Everyone went to the appropriate attack points and began their assault. Wanda and Vision took out the heaviest security with the help of Thor and Carol in other parts of the base. Tony was bringing down any shields he came across and worked to turn any tech-based defense Hydra had, against its original owner.
Antman and Hope shrank down and tried to see if they could find the prisoners while the others fought any and all personnel they met. Clint and Kate were perched in trees outside the base and taking down anyone who attacked their team as fast as they could. T'Challa used every one of his advantages to keep the enemy at bay while Nat and Bucky moved to collect all intel they could get their hands on. Almost immediately two people, who had been inside, surrendered.
As they did, both offered up their names. "I am Eric Gelding and this is Rebecca Barnes. Please, don't harm her, please? We were not volunteers for this."
Bucky heard about his sister from Scott Lang as he called it in that the two were captured. He fought even harder to get inside and help with the situation. Rebecca and her mate helped the other mated pair find and rescue Banner as well as Strange. Once the two were rescued and everyone had confirmation, Loki and Wanda took off. They placed bombs along the entire peremiter while Stark dropped a few in the center. They wanted to level the entire base.
As everyone flew to safety, Banner curled up next to Nat, laying his head in her lap. He needed the reminder that she was real and had gotten him out of there. Strange and Loki actually sat, leaning on one another, reminding themselves that they were free and together. Becca and Eric sat across from Steve and Bucky. The four were staring, proving to themselves that the others were truly there. Eric held his mate's hand the entire flight home. He was scared they were going to be separated again. When the Quinjets landed and they were shown a room down the same hall as the super soldiers, both paused and checked with everyone again.
"You mean we get to stay with you, like a regular mated pair?" Becca was hesitant to ask but needed the confirmation.
Bucky stepped up to his sister and gently wrapped his arms around her. "You two weren't there by choice. We are offering you a chance to move past what you were forced into. We will let you stay here until you feel more secure in the day to day life as a free citizen, then you two can decide if you want to stay and help us as part of the Avengers or live out your lives as everyday, Joe regulars. You will not be forced to be anything, ever again, if we can help it."
Sam, Sharon, and Steve, who were still present with Bucky and the newly rescued mated pair, all looked shocked. It had been a long time since Bucky volunteered to speak that much without being coaxed into it. It brought a smile to Steve's face as he watched his mate get back a small piece of who he once was.
Back on the main level, Tony was pacing with Pepper watching him intently. He was pacing as Clint and Yelena stood, trying to help calm him down. The problem was that no matter how much he wanted to, he couldn't. He felt like they had royally messed up in not getting Raven back. He looked up from the floor and stopped pacing when Wanda, Vision, and Loki all stepped into the room as well. It was Vision who spoke first though.
"This isn't going to help Sir. We have to formulate a new plan and get her back. We have everyone but her back now, that has to count for something."
Wanda gripped Vision's hand as he spoke. She felt the same foreboding anxiety as Stark but felt he was freaking out enough on his own. Loki had a feeling that things were going to get so much worse before they got better. He needed to get back to Stephen though too.
He excused himself and went back to their shared room. The pair were mostly just holding one another. Neither one offering up their experience but instead settling for a comforting silence in which they shared their vulnerability and supported the other as the quiet tears slid down their faces. They were home, and safe. It was more than either thought they were ever going to get again.
Nat and Banner laid in bed, holding one another. Simply wrapped in each other's arms. Neither one wanted to move. They laid like that until exhaustion pulled them into a slumber. Both taking the time to hold onto the reality that they were together in their room.
It wasn't until the middle of the night when almost everyone had gone to bed that Friday alerted Tony that he was needed as well as Vision in the Med-Bay. As they both sprinted from the arms of their mates and into the desired location, they froze. Both of the super soldiers were screaming in agony. Both were running fevers and sweating. Neither Tony nor Vision had any idea how to help. Becca came running in and stood frozen watching long red welts appear on the skin of her brother and his mate. Both were suffering and she couldn't fix it. Not without making them forget the bond again. Whatever hell Raven was experiencing though, it was brutal. Wade and Logan's sensitive hearing had heard the distress and came to investigate. Tony and Vision gave each a sedative to help settle them but the problem was that both would burn through it quickly. When Logan and Wade saw the marks on the mated soldiers, they collapsed. Logan dropped to his knees and roared. He couldn't imagine the pain his little girl was in. Wade fell backwards against a wall and admitted this was only the beginning. He knew what pain she must be suffering, until he took in the state of her mates. The physical.pain wasn't what had broken them. These two were strong soldiers who had suffered the downfall of each other. Feeling pain was nothing new, so what caused the full scene he had just seen? He glanced at their shoulders and suddenly had a sick feeling he knew. The bruised fingerprints that looked to be holding their shoulders in place were enough to get a slightly less vague idea of what had happened. His best friend had just been assaulted in more ways than one. He silently promised murder to anyone and everyone involved in harming her in such a way.
Tony saw the violent intent in the mercenary's eyes. Before he could ask, the man was gone. He stormed out of the med-bay so fast, you might think it had been on fire. He left to go spend a few precious moments with his own soulmate, leaving the compound all together.
After his departure, Stark looked to Vision as he worked to address the new injuries as they appeared. Banner assisted while Stark took in the visual. The patterns he was seeing was enough to make him lash out with all his strength and punch the wall. Logan saw that the broken skin of the billionaire's knuckles didn't phase him and looked to see what had caught his attention. After assessing the injured areas of the soldiers from a distance, he also saw the pattern. His little girl, the girl who had already been through so much, had just been through even more. His anger ignited more than he had ever felt, with his nostrils flaring, a low growl continued to rumble through him. The pain kf his claws emerging from his knuckles did nothing to quell the murderous thoughts he harbored. His brother was not going to survive their next meeting, Logan was sure of it. The man had officially lived long enough to turn into a monster.
Nat watched as everyone fell apart around her. She knew exactly what the newest member of the team was going through. Her eyes glistened before she battled the emotions and focused on remaining level headed.
"Wanda, I need you and Loki to keep an eye on these two." She patted the tables where the two soldiers were laying. Sharon and Sam each gripping one of the men's wrists as they stood between them. It dawned on Nat that it was the two of them who had carried them to the med-bay. Watching how tightly Bucky's sister was gripping his shirt, she wondered if the smaller woman and her mate had helped as well. Before she could ask, Becca spoke up. "I don't know if it is the best option or not but, I can stop their pain."
All eyes turned to her. "Why would you question if it was the best way? They could die from the amount of pain they are in. It is a shock to their body because it didn't originate within them. Their body didn't go through any of the steps that a body usually does when faced with these situations. No fight or flight, no rush of adrenaline, nothing. Just an extreme amount of pain, fear, and guilt knowing what their mate was going through." Stephen Strange rattled out as he made his presence known.
Everyone nodded as they took in Stephen's words before turning their eyes back to the smaller Barnes. "What makes you question whether or not your option to help them is the best plan? It may very well be our only option." Nat's eyes narrowed as her last statement left her lips.
Becca stared at her brother's face which was still contorted in pain, even while unconscious. It was almost enough to push her into action until she considered her own bond. They had been through a lot themselves but she would never think to try and forget the bond for the sake of comfort. She bit her lip and answered without looking from the sweaty face of her big brother.
"I could make them forget the bond again."
It was actually Steve who growled even while not fully conscious. "N-no! We w-won't abandon her like that. With what she just went through, she would think we wouldn't want her anymore and had given her up. That could destroy her." Steve's declaration suddenly snapped everyone's focus from the pair before them to their tiny mate, the one who had given herself up to ensure others freedom. The one who had volunteered to try and save her mates from the pain they were currently in. She had done everything for everyone else, it was their turn to step up and get her back.
Tony swallowed thickly before speaking up. "Try and help soothe her as best you can boys. If anything else happens, tell someone immediately. We need to keep track of her injuries as best we can because we need to know how much time we have to find her. Obviously, we aren't getting anywhere tonight." His heart ached in a way he wasn't accustomed to. He felt like a failure and that wasn't something he had ever felt before. He knew where to start to fix every roadblock in his past but this, this was something new and he didn't know what to think. He had failed to retrieve her, failed to bring her home, failed to protect her. Looking up, he met the eyes of Wanda, Nat, Vision, Sam, Sharon, and Bruce. All if them looked at him with the same guilt he felt but something in him snapped. "We never should have left her in that warehouse. I should have, I could have. Why didn't I? Why did I let reindeer games block my path? Raven deserves so much better than this."
No one could really argue with his last sentiment before he was trudging off, glancing around the room while the billionaire exited the area, everyone else shifted uncomfortably with the new knowledge.
Before everyone could gather their witts, Becca stepped up to her brother and his original soulmate. She smiled at Steve and remembered having to tag along with the pair everywhere before the war. The two best friends had found they were the other's soulmate but, they also knew the people of their generation didn't approve of a love like theirs. Becca had volunteered to be Steve's cover since she was Bucky's sister, it wasn't uncommon so long as she was treated well. Steve had been beaten up a few times by people guessing his relationship with the other man. Becca couldn't stand to see the small guy hurt so much for simply loving who he was meant to. She once again mustered the strength to meet the eyes of her brother and his soulmate. "Do you want me to help you forget the bond? It isn't a permanent solution but, I will offer it as often as I see you in pain."
Both of the super soldiers glanced at one another before smiling a small, sad smile, and meeting her worried glance. Steve stepped forward and gingerly wrapped his arms around the woman he had come to see as her own version of a little sister to him.
"We can't do that to her. She may have volunteered to stay and try to help save everyone but, right now, she feels so much self-loathing and fear, we can't let her feel abandoned too. I am so sorry we put you in this position, Becca, but our soulmate needs us to be her strength."
Bucky put a hand on Steve's shoulders as the blonde finished his statement, before leaning in and kissing his sister's cheek.
"She needs this bond to keep the will to survive. We are not letting her feel any more isolated and alone than she is now. We can do this."
Becca pulled her head back to meet both sets of beautiful blue eyes and smiled a warm but sad smile at them. "Let's figure out how to save your soulmate boys."