"Do you even know how to drive this thing?" the fiery teenage co-pilot asked with more than a little annoyance in her voice.
"Normally, I'd lie and say yes, but considering the fact that I almost flew us into that building, I'm gonna assume you know," he said, focused on not crashing. The ear piercing alarms weren't helping.
"So, I'm gonna assume you're not a pilot?" she asked. She looked like she wanted to rip those controls from his hands and fly the thing herself. "Or not a good one?" He wondered where the kid learned to speak like that. Fury, probably.
"Nope. Not at all," he answered, narrowly avoiding another building. She stifled a sigh. "Look, if you think you can do a better job, please, be my guest." She stood, moved him out of the seat, took it herself, and leveled out the ship.
She stabilized it, shut off the alarms, and took the ship into the clouds. The HYDRA attack jets followed her up. As he took the seat, he observed her. The way she gripped the controls - tight, but not white knuckle; the grip of an experienced pilot. Her forward leaning posture - ready to direct the Quinjet wherever she wanted. Her gleaming eyes - the thrill easy to see.
This girl was a born pilot, and she knew it.
They came out above the clouds, and she primed the weapons. When the HYDRA jets came up, they were toast before they even had a chance to shoot. She fired three times per jet. Once at the engine, once at each wing. Alone, the shots would be enough to take the jet down without killing the pilot. Together, they doomed the craft to oblivion.
10 jets downed in 3 minutes. She glided the Quinjet down, back towards the dock where the Helicarrier was. The landing was smooth, every movement committed to memory and recited as easily as remembering and saying one's name.
She lowered the boarding ramp and then spoke. "Piece of cake."
He was thoroughly impressed. That didn't happen often. It took a lot to impress Tony Stark. "What's your name?" he asked, wanting to dig up more on this girl. She stood and started to walk off. He was worried she wouldn't answer.
"Nicole Skylar. Thanks for letting me fly." With that, the SHIELD agent was gone, headed toward her next mission. He committed the name to memory. Nicole Skylar, he thought. I'll remember that.