Hey everybody, I can't believe it! I actually updated a story of mine quickly! Thank you Jase0901 and pearlfoot for following and favoriting!

This chapter was written by Rasi10 and edited by me, Sage Nicholson.

The long journey to Afghanistan was tense. Nobody talked much apart from Tony and Clint, who were engaging in small talk. Occasionally they tried to bring the other 3 into their conversation, but Steve was mopping around and Thor just exuded melancholia, far removed from his usual, talkative, cheery self. Bruce spent the entire plane ride trying to sleep, but he could never quite relax. Flying, he said, made him nervous.

Soon, they had reached Afghanistan and they were sent to the main camp along with their Sergeant for their first ever tour. Naturally, they were nervous. Thor and Steve put aside whatever their personal issues were to temporarily concentrate on Coulson's briefing. Basically, this mountainous region was pretty quiet. The camp they were staying at was large, and while everyone should be prepared for combat, this was an easy assignment and they shouldn't worry too much.

The soldiers from the other squads, who'd been stationed there much longer, didn't think so. "There is this group, likes to call itself the Ten Rings. They're very vicious, like guerrilla warriors, you know, staying hidden and known for catching others unaware. Most of the time, they are only armed with guns but the villages and outposts they attack are completely abandoned and burned to the ground by the time we arrive. These guys hang out in the mountains just a few klicks away, where we can't find them. They haven't got any artillery but they fight real dirty." said Hank, a grizzled older vet.

"Yeah. There are rumors last scouting group, the 107th, has unfortunately fallen into their hands. I sure hope not, because whoever is captured, never returns. Too bad. They were pretty cheerful and friendly, and in this dull place any levity is welcome." another soldier, Peter, added. Steve paled and excused himself.

When he didn't show up at lunch, the rest of the unit went to look for him. They found him in the tent, eyes red from crying. "What happened Steve? What's eating you up?" Bruce asked softly. "Bucky was part of the 107th. And now I hear he's been captured, and he may never come back..." Steve trailed off, sobbing.

"Don't worry Steve, we will get him back. I promise you that. Now that we're all here, we can fix this. We will bring him back to you so that you can profess your love to him." Tony said, trying to get a smile out of him and succeeded when he got out a watery smile out of him.

"We're going to kick those ***holes butts and bring back Bucky, you hear me Steve?" Clint asked. Steve nodded and pulled him into a grateful hug. The others soon followed suit. They were a team. A family. They'd be there for each other.

A week after Steve's breakdown, Thor, who has been uncharacteristically quiet and grim, accidentally left a letter out which Tony happens to notice in the passing. Curious as to who had left open the letter, he sat down to identify whose it was so that no one else would chance upon it. But curiosity soon came over him and he read the whole letter till the end, even though he felt he was invading Thor's privacy.

Dear Helen,

We all need your help desperately as it is a crucial time. Everything over here is going to the drains after mom died. Father's health has gotten worse and is not coping as well as we hoped. Lucas... he is a different story. He has become moody and distant and gets into more fights than ever before. Teachers say that he has been skipping classes and suspects that he has fallen into the bad crowd and I can't take care of everything at home as I've been deported. We need you Helen.

He decided to keep silent about his new discovery but at the same time, he tried to get Thor to share something about what is troubling him, even though there was little to no success. Tony still tried to be there for Thor, just sitting beside him whenever he felt very low and Thor slowly started to open up about his problems, like how his mother had passed away recently and his father was sick but he never went into detail. Even though it was vague, Tony considered it a win, as after venting to Tony Thor as always a little less moody.

The team got more nervous as reports of actual action in surrounding camps grew more and more frequent. They were novices right now and all the stories they had heard from the seniors scared them a lot, but they tried to cover it up by cracking jokes and pulling pranks, just keeping distracted and avoiding the dread of anticipation.

But it all went downhill at the end of week two. The team, along with Coulson were doing patrol at camp while some of the more experienced units were out scouting. Suddenly, there were sounds of shouting and gunfire, startling those inside the base. They ran in all directions to get to their weapons.

"Enemy jeeps are coming sir! They've got light artillary!" Clint shouted out to Coulson. "Alright people! Group up right now! Pietro, Drax, Ivan, Clint, Thor and Tony, try to take down how many ever soldiers you can. Steve and Bruce, you are on standby, help wherever you can. Get moving!" Coulson shouted over the gunfire.

"Tony move out of the way!" Clint shouted as he saw a bomb hurled towards the place Tony was standing, but it was too late. By the time Clint had noticed the bomb thrown at the camp, just near the place Tony was, it was near to blast and Tony was directly hit by the impact and the shrapnel from the bomb hit him head on.

"Shit!" Tony muttered as the searing pain in his chest spread throughout his body. He could hear someone calling him but he felt himself slowly fading out to everything around him and then, all he could see was black.

Dun dun dun! Cliffhanger! My favorite way of ending chapters!