The Witch He Loved

Chapter 24

I woke up to the sound of voices behind me and the steady hum of the jet vibrating through me softly. My weapons and holsters must have been taken off because I don't feel the pressure of them. I felt for my power and it came to me freely, clearly I'd slept long enough for that to recover but I still felt some of the lasting affects on my body from the pain, an aching was persisting at the base of my skull. 

Wiping the sleep from my eyes and opening them I see Nat lying beside me, she turns her head at my movement, lips lifting into a small smile. 

"It's about time you woke up, they've been at it for 45 minutes." She whispered, trying not to draw attention to us.

"Don't tell me they're arguing again" I whisper back, Looking past her to where they're all sat together. 

"Of course they are. Tony looks about ready to throw one of them out of the jet" 

I can't help the groan that escapes me, it causes Steve to glance over at us, Nat holds a finger to her lips. He frowns at us both but nods slightly, turning back to the boys conversation. 

"Thanks for coming to get me" Back to the whispering while we both watched them. 

"Couldn't leave you behind" I smile back.

"Are you alright?" 

I let out a sigh. " I'm fine, a bit achy but I'll survive. More concerned about what to do about those two" 

She spared me a glance, eyes flicking over my face before turning back. "I heard Tony threatened them both?" 

"Yeah... He wants them to stop their pissing contest. It's strange, before we left to come and get you I was sure of myself and what I wanted but then..." 

You're quiet as you try to dissect your feelings.

"Then?" She prompts. 

"While we were there, they were trying to get me out of a situation. Bucky antagonised Loki to try and get him close enough to me to help. It worked but the things he said, that he's paid attention to. Some of it I didn't even know" I frown, my head and heart is a mess. 

But it was true. The things Bucky said, I didn't realise he'd paid close enough attention to notice. I look over at him, sat with his arms crossed, a small scowl on his face, looking at the ground. I realised I knew things about him to, noticed the little things. Moving my eyes to Loki I take him in, the way he'd come to save me but then got aggressive towards me. The fact I actually, for a moment, held some fear towards him. Pushing past those feelings I think of the way I felt about him.

"Don't compare them through the pros and cons of what you already know. Maybe spend time with both of them separately? Actually seeking to know which one is right for you?"

"I don't think I need to do that, even so, don't you think that would be unfair to them?" 

She shrugs the best she can "Have they made it fair on you so far?"

She's not wrong, I know that but I still can't help the guilty feeling I get when I think about it.

I let out an aggravated huff before smirking at her. "Maybe I should just start dating women instead" 

A snort from across the room catches everyone's attention, all eyes go to Steve who is now turning red. 

"Really Rogers? This is a serious problem." Tony chides him. "I'd have expected you of all people to take this seriously." 

Steve clears his throat rubbing the back of his head "Sorry, it's not that." 

"Then what is it?" 

"I was ugh, well I- "

"Steven Grant Rogers. Were you listening to our conversation?" Nat narrows her eyes on Steve.

Now we have everyone's attention. Bucky and Loki stand up at the same time before looking at each other with deep frowns. Tony pushes through them both, coming over to me as Nat gets up and walks over to Steve, slapping the back of his head. 

"Hey kid, how you feeling?" Tony sits next to me, taking Nat's place.

"Not so bad, just an ache at the back of my head." I smile at him. "What are you guys talking about? I thought we would have been back by now." 

"Yeah, about that." He stands and puts a hand out for me "Come on, we've got some things to catch you up on." 

Taking his hand he pulls me up and walks me over to the group, pushing past Loki and Bucky again he pulls me with him until he's back in his seat. Leading me to the one next to him I rest my head on his shoulders. With my body still trying to recover the small walk and tension in the air has me craving comfort. He understands in an instant, leaning down he brings my legs over his and puts an arm around me so I'm held against him. 

"You're pushing it, Stark" I tense slightly, hearing it behind me but I relax after a second. 

"Yeah? So are you." He frowns over my head. It's odd that's he's still mad, his usual way of shrugging things off not being seen. 

I let my eyes rest for a moment, expecting another argument to happen but Loki stays quiet and Tony focuses back on the conversation.  

"Now you girls are awake, I'm not sure how much you heard but basically it's not safe to go back to the compound at the moment. We're going to be landing in the next hour at a random location to fuel up. We are trying to work out where to go, somewhere no one knows about." 

"Why isn't it safe?" Nat questions.

"We've got a mole back at the compound. I got a notification not long after we got back onboard, someone has been sending coded messages from one of the computers where the staff work and train. Took some time but I decoded a few of them, they're updates on our comings and goings, changes that happen that everyone is notified about. We managed to catch a very recent message back. There is a plan to storm the compound while we all slept." 

"Why have we only just found this out?" 

"Simple, they got sloppy." 

Everyone is quiet while it sinks in. I think about all the times I've left the building and gone back. Have they updated on everything we do inside? I shake that thought off, there is no way they know the intimate details of our day to day lives. Then I think about where we could go, there aren't many places that we could go and stay hidden. 

"What about the south? I'm sure there are a few places down there we could get to" Nat offers.

"Sure I guess but is it out of the public eye? We need to stay under the radar with this one." 

Quiet again, I chew on my lip as my thoughts swirl, subconsciously my hand settles on my stomach, my thumb rubbing over the snakes.

"I think I might know somewhere" I say, my voice steady but quiet. 

Tony looks down at me "Yeah, is it safe?" 

"It's safe, away from public." I pause looking around the room. "Not sure if I have enough rooms though... Might have to do something about that." 

"Sounds almost too good to be true. Does anyone know about it?" 

Looking up I nod at him "Yeah but only one person and he's over there" I flick a finger to point and Bucky. 

His lips part slightly and excitement gleams in his eyes. "Really? We're going there?" 

I nod at him, feeling a smile pull at my cheeks seeing his reaction. I'd known he wanted to go there in real life after being there so many times in our dream walks. 

I watch as he lets the excitement take over, he starts grinning at me. 

"I guess it's settled then, we'll touch down soon then go to the destination. Where are we heading Kat?" Tony looks down at me but I look down into my lap with a small smile. 

"To England. To my home."