Jet Pack Blues

Steve straightened and flipped the file shut. “You’ll be fine without your wings, Sam. I have no doubt in your ground abilities as well as your sky ones.” He chuckled, shaking his head. 

 “I’m sure I’ll cope just fine, but I have this brand new piece of tech and I can’t even break it out until the next bad guy decides to come into town. Kind of a bummer.”

It was nearly impossible but Captain Carol Danvers had done it and now Steve wanted to know how. 

“Do this mission and then get to her.” Steve nodded. He sat and leant back in his seat. “Have you received your mission parameters yet?” He asked, wondering who Sam would be working with. It was going to be odd not working with his friend but working with Jennifer would be interesting too. He was interested to see what the She Hulk could do in the field. 

Hydra were amazing at mind games. Hell, they could turn a person inside out and make them forget who they were. Steve didn’t want that for a woman who’s powers were potentially greater than his own. 

“Well what happened after the explosion is what I want you to find out. Nat’s resources are better used elsewhere. I think I need you there undercover.” He rubbed his chin. An idea formed in his mind. 

Steve shoulda known Sam wouldn’t miss a beat.

“Ms Walters” He said firmly “Is a lawyer working with mutants and SHIELD agents a like. She’s a bit… special herself.” He quirked a brow and tried not to think about her. He cleared his throat. “I have Iris on paper duty, checking over people to look at and save.” He shook his head.

“There’s a safehouse about 40 minutes from the hospital Carol is at. If you need to, take her there. If not, come right back to New York. The woman is a special case… I actually don’t want to think about what Hydra will want with her.” He grimaced, shaking his head.

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

“Sooner the better. As far as I know she’s still in a coma but if I can have someone posted at her bedside the better it will be. Keep an eye on Hydra.” He rubbed his chin. “You ever done undercover work, Sam?”

“See with the inflection and the tone of voice, you’ve been found out, my friend. There is no hiding from me,” he leaned back, laughing a bit.  “You did not just call the girl you hooked up with ‘special’. Stop trying to hide stuff from me. I can see through you. And also I let you hide out in my house when people were trying to kill you. You owe me.” he was of course mostly joking.

“I can do that.” He nodded, already making a mental list for everything he’d need to pack. “If anything I’ll stay at the house. Wait for her to be transportable. Then bring her back.”

“So just Wilson? Or would you prefer Sam?” Kate asked after shaking his hand. She walked towards the empty seat across from him and pulled the chair before sitting down. She reached for a napkin to make a sort of coaster for her smoothie, “sorry, I just hate leaving rings behind…” she let out a small laugh then took a sip of her drink and placed it down on the table. She was ecstatic to get to meet so many new people, so many cool new people, back when she was part of the young avengers they would all be so thrilled to bump into the superheroes. It took Kate some years to figure out that the best part should’ve been listening to their advice and not wonder at their costumes or weapons.

“I saw you on TV…” she confessed, “the wings were impressive” she told him with a smile. There wasn’t coverage all around the action, but some of the news stations had managed to get impressive shots, and Sam’s wings definitely had caught Kate’s attention. “Good” Kate said after he told her he wasn’t SHIELD, “I mean good because here I was talking about that day, I can’t imagine what that must have been like” your friends turning on you, she thought. “So do you have any superpowers or are you just like me?” she smiled before taking another sip of her smoothie.

“Sam.” he smiled, leaning back a bit and drumming his fingers on the table. “Sam works just fine,” He realized now in his excitement for the new wings, he’d forgotten a drink of his own. Maybe even a little snack.  “I’ll be right back, sweetheart. Got a little worked up over my new setup here, forgot to grab a pick me up.” He took the case with him of course, not wanting anything at all to happen to it. Tony had mentioned something about certain death if he ruined them too soon. 

Coffee and a muffin in hand he returned, setting everything back down before taking a careful sip.  “The wings were really nice, got ruined pretty early on, but nice none the less. Hopefully this time around I’ll get more use out of these.” he patted the case again before picking a bit at his muffin.  “It was a pretty scary thing for everyone, SHIELD or not. I got lucky compared to a lot of people. Got grounded pretty early on. Really only had to face off with one Hydra agent. Jumped out a window.” He felt awful for people who had their friends turn on them just like that. He felt awful for Steve.

“Right. Before Hydra… which is why I think we need to get to Carol Danvers asap. SHIELD was helping the military with their investigations surrounding the explosions… however if that was Hydra-Shield they may know something we don’t.” He tapped Carol’s file and took a seat. “I can give it to Nat or you can take it…” He held up the file. “You gotta promise me not to hit on her straight off the bat though.. at least get her back to New York to turn on the charm.” He grinned, clearly teasing his friend. 

“You were there right? With Captain Rogers…” she asked hoping she wasn’t being too blunt, “at the helicarriers… when it… when it happened?” they had all being brought together after SHIELD had fallen, and yet not many ever talked about it. But as Kate watched the news her mind had been plagued with questions, questions she never dreamed she would ever get a chance to ask. 

“He’s not.” He went back to Bucky for a minute before he sighed. “But he’s not all there either. Memories are fragments and fleeting. Sometimes he’s almost back and then…” Steve sighed, shaking his head. “We’ll figure it out I guess. One small step at a time.” 

“It’s just gonna take some time. Everyone has their own adjustment time, others take longer. Clearly he’s at a disadvantage with the whole mind wiping thing; but deep down he’s in there. Just gotta work with him as best we can. Show him that its not his fault, he’s still wanted and accepted. You’re still there and you still care, he just needs a support system,” It was just like getting back from a tour. Though this time it was a bit more serious. But the general idea was very much the same. 

And we are not kids anymore, Kate thought every time she felt the stares. 

She wasn’t one to have trouble making friends, although here she knew that it was going to be difficult. Some part of that was that most of them were already friends, or knew each other, the other was them having being betrayed by who they considered friends. It must have been difficult, finding out that someone who you would trust with your life is someone who would not hesitate to end it. If it had happened to her, she wasn’t sure she would’ve survived it. 

But there was no time for that now, they had a job to do. To protect people, to keep the world safe. It was for that very reason that Kate had decided to become a hero, she was in the big leagues now. And she had to be the best version of herself if she truly wanted to be of use. For someone with no powers running alongside gods and super soldiers, being the best was the only option. She had just finished a training session, as many weapons as she could practice with, and another perfect score with the bow and arrow. She had done a good job, she just needed to continue pushing herself, she had worked hard and she truly believed she deserved a smoothie.

Wait, Stark? “Oh, he owns this tower right?” The red-head laughed. “I still haven’t met this man, even though he’s letting me and some other mutants stay here.”

Steve dropped his gaze. “He has all the time in the world. I’m keeping him in the loop with everything and hoping to every god there is that he’s not HYDRA in disguise.” It hurt him that the thought had crossed his mind but he had to be wary. Hydra seemed to be everywhere these days. He couldn’t take the risk that Bucky was still working for Hydra. 

“He saved you, he can’t be all...” He couldn’t say ‘that bad’ because he’d also beaten the living shit out of Steve. “Gone.” he settled on the word comfortably. Sam wasn’t a hundred percent sure on what had happened, the relationship that was lost; but you could tell it was a deep wound that wouldn’t heal quite right for a long time. If ever. 

Steve walked back to his desk and tried to smile. “I know. He’s never gonna be the best friend I had though but it’s ok. I just want him to be safe and well.” Too much had changed between him and Bucky for him to even hope that they could be where they’d once been… and now he had a whole plethora of new friends like Sam and Nat and even Tony that Bucky - James - was going to have to fit into. 

“He’s still your buddy, just... A different version. I’m sure once his shit gets worked out and what not he’ll be more open to palling around.” Sam said, flipping through some files again. “Until just be open to him. Take it as it comes.” 

“No, no you make a good point. If she’s a good as her file says she is we really need to go and get her ASAP.” He glanced at Sam. “You ever met the woman? Maybe a friendly face would help?” Although Natasha was back now. Maybe a woman’s touch would be best?

“Yeah I need to send someone who’d mind can’t be tangled with…” He picked up another list. “Which right now leaves me and maybe Natasha… maybe. I have to check with her.” He sighed and shook his head. 

“Nat may be best. Or someone else with... Brain talents.” he shrugged. All he could do was zip around, make some nice plans when given the chance. Someone with a mutation that had to do with the mind would certainly be a plus for that scenario.

The woman was still in awe that they were wings when he introduced himself. She decided that it wasn’t totally out of sorts to go sit down, but she had made sure she wasn’t sitting too close. Jean was close enough to see the wings. “Jean Grey, and thanks, you too.”