Wanda looked up at the sky before turning back to Darcy with a nod. "Ready when you are," she said through the mic, her voice coming out clear in Darcy's earpiece. Jane gave a thumbs up to confirm hers was working as well before she went back to fiddling with her recording instruments. Sam stood in full gear opposite Wanda to lend aid if need be. He gave her a reassuring smile before sliding his goggles over his eyes.
Darcy stepped out into the clearing and raised her arm above her head. She heard Sam give a low whistle as the air undulated far above them, slowing as the portal stabilized. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Jane slam her fist down on some random piece of technology. She took a steadying breath before focusing on the ground. Even though she knew it was coming, she couldn't help the yelp that escaped her as it disintegrated beneath her feet. It wasn't long until the wind was a deafening roar and she closed her eyes, trying to push down the nausea as she concentrated on maintaining the portals. She shifted her weight forward to accelerate head first.
"Darcy?" she heard Jane ask over the com.
"Yeah?"
"Are you ready?"
"Just a sec..."
She allowed herself to pass through several more times, working up the nerve to reverse the aim of the exit portal to the sky.
"Darcy?"
"I know, Jane. I know."
"You're at terminal velocity. You have to slow yourself down using the portal. Wanda can try, but traveling this fast, you still risk a deceleration injury."
"I know, Jane!"
The line went quiet again and Darcy passed through the ground portal once more, this time, reaching behind her to reset the exit straight up to the sky. The wind whistled past as the ground portal rushed up to meet her and she braced herself as she slipped through once again. Her stomach lurched with the vertigo that came from the sudden reversal of gravity.
"Oh God," she muttered.
"It's just the G-forces, Darcy. You're well within safety range. You shouldn't lose consciousness... well, at least not from that."
"What a relief!" shouted Darcy, not feeling the least bit so as she continued to rocket upward. After a few seconds, she started to slow, the noise quieting, and she finally dared to look elsewhere besides straight ahead. Her breath was stolen away at the view. A wispy fog was settled over the canopy of the surrounding rain forest, the setting sun scattering into beams and washing the landscape into beautiful golden hues. She had a sudden feeling of dissociation, her body weightless as her velocity edged to zero.
It was amazing and terrible all at once, a thin sheen of tears springing too her eyes but she found she couldn't make a sound.
A crackle of static from her ear piece broke the spell and she flailed as gravity once again took over and she plummeted to the ground.
Shit, shit shit, she cursed as the uncoordinated movement caused her to spin, her legs tumbling overhead.
"Darcy! The equipment is not detecting any portals! What's going on?"
Oh... well... just... Fuck.
Panic was at the edge of her thoughts and she he breathed deeply, remembering all of her practice with Barton. She stretched out her limbs and arched her back, allowing her to stabilize as the ground was starting to come uncomfortably close. A flash of red shot past her, briefly encompassing her vision.
"Darcy!" she heard Jane screech into the com.
"I got it, Jane!"
She recreated the portal on the ground, tossing its sister portal high in the air seconds before she passed through. This time she was prepared for the gravitational shift and waited for the weightlessness again, her arms going out to her sides and over her head. The momentum, allowed her to dive backwards and a giddy rush passed over her body as she headed down again.
This was insane... this was madness... where as just moments ago, she felt dissociated, she now felt more in contact with her senses than ever before...the burn of the cold air in her lungs, the sheen on her exposed skin where the wind ghosted around her, the thrum of her heartbeat that extended and pulsed in every extremity...
She let out an involuntary whoop of exhilaration as she neared the ground again, her friends a blur as she flew past. Higher and higher she set her portals until she was soaring through the clouds.
"Too high, Darcy! There's not enough oxygen at that level of the atmosphere!"
As Jane's warning registered, her limbs started to feel tremulous and the giddiness had progressed to full on lightheadedness. This time when she slowed to a stop, she created a portal underneath her, dropping herself just a few feet above her original take off site. She stumbled, her legs feeling unsteady and the remaining air was knocked from her lungs as Jane tackled her with a squeal before letting her go and shoving her hard in the shoulders. She was steadied by Wanda who slipped up behind her.
"You scared the shit out of me, Darcy! Oh, wait, the data!" exclaimed the astrophysicist, running back to the bank of machines.
"Come on," said Wanda, steering her to a waiting seat. "How was it?"
"Amazing," she replied breathlessly.
Wanda smiled. "I felt much the same the first time I flew, even though it was only a couple feet at a time."
"Oh yeah?"
She nodded. "I don't think my attempt got near the dramatic response that yours did. I'm not sure who was... what's the saying...'having kittens' more, Jane or the Captain."
Darcy's eyes snapped up trying to inconspicuously scan her surroundings. "Wait, the Captain, he was here?"
"Yes," she replied, also looking around. "Well, he was just a minute ago. He is usually around for field exercises."
"Oh yeah... that makes sense," she replied, feeling absurd that she assumed anything other than professionalism motivated the Captain's presence. She pushed back to her feet and excused herself, refusing to name the disappointment that settled over her.
Oh, to hell with everything else, she thought, a small smile playing on her lips.
I can fly.
Steve could feel his jaw click as he ground his teeth in agitation and stepped up beside Sam in the clearing.
"She is going awfully fast," his friend muttered. "Foster?"
The doctor glanced at the two men before pressing her finger to her ear.
"Darcy?" she asked into the com. "Are you ready?"
Steve returned his attention to Darcy who was quickly becoming a blur in front of them.
"Darcy?" asked Jane again, her voice a little sharper. "You're at terminal velocity. You have to slow yourself down using the portal. Wanda can try, but traveling this fast, you still risk a deceleration injury."
Steve looked to Wanda whose hands had started to glow red in preparation. He was just about to signal her to slow her down when Darcy was suddenly gone, her body disappearing into the portal on the ground.
"There!" shouted Sam, pointing above them. "Damn."
Steve's jaw dropped when he spotted her, a dark speck against the red, orange hues of the sky.
"It's just the G-force, Darcy. You're well within safety range. You shouldn't lose consciousness... well, at least not from that."
He raised his hand to block the light to keep her in his view and his throat went dry as he saw her start to spin uncontrollably. "Foster, what's she doing?"
Jane ran over to her equipment, punching a few of the buttons vigorously before her face blanched white and she touched her ear. "Darcy! The equipment is not detecting any portals! What's going on?"
"Sam, go!" shouted Steve.
"No!" said Jane, "It will injure you both to catch her at that speed."
"She's getting close!"
"Wanda!" commanded Steve and she tried to catch her, but her timing was off and her magic barely glanced against Darcy's side
"Darcy!" Jane screeched into the com.
Steve froze as Darcy neared the ground, unable to look away and a bolt of terror struck in his chest. The relief that immediately followed as she vanished into her newly created portal was nearly staggering and he found himself literally pulling at his hair in his anxiety. Seconds later she was passing them again, a joyful shout barely heard as she cut through the air. They all watched as she flew higher and her dives became more precarious. He paced, concern rising as she disappeared into the clouds. He was just about to say something when he heard Dr. Foster.
"Too high, Darcy! There's not enough oxygen at that level of the atmosphere!"
The ground that had been shimmering with her portal solidified and Darcy dropped out of the air from a height of a few feet, ducking beneath the portal as she closed it. Steve backed away as the tiny astrophysicist slammed into her friend and he turned to quickly retreat back to the compound. He was glad the exercise had been a success but did not wish to speak with the subject. His emotions roiled through him and he pushed them down, not wanting to examine them or the reasons for their being. The memory of his conversation with Dr. Strange surfaced unbidden in his mind
She is either very brave or very foolish... or if you and I are extraordinarily unlucky, some unholy combination of the two.
He turned another corner, his mind set on finding Barton to give specifics on how to proceed with Darcy's training when T'Challa joined him, matching his brisk pace.
"I believe I have found a suitable physician for your friend. He trained at John Hopkins in the States and completed his psychiatry residency in 1985. He has focused his practice to treat victims of war and has extensive experience specifically treating those that started as child soldiers."
"Do you think that will be applicable to Bucky?"
"Many child soldiers are drugged and fed propaganda to force them to participate in atrocities. That is not unlike our friend, is it not?"
Steve nodded. "When can he be here?"
"Four days. We'll initiate the revitalization process this afternoon. James should be awake tomorrow. We'll notify you as he is being removed."
The king parted with a nod and Steve leaned heavily against a wall. Darcy was angry with him, Tony would be arriving any day, and now he was waking up Bucky... he longed for the day that his greatest social faux pas was not knowing what the word 'fondue' meant. Dr. Erskine had told him the serum enhanced everything about him but had left out, or maybe hadn't known, how this would seem to apply even to his emotions. His sense of justice had become more solidified with the serum, as had his commitment to never taking the easy way out or letting the end justify the means... but with that had also come this constant feeling of being a wire strung too tight with a resonance that hammered on him constantly. It took hours in the gym, or miles of running to dull it.
But neither running or taking it out on the gym bag appealed to him now and he felt a surprising pull to the unused sketchbook that lay on the bottom of his closet. He pushed back off the wall to find Barton, and if time permitted this evening, a moment to reconnect with his own type of meditation.