White. That was all Steve Rogers could see when he opened his eyes. Pure, sickly, blinding white.
Slowly he remembered other important things. The snow. The storm. Thor. Bruce. Nat. Clint. Tony.
"Tony", he gasped, sitting up quickly, ignoring the slight dizziness.
He got up on shaky legs and stumbled upright. Disentangling himself from the heavy cloth of the parachute, he took stock of his injuries.
Sprained left wrist due to a particularly forceful wrench of the parachute. The cold had kept the swelling down.
He was fine. The others? To be determined.
Steve tried to see past the thickening blizzard.
"Tooonnnyyy", he yelled, his voice swirling away into the cold whiteness.
Trudging along as carefully and as fast as he could, he set off in a random direction, hoping to reunite with his teammates ... family.
Half an hour earlier :
"Tony, get out of the suit. We have to get you checked up."
"I told you, Steve. I'm fine. Just a couple of scratches. It was hardly a battle fit for us. Too dull. Everybody's scratched, but that's where the injuries end."
"Tony, Steve's right. Besides, only you are capable of hiding your injuries. Everyone else don't have a metal suit covering them. Look, you don't have to go to the S.H.I.E.L.D medics if you let me look at you."
"Brucey ... you can check me out when we're home then, can't you?"
"Stark, we know the moment you get out of the quinjet, you'll go off to your lab to build another suit or upgrade J.A.R.V.I.S or install a mini bar in your Porsche or something. So get out of the damn suit or I'll be repeating what I did to Barton here. Only ... more forcefully."
"Hey! How come ironass gets a warning before you kachow him. I wasn't even scratched and yet you give me not even a 'watch out Clint, I'm going to kick you in the ... ' "
"Man of Iron. Do you require a hand in removing your suit of Iron, so you shall be tended by the Captain of America and the good green doctor ?"
"Erm ... Um, I ... thanks Thor. But I'll take it off myself. New suit. Wouldn't want to destroy it."
"There that wasn't so hard, was it?"
"Ouch. Watch it."
"Sorry. I thought you said it was a couple of scratches."
"It is a couple of ... all right, fine. Two broken ribs, sprained ankle and concussion... Don't look at me like that Steve. Ok, fine. I'm sorry. Satisfied?"
"As long as I'm able to kiss you better."
"Um, Steve. I think I have a lot of injuries. Mostly down in my ... "
"Ugh, guys. Could you please get a room. There are healthy people here. Wouldn't want to make them puke, would you?"
"Bruce Banner, how dare you make Steve blush? Only I'm allowed to do that. Anyway I don't need to get a room. I am all in for public make out sessions as long as it is with Steve."
"Guys, I think you should buckle up. There's ..."
"Nat, I can't gain control..."
"Please tell me this is just turbulence."
"No, I don't think so. We can't even land the damn thing."
"What's the matter? Tony, grab my arm..."
"Bruce, calm down. We don't want big green in here."
"Clint, we're gonna crash. Put her on autopilot. J.A.R.V.I.S will take care of it."
"Lady Natasha. Grab my hand."
"Clint, hold on. Calm Bruce down."
"Avengers, you have to jump. The quinjet's engines are taking on too much pressure. I can't keep it in the air for long. Grab the parachutes at the back."
"J, how long do we have?"
"At the best, you have perhaps two minutes and twelve seconds before the jet crashes."
"Shit..."
"There. Grab those chutes."
"Here, catch. Steve, pass this to Nat."
"Thor. Here. Pull that long dangling thingy after you jump."
"Bruce, you ok? Good. Now go."
"No. Wait. Hold hands. We're doing this together."
"On three. One ... two ... three ... JUMP."
Now :
It couldn't have been more than a quarter of an hour when he saw a striking contrast of black against the snow.
Quickening his steps he approached the shape. To his utter relief he saw that it was Thor walking with incredible ease, helping forward a stumbling Bruce and Natasha.
"Thor", he yelled, struggling along with a new burst of speed.
"Steven", Thor's booming voice clear even over the howling blizzard.
As soon as he was near enough, he gave the three a quick once over.
Injuries :
Thor - Nil. Not surprising seeing that he was a God.
Bruce - Nil. Seeing that his counterpart was a green rage monster.
Natasha - Nil. Seeing that she was a master assassin and superspy.
They had landed correctly, it would seem.
"You guys okay?", confirmed Steve.
"Yeah", Bruce said, panting.
Natasha nodded and rubbed her leather gloves hands together and placed them over her face in an effort to warm it.
"Not cold much?", Steve asked in surprise.
"The other guy keeps me warm. He also keeps me cool when it's too hot. Extreme climates can bring him out." Bruce shrugged.
"But doesn't he want to come out?" Steve asked, confused.
"Not all the time. We've reached a mutual understanding. He only comes out when we both are angry and he really, really wants to Smash."
Steve nodded and turned to Natasha.
"What about you?"
"Stark - designed body suit. Kind of a poikilothermic outer skin. Only my face is cold 'cause it's exposed", Nat said gesturing to her attire.
Steve nodded. He didn't even have to ask Thor.
Steve himself was kept warm by the super serum. It was the heavy wind they had to be concerned about. They could hardly walk.
Well, Thor could. And Steve, if he put forth his best effort.
As for Bruce and Natasha, Thor's hands around their arms were the only reason they were walking and not being blown away.
"We have to search for Tony and Clint. And if we are lucky, we may even find some kind of shelter." Steve held out his hand for Bruce to hold, so that Thor could hold Natasha more firmly. They formed a sort of a chain with Steve and Thor at the two ends, helping to ground the other two.
It was slow progress, but they managed to keep going, occasionally calling out to Tony or Clint in the hopes of hearing an answer.
And they did.
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Ta,
Laila.