This chapter was such a challenge for me to write, but I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I hope you like it, too.
They loaded into the Quinjet at exactly 1 a.m., with Tony in the pilot's seat, Sam riding shotgun, and Steve, Natasha and Wanda in the back. Steve laced his fingers through Natasha's and noticed that Wanda had a tight grip on Nat's other hand. He knew the younger woman well enough to know that her resolute exterior said nothing of the inner turmoil she was almost certainly feeling.
Nat must have noticed it too, because she bumped her shoulder against Wanda's and gave her a reassuring smile. Steve smiled to himself remembering how close the two women had become in the years following the Accords conflict. Despite Wanda spending weeks at a time off-grid with Vision, they'd all formed an unwavering bond. But her relationship with Natasha was born of something different, a sister-like connection that made Nat feel overly protective and responsible for Wanda. And it gave Wanda a sense of belonging and comfort she hadn't felt with anyone else on the team.
Steve pulled Nat's hand up and pressed a kiss to the back of it. She leaned into him and sighed. When she spoke, her voice was just above a whisper, meant only for him, "Do you think we can really pull this off?"
He paused for a moment and considered her question. They had a plan, a good plan, and a team of people who trusted one another. "I do."
Natasha released a breath she was holding, and her body relaxed against Steve's side, "I do, too."
Steve looked toward the front of the Jet and noticed Tony studying them in the window reflection. He raised one eyebrow, and Tony gave Steve a nod in return, as if to echo Natasha's words.
The team was quiet for most of the hour-long flight to S.W.O.R.D.'s Florida headquarters, aside from Sam's insistence on playing, and singing along to, Taylor Swift the entire time.
"I know y'all aren't hating on T. Swift now, are you?" he said when "Style" blared over the speakers, eliciting an audible groan from Tony.
Natasha dropped her head back against her seat and laughed. She and Sam had a longstanding debate, over which Taylor Swift album reigned supreme. For Sam, 1989 was the only correct answer, but Nat much preferred the Reputation era. Steve never did understand the appeal, but after two years underground with them, he knew the words to almost every Taylor Swift song whether he liked it or not.
A short while later, lights came into view, and Steve's heart rate picked up the way it did before every mission. Tony put the jet down in a field about a quarter mile from the facility, leaving it in stealth-mode.
"All right," Steve said, as they filed out into the open field. "We've all got our assignments. Keep your eyes and ears open, and stick to the plan. Only engage when absolutely necessary."
Beside him, the corner of Natasha's mouth turned up in a smirk, and Steve could tell she was more than ready. Sam cracked his knuckles and nudged Wanda who looked as steady as Steve had seen her in a while. A wave of confidence shot through him. They weren't leaving tonight without Vision's body.
Tony caught Steve's arm as the rest of the team started toward their marks, "Hang back a sec. I've got something for you."
He disappeared back into the jet and reemerged a minute later with a round, brown leather case and handed it to Steve. He unzipped the soft leather case and slid his arm through the leather straps. The brand-new shield gleaming under the night sky, and Steve swallowed hard.
"How did you…?" Steve trailed off, running his fingers over the cold metal. He couldn't bring himself to get rid of the remains of the original shield Thanos had destroyed, and he never thought he'd see it whole again.
"C'mon, Cap. Do you really think I'd let you go in there without a shield?" Tony smiled, placing a hand on Steve's shoulder. "It's a prototype I've been working on for a while. Triple reinforcement on the Vibranium, half the weight of the original, even better accuracy. Shuri conceptualized it, and after she blipped the plans landed on my doorstep. I just finished it last night."
"Thank you, Tony."
"Yeah, don't mention it. But maybe try not to mess this one up?" he said with a smirk.
Steve chuckled and shook his head before jogged toward the others.
Natasha and Wanda approached the entrance to the research wing, stopping to ensure their disguises were working properly. The employee badges Tony had swiped were lab assistants, so it wouldn't be completely unreasonable for them to be on-site in the middle of the night.
Natasha pulled on a white lab coat and smoothed down her chin-length, mousey brown wig, passing a long, blonde wig and second lab coat to Wanda.
"You good?" Nat asked, pressing an impossibly tiny button on her temple to activate the nano tech mask. Her green eyes were suddenly a deep chocolate, and her heart-shaped face became round and soft.
Wanda turned to her, sweeping the blonde wig into a ponytail, "I'm good, Nat. I promise."
Natasha studied her friend's not-yet-disguised face, looking for any hint that she might lose control but found none. Before she could respond, their comms sprang to life with Tony's voice.
"How're we lookin' up top, Wilson?"
"It's emptier than we thought it would be," Sam said, as Redwing scanned each of the building's five floors. "Two security guards at the front desk entrance and one at the research wing door. Second, fourth and fifth floors are empty. I'm getting a signature from Vision on the third floor, along with two men in lab coats, no weapons. Two armed guards outside the sub-level doors, but I can't see inside."
"Cap, you'll need to take care of those guys," Tony said from his place inside the Quinjet. "I'll get you eyes on the inside."
"Copy that," Steve said. "Wanda, Natasha, are you in position?"
Nat glanced at Wanda and nodded, "In position and ready to move on your signal."
"You're a-go," he said. "Sam and I will hold our positions until you're inside the lab."
The women gave one another a final glance to ensure their disguises were solidly in place then approached the research lab door. Natasha sucked in a breath and scanned her badge, smirking in satisfaction when the light on the lock pad turned green, granting them entrance. The pair crossed the threshold and into the night guard's line of sight. He glanced in their direction and Natasha felt Wanda stiffen next to her.
"Relax," she breathed.
"Ladies," he said, nodding a hello. "You're here early."
Nat smiled brightly at him, "Oh you know us. Can't sleep when there's work to do."
"Don't I know it," he said, sending a wink in Nat's direction. "Well for what it's worth, you look like you got a full eight hours."
Wanda stifled a laugh when she heard Tony groan in their ears, "Have you ever met a man who didn't flirt with you, Romanoff?"
Natasha ignored him and pulled Wanda forward and toward elevator, "Sam, is the third floor clear?"
"All clear," he said, just as the elevator dinged. The doors slid open on the third floor, and Nat peeked around the corner, surveying their surroundings. "You're going to take a left to the end of that hallway, then another left. Third door on the right. It's retinal scan access."
"Shouldn't be a problem," Wanda said as they made their way down the empty corridor.
"Once you're inside, I'll cut the surveillance feed," Tony said. "You'll have about seven minutes of dead time to get him out of there and meet Rogers at the rendezvous point."
"Copy," Natasha whispered, stopping abruptly, and reaching an arm out to stop Wanda. She glanced behind them to ensure they were still alone. "Tony, how're we coming with those eyes on the sub-level?"
"I'm offended that you even need to ask," he said, feigning offense. "You worry about Vision. I'll worry about making sure your boyfriend's pretty face doesn't get bruised."
Sam snickered into the comms, and Steve signed heavily, "Tony."
"All right, all right," Tony said. "Cap, make your move. You've four armed guys inside. Once you're clear, head to the opposite end of the cargo bay to the elevator. When Nat and Wanda give the signal, take that to the first floor and meet them there. Wilson, I'll watch cameras for Rogers. You keep eyes on the ginger twins."
That earned more chuckles from Sam, "Roger that."
"All right, Cap, on my mark, 3… 2… 1…"
At Tony's signal, Steve slid out from around the corner of the building and in behind the first of the two outside guards, quickly rendering him incapacitated with a sleeper hold. No longer having the element of surprise, he tossed the shield toward the second guard, striking him in the gut and knocking him onto his back. A punch to the face, and he was unconscious, too. Steve disassembled their weapons and tossed them into the trees before grabbing an access badge from one of their belts.
The heavy iron door clicked open, and Steve poked his head in, glancing around the corner. He spotted two men about 50 yards to his left leaned over a table. Their guns were unholstered and placed beside them on the table. A third was propped up against the side of a large wooden crate. He was picking at the cuticles on his fingers. The final guard, and the only one actually paying any attention to his surroundings, was about 25 yards to the right with his back to Steve and an automatic rifle slung over his shoulder. He'd need to take him out first.
Steve slid into the room and shut the door quietly behind him. He snuck up behind the armed guard from behind, clapping one hand over his mouth, his other arm came up around his throat. Steve dragged him behind a stack of crates and out of sight, but as he lost consciousness, the large weapon he'd been hold slipped from his shoulder and clattered to the ground.
"Shit."
Steve dropped the body and pulled the magazine from the rifle before peering up from behind the crates. The noise had drawn the attention of the other three, who were now approaching from the front. Steve looked around for something to draw their attention away long enough for him to get behind them and noticed a walkie-talkie hanging from the unconscious man's belt. He unhooked it and threw it toward the opposite end of the space.
The distraction gave Steve time to roll to the side and out of their eyeline. He got to his feet and sent the shield flying toward them, taking out two of the three. The third turned and reached for the gun on his hip but, upon seeing Captain America standing in front of him, made a beeline for the door instead.
Steve was on his heels, bouncing the shield off the wall and in the guard's direction but he'd already ducked behind a crate, and the flying metal disc missed him by a fraction of an inch. The man reappeared, gun in hand now and pointed directly at Steve. He lifted the shield just as two bullets fired from the chamber. They ricocheted off the vibranium with a clang, and the guard, knowing he was no match for Steve, fired again. This time he aimed for a circuit box just a few feet away, plunging the room into darkness.
"One of them shot the power out down here," Steve said into the comms. "I think he got out through that back door, but I can't see anything."
"Hold your position, Cap," Sam said, sending Redwing up toward the sky to scan the perimeter. "If he's out here, we'll find him."
At the same time, Wanda and Natasha approached the laboratory door. Wanda stepped up to the retinal scanner and took a deep breath. After a few seconds, the scan completed and the lock on the door buzzed, granting them access.
They stepped through the doorway and stopped dead in their tracks, unprepared for what they saw upon entering the room. Vision's body was there, but it was no longer whole. It had been partially disassembled and was clearly being experimented on. His head was detached and had various prongs and wires sticking out from where the Mind Stone used to sit. He was split open across the chest, similar to an autopsy.
Natasha quickly grabbed Wanda's hand in an effort to ground her and could feel the younger woman's power radiating from her body, "Wanda, take a deep breath."
Wanda approached the table where Vision's body was laid out in pieces and gently removed the foreign objects from him. She laid a hand over his forehead and closed her eyes. Natasha stood a few paces behind Wanda, watching her shoulders heaving as her chest expanded with heavy breaths.
"I… I can't feel him," Wanda choked out.
Natasha was frozen in place. She couldn't bring herself to speak, wanting to give Wanda a moment to mourn the scene in front of them. It wasn't until Steve's voice rang out over the comms that she snapped back into action.
"We have a problem," Steve said, out of breath. "Natasha, Wanda, what's your status?"
Wanda looked over her shoulder at Natasha, tears tumbling silently down her cheeks. Nat cleared her throat, "Meet us at the rendezvous point in three minutes."
She stepped toward the table and met Wanda's eyes, "You can do this. We're almost there."
Wanda took a deep breath to steady herself, wiping the wetness from her face. She nodded and together, they lifted the pieces of Vision's body from the cold metal table and set it in a large empty container next to the table. Wanda levitated the container down the hallway. And as they made their way back toward the elevator alarms began to blare throughout the facility.
"The straggler must've pulled the alarm," Steve said to no one in particular.
"And that's our cue," came Tony's still-calm voice over the comms. "Let's get a move on, folks."
Just as the elevator doors opened, two armed men appeared at the end of the corridor. Wanda dropped the container inside and pushed Natasha in with it. She turned back and sent a wave of red toward the men, who flew back and landed hard against the wall then slumped to the floor. She jumped into the elevator just as the doors were closing.
"Nice save," Nat said with a smirk.
Wanda gripped the side of Vision's container, "Thanks."
"Steve, we're coming to you," Natasha said, pulling the gun from the holster on her thigh but hoping she wouldn't have to use it.
The elevator dinged at the bottom floor, and when the doors opened, Steve was standing on the other side. Natasha reached for his hand, giving it a squeeze before allowing him to lead them back through the still-darkened cargo bay.
"Sam, we're en route. Meet us back at the jet," Steve said, lifting the container onto his shoulder, freeing Wanda up to handle any hostiles. "Tony, be ready to get her in the air as soon as we're on board."
They took off in a sprint toward the jet but were quickly met with resistance from all sides.
"No lethal force," Steve said, glancing over his shoulder to see Natasha fire a shot into one guard's leg.
"I've got you covered from above," Sam said, sending blasts from his jetpack toward the ground. Wanda had stopped a few feet behind Natasha and Steve as they reached the jet and was levitating three men above a large retention pond. She dropped them into the water before lifting herself into the air at Sam's level.
"Let's get the hell out of here," he said. Together they dispatched the final few men and joined the team, safely inside the Quinjet.
No sooner had Tony gotten the bird into the sky did his cell phone ring. Director Hayward, who'd evidently been informed of the situation, was on the other end. Tony looked over his shoulder at Steve and wiggled his eyebrows before answering.
"Stark," Hayward's angry voice rang through loud enough for the rest of the team to hear. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"
"Well, it's the middle of the night, so I was sleeping," he replied causally.
"Don't bullshit me, Stark. You won't get away with this." Hayward threatened. "There are prison cells on the raft with your names on them."
"You mean, the raft I helped design? The same one Steve Rogers broke four people out of a few years ago? Yeah, I doubt the government's gonna put us back in there," Tony yawned. "And anyway, I think you'll be disappointed to find that your lack of surveillance footage over the last 45 minutes will really put a damper on any case you think you have against us."
Tony could almost hear Hayward's jaw clench on the other end of the phone.
"For such a first-rate facility, S.W.O.R.D. really should look into a better security system. I might know a guy."
"Fuck you, Stark," Hayward replied before promptly hanging up.
"I think he took that pretty well, all things considered," Tony said, tossing the phone onto the co-pilot's seat. "Let's go home, team."
I don't know why, but I can absolutely see Sam and Nat being Swifties. They're both badasses with big, ooey, gooey cinnamon roll centers.