(Parker's POV):
We were in a sleep and post-sex haze for the majority of the next morning, lying next to each other in bed, curling together and telling stories like we had never been apart. But we had, and for some reason the fact that we had spent so long apart made everything sweeter.
"Aside from Wanda..." Natasha's voice was raspy, and I glanced over at the door to make sure it was locked and Daisy was on the other side. Check and check. I slid my hand over Natasha's hip under her crop top, resting my palm on her flat, warm, stomach.
"Aside from Wanda what?" I chuckled as she shifted in my arms, pressing her ass against me at the contact.
"I don't want to talk about them anymore," Natasha spun in my arms, tugging my hair and pulling me into a long, deep, exploratory kiss. We struggled slightly for control before my hand closed slightly on her throat and her breath hitched. I smirked, knowingly. Some things never change. I rolled Natasha over onto her back, following her down and kissing slow trails over her abdomen, my lips tracing the scar just above her hip.
"This is new," I murmured. She glanced down, her green eyes twinkling in amusement.
"That is courtesy of Steve's best friend Bucky," she chuckled. I frowned.
"I'm going to need to know the rest of that story. Soon. Before I kill him." Natasha chuckled and I took a moment to just appreciate how beautiful and quirky she was. She tugged at my hair as I continued my journey down, nipping at her thighs before settling in front of her, tracing my tongue in slow circles over her center. Her hands tangled in my hair as she tugged me closer, her hips beginning to rotate when I slid two fingers inside of her easily while my mouth focused on her clit.
"Fuck," She whispered, tugging my hair roughly. I could feel the muscles in her legs contracting around my head and knew she was already close. I wrapped my other arm around her legs, pulling her closer, knowing what she needed. One of her hands left my head, clutching desperately at the sheets as she clenched around my fingers, mouth falling open in a silent scream as she crashed over the edge. I had just finished cleaning her up with a warm washcloth and pulling the sheets back up around her securely when the text from Steve came in. Natasha and I read it together.
Spangles: We found Rumlow. Get back to the tower, we're going to Lagos.
Natasha and I exchanged glances, immediately climbing out of bed and reaching for our clothes, scattered once again around the room.
"You named him Spangles in your contacts?" Natasha's voice was silly, but I could sense the underlying tension.
"Do you want to tell me who Rumlow is?" Natasha inhaled sharply and I watched as she pulled her pants on, stretching while she considered her answer.
"He's Hydra – high level. We thought he was shield until he tried to kill us." I sighed, taking in the information and filing it away appropriately.
"Who's we?" I asked, not wanting to pry, but needing to know the backstory of what I was about to walk into.
"Me. Steve. Bucky. Sam. It was when Shield fell." Shit. I was going to need AV for this one. "We thought he died in the Project Insight battle in DC, but he popped up. Been dealing black-market arms for some time."
"A bad guy with a big revenge kink?" I asked, trying to lighten the mood. Natasha laughed.
"Something like that."
...
The tension was palpable when we got back to the tower. The mission was going to be stopping Rumlow before he could get his hands on – whatever it was he was after. The market in Nigeria was good for black market trades, and hitting a bank wouldn't be outside the realm of possibility. It was hard to predict what any other target could be. We all read the mission objective file, as well as the file on Rulmow in the jet on our way to Lagos. We all had our part to play, and we knew from Steve's typical speech that this was going to be our best chance to catch this guy once and for all.
"Alright, what do you see?" Steve's voice crackled over coms, and I glanced down from my perch on a rooftop a block or so away from where Natasha and Wanda were sitting, enjoying coffee. Lucky.
"Standard beat cops. Small Station. Quiet Street. It's a good target." I glanced down at Wanda, smirking. She was being snarky, but as usual Steve was going to miss it entirely.
"There's an ATM on the south corner, which means?" I rolled my eyes. Trainer Rogers was on mission.
"Cameras."
"Both cross streets are one-way."
"So, compromised escape routes." I nodded, smiling to myself. I was impressed. Wanda's immersion into the world of spies and missions hadn't been an easy transition for her from the life of an activist and hydra experiment. But she was learning, and it was easy to see that the lessons were paying off.
"Means our guy doesn't care about being seen. He isn't afraid to make a mess on the way out." I sighed. This didn't bode well for anybody. "You see the range rover halfway up the block?"
"Yeah, the red one? It's cute." I chuckled, blocking the microphone with my hand.
"It's also bulletproof. Which means private security, which means more guns, which means more headaches for somebody. Probably us." I smirked down at the courtyard below where I could barely make out Natasha under the umbrella. She was always such an optimist.
"You guys know I can move things with my mind, right?" Okay, I totally couldn't help the laugh at that one. Yes, Wanda, I'm pretty sure we all were very aware of exactly what you were capable of. Namely, me and Natasha.
"Looking over your shoulder needs to become second nature." I shrugged. She wasn't wrong.
"Anyone ever tell you you're a little paranoid?" I glanced over to the roof across from mine, seeing Sam balancing easily on the ledge. I swear the man had a deathwish.
"Not to my face. Why? Did you hear something?" I chuckled again. That's my girl.
"Eyes on target, folks. This is the best lead we've had on Rumlow in six months, I don't want to lose him." I sighed. Steve was always all business in the field, and a goofball off of it.
"If he sees us coming, that won't be a problem. He kinda hates us." I glanced at Sam and gave him a thumbs-up. He wasn't wrong.
I saw the truck at the same time as Steve, moving easily among rooftops following it down the overly-congested street. As it picked up speed, I broke into a jog, eyeing the building with the barricade directly in our path. This was even worse than we thought. I remembered, however, that I was part of a team when Steve's voice crackled through my earpiece again.
"Body armor, AR-15s. I make seven hostiles." I glanced over at Sam as we landed on the same patch of roof, knocking both guards out in unison.
"I make five." I glared at Sam.
"One of those was mine, Wilson." I glanced up as Wanda flew over my head – I'd never get used to seeing that. She threw the next guard to Sam, much to my chagrin.
"Four." I growled. Cocky little shit. I watched as Wanda all-but threw Steve into the building above, watching her back – not that she needed much help – as she tried to siphon the gas from the building. I glanced up when I heard a motorcycle, seeing Natasha finally showing up and plowing into the unfortunate guards in her path. Two white tentacles shot out from either side, grabbing two of the guards who thought to aim a gun at her and smashing their heads together. Not on my watch. I glanced up to see Natasha dropped into the tank, followed by a grenade, tensing and ready to rip the door off, if necessary. It wasn't. I ducked as the door shot out, watching as Natasha used another guard as a shield.
Natasha and Sam took off after the guards split up in the market place, but I kept my eye on the truck. Something seemed off about it. I looked up as an explosion rocked the market place and Steve's shield went flying into the air. But then my eyes caught movement in the back of the truck and I took off after the last mercenary made his delayed escape. I heard Sam and Natasha on coms. They had the payload, and Natasha refused to thank Redwing – I couldn't blame her. That means that the guy that I was tailing didn't have the payload, but he was still someone who was dangerous and needed to be brought in.
I glanced up in horror as Wanda grabbed somebody with her magic, levitating him into the air and trying to the contain the force of a blast. It was too much for her. But then I glanced past her, noting the guy I had been following had his eyes on the witch, and he was raising his weapon.
"Wanda!" I shouted as I moved forward. I lowered my shoulder and charged, grabbing the mercenary around the hips before he could discharge his weapon, but our forward momentum carried us too far, and I watched in horror as we slid directly into Wanda, knocking her legs out from under her. She lost control of the explosion, and I sat up in shock as the side of the building exploded.
"We need fire and rescues on the south side of the building," I inhaled sharply at the soud of Steve's voice, staring at Wanda in horror and regret.
"Wanda...I'm so sorry," I croaked out. She glanced at me, her eyes wide with unshed tears, her hand still pressed against her mouth. This was going to be bad.