Mission

DarylDixon'sLover: Thanks! We're getting into the nitty gritty now, and these are some of my favorite chapters I wrote.

Rohirrim Girl 2187: I really love your theory about the scratching being psychological, but I shall neither confirm nor deny it!

gaudalupe 1992: Thank you!

My head snapped up just in time for Steve to put a warm hand on my shoulder. "We're gonna find him, Eliza," he promised. "Whatever it takes."

I could hear cheers and fireworks echoing in the distance, and for a moment, I let my mind wander to a daydream where I was here with James on vacation. But then I heard the click of a cartridge being snapped into a machine gun, and that fairy tale bubble burst.

"Delta team in position," Rocket was reciting lackadaisically into the kimoye beads on his wrist. I noted that he had the bracelet wrapped twice around his little arm.

"I am Groot," the mammoth tree beside him said.

Rocket rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, we'll see the fireworks another time, okay?"

I managed a small smile. For James' memory's sake, I had hoped that I would be paired up with Steve for this mission. But before I'd realized what was happening, Steve had gone into Captain mode and assigned me to Rocket and Groot instead.

Not that I minded in the slightest— Rocket had a strange way of making the atmosphere not feel as heavy as it should. Whether it was his sarcasm or the entertaining one-sided conversations with Groot, he managed to be serious and lighthearted at the same time.

After another moment of checking over his weapon, the raccoon's big brown eyes wandered over to where I was sat on the steps of a stage. "How you holdin' up, kid?"

I snorted. "Rocket, I'm older than you," I reminded him.

He shrugged. "Ain't that hard to achieve— you wanna medal or somethin'?"

An amused smile broke out on my face. "I'm fine, thank you. And I am okay— just a little cold."

At that moment, a breeze came through, and I watched as Rocket gave an annoyed look when his fur was ruffled. "Check your suit," he inclined his head. "You know Stark put everything he got in that thing."

I waved a dismissive hand. Now didn't seem to be the time to become distracted by new tech, as tempting as it was to get my mind off the situation at hand.

My eyes began to trail slowly around where we were. The cold stone walls of an abandoned church stared back at me, and I couldn't help but think of the irony. I hadn't been in a church in far too long, but even so, I had always imagined the next time I would be here would be with the man I loved.

The fireworks lit up the stained glass windows, and for a moment, I could almost see it. The flowers, the people, the pastor standing at the end of the aisle…and then James, smiling brightly as I walked toward him. I glance down, and my dress has changed from green to white. There's no invisible suit of protection, because why would I need one? Everything is calm and peaceful and happy. There's no threats, no worries— just me and him.

My heart ached, and part of me wanted to cling onto the vision, but then another cold breeze whipped by. I gasped at the pain that burst forth when it hit my hands. Both Rocket and Groot turned to look at me with concerned eyes, but I shook my head and and mouthed "I'm fine."

Once they'd turned around, I unclasped my hands from my lap and took in their state. There was a bright red trail where I had come in direct contact with the uranium, and it had only gotten worse with time. The skin was stinging and chapped, pulsing with pain in the exposure to the cold weather.

I curled my hands up— gritting my teeth against the pain as I did so— and set them back in my lap. I should've shown them to Tony before we left, asked if all these side effects were still normal. But there hadn't been any time, and honestly, I could deal with the hurt if it meant I got James back tonight.

James…his smile popped into my head, and my heart twisted.

"Delta team, what's your status?"

All of our heads raised at Steve's voice coming over the coms.

Groot shrugged. "I am Groot." Rocket rolled his eyes, then looked at me. I gave him a firm nod, and he gave one back.

"Yeah, we're all fine here," Rocket informed.

"Good, be prepared," Steve said. "We're picking up uranium signatures all over the city. Looks like we'll have company."

My heart skipped a beat, and I stood up.

"What kind of company?" Rocket asked.

I could imagine the grim look on Steve's face as he replied, "Not the friendly kind."

The com cut off, and Rocket hefted his gun to sit up on his shoulder. "Aw crap, this isn't gonna be good," he grumbled.

"No kidding," I sighed. The next second, a message from Tony came up on my interface, and I fought back a grimace when I read it. Apparently he hadn't equipped my suit with any weaponry. Just perfect.

It seemed that Tony sent the message to Rocket, too, because he was reading over a holographic that appeared over his bracelet before he shook his head.

"You really are in a pickle, crazy girl," he sniffed.

I just crossed my arms and stared up at the ceiling. "Yup."

"I am Groot?"

"Hey, none of that sass right now, we're doing a good thing."

"I am Groot."

"What do you mean you didn't sign up for this? We all did!"

"I am Groot!"

"Buddy, if you say one more word, I'm gonna—"

I sat back down and blocked out the conversation as much as I could. This whole situation just went from bad to worse, and now was not the time for me to try to figure out what the massive tree was saying.

I shut my eyes and set my mind into a mode of meditation. Dr. Strange had advised me to use it to locate James. Apparently he could sense an energy between us, and thus thought that I would be able to find him through this connection. Try as I might, it felt fuzzy, almost like he was all around me in every which direction. I could sense him, feel his presence, but then it would vanish.

Then suddenly, I felt eyes on the back of my neck.

I jumped up and turned around. The energy faded as soon as it'd come.

"-be okay?"

I forced my eyes to go to Rocket. "What?"

He gave me a stern look. "Didn't you hear the noise outside?"

"No," I shook my head.

Rocket rolled his eyes. "Well, me and Groot are gonna check it out. Radar says uranium signatures are swarming all around the city, and we've got a few targets around the block. Stay here, okay? And com me if anything goes wrong."

It should have struck me as odd that I was taking orders from a talking raccoon, but I nodded compliantly. He gave a grunt, then tilted his head at Groot to indicate which direction to head in. The two split up as they exited the church, and soon, it was just me and the wind.

My eyes flickered around at the shadows in the eerily quiet building, and I swallowed nervously. Part of me mentally berated myself— I was a grown woman; I shouldn't be scared like this. But then the other part of me fought back, because deep down, I knew I had every single reason to be scared.

A gunshot in the distance made me whip around. I let out a shaky breath.

'It'll all be okay, it'll all be okay, it'll all be okay, it'll all be okay,' I repeated on a loop in my head.

A firework boomed above me, and a whimper escaped my throat.

"FRIDAY, activate advanced shielding," I commanded softly. There was a beep, then a shimmer ran over my skin. I steadied my breathing and took to pacing up and down the center aisle, all the while playing anxiously with the colorful plastic beads around my neck. This continued for a few minutes, until finally, I lifted my eyes to the cross high upon the wall behind the stage.

That's when I heard the click.

My body went numb, but I managed to turn around…only to be eye to eye with the barrel of a pistol.