Our Perfect Never •||• stony

Part XXII - Landing

-=Steve=-
A wave of turbulence hits the jet, shaking the people and equipment inside it. I cling to the arm of my chair, not scared, but startled.

We're descending, I think to myself. I take my dog tags out of my suit, the two tags clinking together like wind chimes.

Steven Rogers. A name that is known by most as a symbol, an idol, and not a person. A celebrity.

Captain America. A name that stands for hope and freedom, fighting for what is right, because that's what I do, right?

Steve. Me. A name that only my friends call me. I don't hear that name often. Nicknames like Cap, Captain, and Rogers is what I hear these days.

I slip the necklace back down my chest, the cold of the metal heating back up with the temperature of my blood.

The sleeping man beside me is something completely different.

He is Tony Stark.

In a metal suit or a business suit. Same man. Same smart, sarcastic Stark.

He is silent as a rock, his chest moving up and down steadily, his head tilted slightly to the side.

His sleep is needed, hours of dedication to keeping the team safe, his team. He always denies it, but he is the glue that keeps us together.

At least, that is what he is to me.

"We're here," Natasha announces, transferring the pilot's words to us.

We slow, then stop. I reach over to wake Tony.

"Tony, Tony we're here," I whisper, and he grumbles, opening his eyes slowly.

"Welcome back." I grin at him then stand, slipping my helmet on and strapping my shield to my back.

He stands, his height barely reaching my nose. I internally chuckle at the thought.

"Test, test." I hear in my ear and recognise it as Bruce's voice coming through my earpiece that I had fitted in earlier.

"You're good, Bruce," Tony confirms, stretching and looking out the slim window to the tundra biome below.

"The trees are already dying," I observe, making my way with Tony to the others in the middle of the jet.

"Well, it is Fall, so that would make sense." He states, signalling for the pilot to open the centre of the Quinjet.

The bay door opens and five ropes are released down in front of us above the deep forest.

I put a safety harness around my middle, making sure that it's tight and secured. I look over to Tony, seeing that he already secured his own.

We clip our ropes to the harnesses. I'm the first to jump. Gravity pulls me to the ground, but the rope holds steadily.

I look up and Nat is second to jump, then Clint, Pietro, and last is Tony. The engine of the jet is silent and the jet itself is completely camouflaged.

The leaf flooded ground comes into view after we descend below the tree canopy.

The glasses of my helmet highlight the ground with night vision, giving me the advantage to melee combat if it comes to that.

My feet reach the ground and I expect them to make a satisfying crunch contacting with the leaves, but Tony made them padded so you can barely hear any noise, even with my light stepping feet.

Once everybody is on the ground, we are wary, our stance is as if we are deer awaiting an attack.

As soon as I unclip my belt it zips fast back into the air. I can't tell if the jet has left yet, but I assume it has; everyone's harnesses are gone.

"Pietro." Tony looks at Pietro and nods, the speedster nodding back before running off. He is back in seconds.

"No guards on the perimeter, but I heard talking further up. I turned back after I heard voices." He informs, not even puffed from running.

"Dammit." Tony curses under his breath, "Hear that, Bruce."

"Yep. Send out the drones." Bruce replies, and Tony grabs out about five or six mini-drones and flings them into the air.

They startup once they start to drop, hovering three meters in the air. Starting to move immediately, the hover in an arrow position and move into the woods.

Tony has a screen out and I move to look at it over his shoulder. There are six screens, each has a heat vision layer over the lens.

No heat signatures so far. None by the time the drones return.

"Are you sure you weren't hearing things, P?" I ask him, beating Tony to the point.

He furrows his eyebrows and shakes his head.

"I'm sure I heard something." He pushes, crossing his arms. Tony shrugs lightly and hands a screen to Natasha and Clint.

"Map. Steve and I will head out now." Tony drags me quietly into the woods.

"Keep your heads up, guys." I wave them off, continuing cautiously towards the fortress.

Once we are able to see the base, I pull us behind a tree. His calm face is sort of frightening as he looks up at me, but I understand why.

He wants knowledge. He can't stand not being on top of everything, not knowing what's going to happen and why.

"Snipers," I whisper.

**

869

Two chapter like I promised, just a little late cause I was editing. Enjoy!