Take Me Home

Dont Overthink It

Valda worked with the warriors to gather everyone they had hidden. It took a couple hours before everyone was settled as much as they could be in their homes. The Avengers stood to the side helping when they could, their eyes never leaving where Damien, Vincent and Nia stood talking quietly.

"Look at the island." Vincent says, shaking his head, they could see trees falling apart or with decay, shrubs shriveled and no flowers growing. "It's dying."

"Was dying" Damien says. "Can't you feel it? The slow feeling of a heartbeat?"

"Think the Elders and the others tainted the land?"

"I'm sure of it." Nia says softly.

"Tom took Derek, he won't be walking anytime soon," Damien says with a proud look at Nia.

"We need to see how far this goes." Nia says, remembering the flashes of faces she saw from Rafael.

"Weed them out?" Damien says as he finish healing the worst of their wounds.

"That's going to take time." Vincent tells her quietly.

"I know." She says looking down.

"The Avengers?"

"I don't know." She looks up at him. "I don't know."

"We're with you no matter what." Vincent says, leaning down to meet her eyes.

"With you till the end of the line doll." Bucky says holding her close.

Steve smiles at the both of them, "till the end of the line."

She shakes her head smiling at Vincent. They head towards the Avengers noticing how small their village was now. How much smaller the other two villages would be.

"Let's get some rest." She tells them, "we have room with us."

They make the walk to Luke's house, getting everyone settled into rooms. She quietly says Goodnight to everyone before heading to her own room. She sits on the bed trying to process the last few days when a knock on her door distracts her.

"Come in." She says quietly. The door opens slowly, Bucky standing in the doorway. They stare at each other for a moment. She scoots back onto the bed, lifting the covers to lay down as she stares at him. He climbs in next to her waiting to see what she'd do. Hesitantly she scoots closer to him, laying her head on his chest. He wraps his arms around her, pulling her close. He starts to hum under his breath, her arm tightening around him as she starts to sob.

"Let it out, doll." He tells her, "let it out."

✨

In the morning Bucky holds Nia tight, not ready to let her go yet. He didn't know where things would go from here but he had a feeling it would be a while until he could hold her like this again. He kisses the top of her head, falling in and out of sleep until she wakes up.

Nia groans lightly trying to roll over but is unable to an arm holding her down. This time she doesn't panic, just simple smiles as she cuddles closer into Bucky's arms.

"Morning Doll." He says kissing the top of her head.

"Morning." She says soaking in a few more minutes before she pulls away from him. There's so much to do today. Bucky gets ready behind her, both walking out towards the kitchen where Wanda stands cooking with Peter. They start to eat quietly but the knock on the door has the boys looking at Nia who nods her head. Vincent gets up letting Arabella into the room, where she stops to stare at everyone.

"Arabella..." Nia says quietly standing up.

"We-we need to" she takes a deep breath to steady herself. Matteo, Luke's closest friend on the island, comes up behind her.