Chapter Twenty-Four
Delaney didn't hesitate to meet the Avengers once again.
After watching a news report, she hadn't been able to keep them off her mind. They were in trouble, and she was miles and miles away from them – almost an entire country apart. They needed her help, and she was currently unable of providing it. That knowledge alone was enough to keep her so agitated that, frustrated, Evan bought her the next available plane ticket and told her to pack her things.
Delaney didn't bother to hide how relieved she was. She loved Evan and Cristina, but they didn't need her right now. The Avengers did. Steve did – Clint, Natasha, Tony, Bruce, Thor.
She barely had any possessions, so it took under ten minutes to pack. Evan assured her that they'd clean the room up the next day as Delaney hugged him farewell; Cristina would be driving her to the airport.
Delaney wore her hood over her head upon arrival. If the Avengers were under such scrutiny, she wished to avoid detection as much as possible. She was not up to dealing with any possible hostility right now.
"They'll be fine," Cristina said lowly, as they pulled up outside the complex. She grinned. "The Avengers. You always find a way out of these messes."
Delaney bit her lip. "That's a track record that can so easily be broken."
How did they defeat an AI system? Delaney was used to fighting physically: humans and aliens were one thing. AI was an entirely different field, and Delaney wasn't comfortable with the idea, especially since she knew knives couldn't be used to tear it apart.
"Hey." Cristina leaned over, resting a hand on Delaney's knee. "Don't be pessimistic. You go out there and cause Ultron serious headaches, okay?" She winked. "We took you're your parents before lunchtime. I'm expecting similar results this time around."
Delaney rolled her eyes and sent a mock, yet weak, salute Cristina's way. "Understood, ma'am."
"Go," Cristina urged softly. "You'll miss your plane otherwise, and you'll really be helpless that way."
Delaney poked her tongue out childishly, but clambered out and moved as fast to the terminal as she could without running.
Hang on guys, I'm coming.
+++
During the journey, Delaney found herself wishing her power was teleportation. She would be by her friend's side in an instant, not cramped up inside an uncomfortable plane interior, eating mass-produced food that she wished she had declined. She felt slightly queasy after her meal, and hadn't finished it.
The journey was agony. With no room to move to relieve her anxiety, Delaney was reduced to tapping her fingers on her leg and watching the available movies on the tiny TV screen, none of which were remotely interesting.
As soon as she was able to move, it took all of Delaney's self-restraint to walk, not sprint, out of the airport. She organised her transportation and soon was on her way to Clint's.
She had driver stop before they reached Clint's and decided to walk the rest of the way. Clint had done so much to keep his home secret, and she wasn't about to bring a total stranger to its doorstep. It was a sign of how dire the times were that Clint would bring the Avengers here.
Delaney ran the rest of the way to the house, a smile spreading across her face when she saw the familiar structure in front of her. Memories rushed to her at once: tea with Laura and Clint late at night by the fire, playing with Cooper and Lila, laughing with Natasha as they watched the two kids get into some new form of mischief, and taking long strolls in the large forest outside.
This house had been her home more than any other building on the planet.
For a second, Delaney forgot the threat hanging around the Avengers and why they were here in the first place and allowed herself to fill up with elation, knowing that she was soon going to be back where she belonged, with the people she felt happy and equal amongst and in the place she felt safest.
Delaney ran up to the door, her hair windswept and her cheeks pink with the cold. Steve! she yelled in her mind. I'm at the door!
She had to admit it to herself: Steve's face was the one she was most anxious to see.
Barely seconds later, the door opened, revealing Steve. "Delaney," he breathed, and Delaney barreled him.
Three months suddenly felt like eternity, and Delaney realised just how much she had missed him. For those three months, she had worked so hard on bottling the feelings she had developed for the super soldier and placed all her focus into her work.
Forget Ultron, the possible end of the world – surely she was allowed a few seconds of bliss as she was reunited with the people she cared for more than anything.
"I missed you," Delaney breathed, leaning back so she could look at his face. "How's everyone?"
"They'll be better now that you're back. Come in."
It was so natural to take his hand as they walked inside, as though she had never been away.
The others were seated in the sitting room, talking in low voices. There was no light atmosphere like when Delaney had walked back into everyone's life – that only amplified the dire situation at hand.
Tony was the first to notice her. "Hypnosis!" he called, and raised the glass of wine in his hand toward her.
Delaney raised a hand. "Hi guys. I thought you might need back up."
"Don't we ever," Natasha said, and wrapped an arm around Delaney's shoulders. Delaney reluctantly withdrew her hand from Steve's as she was greeted by the assembled Avengers. Delaney frowned when she realised Thor was not there. She had been looking forward to seeing him again.
"Auntie Lane!"
Delaney's breath escaped her lungs as two tiny lifeforms collided with her. Laughing, she looked down and saw Clint's two kids, Lila and Cooper, hug her tightly around the waist – the highest part of her body they could reach.
"Kids!" she gasped. "Careful now, you're going to strangle me!"
They loosened their hold somewhat. Delaney laughed again and ruffled the hair on both of their heads.
"Lila! Cooper!" Laura Barton sighed, bustling up and forcing them to detach themselves from their aunt. With a tired shake of her head, Laura sent Delaney an apologetic smile. "They've missed you. As have I."
"Laura, I'm sorry, for worrying you," Delaney said, embracing her. Like always, Laura smelt faintly of cinnamon and flowers. Delaney rested a hand on Laura's pregnant belly. "How's the kid? Still naming her after Natasha?"
"Him, actually. Nathaniel Delancy."
Delaney blinked. "Me too?" She was unsure she had heard correctly.
"Of course." Laura smiled, then nodded in the direction of the Avengers. "I won't keep you – the others need to get you up to speed."
The brunette nodded. Kissing Laura on the cheek, Delaney moved back to others, settled herself on the couch beside Steve, and placed both her hands in her lap.
"So, what the hell is going on?"
+++
Delaney knew that she needed to sleep. They were headed for South Korea the next day, but she wasn't tired.
Coming to Clint's always tugged on her heartstrings a little. It was this little family environment she had missed growing up. Clint and Laura doted on Lila and Cooper. Delaney wondered how things would have been different for her if she'd grown up like the average child, in a family unit like the Bartons.
Often when she visited, she remained awake, wondering what it would be like to have grown up with a family. This time it was different. When she visited previously, her mind had been blank. She imagined that family she must have grown up in: a mother and father who loved her, whose arms she'd been torn from when she was stolen away.
Now, she was imagining the family she would have liked to have grown up with – or, rather, how she wished she had been raised.
If her parents had been like Clint and Laura, would her mother had kissed her scraped knees before she bandaged them? Would her father thrown her into the air as she giggled, but never failing to catch her? Would they have bought her Disney movies and watched them with her?
She'd never know – they were dead now. Killed by her own hand.
"Lane? You there?"
Delaney twisted onto her side as her two best friends wandered into her borrowed room. "Clint. Nat. How'd you know I was awake?"
"You always seem to be deep in thought when you visit," Clint said.
He sat himself on her left, while Natasha sat on her other side. Delaney brought herself into a sitting position, feeling at peace almost instantly. Nothing was more comforting than having her two best friends by her side.
"How are you?" Natasha asked.
Delaney drew her knees to her chest. "I'm fine."
Clint sent her a pointed glare. "I saw your reaction when Lila and Cooper ran up."
"Oh, that." Delaney ran a hand through her tangled mess of hair. "It's just... Sometimes, I wonder what life would be like if I had actual, supportive parents by my side growing up. If I'd gone to school. If I'd made friends. Had a boyfriend, or a girlfriend. Been normal. But if I had... I would never have been a part of this family. I wouldn't know you guys. Even though my past is messed up... I can't help but think I'm glad it happened, so I can be with you now."
"Lane," Clint sighed, and Delaney was caught in a sandwich between her two best friends as their arms wrapped around her.
Her past would always be her past. But Delaney realised how much she had been dwelling on it. Now, it was all behind her, and she was going to move on with her future with the Avengers.
She was never again looking back.