Vanessa pulled up outside of the almost completed compound with a very nervous Rae in the passenger seat. "Do I have to go back? They saw me when I was so broken Ness. I don't know how to face them after they saw me like that. I was so scared of going back to that cell. I don't know how to face them."
It was obvious the entire ordeal was taking its toll on the young woman and Vanessa wanted to ask about each and every thing Rae had just mentioned but knew that she wasn't ready to talk about them. The redhead seemed to simply be thinking out loud and unaware of half of the things she said until someone asked her about them, which would lead to her shutting down. Victor was now in the same mutant prison as Magneto and his faction so Vanessa wasn't too worried about Rae going back and learning to deal with life, beside her soulmates. Surely, she deserved at least that much good in her life, right?
Once parked, the pair stood from the vehicle and made their way towards the entrance, never quite making it inside before there were arms wrapped around Rae in a tight embrace. All she could smell was aftershave and leather as the person pressed her face tighter to their sweater covered chest. As the fabric made itself known, Rae knew exactly who was holding her. "Fury, you son of a bitch. You're still alive?"
Fury couldn't even tell her how happy he was to see her. He felt he needed to explain before the others painted him in a bad light. He knew he hadn't handled her disappearance very well and had been trying to find a way to explain.
"You should know, you might have been there as long as you were because of me. They had taken everyone so effectively from the tower and I was terrified that if we came to them on their turf, it would be even easier. I am so sorry that I seemed to be impeding your rescue. I just didn't want to see the others used against the world they swore to protect."
Rae pulled away from him as she considered his words. Before he could say another word though, seh threw herself against him in a tight hug he hadn't expected. "Thank you for making my sacrifice not be in vain. I don't know what I would have done if any of them got hurt because of me."
"How are you?" Fury asked cautiously. He knew not to poke a bear but it was an important question, nonetheless.
She smiled lightly before turning her gaze to the woman beside her. "Ness can confirm, some days are better than others and I still have a long way to go. Is Strange or Banner here, by chance?"
Fury nodded along as she explained before pausing and hesitantly saying they were both in the compound. She asked him to show her to the med-bay and to make sure one of them could meet her there. He obliged while asking Friday to alert both of the doctors to a possible need in the med-bay. As he directed Rae through the compound, sharing tidbits as they went along, he found himself glancing at Vanessa more and more. How had she managed to convince Rae to come home and why had none of the others been able to do the same?
As they rounded the final corner, both Banner and Strange emerged from a differrent hallway. "You asked to see......." Strange went silent as Rae stepped out from behind Fury with a small wave. "I, uh, I apparently broke my wrist? I just wanted to see if there was anything you guys could do? It doesn't hurt much, but it is a fairly obvious break."
Banner was the first to step forward, taking her wrist gently in his hand. "How does this not hurt very much? This must be excruciating." As the words left his mouth, Strange sprang into action. He took her gently but quickly into the med-bay and began looking to see if there were any other breaks, what he did find on her arms was very telling. "These weren't here before." The small, circular scars adorning her forearm were obvious burns and he could guess from what but he didn't know from who. "Don't, Strange, please?" He sighed before nodding once and wrapping his arms around her. "You got my soulmate out of there. You made sure as many of our friends went home as possible. You are my hero. I am so sorry we didn't do the same for you. You deserve so much better than all of this." He couldn't do more than hold her as she cried a silently against him. Banner bandaged her wrist as she and Strange clung together in a moment of peace. Banner wanted to hug her too but he knew that Strange needed this moment more. Just as he finished with the splint and ointment for the still healing burns, the doors slid open again. Wade had been talking but froze when he saw Vanessa. Running up to her, he spun her in a circle and yelled about how happy he was to see her. Loki had been making his way to Strange but froze when he saw red hair in springing from circled arms of his soulmate. He couldn't believe it. She was here! Without missing a beat, he ran over and grabbed the little woman from his soulmate and hugged her tightly to himself. "You have no idea how grateful I am to you. Thank you for being the selfless person that you are. You are never to ask me to leave you anywhere like that again. I can't believe you're here right now."
Wade watched his best friend hug his other best friend. He and Loki forming an unconventional friendship after that first mission. While he had been staying with the Avengers and his mate was with his friend, the two had become nearly inseperable. They often irritated Strange with how close they had become. It was all in good fun but nothing compared to having his mate in his arms and seeing his friend being accepted by her loved ones again.
"Hey douche nozzles, did anyone think to tell the super boys?"
There was a grumpy voice behind him. "Tell us what? That our mate is obviously moving on? She is so happy right now, it hurts because it isn't us making her......" Bucky trailed off as he saw the honey brown eyes of his mate glance up from the arm of their friend. Steve was the first one to recover as he ran over and collided with her, turning as they fall so she landed on his chest. "Sweetheart, you're here. You're in my arms. I can't believe this is real."
Bucky fell to his knees watching the two hug on the floor. "You're here. You're here. Doll, you're here." He couldn't stop the tears from falling as she wrapped an arm around each of her boys. "I am so sorry it took so long. I couldn't come back when I was that scared. I had to figure some of it out on my own. I am so so sorry. I love you both so, so much."
As everyone watched the trio finally reconnect, Becca, Sharon, and Nat also appeared. Eric and Sam close behind them chatting about some sports reference. As Becca saw the trio on the floor she stood taller, she wasn't sure what to expect from her brother's mate and knew it was okay, no matter what the reaction was. When Rae finally saw the older woman standing with her other friends, she sat up and eyed his cautiously. She didn't run, nor did she relax. Instead, she asked a question. "How long were you going to let me be the dumb little pet?"
Becca swallowed and silenced the others who were going to speak up in her defense. She knew how horrible it had been for Raven, and how much more difficult she made it due to the same trickery. "I was trying to give you back a little at a time. I apologize for the tricks and role I had to play but not for the way it saved my mate and myself." Rae took a moment to assess the woman before nodding. "What is your name?"
Becca smiled before meeting the woman's eyes cautiously. "Rebecca Barnes." Everyone flinched when Rae jumped and ran at the woman before realizing it was to hug her. "Thank you for doing what I asked and trying to protect them. Thank you for being the friend you were allowed to be in the situation."
Becca held the woman as her own levy broke. Everyone watched as both women cried until they couldn't anymore.
Once everyone was done crying, Sharon and Sam came up to hug her as well. "Is this Bruce's handiwork?" Sam was eyeing the splint curiously. "Erm, yeah. I, uh, I broke it while on the job this week."
Bruce and Stephen exchanged galances, having seen the fingerprint bruising around the break. "Come again?" Both doctors raised an eyebrow and crossed their arms as they waited for her to lie again. Realizing what they must think, Rae turned to Vanessa. "They don't believe me." Her voice seemed to shrink as she said each word. Vanessa was not about to have that become an issue on the first day and explained. "There is a customer who is awful. We have banned him over and over but nobody will do anything about him. He tried one of his bully tactics with Rae and it backfired. It may have broken her wrist but he hasn't come back this week either."
Everyone looked between Vanessa and Rae, only to see that neither was lying. Everyone smiled before Banner walked up and hugged her gently. "We shouldn't continuously question you. It is good to have you back."
It didn't take long for some of the others to take notice of her arrival. Before anyone could really get Rae settled in anywhere, the sounds of jet engines could be heard. Rae tensed briefly, not going unnoticed by many of the others surrounding her, before she relaxed again. "Where is she? Is she okay? I need to see her!" In stormed an obviously worked up Logan followed closely by Storm and Scott. Just as the three rounded the last corner, Rae stood and looked like she was debating between fight or flight. Ultimately, it was Wade who stood in front of her and told the three stampeding towards her to slow down or be put down. While none were sure the mercenary could follow through, they didn't want to spook the young woman behind him any more than they already had.
Logan froze as he took in the splint and the burns on her arms. Those were new. "What happened?" Unsure how to explain it, Rae simply shrugged. "It isn't too bad. I will heal."
Scott spoke up as he side stepped the bigger man. "That wasn't his question babe. He asked what happened."
At the term of endearment, both super soldiers' eyes flitted to him. They knew better than to interfere though. "Scott, accidents happen. I'll live."
Storm studied the redhead intensely. "The wrist may have been an accident but the cigarette burns are a far cry from accidental."
Rae knew they were right but she wasn't ready to explain yet. Instead opting to keep quiet.
Just as the silence threatened to overflow into a state of awkward, Vanessa spoke up. She was the only one who knew how the scars came to be upon the redhead's skin.
"Why don't we all take a minute and step back. I am sure that when Rae is ready to explain, she will. For now though, how about a drink?" Taking a moment to look at all of the enhanced people around her, she smiled and stage whispered conspiritorally to Rae. "Or maybe twenty."
Rae cracked a smile herself before turning to face her mates. "Lead the way gentlemen. Today deserves a strong dose of liquor and I happen to know at least a couple kick-ass bartenders." Her smile widened to include the now present Nat as well as Vanessa.
Before long, everyone had called everyone else and before any one could stop the rolling snowball, there was a full blown Avengers party happening at the compound. Anyone who knew or worked with the Avengers could be seen mingling and laughing late into the evening. Rae decided to call it an night after seeing Loki and Wade strip-teasing the room while dancing on the bar as Stephen and Vanessa tried to pull them down. Thor was boisterous in his comparison to the situation of a celebratrtion after some win while in Asgard. The soldiers were sitting with Logan and shaking their heads at the entire spectical whereas Fury and Hill stood with Stark trying to get him to intervene and having no luck. He kept saying something about it not being a Stark party until someone is either attacked by something bizarre or naked, occasionally both. Nobody could really stop them and Rae decided she was done trying to. Just as she made it outside of the party, she thought about how drunk she was and where she should sleep. When she finally resigned to the fact she was going to have to go inside to figure that information out, two hands slid into her own. The sparks igniting her skin told her who was holding her and she smiled.
"Take me to bed boys. I need to finally finish this bond I feel with you. You both kept me alive and if I felt you then, you felt the reasons why I didn't want to continue. You are my light in the dark and the missing pieces to my soul."
Bucky sucked in a breath as her words and and acceptance washed over him. Before he could turn her to face them and tell her exactly how much those words affected him, Steve's spare hand was on his shoulder making him pause.
"Baby, Sweetheart, you are our girl. We have loved you for so long and so much of it was from a distance. We want nothing more than to make you complete and prove to ourselves that you're real. However, you're right. We felt everything you went through which is why our first time with you won't be while you are drunk and not thinking clearly. You are our world and we want the sober version of you to know that. We can sleep together tonight and if you still feel like this in the morning, then we will happily show you just how much we crave your body. Do you understand Sweetheart?"
Bucky didn't have words to add because Steve was right. He regreted how he had been willing to follow her words even though he knew he should have thought of things the way Steve had. He almost let go of her hand when she clung to his briefly. As she released both of the men's hands to spin and jump against them. She never realized just how roughly she threw her arms around their necks nor did they complain. Before the confusion could settle on their faces too much, Rae explained the reaction.
"Thank you for always being the gentlemen you are. It definitely makes things more difficult on one hand because now I want you even more. The side of me seeing reason though, it says thank you and that being completely in control of myself will make our first time together amazing. While I am still drunk enough not to care about the polite thing to say, you two need to figure out who is fucking me how. I am not having our first time with one another fighting over who is going to fuck me first and who wants to be in my mouth. Sorry, but anal is off the table to start with. I used to fantasize aboout it while I was held there, especially when the guards and agents wanted to share. I don't want to bring those thoughts into our fresh start, please?"
Both men solemly nodded before Bucky ducked down to sweep her off her feet and into his arms. Steve took to the opportunity to kiss both of his mates, gently on the forehead before leading the way to his and Bucky's room. He secretly thought about knocking the wall out between their room and the empty room next to them, both here and at the tower. He wanted their mate to have her own space but never wanted to be separated again. She was the glue that the pair had been needing and he would burn the world down if they lost her again.
"Welcome Home Sweetheart."
Bucky felt the shift in Steve and agreed with him completely. His mates and this team were his world. "Welcome Home Doll."
Rae felt the comfort and overprotective feelings that her marks and mates always brought her as she drifted to sleep on the most comfortable bed she had felt in what seemed like forever. As her mates welcomed her home, she hummed in response and decided then and there that the following day, she was claiming what was her's.
Her last thought as she drifted to a dreamless sleep was that she loved her mates and was thankful they were hers.