I walk out of the airport with my backpack hanging off my shoulders and a suitcase rolling behind me. I look around at my surroundings, at all of the stalls that have been set up by the locals. I can feel the note from Bucky in my back pocket.
"Don't open it until you land."
"Why not?"
"It's just some important information that you shouldn't worry about until you're in Lagos."
"And you'll be there soon after me?" He nods at my question.
"I'll see you tomorrow." Bucky pulls me into a hug and I hold on tight.
"Don't worry, Barnes," I state, a smirk forming on my lips. "You can survive without me for 24 hours."
I pull the note out of my pocket as I begin walking down the street and stare down at Bucky's messy handwriting.
Steve and Natasha will be there soon. You should find them. You're ready.
I stop in my tracks. Bucky isn't getting on the next flight here. He sent me here because somehow, he knew this is where the team was going next. He sent me here so they could find me, or so I could find them. I follow an arrow that's drawn at the bottom of the page and flip the paper over.
P.S. I snuck your favorite sweatshirt into your backpack. Don't completely ruin it, Punk.
I can't help but smile down at the handwriting I've become so accustomed to reading and I take a deep breath before folding the paper and placing it back in my pocket. I don't know how the hell Bucky expects me to find the team in a city this large.
As if on cue, I spot Natasha's red hair as she goes running after a man through the stalls. I stick to the shadows as I follow behind her and watch as Sam joins Nat. I hear more commotion on the other side of the square and run over to where it is coming from.
I see Rumlow first. A man I had never met but have heard much about. He was almost unrecognizable with burns across the majority of his face. And then my eyes land on Steve's face. He looks concerned as he freezes and looks down at Rumlow. I only watch as Wanda contains an explosion created by the man on his knees and throws him into a nearby building. Everyone only watches in shock, including me.
I hear Steve give orders for fire and rescue, and then I step in front of him. I can't help it anymore.
"Riley." My eyes well up with tears as Steve pulls me into a hug.
"I'm so sorry." I speak into his shoulder. I'm not even sure if he can understand me.
"I've missed you so much." He pushes me away, keeping his hands on my shoulders, and looks at me. "We all have."
"I'm so sorry. I only left a note and just disappeared for months and I didn't call..."
"It's okay. You're here now, and you're okay. That's all that matters." Steve pulls me into another hug as a let out a sob into his shoulder. I hear him say something to Wanda behind me, giving some kind of orders, but I just remain in his arms, holding on tight to his torso as if he might be the one to disappear next.
"The quinjet-" I hear Nat's voice this time as she jogs up to Steve and me, her voice catching in her throat as she catches sight of me in Steve's arms. "Riley."
I pull away from Steve as Nat envelopes me in yet another welcoming hug. She pulls away after a second and I move on to Sam, who showed up next to her.
"Well you sure know when to make an entrance," he jokes as I pull away from him. "Do I have to handcuff you to Steve to make sure you come back with us?" Sam raises his eyebrows accusingly and I shake my head, wiping the tears that are still rolling down my cheeks.
"I'm coming home."
>.<
I sigh in relief as the quinjet lands at the Avengers facility. I've managed to get by without going into too much detail of what I've been up to these last few months. As much as I want to tell Steve about Bucky and show off my training to Nat, I didn't think that ride would be the best time. Steve deserves some more privacy when I explain everything, and I can't properly justify my training without outing the identity of my new friend.
The nerves come back, however, as the ramp lowers down. It's time for me to find Tony.
Of all the Avengers, I'm the most nervous to see him again. Not because I don't want to, but because he's the only one who could truly be pissed at me. I left him, and I promised I wouldn't. Not only that, but I handed him a reason to blame himself on a silver platter. Tony is the one who gave me those security codes months ago, and I don't even want to imagine how much that could've been eating him up. If anything had happened to me, he would immediately blame himself.
"You ready?" Steve smiles down at me as he leads me down the platform. I slowly nod my head and attempt to swallow the lump forming in my throat.
I clench my hands together as the two of us walk through the facility, Nat finding us once more when we get inside the large glass doors.
"I know it's a surprise," Nat starts sarcastically, looking towards Steve. "But he's in his lab." She doesn't need to say Tony's name. Everyone knew that's who I had to go to as soon as I got here. It's who I want to go to now that I'm here. "He'll be incredibly glad to see you, Riley. We all missed you." She pats my shoulder reassuringly as she falls into line with Steve and me, the two of them leading me towards Tony's favorite lab.
Tears fill my eyes as I catch sight of him working. His back is facing the three of us and he doesn't seem to notice our presence. I can't seem to say anything as I just look at the man in front of me. I felt the worst for leaving Tony. Everyone he cares about seems to leave him, and so did I.
"Stark." Steve speaks up first. Tony doesn't turn around right away, but instead begins to speak.
"I have a location-" His voice cuts off as he finally turns around and meets my eyes. "Riley?" A tear runs down my cheek as he just stares at me.
"Tony, I'm so sorry." I immediately begin apologizing. "I didn't want-" he interrupts me as he pulls me into a hug. I wrap my arms around him as I cry into his shoulder.
"I'm sorry." He says it this time, and my heart breaks at the idea that he believes that he is the one who must apologize. He's never done anything to hurt me.
"What are you talking about?" I question through the tears running down my cheeks. "You did nothing. I'm the one who left. I never wanted to hurt you."
"Yeah," Tony pulls away. "You did leave, which means you're grounded until I'm dead."
"I'm 21 years old." I roll my eyes at his instinctual defensiveness.
"Also," He points a finger accusingly in my face. "I'm throwing you a 21st birthday party since you wouldn't let me back in July. No excuses this time. You had your personal time, now it's Tony gets to do what he wants time."
"When is it not Tony gets to do what he wants time." Steve rolls his eyes beside me and Tony sends him a glare.
"Says you, Red-Spangled Spandex." Nat rolls her eyes at the two men in front of her and steps in between them.
"This is entertaining and all," She speaks up. "But we have some more important matters to address."
"Yeah," Steve addresses Tony seriously this time. "We had an incident in Nigeria."
"I leave you guys to do one mission while I go to speak at a college, and you mess everything up." Tony shakes his head. "If you hadn't brought Riley back, I'd be pissed."
Steve and Tony talk about having things to do before leaving the room, leaving Nat and I alone.
"When you left," Natasha starts. "Tony took it hard." My eyes go down to the ground as I once again imagine the pain I caused. "But Steve," She pauses as she catches my eyes once more. "He felt like he had to pretend like everything was okay. He didn't tell me this, but we both know Steve. He took your leaving hard, too, but he refuses to show it. Steve thinks that he has to be strong for everyone else. Just make sure you talk to him, please. He missed you." A small smile forms on my lips, letting her know that I understand.
"Also," She begins again. "We had to move all your stuff out of the tower, but it is all still in boxes in your room."
"Thanks, Nat."
"Of course." She pulls me in for one more hug, something she usually doesn't enjoy, before turning and walking out of the lab.
I look around and notice my uniform still sitting in the corner. It has been moved since I saw it last, but it was still there and on display, unused. I walk over to it and run my hand over the fabric. I wonder how long it will be until I have to put this on.
>.<
We're finally technically within the movie! Lets celebrate with some ice cream because I have no self control and I'm going to go eat some, despite the number of times I have claimed to go on a diet. Oops.
Anyways, lets move on to question of the week:
What's your favorite summer activity?
I just started summer vacation last week and so far haven't done very much. I'm cool I swear. But my favorite activities are definitely going to a nearby amusement park, going to the beach, and sleeping. You can never sleep too much, even if your friends yell at you cause you're late to everything because you slept too late. Live your life the way you want to live it.
Jeez this authors note is just weird this week. I hope everyone has a great week!