Swan Song ✧ STEVE ROGERS [✓]

43 - Mind Games

AS THE TEAM PREPARED TO LEAVE FOR THE SALVAGE YARD WHERE ULTRON WOULD MOST LIKELY STRIKE NEXT, RAEVANNA DECIDED TO GO BACK TO THE APARTMENT TO CHECK ON JOLARYS. She knew that this mission meant she would be gone for days, at least, and she wanted to make sure the young girl would be okay while she wasn't there. Plus, Raevanna had a bad feeling that something was going to happen to her on this mission - something that would be both devastating and crippling to her - and she needed to make sure everything would be alright for Jolarys in case this thing rendered her unable to defend them.

Thanks to her wings, Raevanna was able to make it back to the apartment in minutes. As she unlocked and pushed open the door, she saw Jolarys asleep on the couch, her knees hugged close to her body and her eyes squeezed shut, small whimpers escaping from her lips every few moments. Raevanna's heart sank when she saw that the girl was having another nightmare, and she walked over to Jolarys before sitting down beside her and putting her hand on the girl's leg. Jolarys woke up almost instantly, shooting into an upright position as she looked around frantically.

"Hey, hey, hey," Raevanna said softly, trying to calm her. "Nam-tor fam dvun, nam-tor fam dvun. Relax, it's just me."

Jolarys locked eyes with Raevanna, immediately relaxing at the sight of her. "Raevanna? What did I-"

"You had a nightmare," Raevanna told her. "But you're okay now."

Jolarys sighed, running her fingers through her hair. "My apologies for bothering you. It just... It felt so... real."

"It looked like it," Raevanna said, then smiled and added, "And you didn't bother me. Nightmares happen, don't worry about it."

Jolarys nodded, staying silent for moment before glancing at Raevanna. "You have a mission?"

"Yeah," Raevanna replied. "We're heading to Africa. I don't know how long it'll take, but the longest we should be gone is a week."

Jolarys nodded again. "Alright. But... nam-tor tun-bosh, okay?"

Raevanna smiled. "I will. And I promise you that I'll get you home as soon as I come back."

Jolarys gave her a big, genuine smile - the first real sign of happiness Raevanna had seen from the girl. "Nemaiyo, Raevanna."

Raevanna smiled back. "You're welcome."

Just then there was a knock on the door, and moments later Blake pushed it open, her signature axe strapped to her back.

"Time to go," Blake said. "Wheels up in ten."

Raevanna turned to Jolarys. "I have to go," she said. "I'll be back as soon as I can."

Jolarys just gave her a small smile, and Raevanna tenderly put her hand on the girl's shoulder before standing up and following Blake out of the apartment, making sure to lock it on her way out.

"Hey," Blake said when she saw Raevanna's expression. "She's gonna be okay. But right now we have to focus on the mission. Come on."

They left the building, getting into Blake's hummer and heading back to Avengers Tower. Once they had reached it, they boarded the quinjet with the rest of the team, and with that, they took off to Africa.

"How's Jolarys?" Steve asked Raevanna after several minutes of tense silence.

"She's fine," Raevanna said. "She's still frightened, and her nightmares are still pretty bad. But I think she'll be okay. We just have to give her time."

"But how long do you think it'll take?" Steve asked. "You said it yourself, the longer she stays here the worse it'll be for her."

"I know," Raevanna replied. "But it'll take as long as she needs. There's no telling how long she was with Strucker or the extent of what they did to her." She looked up at Steve. "We can't rush this, Steve. Healing from trauma is a process."