citlalmina ☼ s. rogers

I.XVIII

Elenara bit her tongue as she met his blue eyes. In the dark, they seemed grey while hers were nearly black. As strange as it was, she spotted his eyes similar to a child's; innocent. Her red lips were pressed into a thin line and parted for her to speak.

"We'll talk about this later, Howard." The pilot nodded and kept his eyes on the sky in front of him.

"Alrighty." Peggy noticed Steve's jealous eyes on Howard.

"Stark is the best civilian pilot I've seen. He's made enough to brave this airship. We're lucky to have him." She told him as if reminding him why they needed him alive.

A light chuckle emerged from next to her.

"His head is big enough, Peg." Elenara said while shaking her head.

"No, no. She can go on." Howard's chuckle echoed inside the airship. They all laughed, but Steve's face remained stoic.

"So, are you two. . ." He began with a stutter. Elenara's smile faltered and she raised her brow in confusion.

"Do you. . ." Elenara and Peggy shared a look as they waited for the super soldier to finish his sentence. ". . . Fondue?"

"Que?" She asked with absolute confusion. Peggy shook her head and held out the transponder to Elenara.

"Here, this is your transponder. Activate it when you're ready and the signal will lead us straight to you." She nodded and tucked into the pocket of her trousers.

"Are you sure this thing works?" He shouted.

"It's been tested more than you, pal."

"We should be fine then." An oncoming storm of blasts rumbled the airship. Peggy held on Elenara as the ship harshly rocked.

"That's our cue, Elle." The goddess shot up and tightly secured her parachute to her body. She felt a hand grip to her arm.

"Get back here! We're taking you all the way in!" Steve pulled the metal door open and sat on the steel ground.

"As soon as we're clear, you turn this thing around and get the hell out of here!"

"You can't give me orders!" Peggy yelled over the loud groans of the airships.

"The hell I can't! I'm a Captain!" He flashed a smile towards Elenara and leapt off without hesitating. Elenara was about to do the same before Peggy held her back.

"Be safe." She embraced her tightly before letting go.

"I'll be back soon."

"You better." The sun goddess couldn't help but laugh and launched herself out into the air. The wind violently roared in her ears as the cold wind bit at her face, her eyes becoming clouded by the oncoming tears.

"Xiuh." He immediately took his form as a staff and jumped into her hands. She pulled on the lever and the parachute exploded out of the backpack. The Mexica Goddess watched with concern at the departing airships as she gently flew down towards the surface. Xiuh let out a comforting hiss near her ears.

"I hope so." She had faith in Howard and knew he will be able to shake them off. Right now, she has to focus on the mission at hand. This was her first mission —not officially. She had trained so long and now she will be finally be able to put her skills to use.