"Now all we need is to get prepped and ready. We'll review the plan again tonight, and then we'll put it in motion tomorrow, alright?" Steve said, stretching his arms above his head.
It was well into the morning; the dew on the grass had already dried, and the sun was shining innocently down upon the team, warming up the air around them.
They had been discussing how they were going to take down the base, and had finally come up with a definite plan, but they needed to get a few things straight before Kate went back to the base the next day.
Steve looked around at the team, shaking his head. Tony was fast asleep with his head on the table, while Pietro was trying to see how deep of a sleep he was in by poking his face every now and then, Natasha and Clint looking on with amused expressions, while Kate was just shaking her head.
"Hey!" barked Steve.
Tony snapped up immediately, jumping straight into Pietro's hand, which was poised to poke him on the forehead. Natasha and Clint started sniggering, while Pietro looked away as if he hadn't done anything, as Tony rubbed his head, a cross look on his face.
"We need to get this done fast. The more kids this base trains, the more dangerous it becomes. Tony, drink some coffee or something. Pietro, stop irritating Tony. Natasha and Clint, stop encouraging him. Now come on, we've got work to do."
They all stood up, and slowly shuffled back into the house, Pietro ignoring the looks he was getting from the annoyed billionaire.
After a quick breakfast, everyone was ready to move out. They were going to look at the quinjet first, then to map out the path they would take from the base back to the hanger so that everyone would be familiar with the surrounding area.
They all set out, dressed in civilian clothes, acting like they were taking a nice, casual walk in the neighborhood. It wasn't as peaceful as it sounds.
Pietro was irritated because he couldn't sprint ahead and check things out, and Clint and Tony were locked in a heated battle about whether Tony's targeting system or Clint himself was more accurate, while Steve was focusing all his attention on not punching both of them to make them stop bickering. Natasha stalked behind them, glancing around at the houses every now and then, positive someone would overhear them and they'd be done for. Kate walked in front, trying to keep her cool. She wasn't used to this much talking and arguing, and it was getting under her skin. She didn't understand how a team that worked so well together could bicker this much.
After a few blocks, Pietro slipped up to the front, and walked casually beside Kate, earning a quizzical glare.
"What?" he asked. "Can I not walk beside you?"
Kate narrowed her eyes at him, but didn't say anything.
"Pietro, don't you dare think about running ahead!" came Natasha's voice from the back. Pietro turned around and made a face.
"Can I not walk up front without getting verbally attacked? Come on!" He shook his head in pretend disdain, while Natasha just rolled her eyes.
"She's right though. If you sprint ahead, I'll take you out. I'm not about to let you ruin this cover."
Pietro ran his eyes over Kate, studying her, sizing her up for the first time. He figured she was just joking, but something about her tone made him unsure.
"You wouldn't be able to touch me," he replied, hoping he sounded like he was somewhat joking.
"You willing to take that bet? You haven't seen how good I am with a knife," Kate shot back, her tone ice cold.
Pietro was immediately defensive, but with one glance in her eyes he saw just a glint of playfulness for a split second, which made him smile. Kate gave a ghost of a grin, then turned around to the group. Tony and Clint were still bickering.
"Hey! Married couple! We're taking a detour. This way."
Kate turned back around, then took a sharp right off the road and into the woods, with Pietro following close behind. Next went Steve, with a now silent Tony and Clint, and then finally Natasha, who took one last glance around before fading into the dark brush.
After the first wall of bushes and other small plants, there was a clearing, with a barely visible path that led on, winding around the trees.
"Stay close," Kate warned. "It may not seem like it, but it's pretty easy to get lost in here. Everything looks the same."
"How far to the hanger?" Steve asked, shoving Tony in front of him and Clint behind him so that they couldn't start up their argument again.
"Not far. Few hundred yards. It'll be the next clearing we walk into. It's back far enough so that any kid who was in these woods wouldn't find it immediately. The people who live around here know there's an old hanger around here, but they don't know about the quinjet. S.H.I.E.L.D. made sure of that."
Steve raised an eyebrow at that, but just shook it off, keeping in mind that he'll know what she's talking about soon enough.
They started off on their trek, weaving in and out of trees, across a couple of creeks and streams, careful not to trip over any rocks or roots. After a while, the trees began to thin, and sure enough, as they stepped out into the sunshine, Steve saw a large building, slightly run down, with one side open to a weed infested runway.
Pietro took one glance around, gave a half sneer, then took off running, turning into nothing but a blue blur, circling around and around the clearing.
"Showoff," muttered Clint.
"This way," signaled Kate, ignoring Pietro's antics, leading the group on to the hanger.
Inside, there was a few broken plastic chairs, broken bottles and other debris, and a haystack with a printed out target tacked to it that was absolutely ripped to pieces. A single arrow stuck out of it, directly where the center used to be.
"You shoot a bow?" Steve asked, while Clint tried to suppress a smile; he knew exactly what was in the black bag now.
"A little," Kate shrugged.
"Great. There are two bird brains now. Where's the quinjet?" Tony asked, wiping the sweat off his forehead.
Kate reached to the side of the wall, and opened up a control box, pressed a sequence of buttons, then turned and watched as the ground on the far side of the hanger began to open. Pietro sprinted over, wondering what the heck was going on, and watched in surprise as the quinjet rose up from the ground.
After a quick look around the jet, Steve ran over the part of the plan with the quinjet, while Kate taught everyone the sequence to raise the jet.
Within the next hour, they were back at the safe house, Pietro pleased that he got to run around for while, Steve more confident about the plan, Tony sweaty and tired, and Clint excited about the idea that his sister was a bow master like himself.
Clouds were rolling in across the horizon, making it dark outside, even though it wasn't too late in the afternoon. They all sat around a table inside, mapping out a path, and straightening any creases in the plan. After a while, they each broke off, individually getting ready for their role in the plan, getting everything situated for the next day.
After a makeshift dinner, they went through the whole house, deciding what they needed and what they could leave behind, not planning to return if everything went well.
"Alright team, let's get some rest. We've got a big day tomorrow. We'll need to be at our best," Steve said as he set down his bag next to everyone else's on the table. Everything they were going to take with them was laid before them, ready for the next day. They all stood around the table for a few seconds, listening to the start of a rainstorm outside, then broke off, getting ready for what was sure to be an uneasy night's rest.
Tony settled into his cot, drawing the covers up around him as a chill ran through the house. Natasha was curled up in a ball in the middle of her cot, indifferent to the damp weather. Steve was unaffected as well, except for a little piece in the back of his mind that reminded him why he could tolerate cold so well now. Pietro lay sprawled out on the bed again, but allowed a blanket to cover him.
Clint and Kate sat on their respective sleeping bags, Kate waiting, because she knew Clint had something to say. Eventually he just smiled, and randomly threw his small pocket knife at Kate, which she caught without blinking an eye, which made Clint's smile grow.
"You got it too."
Kate raised an eyebrow. "Got what?"
"Got whatever gene it is that makes us able to do what we do. Makes us able to see the center of a target as clear as day from yards away. Back at the hanger, you weren't shooting at that haystack from a few feet away. You were shooting at it from the edge of the clearing yards away. I could tell by the angle of the arrow."
Kate just shrugged, and became interested in straightening out her blankets. Clint leaned over and grabbed the black case that was resting beside Kate's sleeping bag.
"Hey!" Kate exclaimed, and made a grab for the case, but it was too late. Clint opened it up, and gave a low whistle as he saw what was inside. It was a sleek, shiny black recurve bow, made of one solid piece of strong wood. There was also a quiver of multiple arrows, all solid black except for one of the fletchings on each which was purple.
"Where did you get this?" Clint asked in awe.
"The tech department put it together for me. Fury decided I work best with a bow, so he had one made," Kate replied, reaching over and grabbing the case back.
Clint grinned. "He did the same for me. It probably scared him half to death thinking that there was two of me, but I bet you're a lot more cooperative than I was when I started out."
"Based on some of the stories I've heard, you're not wrong," grinned Kate.
"Hey," Clint warned, pretending like he offended. Kate just smiled and shrugged.
"When this is all over, you should come back with me to Avengers tower. I'd like to see how good you really are."
"We'll see, Fury might need me somewhere else," said Kate, hesitant.
"Forget Fury. I'd like to spend some time with my sister," grumbled Clint.
"We'll see. Go to sleep Barton. Tomorrow is going to be a long day."
Kate rolled over, turning her back to her brother, and pretended to fall asleep. She didn't want to say how uncomfortable she the whole team, and how ever glance at her brother made her think of her past, and why she had left everything behind.
She wasn't sure when she had fallen asleep, but Kate woke up immediately when a large crack of thunder sounded right over her head. She sat up, and ran a hand across her hair, checking her surroundings, making sure everything was okay.
As far as she could tell, no one else was awake, but movement in front of her drew her attention.
Outlined by the nearly constant lightning, Kate could see Pietro, visibly shaking, occasionally lashing out at the air in front of him, sweat glistening across his forehead.
"Hey! Maximoff! Wake up!"
Kate immediately got over and knelled by the futon, trying to shake the speedster awake. As Pietro gained consciousness, he sent a fist flying directly towards Kate's face, but she deflected it, then twisted his arm, and didn't let go until he gave a cry of surprise.
Pietro sat up, shaking his head, his hair disheveled, parts of it matted down with sweat. His eyes were bright with fear, reflecting the lightning from outside.
"Sorry," he mumbled, realizing what had happened, and what he had done.
"Don't. Don't apologize. You don't need to. It's okay. We'll all get nightmares," reassured Kate, returning to her sleeping bag, settling back in under the blankets.
Pietro lay awake for a while after that, thinking. It was weird to him, having someone wake him due to his nightmares. Wanda had never done that because she was usually trapped in her own mind, and the rest of the Avengers were the same way, he had assumed.
He didn't tell anyone, but that was why he ran so much. He wanted to be as tired as possible before we went to sleep so that he might be able to sleep through the nightmares. It usually worked, but sometimes he just couldn't prevent them.
After a while, he sat up, and glanced over at Kate, wondering about her, and what her nightmares were, but with a fresh crack of thunder, he shook his head, then lay back down, trying to clear his mind, hoping he had had his fill of nightmares for the night.
