Dealing with 12 soulmates (Avengers and Xmen fanfic)

Chapter 23

I went and made some English pancakes in the kitchen for breakfast and went out on the dock by the lake to eat them. The sun had risen about an hour ago and was just making its appearance over the tops of the bare trees. Their colourful leaves were being cast into the golden spotlight and the lake was lit up like thousands of blue, golden and white gems. The sound of the gentle waves hitting the shore just behind me along with the birds chirping was heaven on Earth. A crisp breeze rustled my hair and threatened to invade my hoodie but it just circled around me and moved onto the next living thing to torment.

Once I had finished eating, I placed the plate next to my, leaned back and closed my eyes. My legs dangled over the edge of the deck close to the water's surface and I rested back on my arms. I breathed in the smell of the crisp breeze. The smell was fresh and the whole area had the smell of a damp forest. The earthy smell invaded my senses and overwhelmed me. I always found comfort in nature which is partly due to my powers and partly due to the fact that I just love it. I found comfort in all four elements but nature was by far the most calming.

I must have been out there for hours but I got so lost in my surroundings that I lost track of time. The only thing that broke me from my trance was the sound of footsteps coming down the dock. They stopped a little bit back from me but I refused to turn around or make it known that I knew they were there. It was only when they cleared their throat that I turned around. It was the young brown haired man from Loki's memory. He looked nervous but also excited. Nervousness definitely over powered excitement though as he rubbed the back of his neck. "The professor sent me to come and get you. He needs to talk to all of the Xmen and the Avengers about something."
"But I'm not in either of those groups."
"I wasn't told why I had to come and get you." He seemed even more nervous now, if that was even possible.
"No. It's ok. I won't shoot the messenger." I then held out my hands to him, "can you help me up." He gladly reached out and grasped my hands to pull me up off the dock. I reached down and grabbed my plate to take it to the kitchen on the way to Charles' office.

As we were making our way there, he kept sneaking glances at me. "I'm Abbie. We haven't had a proper introduction yet." I don't know why I feel so compelled to speak to my soulmates, but I do. It just happens before I can even think about stopping myself.
He turned to me and just gave me a warm smile before replying. "Peter Parker."

We continued to chat on the way to the office. When I say chat, I mean he spoke about being in the Avengers and how cool the school is and I listened while adding in a contribution here and there. The discussion only stopped when we got to Charles' door. I could feel all my soulmate marks tingling but the strongest was Peter's as he was standing next to me. Releasing a breath, I opened the door and walked in. The comfy seat near the window was still empty so I went straight to it and sat down. I don't understand why no one ever sits here. It's comfy, has a great view and you can still hear everything that is being said. Granted, I'm surrounded by soulmates and my friends are at the chairs directly in front of the desk but I'm not to bothered. I had a weird sense of safety.

"Thank you for joining us Abbie." I just nodded in acknowledgment. "You may all be wondering why I called you all in here. It's to do with a subdivision of hydra that has recently been kidnapping mutants and experimenting on them. Your guys' job is to go in and shut down their operation, free the mutants and bring them back here for medical attention."

I decided to cut in at this point because I was still confused. "Why am I here? I'm not a part of either of these groups and I only help occasionally with Xmen missions and that's when you don't have the numbers. You have a whole other team now. Why do you need me?"

The professor looked put off to answer but he knew if he didn't that I wouldn't go. "They need someone to lead them through the base. We've been there before but you know that place better than anyone. You spent 5 years there so you are the best person to lead them around."

I was gob smacked to say the least. They were going to LS labs. I was going to the labs. It took a few seconds to process what the professor was saying. "You want me to go back there." I was shocked and needed clarification that he actually wanted me to go back to that hell hole.

"I know this will be hard for you but you are simply acting as a guide around that place. You won't be fighting and you will have Jean and Scott protecting you from anyone who comes close to you."

I nodded in understanding although some other people in the room didn't agree with Charles' decision. Wanda was the first to speak up, "you can't expect her to go back there after what they did to her." The rest of my soulmates agreed and it just broke into chaos. Some people shouting that I shouldn't go and the the only people shouting that I should were the people who came to save Kitty the first time. They know how much of a maze that place is and how heavily secure it is.

Steve cut everyone off by silencing everyone on his team which lead to the others being quiet as well. "Abbie will help us navigate our way around the building but she will not engage with any of their men. Me and two others will be with her at all times and keep her at a distance from any of their agents. I recommend we have Clint and Tony with her along with me so if something does go bad, Tony can fly her out of there and Clint can fire at a distance so they won't get close to her."

The professor then disagreed with him saying he wanted some of the Xmen with me. The final decision was that I was going to be with Steve, Clint and Kurt while Jean was going to stay close by.

"You guys do realise you are talking about me as if I wasn't even here, right." I just got a few huffs and eye rolls as replies, minus the small chuckle from John but he tried to mask it by coughing.

We then got sent out of the room to get dressed and ready for the mission and we were leaving in 10 minutes. I got dressed into my camp pants with a short sleeved black body suit that had high sides with some combat boots and long fingerless gloves with leather gloves over the top.

When I made it down to the jet, everyone was already there except for Peter who quickly came in dressed in a red and blue spandex suit that I recognised as spider man. I gave him a small nod before entering the jet and buckling into one of the seats near the back with my book 'the Fallen'. I wasn't paying attention in class and even though I've read it loads, it's an amazing book. Warren came over before we took off and passed me my fluffy blanket that I leave on the jet. I'm not overly fussed about flying but I still like feeling comfy. This action though got a lot of heated glares being sent towards Warren from my soulmates. I just ignored it and went back to my book.

I don't know how far into the flight we were but I was interrupted from my book by none other than the book worm himself. Loki. "Why didn't you say something during English? You were in that class. You must have felt your soulmate mark for me."

I closed my book after marking my page and looked up to meet his emerald eyes. "I did but I don't love people. I can care about them but I'm incapable of love. I'm trying to protect you guys and, more importantly, I'm protecting myself. I don't want to feel betrayed and abandoned again and if that means not being in a relationship with my soulmates, then that's what I have to do. I'm sorry, but I can't put myself in the position to get hurt again." I got up and walked away before he could respond. I knew the rest of my soulmates had heard as they were all gathered around when it happened but I just left to the front of the jet. I sat up front the rest of the way there with Jean, Scott and Hank and started to think of a good plan that would get us in undetected and protect everyone at the same time.