The rest of the team had protested the idea of going out on a mission almost as much as Tony. Steve understood where they were coming from, but his issues couldn't rank higher than the lives of the people who needed them. And the first mission back was always going to be hard to get through, but Steve was glad they'd come this far before being thrust back in. The team reluctantly went off to suit up, leaving Steve to go back down to Tony's lab to get one of his suits.
Steve hadn't moved any of them to his floor because he didn't want a constant reminder of what he was avoiding. Tony kept them all in a closet in his lab, just like he had the one Steve borrowed for that last mission before his breakdown. He didn't want to think about why that particular suit wasn't available anymore.
"Just like old times, right?" Tony asked from where he was waiting by the door for Steve to finish changing.
"Better than old times," Steve replied, stepping out from the closet.
"Well, I guess it still fits," Tony said, looking him over.
"Is that a weight joke? You're the one who's been feeding me so much," Steve said lightly, running his hands over the material. It didn't feel the same as it used to.
"I prefer you in the sweaters," Tony commented softly, tracing his finger along the star on his chest.
"Me too."
The flight over to the mission was spent planning, although there wasn't too much information for them to go over. The Shield building fronted as a normal office, situated in a small desert town. The area looked eerily similar to the town in Kansas, but Steve tried not to think about that. The whole team was here this time and all the bad guys were human, as far as they knew.
"We're gonna have to land the jet about a mile outside of town. I'm thinking here," Clint said, pointing at a patch of open space on the map they were all huddled around.
"Not too far for me to have to go, in case you need me," Bruce remarked, blowing out a slightly frustrated breath. Steve knew Bruce didn't particularly care to fight in battles, and really didn't like having to let Hulk out, but sitting on the sidelines while everyone else did all the work wasn't ideal either.
"Actually, I was thinking you could sit at this cafe down the street," Steve suggested, pointing to a small coffee shop a little down the main road. "That way you'll be closer, but still out of the line of fire."
"Really?" Bruce asked, a little spark of surprise and pleasure in his voice.
"Yes. It's ultimately up to you, but I think having you close by is a good idea," Steve said. And while it was smart from a mission angle, it also gave Steve a little more peace of mind. Bruce couldn't get blown up with the jet if he wasn't in it.
"When do I get to sit back during a mission and sip tea?" Clint whined, checking his arrows. Clint had switched out some of his supply for some non lethal options, since Fury wanted to take these people alive. It was easier said than done, but they could try.
"Just as soon as you start turning into a big, green fighting machine," Tony grinned, slinging his arm around Bruce's shoulders.
"We want to try to go in as quietly as possible, but it would be nice to have an idea of what we're dealing with before we breach," Steve said, looking up at Tony. "Any chance you can get a scan without being seen?"
"For you, I can do anything," Tony said with a smile.
"Great. The rest of us will hang back in this alley and wait for your findings," Steve determined, switching off the display now that they had planned all they could. They still had at least thirty minutes until they got where they were going and the anticipation was going to be brutal. He couldn't stop himself from going over worst case scenarios in his head. Maybe if he prepared for the worst it would trick the world into doing the opposite.
"I am proud to be going into battle with you again," Thor said, walking over to stand next to him in the corner he'd gravitated to.
"Even after everything?" Steve asked, glancing up at him.
"Especially after everything. It takes great strength to overcome all the obstacles you have," Thor answered confidently.
"What if I'm not as strong as you think I am?"
"Oh, I'm never wrong. Well, there was that one time Clint asked me which hand he was holding a piece of candy in, but I think he was cheating, so that doesn't count," Thor said, glaring at the man in question.
"Thank you," Steve said sincerely. A vote of confidence from such a respectable warrior meant a lot.
"You ready?" Tony asked, sliding into Thor's recently vacated spot.
"As I'm going to get," Steve sighed. He'd never felt this much dread going into a mission before.
"Just like riding a bike probably," Tony shrugged, bumping him with his elbow. "Hey, whatever happened to that motorcycle you had? We should take a drive sometime."
"It was Shield's. I gave it back."
"It was crappy, now that I recall," Tony nodded. "Hey, we should all get our own bikes. We could start a biker gang! What would our name be? The Bikevengers? Avengecycles? Tony Stark and His Merry Gang of Misfits?"
"I don't know. I can't really picture Bruce on a motorcycle," Steve chuckled, shaking his head.
"We'll get him a sidecar," Tony agreed, scratching his chin in contemplation. "Mine is going to have flames painted along the sides. And spikes on the rims. And a special button to shoot fire out of the back. What do you want on yours?"
"Well-"
"Don't say red, white, and blue," Tony interrupted, rolling his eyes. "Such a cliche."
"Says the man who makes everything red and gold," Steve scoffed, rolling his eyes right back. "And what I was going to say, for this hypothetical motorcycle, was plain black."
"Oh, come on! Life is all about customization," Tony moaned dramatically. "How about a heated seat? And hand grips?"
"They make things like that?" Steve asked.
"They make everything nowadays. And if they didn't, I just invent it for you," Tony snorted, as if spending hours figuring out how to keep Steve's butt warm was the most normal thing in the world.
"Landing now," Natasha announced. Steve looked out the front window in shock. This last bit of time had flown by, thanks to Tony's distraction.
"Thanks," Steve said, patting Tony on the shoulder.
"No idea what you're talking about," Tony brushed off, giving him a wink before he walked off to prepare his suit. The back hatch opened as soon as they touched down and everyone started making their way toward it to exit. This could be their last moments together, their last chance.
"Wait!" Steve called out, making everyone freeze. Tony looked ready to fly over and whisk him away, so Steve held up his hand to hold him off. "I just wanted to say one last time, just in case, that I love all of you. You are my family and I wouldn't be here without each one of you."
"I love everyone too," Tony agreed, quickly followed by all the others repeating the same sentiment. Steve was kind of soothed knowing everyone was aware of how much they all cared about each other, on the off chance something bad happened. They should've been saying these words all along.
"Now, let's go save the day."
They made the quick journey to the first spot, splitting off from Bruce once the coast was clear. He was going to sit out at one of the patio tables and pretend to read the paper while listening to everything on comms. Tony took off toward the building, using the new stealth setting on his suit. The sneaky flying man routine was kind of hard to pull off, but if anyone could do it, it was Tony.
The town wasn't too busy, with most of the buildings in the area being offices instead of retail or services. Better to have less people on the street, but easier for them to stick out and draw attention to themselves as they moved along. There wasn't anything they could do about that though.
"Here's what we're dealing with," Tony said as soon as he flew back. Jarvis projected a holographic schematic for all of them to see. "The building isn't very big, but it's nestled right between two bigger structures, so Hawkeye should be able to get a good vantage point on either side. A got a group of heat signatures in what looks like a basement, so I'm assuming that's where they have the hostages."
"Makes sense. What do our entrances look like?" Steve asked.
"Main doors in the front and back, not counting windows. No visible guards right at the exits, but heat signatures close by. Doesn't seem like too many unfriendlies, but we also don't really know how many employees there are."
"Stick to non lethal weapons for as long as possible, especially while establishing the innocents from the enemy. Hawkeye, I want you to find a spot where you can best cover the outside of the building. Have Iron Man fly you there. Once Iron Man is back, he and I will breach the front while Widow and Thor come in the back. Try to stick together as much as possible and if you get an opportunity to get to the basement, take it. Avoiding casualties is the most important thing."
"I know a certain bald man who would disagree with you there," Tony pointed out.
"I don't care. He put us on this mission and we do it our way. He can send in other agents to do the investigating after we're done," Steve said firmly.
"There he is," Tony said with pride.
"Ready everyone?" Steve asked, sliding the shield into position on his arm. At everyone's affirmation, they took off to their designated positions. Steve ducked under an awning as he waited for Tony to join him, crouching down to camouflage himself as much as possible. Giving those last orders felt more natural than he thought it would. Maybe that was a good sign? Tony landed softly next to him a minute later, giving him a ready signal.
"On my count," Steve declared, taking one last deep breath. "Three, two, one, go!" Steve burst through the door, holding up his shield in anticipation of gunfire. He wasn't disappointed. The bullets pinged off his shield for a second before Tony blasted the gun out of the man's hands, sending another into his leg for good measure. Probably a broken bone, but not blown clean off like a normal shot from Tony could do. Steve whipped his shield toward two men in the corner, knocking them out with dangerous accuracy. He heard a strangled groan which could only come from a jolt of Natasha's bites.
"Sounds like The Electric Company is having good luck back there," Tony quipped, cutting through a bit of ceiling so it fell down and pinned another combatant. This was going unusually well, which was kind of confusing. They were good at their jobs, but these bad guys didn't seem to be. This was the high priority mission that just had to go to The Avengers?
"We're going to look for the way down," Steve announced, gesturing for Tony to follow him. He didn't want to give the people downstairs time to cut their losses and kill all the hostages. Tony scanned all the walls, pointing at a door down a hallway. Steve rushed ahead, sprinting down the stairs he encountered with Tony hot on his heels.
"Took out a couple running out the front door," Clint said through the comms.
"Neighbors are gonna love that," Natasha scoffed, giving someone else a jolt.
"They're hidden. Mostly," Clint winced. "This site is definitely getting retired."
Steve tuned out the banter as he slammed through the door. He made short work of the guard standing nearby, rolling to stand defensively in front of the group of people huddled in the corner. He was ready to block any stray bullets that came their way as Tony took care of disarming the rest of the enemies. The people were taped and scared, flinching at every bit of action in the room. Steve was satisfied keeping them as they were for now, instead of letting everyone loose and causing chaos.
"Possibly clear," Tony called out, scanning the room for any other threats. Was that really it?
"Us too. Making our way down to you," Natasha announced.
"Hold on. Got a ping through the door to your left," Tony said, lifting his repulsor in that direction.
"I've got it. Cover the hostages," Steve directed, stalking over toward the door. This was exactly like one of those moments in the movies he watched with Tony. Right when everyone thought the danger was over, one last thing would pop out and wreak havoc. Steve wouldn't risk that happening to anyone else. He brought up his shield, throwing open the door quickly.
There was a woman with dark hair, taped up like all the others. She looked terrified, with makeup streaking all down her face. Steve peeked around the small room, waiting for something to pop out and attack him, but nothing came. He carefully approached her, not wanting to spook her further. He didn't know why they would single one woman out, but the reasons he was coming up with were all bad.
"I'm gonna take your tape off, okay?" Steve asked, waiting for her nod before he touched her. He carefully peeled the tape from over her mouth, wincing when she whimpered in pain. "Sorry, sorry."
"Cut me loose, please," the woman cried, trembling as he brought his hands around to rip her bindings. Steve wasn't sure if it was the fact that this was his first mission back after everything, or that this was a woman, but he was honestly surprised by the knife headed for his throat. Only his reflexes kept him from getting stabbed in the neck. He fell backwards, scooting back on his butt as she lunged again.
"No you don't!" Natasha bellowed, springing from out of nowhere and grabbing the woman's wrist before she could even begin to bring it down in Steve's direction. Steve heard the bones snapping as Thor grabbed him under the armpits and pulled him up and back into the main room. The woman howled in pain, but Steve couldn't really feel sympathy for her. He would let her borrow his screwdriver if she wanted to take care of that situation herself.
"Oh my God, are you alright?" Tony gasped, grabbing Steve by the shoulders and looking him over.
"I'm fine. Not a scratch, I promise," Steve assured him, feeling embarrassed by the save and fussing. "I had that handled."
"You wouldn't have handled it harshly enough," Natasha growled, pushing the now hogtied woman into the middle of the room.
"Do we risk untying all the others? They might be crazypants like this one," Tony asked, pointing a toe at the seething woman.
"Let's get a hold of Shield and have them send in agents now that the threat is neutralized. They can figure out all this when they get here. We can take the tape off their mouths, but maybe leave the rest. Depending on how far out backup is," Steve determined, trying to hide the guilt from his eyes. It may not be ideal keeping everyone tied up, but it was safer for everyone in the long run, if one of them turned out to be dangerous as well.
"Shield will be here in 10," Natasha announced, tucking her phone back in her pocket.
"Mouths only then," Steve declared, walking over to start. The hostages didn't seem too upset thankfully, probably relieved enough knowing help was on the way. "Hulk, Hawkeye, start heading over."
"On my way," Bruce said, scraping his chair along the ground as he stood up to make his way over. Steve waited a few seconds for Clint's reply, but he didn't get one.
"Hawkeye, come in," Steve demanded, trying to keep his voice even. Still nothing. Steve could feel his hands start trembling. This could not be happening. Not on their first mission back. "Clint!"