged a true friendship through all of our work. I never felt coerced or like she was a burden. I hate to think that she thinks that about me and what we have become. I just think she needs to let it out. She bottles her pain and I am worried about the explosion when the bottle gets too full."
Loki nodded along even though Wade couldn't see him. His mind was spinning between what Wade was saying and the thoughts he was hearing from the woman at the other end of the ship. His face must have given something away because he was snapped out of it by the voice of his new friend sitting across from him.
"What in the Midgardian lore are you doing staring at me like that?"
Wade raised a brow before answering. "Had you been listening, you would have heard me say that we have about an hour left on our flight and I want to see how fucked I am before we are forced to see other people. I need to try and get through to her before we land." With that, Loki watched the man make his way to the only woman on board before moving into the pilot seat once more and trying to keep his attention on the horizon, not the conversation behind him.
Wade sat and stared at the side of Raven's head. Her fiery red hair in loose curls with matted blood and dirt strewn through it. He wanted to brush some of the loose debris out like he had always done but he hesitated this time.
Raven could feel the eyes of her friend, wait, was he still her friend? Was he ever her friend? Her thoughts kept swirling and she didn't like any of it. Wade's eyes felt like they had bore holes in her head but she wasn't ready to face him. She wasn't ready to feel devastated again. Instead, she turned her head to tell him to leave her alone, only to have his hand clap over her lips.
"No, you need to hear this first. You are my friend. Logan told me there was a teen who might need some help, not to be your friend or anything else. You are my girl, not my mate but my best friend. I think you might be one of three people I consider a friend. Don't throw that away because I misspoke in my anger."
As his hand left her lips, once he was finished, Raven took a deep breath. Before she could say anything, Loki spoke up from the pilot seat. "We are about to land so either solve it or stow it for later."
Raven felt all of her earlier anger slam into her in full force. Without thinking, she gripped her blade and used all of her power to stab him between the ribs on his right side. She smirked as the sharpness of the blade made his body feel like butter; intentionally having missed everything vital she shoved the blade in deep enough to have the hilt leave a massive bruise on Wade's side. Releasing her hold, she got up on her tippy toes. "You wanted to see why I think getting angry is counterproductive. This is it, this is why."
She stormed out of the plane with a pale Dreykov before throwing him at Tony and Fury's feet. "Before you ask, it wasn't your mission so there is no report. The board has wanted him and there you have him. Now, a shower and bed are calling my name. I will see all of you later."
Without sparing anyone a second glance, she left the hangar just as Loki walked out with an impaled Wade on his heels. Both men wore looks if complete shock on their faces as they emerged. Loki took a moment to whisper towards the man in the red and black suit beside him. "This must be one of those moments Midgaedians tell you you will remember for the rest of your life. We have to be careful, she has the darkness within her to become a villain. Take it from a reformed one, don't let her push you too far away. She needs her friends to battle that dark side." Wade nodded in understanding once as his focus remained on the door Raven had disappeared through.
Stephen and Bruce ran towards the two returning fighters but stopped when Loki shook his head decisively once. Wade was still shaken to his core and paused when he saw the others. His pain showed for a moment on his face before he pushed it away. It was only when the two super soldiers joined them in complete uniform that he faltered. As Sharon and Sam followed them out, his brow furrowed.
"Mini-Carter, we need to have a talk. I messed up at the end of the mission and I need you to talk to her."
Sharon paused while staring at the still impaled Wade. "What the hell happened?"
"I told her that Logan pointed me in her direction when she left the school. Except I'm an idiot who made her question our entire friendship. On the plus side, her snarky side is almost as sharp as her aim. Speaking of which, ow. I've apparently been impaled the entire time. Deadpool shishkabobs anyone?"
Sharon sputtered but paused to make sure she understood before responding. "You told her that Logan pointed you in her direction? You didn't say anything else right? Nothing about me and my aunt meeting her not being a coincidence?"
Wade nodded at her before looking behind Sharon. He paled instantly as his eyes widened. Sharon saw the change and cocked her head to the side. "Wade?"
She turned around to see what he was staring at and saw her best friend ready to kill them. None of them had heard her come back out and Sharon could tell by the look on Raven's face that she had heard about her own lie.
"Ray... Wait, we can-"
"You too? Are any of my friends real? Am I at Shield because that was the predetermined best scenario for me? Is anything in my life my choice, by honesty and mutual respect?"
As Raven ranted, she saw the paling of her friends' faces. Both Sharon and Wade were obviously feeling the weight of her words but she couldn't stop. She felt like nothing was real. "That means you both know more than I ever told you. How much do you know?" Raven's eyes held an untold anger in them before they slitted to a glare. Her arms were tense and held in front of her. She was obviously trying to give off an air of not caring but she body language told the truth for once.
Both Steve and Bucky could feel the anger rolling off her in waves and pulsating through their marks. Sam tried to comfort them slightly, a little fearful of getting in the middle of the three friends who were obviously not okay. Sharon and Wade both looked like they were trying to talk down a criminal while Raven looked ready to kill one or both of them.
Tony and Fury were still staring when a boisterous laugh sounded through the hangar. "Ah, here I thought I would have to find the wedge to drive her from you but instead, you do it all on your own!" Looking down, the entire hangar falls into silence before Raven approaches the leader of the widows. "I get it. I think I finally get it. This is why you created the widows from the orphans and broken girls of the world. You want them to be molded. The best way to mold is to start when they are young and malleable before any true traits set in. You want to finish breaking them so they become the perfect little soldier. You lie to them to keep them in the mindset that they are happy. You give them a support system and people who appear to care. The widows never realize that it was the person's job to keep them in that state." Dreykov's eyes widened slightly before nodding. "Yes, that is correct child. You might consider it some day. We could be your family, your friends."
Raven spun to face the others with her jaw set. "Congratulations, you are all no better than a secret organization that kidnaps little girls and turns them into killers and spies. How proud you must be."
With that, she gripped Dreykov by the upper arm and led him towards the doors to the rest of the building. Just before she reached the doors though, she paused. Without turning, she spoke in a clear and cold voice. "This is not over, not by a long shot. You two will answer my question and any others that I have. I am not going to run and hide while you scramble to get your stories straight. The four of us have a lot to discuss." With that, she took their new prisoner to his cell.
Tony was the first one to speak up. "Did she really say four? Either Ginger can't count or I am missing something."
Fury lifted his chin before speaking. "I think I might be the fourth but I am definitely not looking forward to that conversation."
Steve and Bucky moved to confront Sharon while Sam wrapped an arm around her waist. "Can you tell us what that was all about?"
Sharon sighed before looking the three in the eye. She had once thought the world began and ended in the blue eyes of the two super soldiers, but that all changed the day she crossed paths with Sam. His big brown eyes that expressed his every thought and feeling without the need of words and his contagious positivity combined with his strong personality, she knew she was right where she needed to be. As she looked into his eyes, the truth fell from her lips.
"Wade was actually the one to reach out to Shield, and ultimately my aunt and I, when Raven was about 16. He arranged for her to 'save' me from bullies while I was supposed to see if she was open to a friendship. It turned out that she was more than open and ended up becoming my best friend, or at least she was until ten minutes ago. Now, I am not so sure."
Steve and Buck shared a smile before turning to include Sam in the same look. "You aren't best friends until you've tried to kill each other at least once." Steve smiled widely as he spoke his wisdom, only to have Sam and Bucky laugh at Bucky's continuation. "Two or three times for me."
Sharon knew they had a point, in a way. Being an Avenger, sometimes took a toll on a friendship. Even as that thought crossed her kind, she knew it wasn't the same as what she and Raven were facing now. That hurt more than anything. She hadn't meant to lie or keep the origin of their friendship a secret but now that it had come to light the way that it had, she needed to work on regaining her best friend's trust.
Wade met her eye and the matching determination in the other's eyes was enough to prove to each of them that Raven meant just as much to the other.
It wasn't long before the two found themselves flanking the one and only Nick Fury, on their way to see the woman they had all lied to. Nick broke the silence just after the elevator doors slid closed while they ascended towards the meeting. "I know this is going to be difficult for you both considering how close you are to her. Sugar coating or telling any sort of white lie could push further away though. She wants the truth and I don't want her to leave the team, or possibly the side we fight for. Don't Ness this up any more than you already have."
Sharon nodded and eyed the floor, flinching when he reminded her that she had already messed up. Wade on the other hand glared at the other man. "We messed up?" Wade indicates himself and Sharon with an irritated wave of his finger. "No. WE messed up." He circles his finger between the three of them. "Honestly? Logan did too but I can't help that we were the ones caught and not him. How do you want to handle this? I could just walk in with my pants off and bend over..... We all know it would trigger a response."
Sharon fought the tiny smile that tried to break through her sad grimace. "But would it be a response you could handle?"
Fury made his own annoyance known with a sigh and pinch of the bridge of his nose. "If you two can't grow up, she might just try to kill us instead."
Wade tilted his head at the older man. "Did you not see what I looked like when I got back? Did you think I made myself into a shishkabob? I didn't! I mean, I would have, hands down but I didn't. She fucked me royally and I didn't even get a chance to tell her if I liked it or not."
Nick glared at Wade while he went on his little tirade. "I will shoot you if you do not shut the fuck up."
Wade's response made Fury groan with utter disbelief and irritation.
Clasping his hands after twisting his arms and pointing them straight down, he lifted one foot and dropped his chin. In his most girlish, innocent voice, he asked Fury a single word question. "Promise?"
Sharon couldn't hold it together anymore and burst out laughing. She knew they needed to get it together but she couldn't hold anything back at the contrast between the two men. "This must be why Ray always said you two could never work together."
Fury turned his eye to her; "yet here we are."
It was at that moment the doors slid open to reveal one hell of a pissed off Raven.
"Here are your choices. You either tell me the whole truth, or I walk. I am not going to work with or for people who can't even be honest with me about what I am doing here. If I want to be treated like that, I'd work for Dreykov....Hell, even the Bretheren of Shadows was honest about my purpose there. What is your excuse?"
Her eyes clashed with are wary Fury.
"Let's take this to the conference room."
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Hey everyone, I don't usually write notes in the chapters like this but I felt like this is something that needed to be said. I appreciate all of the patience of you guys. I recently had a loss in the family and while I have been dealing with that, this weekend was when the service was held and all the family flew in. I should be getting back to the usual writing amount soon but it has been difficult to get into the right headspace, as well as finding time, recently. Thank you for sticking with me!