Get Back Up » Quicksilver

chapter sixteen

16 x avengers don't belong in the arctic circle

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If it had been possible for us to radio some base and say "Houston, we have a problem," the moment we landed the quinjet would've been when that happened.

No, it wasn't some massive army, or even a terrifyingly dangerous weapon, or anything remotely like you might be expecting when you know you're faced with the Red Skull. It was nothing. Literally. We were standing on the exact ground that JARVIS had tracked the signal to, and there was nothing.

No building.

No people.

Just a whole lot of ice and whiteness.

Had I been a normal human being, I would've been freezing, especially given I was in my super suit. But given I'm not normal, I was fine; my light kicked up a notch and though I was letting off a glow that was unnatural, I wasn't cold.

Couldn't quite say that for my teammates, given Peter was bouncing up and down and Ev was shivering up a storm, but uh . . . I didn't exactly know how to help them without burning them. So instead of offering to hug them (we could've been penguins, right?) I urged them to stand closer and amped up the heat level so it was expansive.

Then I had most everyone standing closer to me.

"So glad you're a human space heater," Sam said through his teeth as he rocked back and forth on his heels. "So. Glad."

"Stark, you said this was the location," Steve said irritably, not seeming phased by the cold as he glared at the Iron Man suit. "You double checked, right?"

"Of course I double checked," Tony said, his voice sounding stricter because of the suit's affects, "and triple checked, and quadruple checked . . . I'm quintuple checking now. Happy?"

"I'd be happier if there was a building," Bucky grumbled, his sharp eyes non-ceasing in their search for any sign of life around us . . . aside from us.

"Pietro," I said then, turning to my boyfriend (who was arguably the closest to me). I arched a brow at him, and that was all he needed before he smiled slightly and took off.

I turned back toward the rest of them as Wanda said, "Perimeter check?"

"Uh huh," I nodded, ushering Ev closer to me and purposefully holding a hand her direction.

Wanda nodded in approval. "Good choice. Good thinking."

"Yeah, yeah, she's got a great brain, let's move on," Sam said. "Preferably somewhere warmer. Back into the jet?"

"We're not leaving until we've found the base," Steve argued immediately.

Sam only sighed at that. As long as I'd known him, one thing had become clear; he wasn't prone to arguing with Captain America. Apparently if he was going to trust anyone on this team above everyone else, it'd be Steven Grant Rogers. Did I blame him? Not one bit. But if I were him, in what he was wearing, I would've high-tailed it back onto that quinjet no matter who tried to stop me.

But that's just me.

"Stark," Steve practically growled then, striding ever closer to Tony.

"JARVIS is still saying this is the place, Rogers," Tony retorted sharply. "Could you quit whining at me and, I don't know, make yourself useful?"

Steve looked quite like he wanted to deck Tony's nice red-and-gold face plate when Pietro reappeared beside me. "No buildings for several miles out," he relayed before bending over and taking in a few sharp, fast breaths.