Tony hadn't wasted any time once returning to the tower to have JARVIS run a background check on Nature lady, Beth or whatever her name was. As he made his way back up to his penthouse, he told JARVIS to alert him if the two super soldiers moved from their last known location. He wanted lead time before they came home. If they came home tonight…
Tony smiled. He remembered when he and Pepper had first met. They had stayed locked up in his Malibu mansion for two weeks before he'd finally felt like he could come up for air and let their normal lives resume again.
As the elevator doors opened, Pepper came out of the bedroom and rushed to kiss him.
"Tony! I thought you wouldn't be back until tomorrow!" Her touch both calmed and enflamed him as he wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in the crook of her neck.
"I know. Something came up. I came home early." Placing kisses on her neck, he stopped to nibble on the spot behind her left ear that always made her go weak in the knees.
"Mmm… ah… yes. Wait, what?" Pepper pushed Tony's head up to look at her. "What came up?" The skepticism in her voice was evident.
"You better not have abandoned Steve and James in the wilderness again!" She glared at her lover who merely grinned at her.
"Oh, come on. That was one time! I was grieving my mother! I'm not responsible for things I do when overcome by strong emotion and I can think of one emotion I'm succumbing to right now…" He began to try and kiss Pepper's neck again but a firm shove had him reeling back.
"Explain. Then bed… Maybe." The redhead's tone brooked no argument from Tony.
Tony sighed and rolled his eyes. "JARVIS? Inform Pep of what happened… the abridged version please."
"Ms. Potts, Captain Rogers and Lieutenant Barnes discovered their soulmate whilst out in the woods. They remained behind after Mr. Stark left, presumably to get to know her."
The heat was fading from Pepper's eyes and Tony leapt at his chance. "So bed? Yes?"
Shaking her head ruefully, Pepper's laugh bounced off the walls as Tony swept her off her feet and into the bedroom.
Back at the cabin, after disentangling themselves, Beth had served them all dinner and they'd eaten in relative silence; all of them gazing at their newfound soulmate(s), drinking in the details of each other's physical appearances.
As the sun began to set, Beth yawned and stretched. Bucky looked at Steve and had another silent conversation but this time Beth noticed.
"What? I see that look, James. What are you silently arguing with Steve about?" Beth's voice held curiosity and a hint of laughter.
Steve cleared his throat. "We'll be sleeping down here tonight if that's okay with you Beth. We don't want to rush into anything."
Catching the emphasis on 'we', Beth glanced at Bucky who wore a look of stubbornness on his face.
"It should be her decision, Stevie. It's her house."
Beth's eyebrows rose. "What should be my decision?"
Bucky looked at her and sudden color flooded his cheeks. "Um, well… I was going to ask if we could all stay together tonight."
"Nothing sexual!" he added, as he saw Beth's face morph into a look of apprehension. "I just… I only sleep well with Stevie and, well…" Bucky's voice trailed off as he shrugged helplessly.
Beth smiled and came over to Bucky. Tentatively, she slipped her arms around his middle and, when he showed no signs of resisting, hugged him close, nestling her brow in the hollow of his neck.
"Okay but no funny business." She glanced at Steve who was watching her with concern and winked at him.
Steve relaxed and glanced about for a ladder to climb up to make sure the loft was sound enough to hold both super soldiers.
Beth saw his confusion and waved a hand at the wall near the fireplace. Small, sturdy steps seemed to slide out of the wooden walls and lead to the loft at the apex of the house.
She laughed when she saw the disbelieving expression on Steve's face as he set one foot on the first tread. "It'll hold you Steve. Trust me."
He slowly climbed up to the loft and began to walk around, in a crouch, to see if there were any structural issues. As he came back to the steps, he tried to straighten up and hit his head on a rafter.
"Ouch! Okay, well I think it'll hold us for tonight at least. If you don't want to go back to New York Beth, we'll have to figure out other sleeping arrangements. Not being able to stand up straight from the bed won't work for me long term." Steve rubbed his head gingerly.
Beth giggled and, stepping out of Bucky's embrace, pulled Steve's head down to kiss the spot he'd hurt.
"There. All better." She winked and went to show the boys where the bathroom door was hidden, cleverly concealed by the stonework next to the kitchen.
After finishing their absolutions, the men pealed themselves out of their suits and left them draped over the back of the couch. Clad in only their boxer-briefs, they made the way up the steps to the loft bedroom. Crouching to make it to the bed, Steve moved aside for Bucky to join him when he looked up towards the bed and froze.
A muttered, "oh fuck" came from Bucky as he stepped off the ladder and did the same.
Beth was kneeling in the center of the low bed, braiding her long hair over her shoulder, with her back to them, completely naked. She was humming a low tune as her fingers flew in and out. When she heard the whispered curse, she glanced over her shoulder as she kept braiding.
"You okay, James?"
Bucky swallowed hard, tried to speak and cleared his throat to try again.
"Uh, yeah, doll. Just, just wasn't expecting…" His voice trailed off and he looked to Steve for support.
"We were just surprised. That's all." Steve said as his own voice came back to him.
Beth half turned, at the waist, as she finished the long plait, and took in the stances and expressions of both men. "Oh! I'm sorry. I can put something on. I'm just… used to being alone." She scooted to the edge of the bed in the direction of a chest that was tucked against the floor and the low angle of a rafter.
"If you want both of us able to actually sleep tonight, that'd be a good idea," said Bucky, as he regained a measure of composure. "I'd be hard pressed to keep my hands from wandering." He winked at Beth so she understood he was joking, sort of.
Beth smiled and pulled out a faded grey nightgown and slipped it over her head. As it fell, both men stared unabashedly at the body it was starting to cover. Full, round breasts, a smooth expanse of stomach and back, curving hips and firm thighs; it was enough to make both men's minds go straight to X-rated fantasies.
Steve crawled up the bed and slid between the sheets on the left side. Beth turned as she watched him do this and slid right next to him. Patting the empty space on her right side, she gestured for Bucky to join them.
Turning towards Steve, Beth moved until her head rested on his chest and she felt Bucky move in behind her. She could feel the hesitancy in his movements as his arm came to wrap around her and his body became flush with hers, spooning. Reaching out for Steve's hand, she interlaced their fingers.
"Goodnight dear hearts." As Beth's words drifted over them, both men felt contentment seeping into their bones and they fell asleep with smiles on their faces.
Beth's eyes opened slowly. For the first time in years, her sleep had been uninterrupted by nightmares. She stretched herself slowly and realized that sometime during the night, she'd switched positions. She was now laying on Bucky's chest and the hard body behind hers that she felt must be Steve's. Glancing up, she saw Bucky's eyes open and look down at her.
"Morning, beautiful." His voice was husky with sleep but she could see what he wanted in his eyes.
Propping herself onto her elbow, she leaned over and gave him a lingering kiss. Beth felt his lips trembling slightly beneath her own and she parted her lips to let her tongue glide over his in invitation.
Bucky may have been nervous about kissing Beth with Steve still asleep but the moment he felt her tongue touch his lips, his brain stopped thinking and instinct kicked in. Closing his eyes, he let his tongue glide out and dance with hers in a delicious tango. He knew he hadn't lost his touch when he heard a moan from her throat and a hand came up to pull his head toward her more firmly.
Beth's head was reeling. Kissing her soulmate was something she'd been fantasizing about since she was 14 and realized what soulmates usually entailed. She hadn't had any opportunities to practice given her grandmother's strict orders to keep away from others until she managed to control her power.
She was about to pull back when she felt an arm slide around her middle and reach up to cup a breast, teasing the nipple under the flannel to a hard point. Steve's lips found her neck and he began to explore the topography made available to him by kissing and licking his way up her neck to her ear where he found that nibbling on the lobe caused a groan of lust to emanate from Beth's captured lips.
Bucky's eyes opened, took in what his lover was doing to their soulmate, and redoubled his own efforts on the oral front.
Beth let both of them continue for another long, exquisite moment and then pulled back from Bucky with a gasp for air.
"Okay, you two. That's a wonderful way to wake up, however – I need to pee. Let me up, please." The last was added as she felt Steve's arm tighten around her middle before loosening enough to where she could shimmy to the foot of the bed and dropped off the edge into the living room.
Hearing the exclamations from above, she glanced up at the two concerned faces looking down on her. She laughed and made to way to the bathroom.
As she exited, she found both men had come down and were in the process of putting their uniforms back on.
Steve and Bucky had had a quiet conversation while Beth had been in the restroom about checking in with Tony and what had to be done within the next few hours. They watched as their final puzzle piece climbed the stairs to the loft again and disappeared, ostensibly to put her own clothes on.
"So I'll contact Stark and you discuss our options with Beth." Bucky started towards the door. "I'll be back in a few."
Steve nodded and went to the kitchen to see if there was any of his usual morning beverage. His heart drooped a bit when he realized there was no coffee of any sort in the entire kitchen.
Sighing, he turned and saw Beth setting a bag onto the kitchen table.
"Okay, I'm ready to go Steve." Beth's voice was steady but Steve thought he could detect a note of worry in her voice.
"What-?" Steve was stopped as Beth spoke again.
"I expect you two have to report back soon. I meant what I said last night. I don't want to be parted from either of you unless absolutely necessary. So I've packed all I'll need and am ready to go wherever it is you need to go." Beth's voice was confident now, no trace of the earlier worry.
"But we- I mean, we don't expect you to just up and leave here for us. I- we were going to talk this out and come to a decision together." Incredulity was stamped on Steve's features and his prepared talking points flew right out of his head.
Beth gestured to the cabin. "Why would I stay? Yes, this is nice but I've been alone here, Steve, for many years. I have no desire to stay here a single night without you two and I know enough of the world to know I can't ask superheroes to give up their day jobs for me. Now, do you have any other comments before we leave?"
Steve's mouth was hanging open slightly and quickly shut it as Bucky came back in.
"So Stark says he needs us back by 0930 to 'debrief'." Bucky rolled his eyes and grinned. "Like I'm going to give him all the salacious details he's hoping for. Better chance of Stevie here dressing up like a monkey and playing music for money."
"What's up with the bag, doll?" Beth opened her mouth to respond but Steve was one step ahead of her.
"She says we don't need to discuss it. She's coming back to the tower with us." Steve looked at Bucky with a plea that Bucky read and ignored.
"Decisive! I knew I liked you doll. I hate dames who can't make their minds up and dither dather around for hours." Bucky threw an arm around Beth's shoulders and hugged her close. Dropping his head close to Beth's ear, he stage-whispered, "Stevie here, he can't make a decision without making a pro/con list, even if it's just in his head."
Steve flushed red and Beth smiled, linking her fingers with the hand that Bucky had resting on her shoulder.
"So, when do we leave?"
Steve wasn't sure whether to be grateful that Natasha was the one to pick them up or not. Upon being introduced, the red-headed assassin had given Beth a once-over and then proceeded to instruct the smaller woman on the safety procedures for the hovercraft.
After ensuring Beth's bag was stowed safely, Natasha went back to the controls and left the boys to find seats for themselves.
As they took off from the ground, both men kept an eye on Beth's reactions. Up until take-off, Beth had appeared to be fine but when the engines began to power up, she had grown paler until she was almost grey underneath her dark skin.
"Doll, you okay?" Bucky's voice was filled with concern and Beth's green eyes flicked to his blue ones.
"Yeah, I think so. I've never flown before. This – is a gut churning experience." Beth swallowed and concentrated on breathing steadily, in and out, in and out.
"Ah! It's been awhile since my first flight but I remember they said that take-off and landing were always the worst parts." Steve attempted to reassure her but he could tell he wasn't very effective.
Bucky undid his safety harness and went to sit in a seat directly across from Beth. Placing his elbows on his knees, he dropped his head until his eyes were level with hers and he began to breathe with her, slowly - in and out, never breaking eye contact.
Slowly, Beth began to feel her body calm and Steve was relieved to see color coming back into her face.
"Thank you James. I don't know how that helped, but it did." Beth let a wan smile touch her lips. "How much longer are we in the air?"
"About 2 hours," came Natasha's voice from the cockpit.
Beth closed her eyes. This was going to be a long flight.
Their arrival to the tower was quieter than Steve expected. He'd been anticipating Stark pouncing on them the minute they'd landed but once on the helipad, Clint came on board to help ready the jet to depart again and told them Tony had been ensconced in his lab with Bruce since the early morning.
Steve led the way off the helipad towards the elevator when he heard a soft 'whump' behind him and found Bucky kneeling next to Beth, who had collapsed at the foot of the loading ramp. Bucky was frantically fumbling with his gloves, trying to pull them off to check for a pulse, but it was Natasha who appeared, silent and quick, and felt for the other woman's heart rate.
Steve was by their sides in an instant, gathering Beth into his arms, looking at Natasha for any indication she know what had befallen their soulmate.
Natasha shook her head in answer to his unspoken question. "She's got a pulse but it's thready at best. You should take her down to Bruce and Tony. They'll be best equipped to help her.
Nodding, Steve rose in one fluid motion, followed closely by Bucky. Bucky punched the elevator button with more force than necessary and it cracked the metal around the column.
JARVIS' voice came through the intercom once they stepped into the elevator.
"Mr. Stark and Dr. Banner are aware that you will arriving momentarily and they are aware of the status of Ms. WhiteRaven."
WhiteRaven? Steve looked at Bucky confused for an instant before understanding dawned. That ass. Digging up dirt on their soulmate! They hadn't even gotten to really get to know Beth and already Tony was intruding into what should be private discoveries. If Steve didn't need his and Bruce's help right now, he'd take it out on Stark dummy in the training room.
The elevator doors opened onto the lab and both men rushed forward with their precious bundle and deposited her on the table that Bruce had waiting.
Bruce began scan Beth with a handheld device and expressed concern when the details the machine was reading, appeared hovering above the woman.
"Something is causing her body to revert into a catatonic state. When did this start?" Bruce looked at both men.
Bucky spoke, his voice rough with unsaid emotion. "As soon as her foot touched the helipad, she went down. She didn't make a sound, nothing that told me she was ill."
"Hmm." Bruce began scanning her again with the device. "This may take a moment."
Tony walked in from another area of the lab and affected surprise at the scene in front of him. "Oh! Spangles, you're back! What happened to mother nature? She faint from the sheer amazingness of my tower?"
The cocky grin was wiped off Tony's face as Steve turned to him and flexed his fist, as if he wanted to strike Stark.
"Oh, sorry. Didn't know it was serious. Here, let me through. I can help. I can always help." He sidled around Rogers and made his way to Bruce's side and began flipping through the diagnostic information that still hovered over Beth in hologram form.
"Hmm, the minute she was off the quinjet... hmm... yes, interesting. We'll have to look into that later..." Suddenly, Tony stopped dead still, as if he'd been struck by lightening.
"JARVIS?!" Tony's voice yelled out, startling all the men around him with it's intensity. "Turn off the anti-pigeon sonar!"
"Yes, sir. Done."
As soon as JARVIS said 'done', Beth let out a gasp of deep air and sat up abruptly. Well, she tried to sit up but found herself being gently restrained by Bucky whose face was flooded with relief.
"What the hell was that Stark?!" Steve let Bucky take care of Beth as he rounded on the playboy.
Tony backed up a step, well more a smidgen really, after all - it's not like he was afraid of America's Golden Boy.
"She said she felt us coming yesterday. That told me she most likely used vibration waves to get that information and I have a vibration sonar that I built to keep pigeons from landing on the tower. It's built into the building itself. It's not designed to be felt by humans but it deters the pigeons nicely since the vibrations are at the speed equivalent to a jet engine at full blast. My guess is her powers tuned her into in to it and it knocked her senseless."
Tony gave an apologetic shrug in Beth's direction. "I didn't stop to think about that before you got here. I'll figure something else out for the pigeons while you're staying with Capsicle and Ice-pick, Nature Lady."
Beth let out a huff that could've been amusement. "It's Beth or Elisabeth. Not Nature Lady. And you are?" She looked at Bruce.
"Ah, I apologize for my lack of manners. I'm Dr. Bruce Banner. It's nice to meet you." Bruce extended his hand to shake hers and Beth was surprised into responding, automatically shaking his hand in return.
"Nice to meet you too Dr. Banner. I'm Elisabeth WhiteRaven."
Steve's eyes narrowed. So Stark's stalking had been accurate. Well that was a conversation they'd be having later but right now he needed to be along with Beth and Bucky.
Bucky seemed to understand his mood and picked Beth up in his arms, walking towards the elevator again.
"Wha- Where are we going?!" Beth's voice squeaked in surprise.
"We are going to have a chat. We'll be back later guys." Steve said, as he came and joined them all in the elevator.
As the doors shut, he saw the lewd gestures Tony was making towards them and rolled his eyes.
In a matter of seconds, the elevator was opening on the suite that the men shared.
Bucky didn't head for the living room and couch that Steve figured he'd go for. Instead, Bucky made a beeline for their bedroom.
Setting Beth on the California king-sized bed as gently as if she were a fabergé egg, he stepped back and waited for Steve.
Beth looked at both of them, confused.
"What's going on boys?"
Exchanging a glance with Steve, Bucky said with feeling, "We're not leaving here until we know just as much information about you as Stark. He's not going to get to know details even we don't know yet."
Beth sighed and patted the bed.
"Sit down then. This might take a bit dear hearts."
A/N: What do you all think? I'm trying to not rush this story even though it's rushing out of me. Please let me know if I'm rushing too much or jumping around too much. I hope you enjoyed!