Hello, Who is this?

41) Next Step

Riley sat with Nat and Wanda as they considered different perspectives that maybe hadn't been seen or discussed in the meeting with Lucifer and his mates. Nat was pushing for someone to go undercover with Michael but also recognized the drawbacks to having someone that close to the likes of him. Wanda was looking into more diplomatic options. She wanted to know what his endgame was so that they had a starting point on negotiations. Riley was holding her head in her hands, wondering if any of it was a good idea. She knew Michael and Hydra had been looking for her specifically and she wanted to know what their plan was. She wasn't as strong as they had hoped she would be. She wasn't any more skilled than any other Avenger as far as fighting or brains. If anything she was a filler. She didn't want to voice that thought out loud but it was true. What if the best way to get Michael off their back and to negotiate was to give him a sign of good faith? It might be worth a shot. She knew nobody else would hear it though and she wouldn't go and do it without them because she had no reason to think Michael would follow through on any of his side if the only one who knew was with him. She needed to think of something else.

Logan and Wade joined the rest of the avengers to discuss what had transpired that morning while Lucifer and his mates could collect the girls as well as anything they might need for the night. 

"Wait, so you all trust him again, just like that?"

"No. Definitely not Logan. I just don't want to see the look I did on her face ever again. He said their friendship was ruined and then Loki made sure to rub it in his face and the look on her face, never again."

The room all dropped their heads as Bucky spoke. Clint and Bruce both scowled at Loki and Lucifer like they had committed a crime by saying anything that hurt her so much. They went over the idea that Michael may actually be worse than Lucifer and how Riley not being overly involved was basically the only thing they could agree on. After a while everyone came together to get food before the elevator sounded. When it opened, Riley ran to the two teens and squeezed them tight. All three ladies were giggling and squealing while holding on for dear life. "Mama Ree, we missed you so much!" 

"Do we get to do those self defense lessons with you tonight?"

Riley was smiling and laughing at the girls' reaction to her and nodded at them both. "I missed you both too. If you want to we can go right now!"

Riley nodded at the parents in the room, letting them know the girls would be with her while they discussed the plan. As soon as Riley was in the elevator with them, Clint turned to Lucifer and his mates. "I am not thrilled that you helped put her in danger and somewhere we didn't know she was safe. However, thank you for being with her when she needed it. I have to ask what changed though, the person who left here wasn't the person who came back."

Lucifer tilted his head and eyed the man in front of him. "How perceptive of you. Most wrote it off as nerves or anger. I'm sure someone even claimed it was fear and a mask." 

Most of the room ducked their head as Lucifer smirked arrogantly. "She had a moment of self growth. She decided she didn't have anything to be ashamed of. Realizing that those scars made it impossible for someone to deny who her mates were and she embraced it. She loves you all very much. The family she had no idea she was missing. Logan, Wade, Jack, us, we are part of her family, yes. However, you lot, you Avengers are her close family. The ones she can't live without. Don't ever think otherwise, she truly needs you all."

Lucifer told them about his plan to have a family dinner and try to get to the bottom of the whole deal and to see what it is that Michael truly wants. He told them all about how Chloe already told him how being wired worked as Maze rolled her eyes at him and told them that she and Trixie's dad were the ones watching her so that she and Morgan were nowhere near any of it. Riley was to stay with Clint, Nat, Wanda, Peter, and Banner to ensure everyone had someone to cover them capable of causing actual damage. They set up the dinner for later that week and continued to work on their ability to trust one another. What nobody expected was Fury to walk in with Rumlow in tow. 

"Uh, What the Hell?"

"Why is he here and without cuffs?"

"Fury, I am not allowing this to happen."

Maze, Logan, Wade, Lucifer, Loki, and Bucky all stood and gave only a look to show how serious they were holding back to not kill Rumlow on sight. Then the one thing everyone had been hoping to avoid happened. Hulk started to emerge. It was obvious Banner was trying to fight him but it was a losing battle. Tony had Friday sound the alarm while Nat and Thor tried to calm Hulk down. 

Riley came running in and threw herself against Hulk. Everyone thought she would tell him to calm down like his mates were but instead, she started yelling about how mad she was at him for avoiding her and how she had missed him. The entire room watched the always angry green Avenger actually look at his feet as he held a still yelling Riley against his chest. When he set her down, he looked at his feet and huffed about hurting her but all she did was shake it off and tell him it was never his fault. They watched how he smiled around Riley before sitting on the floor with her facing him. 

Rumlow watched in silence as the mouthy, broken, little girl he had always tortured and harmed sat and calmed down the biggest monster he knew. He suddenly knew what Michael was after. Why he had been checking in on them for years and years. He wanted the girl that calmed all of their inner monsters. The one who had never lost her fire, despite facing demons and monsters on a daily basis. He wanted her.

"We have a problem Fury. Michael is after Riley because she can do that. She did it with my inner monster, and that of my men. She takes them and calms them. He needs someone to calm the soldiers they are making. He doesn't have the control he wishes he did on them. She is going to be his way of doing it. I don't know how yet, but he wants her to soothe and calm the raging beasts he is creating. She does it with not only her own mates but the rest of the team. This is not going to go over well when you tell them."

"What do you mean, when I tell them. You figured it out, you tell them. I ain't dumb enough to tell the Avengers that their favorite little family member is the very prize our newest foe covets. Fuck that, you're on your own Rumlow. Good luck and I'll be here to take you back to your cell if you survive. Also, quit staring at her, if anyone in this room catches you doing that, the nicest thing they will do is gouge your eyes out."

Rumlow stared at the ground, having not realized he had been staring. "You know, I tell everyone all kinds of lies about my soulmate or soulmates. Truth is, I never got a mark. It is crazy to think that someone like the winter soldier and the god of mischief get to be with someone like her while good men are turned into monsters pining after someone even remotely similar to her. She is the whole package and is too humble to even see it Fury. How do people sit by and think that it is okay?"

Fury raised a brow at the man next to him. "Easy, you were always going to be a monster while those two over there, were driven to it and struggle every day to prove they are more than a few actions. They weren't bad guys, just manipulated and brainwashed."

Rumlow nodded and swallowed thickly as he prepared himself to face all the faces of those who wanted him dead and give them the news they were dreading.

"The friends and family of Riley need to sit down. I think this is something you all need to hear."