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Five AM came, as did Athena before she stumbled from her room. The arrival of the supersoldiers had caused quite the stir with the Prince and his guests, a problem she thankfully got to sleep through. She made a mental note to thank whoever had the misfortune of being left with that crowd of pariahs. Once breakfast came around, Athena realized that the wheel of questions they had had yet to run dry.

At the head of the table, Alexander picked at his food, frowning at his plate before turning his glare to Athena. He had been uncharacteristically quiet since he had entered the room, ignoring most of the attempts to pull him into conversation. The clatter of his fork on the fine plate had her back straightening, her own eyes meeting his. She did not break his stare, letting her gaze seep crimson; the spineless man dropped his eyes to the floor.

She did a poor job hiding her smirk, attempting to stay stoic against the wall for the next few hours. Her mind shuffled through the different safety measures for the party that was only a day away.

"Victoria, you have a soulmate, don't you?" The Prince's words startled the dark-haired beauty, who sat a few seats to his left, picking at her omelet. The woman seemed to go rigid as all eyes turned to her.

"Yes." Her tone was clipped, an answer and a dismissal. Alexander didn't care.

"And where is he?" Athena did not miss the way his eye flicked to her place against the wall before turning back to Victoria, who seemed to be schooling her features into an indifferent mask.

"I wouldn't know." Her dainty hand reached for her water, and the entire room watched as she drank the remaining glass contents. She continued when she placed it back on the table with an audible thud. "I rejected him."

"And why did you do that?" His words were a pur that made Athena's stomach turn. This woman was a pawn in some game he was playing, a game he appeared to want Athena to join too. Victoria's smile was submissive and sweet, shot in the Prince's direction.

"It's like you have said; a soulmate is an archaic bond. It is only meant to force man into breading and monogamy. A societal construct enforced on us, taking our choices." Her answer was robotic and practiced; she seemed to have been privy to many of Alexanders' rants on politics and society.

"Percicly." With a nod, the brunette was dismissed, deflating back into her seat in relief. Alexander's court seemed to thrive and shrivel under his attention with every rise and fall of his temper.

Breakfast continued like that, and Athena realized this was a show for her. Everyone who sat at that table had once had a soulmate and, at one point or another, rejected them to join Alexander. One of the men had been married to his soulmate for years and left his husband upon meeting the Prince. Similar stories were told; the final crescendo of the fucked up symphony Athena was forced to gaze over was the showing of soulmarks.

There were no words on them, just thick burn scars that had her breath hitching in her throat. The bile that fought its way out was pushed down with a grimace. Alexander's piercing eyes noted every twitch of her lip as the stories were told, trying desperately to see beneath the mask the guard wore.

"Athena?" Dread filled her at being called upon, but she grinned and bared it, nodding at him to continue. "We heard a rumor that you were mated to Captain America and The Winter Soldier as well!" He sounded elated as he announced the names, looking around at everyone and demanding a reaction. Faux interest swept across the room.

"Hmm." She made a noncommittal noise, not bothering to answer. She had heard their opinions on soulmates and didn't feel like diving into her personal life with a group of snobby strangers. Her lack of answer enraged the man, whose smile twitched.

"I imagine," he was still addressing her, turning his whole body so that he was turned in his chair staring at her with goading eyes. "it can be so suffocating to be in a triad. Not one but two men following your every move. Not being able to go more than a few days without showing up uninvited scratching at the door, such loyal dogs."

The red in her gaze was now unleashed, but the rest of her shift was placed on a tight leash. Dogs. He called her men fucking dogs. It took every ounce of control she could find to stay against the wall with an emotionless face. Her eyes gave away the rage that threatened to bubble over and consume the room.

Across the room, Titus looked on concern, knitting his brow, his mind desperately looking for a way to get his friend out of the room. A knock on the door was the answer to his wish, the large oak swinging open to reveal the two men who were the point of discussion. Steve and Bucky swaggered in, fully kitted out with blank looks on their faces.

The Prince's security shuffled around them to whisper into his ear. After a short discussion between the two, Alexander turned his eyes to the super soldiers.

"I don't remember requesting you two for my personal security." His words were clipped and cold, his glare seeming to fall flat in a poor attempt to intimidate. "Nor do I see a need for more of you now."

"We're here for her," Steve answered as he prowled to stand on Athena's left, Bucky moving to her right. They stayed a respectful distance away, a foot or so between each other. "Loyal dogs and all."

They had heard, of course, they heard. The red on the Prince's cheeks was laughable as he sputtered for something to say.

"Morning, Gorgeous," Bucky said with a twinkle in his eye, leaning against the wall as he scanned the room to meet each of their stares. None of them could hold his steal gaze for longer than a few seconds before they found their plates incredibly interesting.

Alexander tried to gain the attention of his following back to him, loudly starting a story about his time in Dubi the week before, something about a tiger being invited to a pool party. Not a single person could get more than a word or two in after that, and the Prince went on a verbal tirade that made Athena consider slamming knives in her ears to block the noise. It surely would hurt less than listening to another story about some up-and-coming actress being put on her knees for the narcissist at the head of the table. She noticed how a few of his guests' faces flashed in disgust at some of his stories, and it made her relieved to know they were not all completely lost to his blasphemy.

Pieces fell together and with each passing second, the word Cult began to blare louder and louder in her head. It made sense to her, considering the utter devotion he was treated to by many of his so-called friends.

She was relieved when he clapped his hands and announced they would be going on an excursion on the island this morning. Horseback riding on the beach and then another night of drinking, their creativity knew no bounds. After watching a pack of 15 horses be brought from a barn she had no idea was on the property, Athena took watch from the Quin jet she had set to auto piolet above them during htier ride. Her men were inside with her, as well as Ralph, who had been insistent on doing his share of the watch.

"So how long have you been working for the Avengers?" Athena asked him from the captain's seat, her feet kicking up on the passenger seat beside her where Steve sat. Bucky stood behind her chair, braiding the strands back out of her face. She had started the task a moment ago and had her hands batted away so he could take over. Ralph sat on the ship's right side in one of the many chairs bolted to the wall, his computer resting on his knees.

"It will have been a year this March."

"Good for you!" She said with a smile that had him fighting for air. His heart missing a beat under her green gaze that undid him. The eyes of the two supersoldiers were on him and did not miss a single expression on the thin man's face. "I don't think I saw you around till this past week. Are you new to field missions?"

"y-yeah." This time, the two pairs of blue eyes glaring at him had him stuttering.

"Athena, we got a rider down; it seems like it's just poor equestrian skill, but better safe than sorry," Rebecca announced through the comms in each of their ears.

"On my way." she stood from her seat. Steve opened the hatch from his spot in the copilot's seat, maneuvering the Jet lower so her jump wasn't so heart-stoppingly high. It was more for his sake than hers. She walked off the end, not breaking her stride as she free-fell from the opening and onto the sandy beach below, sand bursting around her on impact. Much to her annoyance, some shot up into her face as she trudged the last 50 yards to the crowd, weaving through the horses that looked ready to bolt if they were forced to stand still any longer.

In the Jet, Steve and Bucky turned their attention from the scene below to the tech, who was squirming in his seat behind them. The lengthy blonde was tall, but he lacked any muscles to make his height even slightly intimidating; a swift breeze stood a chance at toppling him. His weasel-like face was pinched, and if they looked hard enough at his beady eyes, they would see the absolute detest burning in their depths.

"She's amazing, isn't she." It wasn't a question but a statement leaving Steves's mouth, sparing a quick glance to the beach that was farther out now that he had pulled up the Quin jet so that he didn't spook the horses. He could see Athena's blonde hair zig-zagging through the party before stopping at the man lying on the ground, Titus at his side. The giant of a man had drawn the short straw and was riding alongside the group on a Clydesdale that looked out of place on the sands.

"Our girl," Bucky agreed with a sigh, the dreamy look that always glazed his eyes when he spoke of Athena present. Steve swore he saw a tremor go down Ralphs's body at Bucky's possessive admission. "We really are a couple lucky bastards."

Bucky's innocent expression turned into glaring eyes that haunted men's nightmares, directed right at the tech. "She is kind, you know. It's probably the reason why you think you have any chance with our woman." Ralphs's eyes widened so much the whites outweighed the murky brown iris, his mouth gaping like a fish as if he could sputter out an excuse to save him from this situation. However, Bucky had no mercy to give anyone who thought they could separate him from Athena.

"I'm not kind, so I don't have any issue telling you, Ralph. She will always be ours, every morning, every night, every second till her heart stops beating. She will be ours. So when you think about her, I want you to start imagining us right there next to her because we're never leaving." The color in the other man's face had drained to white at the sincerity of the winter soldier's words because, at that moment, it was not Bucky speaking. Every time he said the word ours, Bucky noted the pained looks that Ralph did a poor job at hiding.

"Hey, lighten up, Buck," Steve said, breaking the tension with a half smile that did not reach his eyes. "I'm sure the kids just got a crush. Can't really blame him when she looks like that, can you."

The change in emotion had Ralph floundering on what to say or do, a state of confusion the two soldiers had so effortlessly put him in. His only response was to nod at Steve as if he had offered him a life preserver in the face of Bucky's wrath. A mumbled yes tumbled from his lips.

"Don't fucking agree with me," Steve's face dropped into a matching look of fury that had Ralph sputtering. "She's a mated woman; find someone else to fantasize about before I make it impossible for you to get another tech job in this country."

Ralph didn't know if he was saved by the comm crackling alive and Athena's voice floating in to request an extraction now that the issue was settled.

"On our way down," Steve replied with a tap of his finger to the small piece in his ear, his gaze settling on Ralph. "Don't make us have this conversation again, Ralph."

The threat hung in the air between them all, and the tension in the air only disappeared when they touched down, and the hatch was opened for Athena to enter. It was a minute later before she came prowling up the stairs with an annoyed look.

"What happened?" Bucky asked, his voice casual and light as if they only spoke of the weather while she was below on the beach. Ralph was fighting an oncoming panic attack as he stumbled past Athena and down the ramp back toward the compound, which was a half-mile walk back.

"Where is he going?" Athena's brows wrinkled confusedly as she watched the gangly man retreat away as if something was hot on his heels.

"Probably realized he wasn't needed in here, fours a crowd I hear." Bucky joked with a grin that made her own face mirror his, losing all the confusion and annoyance in one fell swoop. "so what happened down there?" He reiterated his question while she plopped back into her seat beside Steve.

"One of the guards fell off his horse and was too embarrassed to admit it was from his blatant disregard for proper horse handling. He tried to convince Titus that it must have been a terror attack before I got down there." She rubbed her brow as if that would erase the memory of the man's idiocy. "I swear I'm losing brain cells today."

"Just two more days, and then we're home," Bucky murmured behind her, leaning down to lay a kiss on her temple; she leaned into his lips with a sigh. It was all the reassurance he needed after verbally slaughtering Ralph. He knew his words were true. It took him a while to believe it after so many years of trauma, but he felt it. Felt the reciprocation of her feelings and knew that her love for them knew no bounds and had no expiration date.

           That night, after a long day of glorified babysitting, the trio wandered through the guest wing to their hall, ready for the day to be done. 

"We should go on a vacation," Steve said once they had returned to the room, Athena huffing herself onto the bed. Bucky walked to the end, taking each of her feet and pulling her boots off one by one.

"Yeah?" Bucky said with a contemplative look, watching as the blonde on the bed sat up with newfound energy.

"Yeah, why not," Steve said with a shrug, toeing off his boots before stripping each piece of his tactical uniform. Bucky was doing the same for Athena, who sat on the bed, turning for him so that he could reach each piece. "I think we all deserve it after the past month. Plus, we've never taken our girl on a trip; it feels wrong."

"Where would we go?" Athena asked excitedly, her toothy grin taking up most of her face. Raising her arms, she let her mate peel off the tank top she wore under her leather suit, each layer falling away under Buck's swift fingers.

"Wherever you want." Was his breathy reply against her stomach, he was now kneeling before her to peal off her leather pants. His hands glided over her thighs, massaging her legs as he made his way to her ass, squeezing it with a groan. Kissing her naval lower and lower till he was pulling the last of the material from her ankles, leaving her in her bra and underwear.

Tapping a finger against her chin, she made a face as if she were pondering one of life's greatest questions. "That's a lot of options; the world is kind of a big place."

Steve, now in only his boxers, sat on the bed, pulling her so that she was lying on top of him, chest to chest. Bucky now standing to strip himself as fast as he could.

"We can help you narrow it down. Do you want to go somewhere with beaches?"

Athena wrinkled her nose and shook her head, clearly having enough of the ocean and its beauty after their week-long stays at this brain rot of a compound.

"Fair enough." She could feel the laugh vibrate through her body from his chest. "How about the mountains?"

"Mhhh, maybe."

"Activities or relaxation?"

"Relaxing."

"Big or small city?"

"Preferably no city at all." She joked, but the two men were silent momentarily as they thought of a place that fit her wants.

"What are your thoughts on a lake?" Bucky asked, and a light bulb went off between Athena's mates when she said she wouldn't mind that kind of body of water.

"I bet Tony has a hidden cabin in the woods somewhere that he would be more than happy to loan us." Steve said, "We can fly in and spend a week there, just us three."

"That sounds wonderful." She beamed up at Steve, her chin resting on her hands that lay flat on his chest. The bed shook next to them, Bucky landing with an excited smile.

"You know what that means, Steve?" Bucky's voice was filled with mischief while he propped himself up on an elbow to lean on his side. His other hand came up to trace over the curves of Athena's back. Steve hummed, turning his eyes to his friend. "We can finally fulfill Thea's dream of being chased through the woods by her mates."

She only let her face be covered by her hands, giggling into Steves's chest as she was teased for the next half hour about her love of werewolf books, one of the few things the men had found in Athena's room while snooping. She was gone, and they were bored. It wasn't their fault. They were curious; she had told them it was fine when they asked to look around her space. She wasn't aware of how thorough of a look they would be having until she received photos of her book stash.

At first, the two men had sweetly asked if she had forgotten these books on her move and wanted them added to the community bookshelf in their living room. Upon opening one, Steve began to flip through each title, his cheeks reddening at some of the vulgarity that painted such descriptive pictures in his head. He returned the books where he found them as if they would burn him. Bucky, on the other hand, had stashed one of the titles for himself, saying it was for research purposes.

"I have to admit I was jealous when I read some of the things they said in those books. I thought about you reading them, imagining those fictional characters touching you in ways only Steve and I ever should. I got myself pretty worked up, thinking about you touching yourself to the thought of someone that wasn't Steve or me." Athena felt her chin lift. Her eyes locked with Bucky's. "but I realized it was just your way of asking for help. You have all these fantasies in your head and don't know how to ask us. Ain't that right, baby." Bucky cooed with a smirk, leaning in closer so he was nose-to-nose with her.

If Athena was honest, no, it wasn't that. She really just loved a good smutty novel that made her giggle and kick her feet. It wasn't the lack of something in her life but the enjoyment of something small like a trashy little read. She liked a good plot, too; the other titles that littered the shelf showed the vast variety she enjoyed. The only reason they were stashed in her closet was so that they were close by to her on those rare nights she slept alone in her bed.

But if they wanted to act out a scene from one of her favorites, she would be the last to stop them. So Athena gave a pitiful nod as if she had been waiting for them to notice her desperation. Their game of checkers turned into chess before her eyes.

Steve pretended to growl below her, and she broke into laughter.

In the room next to theirs, Ralph sat fuming after the utter humiliation the super soldiers had put him through. He wanted them dead. He wanted his soulmate now and would no longer slow down his plan. No, the moment he saw an opening, he would have her. Another masculine groan floated through the wall, and he pressed the pillows closer to his ears. The two men doing their best to drown out their soulmate and make sure the eavesdropper next door got an earful of how good she was making them feel.

It made Ralph think twice about standing on the balcony that night to watch Athena smoke a joint, the smell of smoke wafting into his open door. His back leaned against the wall that blocked him from view as he listened to the trio plan a trip he would do his absolute best to ruin.

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