Get Back Up » Quicksilver

chapter one

Steve was quiet after that, poking at the remnants of his eggs absently. He'd sort of zoned out on the television, but after a moment, he stood, cleared his plate, and slid it into the sink. "You're right there, Meg," he informed me, but that was all he said before he left the room.

The three of us watched as he left, and I glanced between Clint and Pietro before sighing quietly and looking down at my pancakes. "Goodness knows what that man is thinking now."

"I have a guess," Clint said. "But I don't want to assume." He turned to me then, nicking one pancake before heading out after Steve, "Besides, I've got a call-meeting with Nat in five minutes. So I don't have time to dwell on it." That was his version of goodbye apparently, because after that, he was out the door, leaving Pietro on my own.

For now, at least. Avengers were frequently in and out of the kitchen. I grabbed a fork and took a seat as Pietro began to scarf down pancakes, his bright eyes switching between the television and I for what could've only been a few seconds. "They are only kind of impressive," he finally concluded, before sitting up and looking at me seriously. "Why do you look concerned?"

I sighed, one shoulder rising and falling in a shrug before I speared one of the smaller pancakes and brought it closer to my face to stare at it. "Just a feeling, Road Runner. Nothing to worry about."

He scoffed at that, devouring another pancake before fixing me with a crooked smile. "Not yet, you mean."

I smiled slightly at that. "Nice to know you have confidence in me."

Pietro smiled proudly, tilting his head as he looked at me. "I always have confidence in you."

I ignored the fact that I was blushing and dutifully continued eating my pancakes, somewhat relieved when Rhodey came into the room. He was still in sweat pants; from what I'd overheard between he and Tony, he'd been having to deal with a lot of issues in the Air Force lately, which meant weird sleeping hours. I hadn't seen him at training session so often, but then again, not all of the Avengers trained at the same time. When we did, it was kind of a rarity.

And we couldn't all do that right now, anyway, since Thor was somewhere not on Earth doing something involving 'Infinity Stones,' (whatever those are) and Bruce and Natasha had gone to help SHIELD with a gamma radiation issue in Siberia.

"Rhodey," I greeted cheerfully as he made his way to the bowls and cereal. Cereal seemed to be a go-to in this Tower.

"Megan, Pietro," Rhodey nodded absently, pouring himself cereal and milk before taking the seat one away from Pietro and glancing at the television for a second. There wasn't anything of note on at the moment, nothing to capture attention, so I wasn't surprised when his eyes dropped to his cereal for a moment.

"Sleep well?" I asked, finishing off another pancake and figuring I'd let Pietro eat the rest. As if he wasn't going to, anyway.

"As well as I'm going to get," Rhodey chuckled, his voice still thick from sleep. He looked up at the two of us then, arching a brow. "How 'bout you two lovebirds?"

"I slept fine," I volunteered.

Pietro just kind of shrugged before mumbling (around a mouthful of pancakes) "Was good."

"Glad somebody in this Tower's getting sleep," Rhodey sighed, stirring his cereal some. "Seems hard to come by lately."

"What exactly is the problem with the Air Force?" I came right out and asked. "That is, if it's not classified, and I'm actually allowed to know."

Rhodey cracked a smile at that, chuckling somewhat. "I mean, I don't know of any reasons you wouldn't be allowed to know," he said, leaning back some and turning his full attention to me. "There was a German plane a few months ago, around the time you all were in London handling that death ray, and we've been trying to track it ever since we realized it was Hydra in origin."

I stared at him in surprise at that. "A Hydra plane came onto the grid and the Air Force is dealing with it?"

Rhodey smiled slightly, shaking his head. "SHIELD's not in much of a position to do anything, given the, ah . . . issue that they had with Hydra."

Pietro shrugged. "Makes sense. Still, I do not think the Air Force is the best equipped to handle the people who made machines that can disintegrate people."

I nodded quickly in agreement, and Rhodey merely sighed, not hiding his eye roll very well. "Why else do you think I've got Stark helping me?"

"Because he probably did not stop bothering you about it," Pietro volunteered, a cheeky grin on his face.

Rhodey rolled his eyes, shaking his head as he finally took a bite of his cereal. "Y'know, I don't know why I bother with you people - you're all a bunch of smart alecks."

"You've got to admit, though," I grinned, "Pietro and I are way better than Tony in that regard."

Rhodey scoffed loudly. "Yeah, sure, you keep thinking that."

"She will," Pietro smiled.

I shrugged, not at all bothered by the attempted blow to my ego, "I definitely will. But anyway, this plane- you don't know where it went?"

Rhodey finished chewing another bite of cereal before answering me. "No, that's actually not the problem. We've found it, but we can't access it. Stark's been working on unlocking it without accidentally setting off something that would cause it to blow up . . . meanwhile, I've been trying to help track whoever was on board."

"Sounds like a long, boring job," I observed. "No wonder you're exhausted."

"I've been told it's about as painful as it was for Wilson and Rogers to track down Barnes," Rhodey agreed. "But if their situation was any indication, we'll find the guys."

"Guys? Plural?" Pietro asked curiously.

Rhodey nodded; "At least two of them, from the brief footage the Air Force got. But that was just who was visible in the cockpit, so we can't be sure."

I gave a low whistle, shaking my head. "Again: sounds like no fun."

"Yeah, well," Rhodey shrugged, scooping up another spoonful of cereal, "let's hope it was just a few stray Hydra agents who were on the run, and nothing'll come of it."

Pietro and I nodded, exchanging a look, before I murmured, "Here's hoping."