Chapter 10
[Emily's POV]
I sat quietly in the QuinJet with Bucky, Dixon, Melina, Clint, Tony, and T'Challa. Bucky and I were still uneasy around each other, so the only noise was the mentors chatting with each other and Melina and Dixon giving comments in their conversations. Our jet shook for a second, and Bucky and I locked eyes. We quietly asked if the other was ok, in which we responded with a yes back to them. I got up and walked over to where Clint was sitting.
"Everything ok?" I asked, and he shrugged, tapping on a screen.
"Something seems to be aggravating it," he told me, pointing at an engine. "And we can't fix it because we're over the Atlantic Ocean right now." I glanced over at the other initiates and they all nodded.
"Let us do it," I told Clint, and all the mentors looked at us incredulously.
"Are you serious?" asked Tony, in which we all nodded. "The only ones who have a chance would probably be Emily and Bucky. Melina, Dixon…" Before he could continue, fairy-like wings appeared out of Melina's back and everyone jumped back. "What is it with the wings?"
"They aren't as strong as Emily's," she told me. "But they'll be able to keep me steady on the QuinJet. Plus, Dixon is an expert mechanic. He'll be able to figure it out." Tony glanced at Dixon for confirmation, who nodded. "We can do it." They were silent for a few moments before ushering us to get some harnesses on. I slipped mine on easily, but the hard part was trying to reach back and hook the harness by my wings. I struggled for a while before cold hands pressed against my back. I tensed up, but allowed Bucky to connect the final piece.
"Thank you," I muttered, and a smile showed on his face. I turned to face the others in our group. "Okay, here's the plan: Melina and I will help support Bucky and Dixon until we get to the top of the jet." Clint reached over and handed me a small tablet with the schematics on the QuinJet. "There are ridges on the top of the jet that should allow us to connect onto them. Melina, I want you near the jet at all times. Make sure that Bucky and Dixon don't fly off. I'm going to scope around, see if I can find anything."
"Be careful, Emily," Melina said as I handed Dixon the tablet. "Your wings are still broken. One wrong move and you'll fall."
"I'll take that risk," I responded, rolling my shoulders. T'Challa handed us each one com-link to put into our ear so we could hear each other without having to shout. "Hook up!" Bucky took position on my left, with Dixon to my right, and Melina just beyond him. We all interlaced our fingers and I gave Tony a nod, who slammed his fist into a button. There was a loud whoosh and the back of the QuinJet lowered, the wind whipping us around. "Everyone ready?"
"Is this a bad time to say I'm afraid of heights?" Melina yelled out, trying to be heard over the wind.
I smirked. "Me too, Melina. Everyone jump!" We raced forward and took the plunge.
:/:\:
[Bucky's POV]
I gripped Emily's hand tightly as she and Melina soared us up. I could feel Emily straining from the weight of both Dixon and me. They swung around, flying hard to catch up with the QuinJet.
"Don't strain yourself, Emily," I warned her, and she replied with a grunt. With a yell, the two girls threw all of us onto the roof. I tumbled, then used my metal hand to grip onto a small piece of the jet. With my other hand, I clipped myself onto the jet. I looked over my shoulder and saw Dixon give me a thumbs up. He had made it onto the jet safely. Melina touched down shortly afterwards, while Emily seemed to be having trouble catching up.
"Clint, slow down," I heard Dixon's voice say through the radio. "Emily can't seem to catch up."
"If I slow down, we won't be able to make it," Clint called back, and I gripped onto my cord. "C'mon Emily…flap like your life depended on it."
"It does!" she growled back through the com. I focused on her while Dixon and Melina began to fix whatever was wrong on the QuinJet. "I-I can't!"
"Emily," I began, and she quieted down. "Focus on my voice. You can do this. You are stronger than your weakness; you are smarter than your flaws. You have lived with those wings for a very long time. You know what their breaking point is. You also know that they are nowhere near the breaking point right now." I watched as Emily did a barrel-roll in the air and I smirked. "Was that a 'I-Hate-You-Right-Now' roll or a 'You're-Totally-Right' roll?"
"Both!" she spat and I laughed. I slid over to where Dixon and Melina were fiddling with wires. "How we doing people?"
"Done!" shouted Dixon, shutting the little latch on the roof. He brushed his hair out of his face. "You won't believe what I found in it, too!" He gripped the sliver tightly and held it up. "I thought this thing got destroyed!"
"I thought it did too," I replied, disbelief in my voice.
In his hands, Dixon held a piece of the Tesseract.
:/:\:
[Emily's POV]
"Somebody explain, right now," I ordered as Dixon unfolded the piece of cloth in his bag. Immediately, a bright blue glow radiated throughout the whole cockpit. "Why is the Tesseract in our engine?" Tony bit his cheek and turned away, not making eye contact with any of us. "Stark, the whole world was told that the Tesseract was destroyed."
"It's an Infinity Stone," Clint muttered, flipping a few more switches. "Dumb things can't be destroyed."
"Can we have some actual answers?" demanded Bucky, narrowing his eyes at the set of mentors. "Why is the Tesseract on Earth?"
"Well, the last time we saw the Cube was when Goldilocks took it back to Asgard with his deranged little brother, Loki," Tony admitted. "We've always assumed they destroyed it."
"Ok, we're finally getting somewhere," commented Melina, lounging around on one of the seats. "How about we skip to the part where you explain why we found a piece of it in the engine."
"You promised us it wouldn't malfunction," growled T'Challa, turning to face Tony. The billionaire raised his hands up in defense.
"I said there was a high chance it wouldn't," clarified Tony, and Dixon moaned, rubbing his eyes.
"Please tell me you didn't do what I think you did," he grumbled under his breath. Louder, he added, "Please tell me you didn't find a piece of the Cube and decide to use it to make a new engine." The tension between the six of us was so thick you could have cut it with a knife.
Before anything else could happen, Clint announced, "We're in Germany!"
A/N: Hey y'all! WOW! Over 1,000 views (close to 2,000! EEEK). Thank you all for reading this. It means so much to me. I'd like to dedicate this tenth chapter to FanGirlForever19, who so far has commented on every single chapter! Please, keep commenting! I love to hear what you guys think!
Sorry if this chapter seems a bit rushed (cause it was). I'll try making the next one a bit more bearable XD