Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel or The 100

There is no sex in this chapter, however, because of later dubious consent and because the vampires make it clear that they don't need consent to do as they wish with Clarke, even if they hope to get it, I'm putting warnings for rape and dubious consent out. Just to be safe. So, warnings for dubious consent and rape. And mentions of human trafficking, homelessness and child abuse.

WolfHowlRunner61's influence on this segment and on the next few segments after this, will probably be clear.

You are our mate

The vampires were hit with Clarke's questions and saw the lack of patience all over the young woman's face, and each of them almost sagged in defeat. They would have to tell her, they realized. They all were hoping to tell her later. Hoping to have time to explain better. But they couldn't.

They didn't have the time.

Clarke wanted answers now. And they had already let themselves slip when they'd gotten angry over learning when Clarke had been thrown out of her house at the age of fourteen.

So, they needed to give her some sort of explanation. So be it.

"Firstly," Laura said, deciding to be the first to speak, as she stepped over, "Nothing else will be able to be explained, until we tell you this first part. Firstly, as you said, we are different. No human can growl the way we can. It's for a reason. We are what your species refer to as vampires."

Clarke's eyes widened and her mouth dropped, and she glanced at the others, waiting for laughter or even some chuckles. Waiting for someone to claim that this was a joke.

But there weren't any chuckles or snickers or laughs. Just a group of people watching her, waiting for her reaction to their claims.

"You think we're making this up?" Yelena asked-she on the other hand, was smirking, "We're not. We're telling you what we are. We are vampires. We are immortal and we drink blood."

That last part got Clarke's brain to finally jumpstart.

She gasped, backing away. "Is that why you grabbed me?" She asked, her heart jumping into her throat, "Because you're going to drain me of my blood?!"

These people…the vampires all looked alarmed at Clarke's question.

Pepper, Laura, Tony, Steve, Bruce, Carol and several others' eyes widened.

"No, Clarke," Pepper said quickly, "Clarke, we'd never. We've drained people before, yes. But we'd never do that to you. We would never hurt you."

Clarke shook her head, shuddering. "How do I know that?" She asked, "And it all makes perfect sense. I'm homeless. No one will miss me. My mom sure as hell won't miss me, since she was the one that threw me out in the first place."

All of the vampires worked hard not to growl. They didn't want to scare Clarke more. But hearing that Clarke's own mother had thrown her out? That was enough to make them absolutely enraged.

However, right now, they needed to reassure their mate.

"Clarke," Maria said, making sure her voice was firm, "It isn't like that. We're not going to hurt you. We're not going to feed on you. We grabbed you off of the streets, yes, but not to kill you. It was to protect you."

"Protect me?" Clarke snapped, "Protect me from what? And why?"

This time, her questions got a few chuckles. "Protect you from what?" Wanda asked, her eyebrows lifting up, "Sweetie, have you seen the place you were living in? It's unclean. There are rats there and I'm sure you know that there might be others who would hurt you. Other homeless people."

Clarke glared at Wanda. She snapped, "Oh, no, my mistake. How could I, someone who has lived on the streets for six years, not know about something other homeless people being a potential threat? I must not have lived on the streets for six actual years. And you know, how could someone as naïve as me, not know that homeless men might be a threat to me, because I'm a woman in a very vulnerable position."

Wanda had the decency not to say anything after that.

"We're not doubting that you know what dangers there are, living on the streets, Clarke," Laura said gently, "But we're explaining why we couldn't let you live on the streets anymore. Have you been surviving? Yes. But you're till unhealthy. And that's no way for anyone to live. Which is why you're living with us. And to answer 'why' specifically you?"

Laura turned to some of her companions and gradually, each of them nodded and Laura nodded back, all of them agreeing on something and they looked back to Clarke.

"We chose to grab you off of the streets specifically," Natasha finished for Laura, "Because, Clarke, you are our soulmate. We're vampires. And all vampires have a mate or mates. Someone they are meant to be with forever. That's you, Clarke."

Clarke stared, stunned. What? Soulmates?

Clarke shook her head. "I think," she said slowly, trying to figure out if she was hallucinating or if she had hit her head or was dreaming all this, "Maybe you have the wrong person. I think maybe you all might want to get checked out by a psychiatrist or something."

This didn't bring any offended reactions. If anything, there were more chuckles.

Jessica remarked, sharing a smirk with Natasha, "Well, you can't blame her for thinking we're nuts. We haven't exactly been trustworthy."

Natasha sighed, looking back to Clarke, smiling. "You can say whatever you want, Clarke. But it doesn't change that we're vampires, that vampires all have mates and you are the soulmate to all of us."

Pepper added, before Clarke could protest, gesturing to Tony, "Some vampires can have more than one soulmate. Tony and I are soulmates. But you're the soulmate to both of us."

Laura nodded to Clint as she said, "And Clint and I are soulmates. And you're the soulmate to the both of us."

Clarke hesitated, her mind having a hard time wrapping around this. "I am the soulmate to all of you?" She asked, "I'm sorry, but that sounds impossible. I mean, I'm no expert in vampires and soulmates, but me being the mate to all of you? That sounds impossible."

"It's rare," Sylvie confessed, "There are very few recorded cases of one person being mated to a large group of people or of a large group of people being mated to each other, but it has happened."

"Exactly," Bruce said, nodding to Sylvie, before swiveling his head to look at Clarke, "In Seattle, Washington? There's a whole coven of vampires mated to each other. They found each other and formed a coven. They aren't all mated to each other. But they almost all are. The main group of mates are made up of six. Peter Quill, Gamora, Nebula, Drax, Mantis and Adam Warlock."

Clarke opened her mouth, but felt no protest come out. There were many questions she had, but she felt like none of them would be adequate to match what she was feeling.

Maria added, smiling, "In Dallas, Texas, there are six people mated together. Jane Foster, Darcy Lewis, Hope van Dyne, Scott Lang, Maggie Lang and Jim Paxton."

Natasha added then, "And we have more people in our coven than just us. And there are several people mated together in it, many more than just two people mated together."

Clarke tried to think of some smartass thing to say, but couldn't.

She was the soulmate to all of them? How?

She suddenly remembered all her caution. Her fear that she was here for some sort of sexual reason. If not to be sold off into human trafficking, then to be gangraped.

It seemed that she wasn't too far off from the truth by assuming that.

Clarke stared at the vampires as she backed away just one step. "You're going to rape me?" She asked, her blood feeling like ice in her veins.

The smirks and smiles disappeared and all that remained were pained and sad expressions.

"Clarke," Pepper said softly, "We want you to accept us of your free will. To want us to have sex with you. We don't want to force you."

Clarke tried not to shiver. Pepper said that they didn't "want" to force her. But that wasn't the same as saying that they wouldn't force her.

Seeing Clarke's expression of understanding, Natasha said gently, "Your consent matters to us. But we've searched for you for a long time. And while your consent isn't necessarily needed, we would prefer it if we could get you to welcome us into your bed out of free will."

Clarke felt her stomach twist. "But my consent still isn't really needed," Clarke stated and it wasn't a question.

"No," Tony said, sounding sad, "It's not."

Clarke felt mildly sick. Great. Just great. Super. So, after evading potential threats for six years and then getting kidnapped and finding out she didn't need to worry about human trafficking, she now was met with the reality that vampires existed and that if she didn't let them have their way with her, she'd get raped anyway.

Which ultimately meant that any consent she gave, wasn't really consent anyway. Not if it was under the threat of rape.

Clarke glared at them as she pointed that out. "You know," she snapped, "If I consent to have sex with any of you, knowing that you'll rape me anyway, even if I say 'no,' that doesn't really make it consent. You know that, right?"

Several of the vampires had the decency to flinch.

"Right," Clarke snorted, angry, "You know that, and still it doesn't make a difference to you, huh?"

"It makes a difference to us," Melina said, looking sad, "But we can't just let you go. If we lose you, it will destroy us."

Clarke stared at them, anger, resentment, rage and pain surging her next words out, "You all can understand this now. You can keep me here as long as you want. And you can even gangrape me, but I will never love you."

It appeared that whether Clarke she loved them or not, mattered to these people, because as soon as she said that, several of the vampires practically shrank and cringed in pain.

Deciding to take advantage of this temporary power over them, Clarke continued, "You know, it makes a lot of sense that you had to abduct me to get your hands on me. Because how else would you get anyone to actually have sex with you? Since, let's face it, all of you are about as charming as rabid dogs."

This, at last, got another reaction, besides flinching or sadness. Several of them snickered.

"Oh?" Natasha asked, chuckling, "Well, we have time to prove how…charming we can be."

Tony smirked, his expression similar to Natasha's as he said, "Go on, then. Bide your time. Give us time to prove that we're worthy of being between your legs."

Clarke felt a dry lump in her throat, unable to stop herself from almost groaning.

Such a crude comment shouldn't have excited her. But it did.

And she almost shivered at the way she saw the vampires' nostrils flare. She swallowed. Shit, it couldn't be, could it? They could smell her arousal?

Laura also appeared to take the hint and she smirked, saying, "Alright, Clarke. If you wish to wait us out? You can try. You can certainly try."

"How about this?" Jessica said, a cunning smile on her face, "You give us a few years to gain your affections. We'll show you that you can trust us."

Clarke scoffed, shaking her head. "I don't have a choice," she sneered, "So, fine, I'll agree. But my consent doesn't really matter, does it? So, don't get too excited over my agreement."

A few of the vampires nodded.

Clarke snapped, "If I'm going to stay here against my will? Then I want some of my stuff here. There are things that I kept in the sewer. So, I want those things with me."

"Alright," Pepper said, nodding to the others and they all quietly agreed, "Tell us what items you want, and we'll go get them."

Clarke glared. So, they weren't even going to let her get her things, herself?

"I'm such a prisoner," Clarke sneered, "That I can't even get my things myself. Fuck you. Fine. I was really hoping to have the cookies that I stole. But fine. At least find my father's watch. It's one of the few things I have left of him. It's tin colored and doesn't work anymore. But it will be right there in the place where I've been living. Next to my sort of bed, that I made out of a pile of clothing."

Clarke heard a few growls, she supposed, reacting to her telling them that she didn't even have a bed.

But she didn't care. They didn't get to act all incensed, when they were doing awful things too.

Steve said, anger in his voice for a second before he softened his tone, "We can get you your father's watch. And we can get you cookies. Not ones that have been in the sewer. Okay? We'll come back with what you want. Anything else you want us to bring?"

Clarke considered yelling at Steve for again speaking badly of her home, but decided against it. They had decided that her home in the sewer was an unspeakable place for her to live, and they wouldn't change their minds.

Instead, she said, "There are some pictures that I have there too. Under the watch. A pile of them, with a rubber band around them. I'd like all of those pictures, please."

The vampires nodded in agreement.

They decided that most of the vampires would stay at the house with Clarke, while Clint, Laura, Natasha and Yelena went to the sewer and retrieved Clarke's things.

Clarke could see the way all four vampires that were leaving, looked at her. They didn't want her to be out of their sight. However, the four of them left, promising Clarke's things back for her.

As Clarke waited, the other vampires showed her around the house. As soon as they got her to tell them why she'd been climbing out of the sewer at night was not for food but to go buy some books if she could, they had happily shown her the library they had here.

Clarke was displeased at the happiness she felt when she saw how many books they had. She didn't wish to do anything that made these creatures happy. But she couldn't help the joy she felt at seeing so many books proffered to her.

Clarke was unable to help her smile at the sight of all the shelves chockful of books in front of her.

She said absentmindedly, "Sheesh, I haven't seen this many books, since I was in eighth grade. Which of course, was when I was thrown out of my house."

Clarke heard growls around her, then heard Pepper clear her throat and ask, "You like reading, Clarke?"

"Uh, yeah," Clarke said, somewhat disliking that she was having what could only be called "slightly pleasant conversations," with her potential rapists, "I would have to. I haven't had much to keep me occupied, since I was fourteen, except surviving. I don't exactly have what you might call a college level education. Hell, I barely have a high school education, since my first year in high school, was when I first became homeless."

There were no growls this time, however, Clarke felt an almost uncomfortable silence.

Before Clarke could look at the others, curious about why they were silent, Bruce said, sounding intrigued, "But you talk like you've had a high school and college education. I'm sorry if I sound condescending, but many people who have grown up in your situation, have tended to not speak as eloquently as you do."

Clarke snorted. A nice way for Banner to call homeless children, who couldn't afford education, "idiots."

She said coldly, "I grew up alone after fourteen and didn't have any access to education. So, I took it on myself. Made sure I got money, either by stealing or begging and bought the books I wanted. Stealing books from stores would be borderline impossible, because of cameras and there being witnesses all over the place. So, I had to pay for them. I got the books I wanted. Some history books, some fiction books. Honestly, I suspect that they're the same thing, right?"

Curious by what Clarke said, even if she felt a certain rage at the thought of Clarke ever having to beg anyone anything, Maria asked Clarke, "What do you mean that fiction books and history books might be the same thing?"

Clarke looked at her, a smirk on her face. "Come on," she said, "You're telling me no historians and no writers of textbooks embellished? Or lied? Ever? Throughout all of history?"

"You gotta admit, she has us there," Jessica said, smiling at Clarke, finding Clarke's insight both amusing and brilliant.

Clarke said, eyeing the vampires in front of her, "I have no idea how old all of you are. But I'm sure the things you've seen? Don't come close to the things that are described in the history textbooks."

Hela smirked and so did Tony, Loki, Sylvie and Pepper.

Well, Clarke wasn't wrong.

All the things that the vampires had read of history, it didn't even come close to what actually happened.

It was simply a watered down version of what happened. There were some things that were written about accurately, but that story only got one part of the story, one part of the picture. It didn't tell all of the story.

Clarke felt like she should be angrier with the vampires, and she was, but she for now, decided to get what information she could.

So, she asked her next question, "By the way, this is probably going to be a rude question, but how old are all of you? And when and where were you turned?"

The vampires chuckled.

"Well, aren't you curious?" Tony said, snickering, and he and the others looked to Hela, Thor, Loki and Sylvie, the oldest of them.

Hela nodded. "I suppose I should start," she said, smirking delightedly at Clarke, "Since I am the oldest." And she began, "I was born and raised as a monarch in a Viking village. My, Thor, Loki and Sylvie's father, Odin, was the king."