Bucky/Sam/Delaney
Everything hurt.
She’d been hurt before – everyone’s been hurt, childhood broken bones, a shattered collarbone after a car crash a few years ago - and she thought she knew pain.
She didn’t. Not this kind of pain.
She panted, throat sore. Disoriented from the repeated blows to her head she’d taken, it took a while for Delaney to realize the crying and screaming was hers. She hadn't a clue how long she had been in her cell. She couldn't quite make out what the guards were saying, but the sentiment was clear; the bastards were enjoying their work.
She couldn't see. The cell was too dark. She assumed that it was small, as she was easily thrown around, hitting the wall or ground often. It felt as if they'd been at it for hours. She figured she was going to die here. HYDRA didn't release victims, they eventually killed them.
Perhaps the one thing she has to be grateful for was that they hadn't raped her. She wasn't even human to them, she suspected, just an animal, meat that had to be punished, beaten and bled until it died.They'd asked her no questions, and she couldn't have answered them not anyway, her throat too swollen, the inside of her mouth bloody from repeated impacts of her teeth against the tender flesh.
Except they stopped. Why would they stop? That didn't make sense. All she knew was everything went quiet. Footsteps came towards her; she squinted through puffy eyes swollen almost completely shut, made out a dark figure stooping down over her. Delaney flinched away as whoever it was reached out towards her. They said nothing, gently picking her up. The moment they touched her, Delaney felt herself falling unconscious. It had been so long, she couldn't help it, and they were so warm, the way they lifted her the first touch of gentleness she’d known in what felt like forever. Still every movement was agony, the pain too much for her battered, bruised body, and the blackness of oblivion was utter bliss.
~~~~~~~~~~
Delaney didn't have a clue how long she'd been out, but it must have been a while, since the one thing she expected to feel when she woke was pain, and there was none. Just a hazy, calm feeling in her mind, a floatiness to her body she didn’t immediately associate with drugs. She was in some kind of medical bay, that was for sure, but she didn’t automatically recognise it. Was she still with HYDRA? Was this some sort of tactic – beat her almost to death, then heal her up so they could start all over again? Looking down at her arm, she realized there was an IV drip. She started pulling at the tape keeping it there, when a voice came from her bedside.
"I'd stop playing with that IV if I were you," a man said. It took a few moments for Delaney to figure out this was the Falcon, leaning over her, a smile gently lighting his face, though he looked concerned. She'd seen him occasionally in the Tower, but never spoken to him. Turned out, he was one of her soulmates. The drugs – of course she was on drugs, she could see the solution dripping into the IV line now - were dulling her emotions, otherwise she might have whooped for joy. Huh. Never expected that, that’s for sure. She managed a small smile, though.
"Those are some of the crappiest words someone can have, you know that?" were the first words that came out of her mouth. Way to make a good impression, Delaney, you doped-up twit.
"Girl, you have no idea how much shit my dad gave me for having those words. You're gonna be a handful, aren't you?" His smile broadened, reaching his eyes.
"How did I get here? The person who rescued me didn't talk," Delaney asked a few minutes later. She wasn’t able to remember much after the initial kidnapping. The bastards must have given her drugs to dull her mind, probably to make getting information easier. Not that they’d asked her any questions – or had they? Her addled mind still couldn’t make any sense of what had happened.
Sam hesitated briefly before answering, his expression changing, though she didn’t know him well enough to guess what he was thinking. "It was the Winter Soldier. His programming had been breaking down when he stormed the base. From what he's told Romanoff, he found you in one of the cells with guards beating you. Steve and I were getting there as he was leaving with you. He trusts Steve, so he handed you over as long as he could come with. He's been here at the Tower ever since."
"Is he a danger to anyone here?" Delaney asked, sitting up. Even the thought of the Winter Soldier being in the Tower was a huge problem. Not long ago, he almost killed Steve! Why on earth would he have bothered to rescue her? It made no sense.
"Not from what we can tell. A little jumpy, though."
"When can I get up? I want to thank him," Delaney pleaded. She had always hated being sick or injured, that meant being unable to do anything.
"Give it a few more hours. Let your body heal some more," Sam suggested, easing her back into a laying position. “Can’t have my soulmate all weak when I finally get round to kissing her.”
That made Delaney blush and smile shyly. He really was extraordinarily handsome, especially with that wide white grin as he looked down at her. “I don’t feel all that bad,” she suggested cheekily.
Sam laughed again, shaking his head. “Later, honey. Let’s save it for later.” His fingers brushed very lightly at her cheek, and Delaney suddenly realised how battered she must be, because even that gentle touch hurt, the pain breaking through the painkillers she knew were running into her IV line.
“Okay, so maybe I do feel pretty bad,” she confessed.
“I know. Sleep, honey. Sleep.” He smiled down at her reassuringly, and Delaney let her eyes drift shut.
~~~~~~~~~~
It must have been late when she woke again, her mouth dry, because the lights were dimmed. Sam was still there, napping in a chair by the bed, head rolled back against the back of the chair, the cutest little snores coming from his mouth making Delaney smile fondly.
There was a movement by the end of the bed, though, and she looked across, wincing as the muscles in her neck protested the quick movement. A tall shadow stood there, dressed all in black, long dark hair falling across his eyes.
Delaney had seen enough footage to know this man was the Winter Soldier, recognizable by his metal arm glinting in the low light. She didn't say anything, afraid that she would spook him. Instead, she offered a faint smile.
The man stood there a while before: "I'm sorry."
Delaney tried not to get too upset, or even too hopeful. I'm sorry was a popular soulmark. "Sorry for what? Saving my life?" Her voice sounded horrible, gravelly.
The Winter Soldier's bright blue eyes widened slightly. Just then, Sam stirred. "Didn't expect to see you anytime soon, buddy.” His voice was low, thick with sleep.
The Soldier whirled to stare at Sam, his mouth working silently, his gaze flickering back and forth from Sam to Delaney. And then he turned and sprinted from the room without another word.
“Okay, I didn’t expect that reaction,” Sam said, bemused.
“Sam, he said my other soulmark words!” Delaney gasped, frantic. “You have to go after him!”
Sam moved to get up, but stopped. Muffled voices came from outside the room before Romanoff came in, Winter Soldier in tow. "Speak."
The Soldier said something to his friend in Russian; whatever it was, it made her roll her eyes.
“...sorry I almost killed you,” he muttered towards Sam after a long moment, turning his head away to stare at the floor. Sam cleared his throat, glancing at Delaney with wide eyes.
“Uh, nah, man. It’s...fine…?"
~~~~~~~~~~
"You're kidding. Tony Stark is lending us his entire property in Pennsylvania?" Delaney arched her eyebrows, looking between her two soulmates. Sam looked just as handsome as always in a white button-down shirt and black slacks.
It had been one week since Bucky had rescued Delaney, and she was finally back to normal. Now, 'normal' meant having two seriously beautiful men being her soulmates. Bucky was grinning at her, obviously very proud of himself. Sam looked just as happy.
"Figured the three of us needed a getaway after what's happened," Bucky offered. He was starting to get used to life again, evident by his almost relaxed stance. He had even gotten his hair trimmed
"Getaway would be a couple weeks in Miami! This is much more than that!" Delaney squeaked.
"Tan lines wouldn't suit you, Doctor Model. Miami wouldn't be your best option, considering Barnes' physical appearance." Damn it all to hell. Delaney turned around and narrowed her eyes at the billionaire in question.
"For the last time, Tony, I'm not a doctor! I'm Dr. Cho's assistant," Delaney huffed. She managed to ignore Tony, but Bucky didn't. She could hear a rumble starting in his chest.
"Easy there, big guy. Just pointing out facts." Sam must've whispered something in Bucky's ear, since his expression changed from an angry scowl to a smirk.
Delaney sighed and went back to her work. Only, an 'ACCESS DENIED' screen blinked back at her. "What the hell?" she muttered as she tried all her access codes.
A couple minutes later she asked: "FRIDAY, who sealed my files?"
"Miss Potts, ma'am."
Of course she did. Delaney sighed, turning to her soulmates. "You two are gonna be a damn handful."