First Light | Steve Rogers (Book Two)

Chapter One: Longing

I was sat in a small street café in Lagos, casually sipping from my mug of coffee as I scanned the surrounding area. The street was fairly busy, a faint buzz of traffic carrying through the humid air. A fruity scent of coffee wafted towards me, calming my senses. The heat from the sun was beating down on me, making me regret my choice to wear the large leather jacket that rested over me. 

As I watched the passers-by, I couldn't help but wonder what it was like for them. They probably led less dangerous lives, never having to keep both eyes open constantly. That thought had been popping into my mind quite a lot, but I always tried to force it back into the shadows of my mind. The lock for that box never seemed to be strong enough.

"All right, what do you see?" Steve asked through the comms link.

I watched Wanda as she sat at a nearby table, just visible in my peripheral vision. "Standard beat cops," she muttered as she sipped her drink, "Small station. Quiet Street. It's a good target"

Slightly glancing up, I noticed his face peering around a curtain from a shabby hotel window. He made eye contact with me and nodded slowly, "There's an ATM on the south corner, which means?"

"Cameras" she replied. My lips tugged into a smile, she was learning fast.

"Both cross streets are one-way" he continued.

"So, compromised escape routes"

I looked down at the newspaper on my table, showing a picture of a masked man holding a large gun. "Means our guy doesn't care about being seen," I murmured subtly, "He isn't afraid to make a mess on the way out"

There was a pause as we continued to survey the streets, "You see that Range Rover halfway up the block?"

"The red one?" the girl asked, "It's cute"

"It's also bulletproof," Nat corrected from her table a couple of metres away, "Which means more guns... which means more headaches for somebody. Probably us"

The girl scoffed, "You guys know I can move things with my mind, right?"

I sipped my coffee and glanced around warily, "Looking over your shoulder needs to become second nature"

"Anybody ever tell you you're a little paranoid?" Sam chuckled quietly.

"Not to my face. Why? Did you hear something?"

"Eyes on target, folks," Steve cut in before our conversation became too casual, "This is the best lead we've had on Rumlow in six moths, I don't want to lose him"

"If he sees us coming, that won't be a problem," Sam reminded his best friend, "He kinda hates us"

A large garbage truck drove down the nearest road. My eyes narrowed in suspicion and I slowly nodded towards it. Steve noticed my signal, "Sam, you see that garbage truck? Tag it"

Something small soared through the air, descending below the skyline and out of sight. "Give me x-ray," I heard Sam mutter, "That truck's loaded for max weight and the driver's armed"

Nat made eye contact with me from across the buzzing café, "It's a battering ram"

"Go now"

"What?" Wanda asked, her voice sounding confused and a little panicked.

"He's not hitting the police"

I got up from my seat, leaving some money on the saucer before I made my way into the crowded streets. A plume of smoke began to rise from the distance and I quickened my pace. "I'm at the IFID," Steve shouted over the sound of gunfire, "Body armour, AR-15s. I make seven hostiles"

There was another blast and Sam spoke up, "I make five"

"Sam" Wanda called.

Another bang rang out, making me wince slightly. "Four," Sam corrected himself after a second, "Rumlow's on the third floor"

Sprinting towards the entrance of the IFID, I had to leap over the rubble of the gates. Sam was stood near the building, using his wings as a shield as he shot at any attackers. Wanda was stood a little way behind him with a red light dancing around her, sucking a thick gas from the windows of the building.

I made my way over to my teammates, pulling out my blaster as I helped to shield the girl from harm. A flash of blue light hurtled into one of the attackers, knocking him several metres back. 

"Nice of you to join the party" Sam huffed, his wings curling around him to form a protective wall as he pressed a few buttons on the device attached to his wrist. Two missiles rose from the pack strapped to his back, taking out the trucks shielding our enemies.

The noxious gas rose into the air in a large tendril, gradually beginning to fade as it diffused into the atmosphere and was neutralised.

"Rumlow has a biological weapon" Steve informed us, my heart seeming to stop when I heard those words.

"I'm on it" an engine roared over the comms link as Nat spoke.

There was a loud bang and I span around, my neck twinging slightly as I stared at the smoke curling away from a corner of the building. A large armoured truck sped away, squeaking slightly as it swerved around a corner and disappeared from view. Steve let out a grunt of pain, "Sam?"

"He's in an AFV heading north" the man replied, giving me a quick nod before flying off.

I moved closer to Wanda, still keeping an eye out for any more bad guys. She turned to me with a quick nod once all of the gas had dissipated. "What now?" the girl asked, glancing around as we made our way to the exit.

"Let's go check in on Cap. You think you can get us both there a little quicker?"

She nodded, taking my hand. We began to rise into the air, Scarlet energy keeping us steady as we began to fly over the city. I pointed towards the two figures fighting below us, trading vicious blows with each other.

Rumlow shouted something when we landed, but I couldn't understand his words. There was a click and his body was suddenly engulfed with fire.

Wanda did her best to contain the blast, her face scrunched up in concentration. She let out a desperate cry as the ball of flames went out of her control, managing to push it high up into the air as it exploded.

The blast was bigger than we had expected. It took out several floors on our side of a nearby building, the flames trying to consume the building.

We stared at the devastation in shock, that awful silence plummeting down on us once again. The girl's eyes went wide and she covered her mouth, trying to slow her ragged breathing.

"Oh my..." Steve's eyes were fixed on the building as it began to produce thick clouds of black smoke, "Sam... we need Fire and Rescue on the south side of the building"

Wanda sank to her knees, gazing up at the destruction in horror and disbelief. I rushed over to her, letting her cling on to me as she sobbed. I tried to comfort her, running a hand through her hair and whispering soft words into her ear.

He made eye contact with me and I nodded slowly, "Go. You and Sam need to get people out of there, you have better equipment for that than I do. I'll get her out of here"

A/n:
So, this is chapter one of First Light! Thank you so much for reading on to the sequel of Daybreak, it means a lot to me. Please don't hesitate to let me know what you think so far. I do apologise if it's a bit awkward, I'm still fairly new to writing and I had really bad writer's block