White Tiger drove quickly away from the building, taking a roundabout route to get back to the jets so that nobody could trail us back and ambush us. We bounced down dirt roads and trails, but the car seemed to be able to take it. Tiger handled it well too, since she was the best driver out of all of us. The terrain didn't phase us, though the three of us in the back seat were exchanging nervous stares. Every large bump sent Power Man's head into the ceiling and he'd give Nova and I a look of annoyance. We both replied with sympathetic shrugs as we all hoped for the ride to be over.
On the ride though, I noticed something strange. Fynn still laid unconscious across our laps, his head resting on my door and his feet on Power Man's. But on my legs, instead of feeling a person's back, there seemed to be a bundle of something underneath his old ragged sweatshirt. Of course, I couldn't shift him too easily, so I just sat still and made sure he didn't fall onto the floor.
Soon, White Tiger brought the car to a stop in front of our jets and she and Iron Fist jumped out of the front seat and went to get the jets running. Power Man and I carefully slid out from underneath Fynn and out of the car. Nova scooted slowly from the car, Fynn still on his lap. He let Fynn rest against the seats for a moment so he could stand up, then he lifted the kid out of the car. The three of us headed to the jets quickly, just in case someone had manage to trail us through Tiger's twirly straw of a route.
"Jets are ready! Let's go!" Power Man alerted us before ducking into his own vehicle.
"Nova, take Fynn. I'll let Fury know how it went." I instructed before web-slinging my way to my jet.
I ran up the ramp to the plane, hitting the button that raised it behind me. I then headed into the cockpit and sat down in the chair. After the rush of power that comes with sitting in that chair, I hit a button and smiled under my mask at the sound of the engines starting our take off.
As soon as we were all off the ground and my auto-pilot was returning me to the helicarrier, I pulled up the communication screen and called Nick Fury. As usual, he picked up quickly. Whenever we were out on a mission, he kept one of his channels open for any of our crises on the job. It was good to know we always had a safety net when things got bad.
"Spider-Man. Give me an update." But, of course, Nick was all business. But something about him made him seem more anxious about my answer. This mission really was important. Which makes me happy that I could deliver good news.
"We saved Fynn, Director. But he's unconscious. I'm pretty sure they drugged him." I told him, leaning back triumphantly in my chair.
"I'm impressed." he said, amazed, "Get him back to the helicarrier and we'll treat him. Doctor Connors will be ready." And with that, he ended the call.
I took off my mask, fixing my messy hair. Resting against my chair, I thought over the worst possible effects of our mission. I was a habit I had gotten since joining S.H.I.E.L.D. Fury taught us to be ready for anything, so afterwards, I thought up all the issues that could come up when the mission was over.
The only thing I could really think of happening was the Nethercore learning that we're after them, which was bound to happen. Fury would have ideas on how to cope with that, probably in the form of our next orders. So, with no immediate danger, I relaxed and checked how long it would take to get back to the helicarrier. These jets were S.H.I.E.L.D. vehicles, so they were top of the line, meaning we only had about twenty minutes left until we were back home.
Suddenly, the silence was interrupted with a ring. Looking at the screen on the dashboard in front of me, it said that Nova was calling. I clicked the answer button and Nova's screen appeared on the screen.
"Hey Webhead, what's crackin'?" he greeted in his usual cocky tone. I immediately rolled my eyes.
"You called me, Sam." I drawl, using his real name now that we were away from the enemy, "What do you want?"
"Okay, so, I don't mean this in a creepy way but… You felt something under Fynn's shirt too, right?" he asked, dancing around the subject for as long as possible.
"What?!" I exclaimed, incredulous. "Sam, we are more professional than that! I don't care how hot you find him, we don't feel up our targets!" I scolded him. Nova began to blush beneath his Buckethead helmet and I silently commended myself for my awesome work.
"N-No! Th-That's not what I meant!" he fumbled through his words, trying to recover, "I mean, like, if you… Like feel his back… It doesn't feel… Uh…" Nova trailed off, understanding that he couldn't make what he said sound any less creepy. But, thankfully for him, I knew what he was referencing.
"Calm down, Bucketbrain, I felt it too." I told him in an exasperated tone. "When Fynn was laying across my lap, there was definitely something strange about it. Almost like he had something hidden under his shirt."
"Oh thank god." he breathed a sigh of relief before continuing, "Yeah, yeah. What do we do..?" Nova was definitely thrown for a loop, he seemed incredibly awkward. I gave him a strange look, he usually shrugged off my jokes or sent a bad joke my way. But, I decided to drop it, and returned to the conversation at hand.
"We'll just wait it out." I answered casually, hoping he'd get himself back on track, "I'm sure we'll find out eventually. Doc Connors can get us some answers, and Fynn himself will have even more when he wakes up. Don't sweat it."
"Yeah.. Alright. I'll see you when we land." Nova hung up without another word.
I gave the screen one more strange look before fishing my phone and earbuds out of my pocket. I put my earbuds in and started some music to take my mind off the utter weirdness that just happened. I knew Fury wouldn't approve of my choice to not be completely alert after a mission, but the rest of my team (or at least White Tiger) was on it and after whatever freak show had just happened over the comms, I needed a bit of a distraction. His unusual actions made me question if my balanced life was going to stay that way for very long. It made me nervous.
I should have been outright terrified.
xxx
Before long, all of our jets touched down on the helicarrier and I turned off the music. What Nick Fury didn't know wouldn't hurt him. Stashing my phone, I walked to the exit of the jet and lowered the ramp.
Looking around, I saw that we were high above the city, the concrete streets and huge business buildings looking small and insignificant. Looking over, my teammates were leaving their jets and together, Nova holding Fynn in his arms, and we walked into the helicarrier. Nick met us at the entrance, his usual stern expression telling us he was ready to get down to business.
"So the mission really was a success?" Nick mused, looking us over with a vaguely surprised look in his eye. It's like he almost expected us to come back beaten and bloodied.
"Yes, sir. All of us present and accounted for." I confirmed with a nod. The rest of my team followed with various affirmative answers.
"I'm impressed, nice work." Nick threw us a bone, knowing that we all appreciated a little recognition every once and awhile. "Dr. Connors is waiting for Fynn in the lab." Nick turned his back to us and walked down the hall, guiding us to the lab. We followed diligently after him, curious as to what we'd learn about our new friend Fynn.
I wondered what exactly his powers entailed. It must be something subtle and easy to hide, since S.H.I.E.L.D. had no clue what to expect. And how'd he come about them? We all had our origin stories, a tale about how we all came to be our ultimate selves. I was bitten by a radioactive spider. White Tiger inherited the amulet from her father. Iron Fist slayed a dragon… Jesus Christ, who the hell am I hanging out with…?
Anyways... There had to be more to him than meets the eye. More than what his sparse file had to offer. And I didn't know about the rest of my team, but I was ready to find out everything.