Frostbite

Ten

The weather was clear and warm, only an occasional soft breeze ruffled my hair. I almost would have preferred a storm; it would make it much easier to sneak in. Fort Mead was surrounded by trees though, which was almost as good.

Sam had given us the layout of the army post, and we had created a plan quickly. Natasha and Steve would be the ones to sneak in, and I would cause a distraction that would, hopefully, require a lot of personnel to attend to so that they could get the gear and get out. Sam was the getaway driver.

Sam was already in position, waiting. Natasha had luckily brought some equipment with her, so we all had tiny ear comms. She was heading toward her entry point by herself. Nat and Steve were going to enter from different areas and meet up at the facility that held the wings.

Steve was still walking with me through the trees. His entry point wasn't far off from where I was going to wreak havoc. He glanced down at me nervously, but in a flash the look was gone.

"Try and keep a distance while using your magic. We don't know what they'll do. I'd rather be on the safe side," he told me, taking on his leadership role, but I could detect the note of distress underneath. I stopped and grabbed his hand.

"They probably won't even know what's happening. But, hey, if they do then I got this," I said brazenly, "Don't you have any confidence in me?"

"Of course, I do," he chuckled, " I just... worry."

"Well, I'll be fine. Don't worry too much about me, Captain," I purred, leaning closer to him. He suddenly yanked me to him, crushing me in a passionate kiss. It was like a wildfire raced through my veins, and I could no longer think straight.

"Cap, are you in position?" Natasha inquired over comms. We broke apart and I sighed loudly, earning a smirk from him.

"Almost there," he replied to Nat, and to me he said firmly, "I mean it, don't do anything too risky."

I rolled my eyes for his benefit and watched him jog toward his position. Finally, I crept to the tree line, letting the shadows cover me until they were both ready. There hadn't been much of a discussion on how I'd pull off the distraction. I had simply told them I could do it, and now my mind was floundering for an idea. Then it came to me. It would drain a lot of my energy, but it would be the most effective way.

"In position, Natasha?" Steve announced finally.

"In position."

Now it was my turn. Taking a deep breath, I looked up at the sky and shot a stream of energy into it, creating dark clouds that immediately started to release a heavy snow. After several moments, there was almost a foot of snow on the ground. I glanced over at the gate and focused on them.

I had only ever successfully done this stunt one other time, and I prayed it worked now while they were distracted by the sudden change in weather. I swiped my hand up, pulling a small flurry of snow up and creating a clone of myself. It looked exactly like me other than the one obvious difference. It was made of pure ice. Creating one that looked like someone else took a lot more energy and thought.

It was equipped with a long-bladed ice sword for dramatic effect and a shock factor. With a flick of my fingers, it strode toward the gate, sword draped over its shoulder. It took the people at the gate a few moments to notice my trick.

As soon as they did, they began shouting orders at it, which obviously did nothing. I moved closer to the gate while still managing to stay concealed in the trees. I made it swing the sword at one of the barriers, breaking it effortlessly. People began running from their cars and trying to back away. It was chaos.

The snow stopped so that I could reserve my energy. There was at least a foot and a half now to slow them down. Two of the military police started firing their weapons at the clone when they realized it wasn't going to stop, fracturing a few of its limbs. I repaired them effortlessly and made it smash the window to the small building. The soldiers inside scattered and one of them did what I had been praying for. He picked up the phone and made a call.

I sent my mini me toward an empty car and made it smash the windshield. There was no need to hurt anyone, so my main goal was to just draw attention. The soldiers had no clue what to do since their guns weren't as effective because I was continuously repairing it.

Suddenly, the broadcast system aired and directed people to take shelter and gave further instructions for military personnel. The blaring alarm broke through my concentration momentarily, and one of the soldiers managed to take its arm clean off.

I cursed and regenerated the arm. There was sweat cascading down my face at this point. It advanced onto the man, and he backed up fairly quickly. There were no civilians left at this point.

"Melanie, people are scattered everywhere. No one's paying us any mind. You're good," Natasha complimented me. I snorted and waved my hand for my ice creation to advance through the gate. I followed along the tree line.

"Yeah, well- this isn't easy. So, hurry it up," I growled back. A few trucks pulled up and a group of soldiers poured out of them. They began quick firing, tearing it apart. Before they could finish it off, I created another one and sent it after the first.

One soldier exclaimed in surprise and aimed at the new clone. I made it dodge behind the small building, escaping the rain of bullets. Then I forced it to dash out, only to scare, not to harm, smashing mirrors and windows along the way. The clone was advancing quickly, and they stumbled back. Then they obliterated it.

My hands were shaking from all the power I was using, but I hadn't heard from them yet, so I kept going. Before I could conjure up another one, one of the soldiers spotted me and shouted to the others. I had moved out of the cover of the trees without noticing while trying to keep a visual. Shit.

They didn't hesitate to start shooting at me once they realized I was the cause of all the havoc. I sprinted through the trees, back towards our rendezvous point at the car. Bullets we're flying dangerously close.

"Guys- I kinda blew my cover. How much longer will you be? I don't want to lead them to the car." I yelled, gritting my teeth. Exhaustion was sweeping over me, making it difficult to keep running.

"We got the wings. We're heading for the car now," Steve replied almost instantly. I exhaled in relief and kept pushing myself. There was no way the soldiers knew where I was, but I didn't dare slow down in case they caught up.

Finally, the car and Sam came into view, and I dashed to the back door. I hurled myself inside, gasping for breath. The edges around my vision turned dark and my head pounded mercilessly. Leaning against the seat in front of me, I shut my eyes and tried to regulate my breathing. There was a hand on my shoulder, and I peered up. It was Sam.

"You gonna be okay?" he asked worriedly. I waved him off.

"Sure, sure. That- that was nothing," I huffed, grimacing as I talked. He didn't look so sure and opened his mouth to respond, but just then Natasha and Steve ran out of the trees. Nat jumped into the front seat and Steve threw the enormous bag into the trunk and hopped in beside me. Sam wasted no time in taking off, eventually merging into traffic.

"What's wrong? Are you alright?" Steve demanded, fussing over me. I groaned and leaned back again.

"I'm fine, really. Just exerted too much power," I mumbled.

"What exactly did you do? Everyone was freaking out," Natasha asked curiously. I snorted.

"Made a few ice clones of myself. They had no idea what they were. I've ever only been able to do it one other time. I'm glad I didn't choke," I joked. They all look wide eyed at each other, seemingly impressed.

"I didn't know you could do that," Steve said astounded. I smiled darkly.

"There's a lot of things I can do that you don't know about. Hell, I don't even know the extent of what I can do."