All held some form of sorrow for Coulson's- now second and quite unoptimistic- estrangement. The only upside they'd found in all this was a portable toilet facility just outside the cave opening, which they now lugged behind them.
"You know," Tony commented, "Coulson looked pretty dead last time."
Steve glared at him through watery eyes. "Cut it, Tony."
"C'mon, Rogers, how do we know it's not like that now? Did you see him-"
"I saw him fall."
"But did you see him die?"
The last word visibly stilled Steve, and Tony realized how harshly he'd said it.
Something in Steve's face shifted, as if-even for a moment-he contemplated, considered the idea. Then he shook it away, crestfallen. "I saw him fall."
The silence that came afterwards grew more overbearing every second it stretched. It wasn't in Tony's nature to prolong it.
"So!" He started, clearing his throat a few times, "We have come to a bit of a pitfall." Bad choice of words, but he swallowed and continued. "However, with a bit of team effort and comradery, we can all-"
We can all go home, Stark suddenly thought.
"We can all do this, uh...complete this, uh...we can make it to the end. Yeah." Not the best pep talk, but definitely Tony. "We're capable of handling this." Even as he said it, Tony felt the flash drive burning his pocket from the inside, telling him to unlock its secrets at the closest port he could. He shook the thought away. Coulson didn't sacrifice himself for nothing.
Natasha, meanwhile, pursed her lips. They never made it far enough for Coulson to tell them where they were supposed to go. The directions he'd given were vague to a fault. Then she looked up, eyes widening, and whispered.
The unease everyone felt was obvious, filling the cracks in their shaky conjoinment. There was a brief hesitation.
Everyone ran. The portable toilet facility was abandoned.
Hiding from beneath a bush (it could have been an elderberry), Natasha peered out, trying to catch a glimpse of anyone. Anything. She tensed.
Nothing.
But she knew what she'd seen. Natasha settled onto a firmer part of branches and sighed. One word. It was just one word...
'Fury'.
And then everyone had fled, even Loki, who was the last to leave. He had awkwardly stood in the open for a moment. He finally did take cover (Thor was halfway out of his spot to get him at that point), but the look in his eyes before he hid...Loki had been scared. The magic he so relied on didn't help him in the slightest - at least, Natasha assumed that was his intent, to use magic in some form of protection.
She hadn't failed to notice his wrists constantly twitching during the walk, either. She didn't know what it meant- for him or for all of them. The Loki she was acquainted with always had to win in some way. What had happened in that moment was the opposite.
In the space of time before she could safely mark the sky absent of carriers under cloaking spells and signal a quiet 'all-clear,' Natasha made up her mind to keep Loki under her constant surveillance.
—
Steve pulled himself up from a small rocky ledge. Watching his friends come together, he quickly resituated his shield and joined them.
"Everyone alright?"
"Uh, yeah. Except for the fact that S.H.I.E.L.D. knows our location better than ourselves."
The mountainous outcrop around them eventually declined to forest that prolonged for miles. Straight beyond that, some gray area they couldn't quite make out stretched, while the right of it was filled with clumps of green.
Then in the distance lay yet another mountain, semi-sparkling in a reflection of the sunlight.
However, none of this was taken into account during that moment.
"I have a question. What WAS that thing in the sky before everyone scrambled like it was Taco Tuesday?"
"Logan-"
"Hey! Those were some mean, and I mean MEAN tacos, man. I would be scrambling."
Clint decided he would try to explain something before Logan started ranting about tacos, not so much for his own sake but more for Steve's and Nat's.
"That was a S.H.I.E.L.D. hovercraft, and it seemed like it had found out our location."
"No kidding."
"A-HEM."
"Sorry. Couldn't help it."
"Anyways, Fury's looking for us all over the place because of that hard drive we took-I guess it was real after all." He rubbed his neck, then hurriedly continued. "Anyways, we have to dispose of it before he catches up to us. I'm assuming I don't need to spell out for you what happens if we get caught?"
"Spare us the details," Tony muttered, which earned him a glare.
"That's what I thought."
—
"So, what happens if we get caught?" Logan asked. They were moving downwards- their aim was to be under the trees by nightfall, then eventually a small building Natasha had spotted on the outskirts of forest. Going down the mountainside left them more exposed, but it was less dangerous than moving blindly through the rapidly approaching night.
Going down a mountainside is harder than one would think and requires a certain amount of focus that is not generally helped by humorless banter. A perfect example of this distracting banter was given by Wolverine, who seemingly talked nonstop even if the Avengers never replied.
Stark more or less told him to put a sock in it, which caused a negative reaction on Logan's part.
"Stop it," Natasha scowled. Behind her, Thor grunted of exertion and agreement.
"It is most difficult to keep this facility upright when you argue."
Beside all this, Loki smirked. He thought he'd be the one to cause trouble.
Thank you for reading.
And to all the United States of American citizens, happy 4th of July. *fireworks*