She was immediately enveloped in the wind.
And she felt exhilarated and free.
Time stretched.
Her limbs were numb.
Somewhere behind her was Lincoln and Joey.
She blinked.
The mask bit into her nose. Her uniform clung tight to her body, insulating her from the cold. She was hurtling toward the ground at terminal velocity, over a hundred miles per hour, over six hundred feet per second. She watched the number climb higher and higher in the digital display of her watch, blinking a few times to make sure she was reading it correctly. The clouds blurred her vision as she dropped past them, obscuring her sight even through the mask. Her heartbeat soared. All she could see is grey. All she could feel was her body stretching, expanding, she felt her stomach drop as she free fell towards the ground. She screamed, exuberantly. Somewhere above her she thought she could hear Lincoln doing the same, with Joey the loudest of all.
Daisy spread out her arms and legs suddenly, slowing herself down. She had been falling for what? Three seconds? Five? She didn't want it to end.
Peering down at the ground she saw nothing. Experimentally, she tried pushing outwards with her powers. She was rewarded when she found herself spinning with her limbs outstretched like a star towards the right. She grinned, and turned herself around midair to gaze upwards, she spotted the other two twirling and twisting midair. Daisy thought she could see Zephyr One in the distance, but knew it must have passed out of their eyesight long ago. Lincoln suddenly started to dive down, arrow straight, head facing her. Joey mirrored Lincoln, straightening his form and slicing downward.
She was being supported by the wind on her back, but 'sat up' as much as she could with no solid ground, to raise both her arms towards the rapidly approaching black figures. She could make out them doing the same. The wind played with her hair below, as they each took one of her arms, gripping her gloved hands with their own. She straightened out her legs again, behind her. The team formed a circle, arms linked, facing each other, looking at each other as best they could. They passed through clouds, and tightening their grip on each other as they did so to fight off the chill. They passed in and out of sight from each other, though they were holding hands mere feet away.
They let gravity orient themselves to face downwards. They spun slowly, then quicker, trying to even themselves out and keep as stable and flat as possible. Daisy could feel her pack pulling against her shoulders.
She gazed at Lincoln's watch over his elbow on her right. They didn't have much time. She gazed up at her team. They completed another full rotation, before they nodded, fell back, and pushed off against each other, boots meeting simultaneously in the center of what had been their formation. She thought she saw Lincoln do a somersault, and Joey a back flip. They were suspended in the air, almost standing, arms trailing in the wind. Drifting slowly apart to give each other space. She imagined them smiling their heads off behind the black masks. It made her smile behind her own.
She did a flip of her own, a push from her palm, assisted by her powers. Because why waste the opportunity?
The digital display of her watch was blinking. If she could hear over the wind, it would be beeping too. Warning her of the soon approaching ground. She had been unable to see it before. The pack strapped to her body became more evident. Her parachute would automatically deploy once she dropped below a certain altitude, for safety, but Daisy preferred to do it on her own terms. Less of a surprise that way. With a sigh she reached her arms behind her, patting against the material of her pack. Her fingers were numb, but with another stretch she managed to find the cord and with more effort, managed to pull it.
Something large and fast flew past her head, pushing past her hair. Her pack felt lighter, then again everything did in the air.
Her vision tilted sideways, as the black canopy opened over head. Her limbs constricted in protest, as the straps bit into them with the force of the sudden deceleration. The wind stopped howling. Her vision cleared. Somewhere her heart began to slow down. She was exhilarated. Happy. Content. She gazed up. A large black stretch of fabric had unfurled above her head. She was sure she could make out the S.H.I.E.L.D. emblem printed in the center, although, reversed from her perspective beneath it through the fabric.
To her sides she could make out two other parachutes, as well as their inhabitants flailing limbs. They were above her, having deployed their parachutes earlier. Probably at the first blink of their watches, she thought. Rookies. Daisy thought she could make out hair colors from her position, and guessed the one with blonde hair was Lincoln her left, and Joey was on her right. Beyond that, her own parachute obstructed her view.
Below her stretched the Arctic landscape, serene and beautiful. The grey-white world was ready for their approach. It looked flat, from her perspective, easy enough to traverse. Easier still once they located the ground transportation they had dropped before jumping themselves. It shouldn't have landed too far from their own landing location.
Peaceful minutes passed as they drifted slowly with the wind. They steered their parachutes in wide arcs, matching and intersecting each others paths from above and below, trying to get a feel and the best view of the landscape beneath them. The team took the opportunity to eat some of their energy bars and take sips from their water bottles, trying to prepare themselves for their landing.
As the ground fast approached, Daisy straightened her legs, then moved them quickly as she came to a running stop, parachute trailing behind her, before collapsing in the snow. From below she watched as Lincoln and Joey did the same in a synchronized movement, coming to a stop a dozen or so feet ahead on either side of her.
"Did you guys plan that?"
"We're just naturals," responded Lincoln.
"Mmhm."Skye responded, in a disbelieving tone.
They quickly packed their parachutes in their bags and headed off towards the drop location of their other equipment, which was marked with a glowing, pulsing green dot on Daisy's laptop that she pulled from her pack.
May sighed in the cockpit of Zephyr One. It wasn't the same as the Bus.
She had closed up the loading bay doors as soon as Daisy and her team had jumped and steered the plane off to calmer and higher airspace. Elsewhere in the aircraft, Simmons was readying for any and all medical interventions Zephyr One could handle. Though she was prioritizing treatment for frostbite and hypothermia, they didn't know what state they'd find Donnie in, if he'd be conscious or not, or even if they'd find him. It had been a long time ago, but May had been on that cargo ship also. She remembered nodding as Skye, now Daisy, took her place with the rifle. She remembered signing off on her involvement in his death. Possible death.
Fitz was pouring over the scans he had taken earlier as they had flown over the drop-zone and surrounding area to confirm its location and safety. He was excited, motivated for projects again. A good sign. He had changed when he had come through that portal. Coulson was still shaken.
So far at least, the team on the ground wouldn't be facing any hostile threats, ones that were shooting at them, anyway. None that showed up on their radars and scans, at least.
The computer beeped, May glanced at her radar. But we might. Red dots appeared all around them. Quinjets, at least a dozen. One uncloaked dangerously close to her cockpit window.
Fitz stormed in. Simmons followed after him. Various alarms started to go off throughout the plane, proximity sensors blared, sending flashing orange lights and shrill high pitched shrieks through the plane.
"Buckle up!" May shouted, as the closest Quinjet turned its wing and drifted closer. They were close enough to see the silhouette of the pilot.
She tightened her grip on the controls as she prepared for evasive maneuvers.
Fitz followed her gaze. Simmons let out an involuntary gasp as they took in the decoration on the Quinjet's wing.
HYDRA was cutting them off from the team.
"It's so empty here." Said Joey, hiking alongside Daisy and Lincoln.
"Peaceful," responded Lincoln.
Their boots crunched against the snow, as they ascended another incline. Daisy froze.
"Did the air over there just shimmer?" Daisy looked quizzically above the pale horizon.
"Could be the Southern Lights," said Lincoln half-joking, half concerned.
"Might be just a regular Antarctica thing," commented Joey, "probably nothing to worry about. Besides, we're almost to the snowmobiles."
"Yeah," said Daisy, not entirely convinced, but she ignored it. "I can't wait to not have to walk."
The snow slowed their progress, and through their suits they could feel some of the below freezing temperatures. The wind had stopped where they were.
They continued towards the package.
Above, a cloaked Quinjet hovered, then turned.
The Quinjet spun off into the twilight.
A/N: Just a reminder, I love feedback! Like the direction the story is going? Have suggestions? I'd love to hear them!