Gunfire exploded all around me.
Tony and I were outnumbered twenty to one. In my experience, that's the most fair odds these guys were going to get. We stood at the top of a massive wooden, spiral stairwell on a small landing. Bullets splintered the wood all around us, I felt tiny lacerations in my cheeks and the exposed skin on my arms. Gritting my teeth, I raised my arms and looked at Tony. He caught my eye and nodded.
He lifted his arms and a high pitched whine filled the air as he shot two light beams from the metal palms on his hands. I moved my fingers in the air, the light beams breaking from their straight path and following my guidance. The beams spiraled down the staircase, snaking through each of the gunmen one by one. They dropped like flies. It was almost too easy.
Once it had clicked that I could manipulate light and energy, just not create it, there was a general consensus that Tony and I would be paired for every mission possible. It just worked.
We'd cleared the men out of our immediate line of sight, but experience taught me that didn't mean anything.
"Dozen more, about ten flights below, headed our way. Giddyup, kid." Tony briefed me on the intelligence he undoubtedly just got from his suit.
Just as I began to climb on the bannister, a small explosion rocked us backwards. I landed flat on my back on the hard ground, the wind fully knocked out of me. I groaned and forced myself to open my eyes, rolling to look for Tony. He'd been pushed back, but the thrusters on his boots kicked in and kept him upright. His helmet, however, had been blown completely off. Dark hair, tousled. Eyes, vaguely irritated. The only person I know who would look vaguely irritated after nearly getting their head blown off. He held a metal hand out to me, pulling me to my feet.
Tony, Iron Man, flew over the bannister and hovered just below the railing. I boosted myself onto the railing and dropped onto his shoulders, my thighs on either side of his now exposed neck. We descended slowly down the middle of the staircase, both of our arms raised in preparation for attack.
Both of us were on high alert, now having lost the luxury of FRIDAY in Tony's ear. I could already hear Cap's "I told you so" when we got back for the briefing. He was a huge proponent of self-sufficiency and not being reliant on technology. Most of the time we'd just give him shit because he was a tech-averse old man, but in this case, he was right.
I closed my eyes and focused on the energy in the room. I felt my hearing perk up as I honed in on the sound waves around us. The hum of Tony's suit. The sound of my heartbeat. The burning of the thrusters. The light shuffle of combat boots on sawdust.
"Tony. Ten o'clock. Now."
He raised his hands and fired. Moving my hands fluidly, I sent the beam around the staircase below us, hearing satisfying yells as the men were all taken out. We descended more rapidly now that any cover was blown. I pulled my hands toward my body and spread my palms flat in the air, the blue beam of light coming close to us and flattening into a translucent shield.
Tony fired a few more times from behind the shield, taking out any stragglers. When we approached the bottom of the staircase, I dropped my hands, letting the shield down.
"I told you not to call me kid." I knotted my fingers in Tony's hair, conveniently right between my legs, and tugged.
"Ow, okay, don't take it out on my abnormally full head of hair." His boots touched down gently on the ground. Instead of hopping off of his shoulders, I decided to have a little fun in honor of another successful mission. I pinched the tip of my glove between my teeth and slid my hand out. Reaching around to the front of his face, I cupped Tony's jaw, stubble pricking the palm of my hand. My thumb ran along his lower lip, instantly relaxing when he felt my touch. I tugged down, parting his lips. His tongue slid over the tip of my thumb before gently biting down.
"Having flashbacks, already?" He dropped his right shoulder, sliding me off and into a bridal style carry.
"I was going to call it a vision of the future." I brought my hand to my own mouth and licked the outline of my thumb.
He let out a low whistle as he gently deposited me on my feet. Pressing a thumb to his ear, he spoke into our comms system.
"Dream team, ready for extraction, make it snappy. I've got business waiting for me." His eyes never left mine.
"Copy that, Mr. Stark. The Quinjet will be at the extraction point in t-30 seconds."
We stepped outside the building just as the wind from the jet began to pick up. Leaves swirled around us and I held a hand up to cover my eyes from the dust. Trekking up the ramp, we were greeted with a familiar voice.
"Excellent work, you two." Nick Fury stood at the helm of the ship, Maria in the cockpit as our pilot.
"Not that I don't always love to see your face, Captain Hook, but why exactly are you here? I do recall inventing a groundbreaking software that made these things fully autonomous, say uh, last month." Tony's irritation was only mildly apparent as the suit disassembled around him.
"Well, you see, it's come to our attention that some members of the team, and I'm not gonna name names, can't be trusted to be alone on a Quinjet without…Maria, what are the words I'm looking for?"
"Without screwing each other's brains out, sir." She called from the cockpit.
My cheeks flushed but I couldn't help but grin. Tony raised an eyebrow, but didn't look the slightest bit embarrassed. "I'm sorry, since when is it a crime to take care of my personal matters in my personal property? Also, correct me if I'm wrong," He turned to me. "But, didn't we just successfully collect all the intelligence we were sent in to get, with zero casualties and a total mission time of 47 minutes?"
"46 minutes and 38 seconds." I smirked, pulling two zip drives from the pouch on the side of my suit.
"Mr. Stark, while we're ever so grateful for your donation of the fleet," Fury's voice dripped with sarcasm. "They are, actually, SHIELD property. As with all SHIELD property, they are fully equipped with a comprehensive audio-visual system for security and training purposes. In other words, every single goddamn thing done or said in one of these is broadcast to our mission control and intelligence room and all 50 agents inside of it." His voice had raised by the end of the sentence.
I chewed on my lower lip to keep from laughing. Glancing at Tony, I could tell he felt equally as shameless.
"Well, that would have been prudent to mention in the briefing."
"You think we have to tell any of the other Avengers not to fuck in the Quinjet?" Fury asked incredulously.
"Cap and Barnes? Romanoff and Banner? I feel targeted, personally." He strode over to the small fridge and tossed me a water.
"Likewise," I sat in one of the large bucket seats at the front of the jet. "I'm feeling very violated by my employer. I think I'm going to need to speak to human resources."
"Your concerns are very serious, why don't you come to my office when we get back and we can address them expeditiously." Tony sat across from me.
"I think that's best." I winked.
"Good God almighty, you're like motherfuckin' rabbits. Earth's Mightiest Heroes, my ass." Fury sat down next to Maria, who was failing to fight a grin.
When we landed at the compound, I could feel eyes on Tony and I from every side as we crossed the tarmac towards the equipment room.
"Should I feel embarrassed?" I said, under my breath as we walked along.
"Eh, you get used to it." He shrugged. "Believe it or not, this wouldn't be the first time I've accidentally made a sex tape."
"I know." He cocked an eyebrow at me. "How do you think I knew you'd like it when I-"
"Briefing in fifteen, upstairs. Get your suits to the equipment team for repairs beforehand." Fury interrupted. "Don't be late."
The door slid shut behind him, leaving us standing in the expanse locker room, decorated with the most advanced superhero garb modern technology can create.
"Fifteen minutes?" I grinned, lifting my hair off of my neck so Tony could unzip me.
"Ten more than I need."
author's note: this could be a one-shot or the beginning to a series...just let me know if you want me to continue! ? ﾸﾏ