TERRAN SMILED AS HE FINISHED HIS STORY, LOOKING AT THE FACES OF THE FOUR MEN LOOKING BACK AT HIM. Of course, he focused in on Nicky, who was gawking at him from where he was curled up beside Sam Wilson who just had his eyebrows raised, as if he couldn't believe all he had heard, the two glancing towards Rhett and Steve who were just as shocked, their shoulders pressed together as they tried to squeeze onto the same love seat.

Terran himself was just sprawled out on the couch, self-satisfied and happy, though he had to admit he had cried midway through telling the end of the story, what with having to go into explicit detail exactly why he hadn't gone to Nicky, as well as remembering what it was like to watch him and Rhett find the complex empty.

"So what you're telling me," Nicky began, taking a steadying breath, "Is that you decided, because I was sounding happier on the phone, I would be better off living without you?"

Terran pointed sharply towards him. "As a psychologist, you know damn well it is not that simple, so take that back, you little shit, I did it because I love you."

Nicky rolled his eyes, mocking him softly, but he was smiling and his head was bowed, and he had cried every time his name was mentioned, so it was clear that he knew. Rhett had been close to tears as well, but had managed to keep himself together, though from the red marks on Steve's hand, it was clear that it had been a difficult feat.

"So do you know where Natasha is now, I thought she was with Clint and the Wonder Twins," Sam asked, glancing towards Steve who ran a hand over his beard, humming softly.

"We should probably get back in contact, I don't like the idea of things going on while we're just lying low, we could do things off the grid, get in contact with T'Challa in Wakanda," Steve said, and Terran just looked towards Rhett and Nicky, both of whom were frowning at the thought of their boyfriends going back into the fray, especially now that they were war criminals.

But then the attention was back at him to hear what he had to say, and he shook his head at the initial question, sighing softly. "No, I don't know where Nat is right now. Whenever people went to check up on Clint and the family, she had to run and I had to hide to make sure they didn't know I was there."

Steve and Sam sighed, sharing a look, and Terran tried not to read too far into it, but he remembered all the stories about the way the team had worked before the split, and how difficult it was for them afterwards, and it was a shock at how things had begun to patch up so quickly, what with Sam and Rhodey going back to meeting up every so often and Tony having helped Sam and Steve get settled back in.

It was nice to see that they had landed on their feet, and Terran found his attention landing back onto the two men he had wanted to so badly to be okay. They weren't great, but they were okay, they were getting better, and that was all he could ask for now.

He sighed, leaning forward and bracing his elbows against his thighs, dropping his head in his hands. He had missed so much, and he was there now and had been caught up, but it was still hard for him to come to terms with the fact that, for all the years he had been gone, Nicky hadn't been as great as he should have been.

"Terran," the young man said, and Terran felt his heart twist at the sound of Nicky's voice, at the voice in his head reminding him that he wasn't the same little teenager anymore.

He looked up to see Nicky frowning. "Are you okay?"

Terran realized then that he was crying and he nodded, wiping away the tears and sniffing. "Yeah, I'm just...this got me emotional, kiddo, I'm fine."

"We know the complex is okay, but we're gonna find them," Rhett said, catching his attention, "We're not rushed now, but we're not gonna stop. Besides, we can have more of an idea of what's going on."

Terran nodded, struggling to find a smile to give him, and whatever he had procured seemed to fall short if the expressions he received back were any indication. He sighed, dropping his head, wondering if telling the story was such a good idea.

Then there was a knock on the door.

Nicky and Rhett both stood, sharing a look before raising their hands to play a quick game of rock-paper-scissors, Rhett winning and triumphantly dropping down onto Steve's lap, his boyfriend rolling his eyes fondly as he wrapped an arm around his waist.

Terran turned around to watch Nicky head towards the door, the man reaching out towards the series of padlocks that hadn't been locked since the previous December, less out of habit and more out of memory, before unlocking the two locks that they kept standard, opening the door slightly to see who was there.

"Oh my God!"

Then everyone jumped to their feet, on edge to see who could possibly be at the door that could surprise Nicky that much-the last time he had been surprised that much by a person, they had wound up being his boyfriend-and Terran had a feeling he was going to have to punch someone today.

But then the door swung open and all bets were off.

Natasha smirked as she stepped into the loft, looking towards Nicky who seemed ready to start bowing at any moment, then towards Steve and Sam who were smiling at her the way old friends did, grazing over Rhett with interest before allowing her attention to fall onto her boyfriend who looked ready to scoop her up into a hug at any second.

"What did I miss?"

- TERRAN SWEETS WILL RETURN -