Chapter 20
“P—Piet.”
“Myshka, what’s wrong?”
“T—ta—take m—m—me h—h—h—home.”
“Myshka, what happened? Where are you? I’ll come get you. Tell me where you are.” His answer was heavy sobbing. “Just hang on, myshka. FRIDAY’s tracking your phone. I’ll be there soon.”
“P—pl—please, Piet.”
“I’m coming, myshka. I’m going to hang up so I can run, okay? I’ll be right there. Da?”
“Da, Piet.” The line went dead, but the silver-haired man was in front of her in less than three seconds. She flung herself into his arms and started sobbing into his shoulder.
“It’s alright, myshka. I’m here. It’s okay,” he soothed, rubbing her back in slow circles.
“Please don’t leave me,” she gasped through her tears.
“Never, myshka. I’ve got you. I promise. Let’s get you home, da?” He scooped her up into his arms, cradling her against his chest, and took off. The wind rushed by them, making her ears pop a bit, but she tucked herself into his chest and gripped tightly onto his shirt. When they stopped, they were in the Avengers’ Lounge, standing in front of Scott and T’Challa.
“What’s wrong, Ladie?” Scott asked gently. She continued to cry hard, wracking sobs that shook her whole body. Pietro sat down on a couch and held her, letting her sob. She was vaguely aware of the others talking, but she wasn’t listening. When she had cried all she could and no more tears would come, she was reduced to shaky breaths and clutching tightly onto Pietro’s shirt, probably wrinkling as well as staining it with her tears. If it bothered him, he didn’t say anything about it. Suddenly, a blanket was wrapped gently around her, and she felt a gentle kiss pressed atop her head. Something soft was pressed into her hands, and she blinked open her puffy eyes to see a stuffed polar bear that had been Bucky’s first present to her when they were on the run. She loved that thing with a passion and named it Frosty. The fact that someone had brought it to her made her want to cry even more. Three sets of hands were rubbing her back, leg, or arm to sooth her, and she vaguely heard a feminine voice talking in the background. She sat in Pietro’s lap, face buried in his shoulder and hands clutching desperately onto both him and her bear. She didn’t hear the voices talking, some heated and others calm, nor did she hear doors opening and closing. She did feel a mug of something warm being pressed to her lips, and she mechanically sipped some of it before turning her face away. The thought of anything else made her feel sick. She sat in silence, occasionally sniffling or hiccuping or taking a shuddery breath, but that was it. Suddenly, she felt a gentle hand touch her shoulder, and she was moving. The blanket fell from her shoulders and the polar bear was smooshed between them as Adelaide flew into her father’s arms, sobbing anew, though she had no more tears left to cry.
“U menya yest' ty, detka. Vse normal'no. YA zdes',” he said lowly as he held her. Adelaide clung onto him for all she was worth, crying hard into his shoulder. She felt the blanket being draped over her shoulders again, and her father picked her up and walked into the elevator, asking FRIDAY to take them to their floor. He took her to the couch and sat down, holding her in his lap and whispering to her in Russian. “Eto khorosho, dorogaya, u menya yest' ty. Vse khorosho.” (I’ve got you, baby. It’s okay. I’m here./It’s okay, sweetheart, I’ve got you. Everything’s okay.) She had stopped crying by this point but was back to harsh breaths and sniffles. She heard Steve come in, and he laid a gentle kiss on the top of her head before heading off towards another part of the apartment. “Vy khotite pogovorit' ob etom, kukolka?” her father asked gently, running a hand through her hair. She shook her head slightly, clutching onto the polar bear in her arms. “Khorosho, solntse. Vse normal'no. Vam ne pridetsya. YA zdes', yesli vam nuzhno chto-nibud'.” (Do you want to talk about it, baby doll?/Okay, sunshine. It's okay. You don't have to. I'm here if you need anything.) She closed her eyes and sniffled again, pressing her face into his shoulder. She heard him start to hum quietly, and she recognized their special song. Steve walked in again and sat down on the other side of them.
“Ladybug, you wanna come over here while your dad gets cleaned up?” he asked gently. She didn’t necessarily want to, but Uncle Steve was probably right. They’d obviously just gotten back from their mission, and there was no telling what was covering her father at this moment. She scooted back a bit, and Steve carefully pulled her to his side, letting her use his chest as a pillow while Bucky shot off the couch to take the quickest shower in the history of the world. “FRIDAY, would you play that song Bucky was humming?” Steve asked. The AI didn’t respond, but “Moonlight Serenade” began to play softly. “Oh, is this what you two are always dancing to when I’m not home?” he asked with a small laugh. Adelaide nodded, a small smile appearing on her face.
“It’s our song,” she said quietly.
“I remember this song,” Steve said. “When it first came out, anyway. I’m surprised you know it.”
“He remembered it while we were in Romania,” she answered. “On my birthday.”
“Oh, I see. It’s a nice song. I’m glad you two have something special like that.” She smiled and hugged him tightly.
“Thank you, Uncle Steve.”
“You’re welcome, bug.” Bucky came back and sat down, letting Adelaide curl up into his side again.
“Hello, kotenok,” he said with a smile. “You up to talking to me now?” She shrugged a bit. “You talked to Stevie. Why not me?”
“He’s not scary,” she answered with a grin.
“Oh, is that how it is?” Bucky asked, looking down at her with raised eyebrows.
“Face it, Buck. People love this face.”
“Yeah, you’ve got the puppy dog look down alright, you punk.”
“Shut up, jerk.” Adelaide laughed a bit, shaking her head at their attempts to cheer her up with their banter. The three sat in silence, and Adelaide took a deep breath.
“One year,” she said quietly.
“What was that, printsessa?” Bucky asked.
“I’ve dated Vincent for one year.”
“And we’re very glad you have, bug,” Steve said. Adelaide was quiet for a beat.
“I had a date with him tonight,” she said, staring at a spot on the floor.
“Is that why you’re all dolled up, sweetheart?” Bucky asked. She nodded.
“What happened, Addie?” Steve asked. Adelaide took a shaky breath and grabbed onto the polar bear again, squeezing it tightly to her chest.
“We went to a restaurant downtown that has a dance floor in it. I’ve always wanted to go there, but you were always busy, so Vincent said he’d take me on our next date. We got there, ate, and talked, and I got up to go to the bathroom. When I came back, Vincent wasn’t at the table. I figured he’s gone to pay or something, so I stood by the table for him to get back. I just happened to look up to see him on the dance floor, and—” Her voice cut off as she took a shaky breath. She felt Bucky tense next to her and watched as his fists clenched.
“Was he with someone else, myshka?” Her father growled. Adelaide nodded.
“Th—they were kissing,” she finished. The noise her father made was not human.
“He’s dead,” Bucky growled out. “Steve, watch her.”
“Bucky, no!” Steve said, standing up to follow Bucky to the door. Adelaide curled up on the couch, watching the two of them while she fought down harsh breaths.
“Let me go, Steve! I’m going to kill him!”
“No! Bucky, look at her!” She watched both pairs of eyes flick over to her. “She needs her dad, not me. I’ll go talk to the others, rationally. We aren’t going to kill him. That’s not what we do.”
“It’s what I do,” Bucky answered.
“No, not anymore, and then you didn’t have a choice. We’ve been through this a thousand times. This is not the way to go about it. I’m mad too, believe me, as will everyone else when they find out, but I’m not letting you go out there and ruin both your life and her!” Bucky sighed and ran a hand through his hair.
“You’re right,” he sighed. “I’m sorry. I don’t—”
“You’re mad, and upset, and protective, I get it. But she needs you right now, Buck, more than she ever has before. You stay with her. Let me take care of it.” Bucky nodded and stepped aside to let Steve exit the room. He came back to her side and sat down, letting her rest against him again.
“I’m sorry, kotenok. I’m really sorry.” Adelaide curled up even closer to him and eventually fell asleep to the sound of her father humming along to the music playing.
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A knock on the door made Adelaide look up from the book she was reading. Natasha stood in the doorway, smiling a bit at her. “Hey, you,” she said. “Can I come in?” Addie nodded and closed her book.
“Always, Auntie Nat.” She scooted over to make room for her on the bed.
“How’re you holding up?” her aunt asked.
“I’m alright.”
“You up for visitors?” Adelaide looked at the redhead in confusion. “There are some people here to see you.”
“Sure, I guess so,” Addie answered, shrugging.
“Okay. Be right back.” Adelaide watched her aunt leave and sat up a bit more, making sure her bookmark was firmly in its place in her book.
“Addie!” a voice exclaimed, and suddenly she had her arms full of a person. Adelaide looked up and saw Lilly standing in the doorway, so that meant that this person was Rachel.
“What’re you two doing here?” she asked in confusion. “Not that I’m not glad to see you, but don’t you two have work today?”
“We asked the day off to come see you,” Lilly said.
“Wait a minute,” Rachel said, sitting up and looking around. “Where’s Ian?”
“I’m right here,” his voice said from around the corner, “and don’t call me that!” He stepped into the room, and Adelaide gasped.
“Killian, what happened to your face?”
“Oh, it’s nothing. Doesn’t even hurt.”
“Killian, your eye is swollen shut!”
“I know. It’s cool.”
“No. Sit down and explain yourself, mister. I will get my father in here.” Killian sat down obediently and sighed.
“I got in a fight.”
“You? Got in a fight? With who?”
“Vincent,” Rachel answered. Adelaide stiffened up. “It’s okay. He’s not here. Actually, we haven’t seen him in about a week.”
“Don’t you live next to him? How haven’t you seen him?”
“I’ve avoided him like the plague.”
“What’d he do to you guys?”
“Actually, it’s what he did to you that’s got us all upset,” Lilly said, coming to sit down on Adelaide’s other side while Killian took up the foot of the bed.
“How’d you guys find out?”
“Your uncle called us, actually,” Rachel said.
“Which one? You forget I have, like, fifty.”
“Captain Rogers.”
“Oh.”
“He told us what happened and asked us to tell Vincent that if he was seen anywhere near you or Avengers Tower to consider himself dead or worse.” Adelaide sighed and shook her head with a smile.
“I appreciate it, guys, really, but that doesn’t explain why Vincent and Killian got in a fight. You two are best friends; why fight?”
“We were fighting about you, Addie,” Killian said emphatically. “I fought with him about you.” Adelaide’s eyes widened.
“Why on—”
“He said he didn’t kiss any girl that night.”