Steve and I edged outside into the crisp windy air as a dozen agents behind me rushed past with fire extinguishers and oxygen masks on. We needed to repair the the rotors and main turbine. I unfurled my wings quickly as I glanced down at the thousands of feet in between us and the floor. "Stark we are here"Steve yelled as he turned his com link on and glanced back at me. I did the same and soon enough heard Tony's voice. "Good. Lets see what we got" Tony replied through the com link as he appeared in his gold and red Ironman suit.
He quickly surveyed the different motors and machinery as if reading a book. "I gotta get this super conducting cooling system back online before I can access the rotors and work on dislodging the debris" Tony explained as Steve and I looked at each other a little confused. Neither of us were geniuses but I kind of understood him. " Just tell us what you need Tony"I replied as I watched Tony adjustesting the partially delapdated motors that were emitting sparks and smoke.
" Captain I need you to get to that engine control panel and tell me which relays are in overload position. It should be above you"Tony ordered as Steve looked around to see a nearby broken rail way that would help him get to the panel. He hesitated before jumping and looked back to me "If I fall you'll catch me right?" He asked and I snorted with a small smirk. I can't believe I was almost laughing at a time like this. "Hopefully" I replied and Steve chuffed softly before taking a grand leap towards a piece of thick rebar and the using it to swing upwards to where the panel was. Once he landed I took my own leap into the air allowing my wings to keep me afloat.
"Harper I need you to help me get rid of some of this debris that is clogging the rotors" Tony's robotic voice said and I quickly complied as I neared the different rotors and hastily began pulling broken shards of metal out. The entire ship groaned as it slowly descended downwards but thankfully we were over an ocean. At least that would minimize the destruction if we did fall.
" Cap what does it look like in there?" Tony asked as I glanced back at Steve who was looking down at a complex panel full of different colored wires and mechanical contractions. For a guy who pretty much grew up in the stone age it probably looked very strange to him. "Uhh it seems to be powered by some form electricity" Steve claimed. I grinned at his reply as I moved towards the engine of the turbine that was clogged with different parts of debris. I swear he was so ignorant in the funniest way
" Well you're not wrong" I replied as I tried to dislodge a large piece of smoking metal that looked like it came off of the edge of the turbine itself. I finally got it out when I rammed into it with both my feet and it fell all the way down towards the sparkling blue waters beneath us. " Good job feathers" Tony stated as he appeared beside me in his red and gold suit.
I gave a partially annoyed look from the nickname as I focused on getting rid of the smaller chunks of the broken helicarrier. The turbine was a fair bit damaged but it look still looked fixable. "What now Tinman?"I asked as he blasted a another chunk of metal off on the turbine easily. "Even if we clear the rotors, this thing won't re-engage without a jump. I'm gonna have to get in there and push" Tony explained as the wind ruffled my hair too and fro. I peered inside the turbine that was a huge circular like contraption with a dozen spokes that all normally rotated at lightning speeds.
"Well if that thing gets up to speed, you'll get shredded!" Steve argued as I backed away from the turbine. I hovered at the edge with clear view of both Steve and Tony. Tony thought quickly "Then stay in the control unit and reverse the polarity long enough to disengage mag -- Speak english!!" Steve interrupted suddenly.
Tony sighed audibly " See that red lever? It'll slow the rotors down long enough for me to get out. Stand by it, wait for my word. Harper go see if you can try to help the poor old man"Tony said and I nodded as I flew towards Steve who leaped to a another nearby railway where a thick red lever was. Just as I approached him several men dressed in all black combat outfits appeared with large guns and grenades. They obviously were not there to help us as one of then casually threw a grenade towards the already broken turbine to damage it more. Steve took a daring leap and swatted the grenade away before just narrowing landing on the edge the broken ship.
I swooped in towards the men before they could open fire and immediately took one of them out as I barreled into him. This action pretty much pummeled him to the floor. The impact alone knocked the air straight out of him and might have even cracked a rib hopefully. A fresh rush of adrenaline pumped through my veins as I came face to face with the armored agents. "Steve I can handle them you get back to the lever" I ordered as I ducked away from a spray of bullets from one of the other men clad in black. They were using Noveske Rifles witch were big but the bullets weren't terribly large nor were they armor piercing. Witch was good news for me since with my suit and skin I was minorly bullet proof against them. I used my wings to deflect the bullets that refracted in different angles and even hit a few of the men. "You sure your ok down there?" Steve asked as I found a small opening in the line of fire where I caught one of the men by the throat with my talons with deft precision. He choked loudly as small beads of blood seeped through his mouth. Blood ran down his neck as I flung him off the edge of the craft. I didn't even look as the man fell to his death.
" I think I can handle it" I replied and quickly went after another one who tried to raise his rifle before I snapped it in half with a powerful swipe. My talons cut through it like a knife slicing warm butter. I punched him in the face and then finished him with a harsh kick. He would live but he'd be knocked out for a while. Yet there were still more of them coming and Steve began shooting at them with one of the fallen rifles. This caused them to retreat behind the wall of what used to be a hall in the Helicarrier. I swiped a grenade from the man I had just knocked out and then pulled out the notch before throwing it to where two of the bad agents were. It exploded just seconds later with a plume of red and orange. I could literally feel myself slipping away into being an agent again. Where I was wholly remorseless and absolutely merciless.
Thankfully, something serious occurred to snap me right out of that mind frame. Steve suddenly stumbled backwards as the ship shook harshly. I turned just a fraction of a second late as it all seemed to move in slow motion. He teetered awkwardly on the edge of the jagged railway he stood upon. Steve's eyes connected with mine as I saw a look of surprised fear run across his features. His arms flailed outwards trying to grasp something, anything to balance himself again. He tried to say something but the words never came out. I was a solid ten yards away from him when he disappeared over the edge.
"Steve!" I yelled as he began plummeting downwards. He was falling front first when I darted after him. My heart was racing as a fresh wave of terror ran through me. Steve would die if I didn't catch him in time.
He was falling fast when I caught up with him and just managed to catch him under the shoulders to where I was pretty much carrying him from behind. His back was pressed to my chest and I quickly found out that he weighed a heck of a lot more than I did. He let out a shocked gasp as I grabbed him from the air and tried to grip my arms for leverage. I could feel his heart pounding at a thousand miles a minute within his chest. He was obviously a little shocked from being in free fall. Some people, like me were used to the feeling yet even those who had free falled from such heights always had parachutes and such. "Hold on Steve" I stated as the poor soldier found it hard to even breathe correctly. He sputtered something unintelligible as I began trying to fly upwards back to the helicarrier.
"Don't look down" I stated as I struggled to hold the much larger man. Despite Steve being in pristine physical shape he was still very heavy. He was like carrying a boulder. He began dragging me down but I willed my wings to beat faster as they propelled us upwards. It was dreadfully slow progression as carrying Steve was literally like driving a boat with the anchor still down. I strained upwards with powerful flaps of my wings. There was no way to adjust my position with Steve so it would make it easier to carry him without the possibility of dropping him. But somehow I did manage to get him all the way back up to the helicarrier. I was practically breathless once we did finally get back to the broken turbine area of the helicarrier. I plopped him down on an intact railway that was a little bit further in to the port side of helicarrier. I fell right beside him on my back, my arms felt tired from the long haul.
I was gassed from the amount of energy I had just used up and coughed hoarsely as I found the sudden rush of air had made my throat scratchy. There was a moment of silence as we both recuperated. I felt like I had just gone through the most intense upper body workout possible. I mean you try carrying an over 200 pound weight that had been wriggling around just about the whole time. " Let's never..... to that again" I said as we both laid on our backs. Steve made a sound of acknowledgment as he tried to sit back up. Both of his hands were still shaking from the recent adrenaline rush. He had probably been scared out of his mind.
Steve managed to get up to his feet by using a side rail to support himself. I was leaning against a wall sitting down as I calmed my breathing down. "You good Steve?" I asked as he extended a hand to help me up.
Steve hesitated "Y-yeah I just t-thought I was going to....." He stammered and I nodded in understanding. I placed a small hand on his shoulder in the most comforting way I could. I wasn't big on being empathetic nor was I any good at it. But I had been in plenty of life threatening scenarios to understand his terror. " I know" I replied as my breathing began slowing back down to normal.
" Thank you" Steve said sincerely as our different colored eyes met with a spark. " No problem" I replied. I mean I couldn't just have let him fall to his untimely death. I mean I actually liked Steve as person but had it been Tony I might have let him fall for little bit longer. The craft rumbled in the distance as I was brought back to reality. We were still falling out of the sky. Tony's robotic voice spoke suddenly through a staticy buzz of the com link in my ear.
" Hey if you guys aren't busy you could lift that red lever" Tony asked sarcastically and my head quickly snapped to above me where the red lever was. After the free fall pursuit of Steve I had pretty much forgotten about Tony and the red lever. I glanced outside towards the turbine that was beginning to move and would get up to speed soon. Steve took a step forward before I put my arm in front of him. " I'll go hit the lever. You need to stay away from the ledge and don't even think about falling again" I told Steve who grinned in spite of his near death experience. He nodded in understanding and took a step back.
"Cap fell!?!? And you might want to hurry with that lever" Tony insisted as I propelled myself upwards with a strong flap of my wings to the ledge where the lever was. I kept an eye on the nearby openings of the helicarrier for any sudden bad agents who meant me harm. Yet none of them appeared. " Now!"Tony ordered and I automatically switched the lever with a clunking sound. A few second later a rather busted and scuffed up Ironman suit appeared as it went spiralling outwards in summersaults before it gained a stable position. The turbine and rotors whistled loudly as it turned continuously. The craft seemed to right itself in the air and no longer tilted so much to the left.
I flew back down to Steve just as Tony appeared with us. Tony lifted his facial plate to reveal his smirking face. " So how was flying for the first time Cap?" Tony asked. I rolled my eyes as we began to walk back into the inner part of the helicarrier. " Tony now really isn't the time"Steve replied as the three of us walked in stride together.
"Oh come on Cap I remember my first flight test in this suit. It was--Tony! You can make fun or poor Steve later. I needed to contact Fury" I interrupted as I held a finger against the com link in my ear. Seeing as we had fixed the turbine we could not help go do something else. " Fury? This is agent Silviano, we have stabilized the turbine and inside rotor. Whats the rundown on everything else?" I asked with my thoughts going to Natasha and her well being. Through all the excitement of playing 'Catch Steve in the Air' I hadn't stopped to think of what happened to the her and Bruce.
A flare of static came back through the earpiece before Fury spoke. "Natasha is safe, Agent Barton has been contained, The Hulk is no longer on the craft, and Loki has escaped" Fury explained emotionlessly through the earpiece that was also broadcasted to Steve and Tony. I felt a few brief seconds of relief due to the fact Natasha was ok and Clint was finally back. The two people I was closest to were safe. But the fact that Bruce was literally off the ship and Loki escaped dampened my mood. "Reindeer games escaped?" Tony asked abruptly. Yet this didn't surprise me so much as it was probably the very reason that those combat agents had attacked the helicarrier had even attack us in the first place.
" Anything else Director?"I asked and it almost felt like I was a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent reporting back to him again. There were a few seconds of silence before Fury did reply.
"Coulson is down" Fury replied back and this caused me to stop in my tracks. A flash of despair panged through my chest and my heart caught in my throat. It felt like I had been shot in the stomach. The other two men stopped soon after as they listened to the earpiece.
"Down?" Steve asked gravely.
" He's gone"