Girl in Blue

1 - Lagos

Friday, July 4th, 2015

All that Atlas remembered was being caught in the middle of her fall. Someone was gripping onto her wrist for dear life as she hung in mid-air, not falling, but not being pulled up either. She was just stuck, and she wasn't in control. Her shoulder felt like it was about to fall out of its socket. 

Someone had finally hauled her up and set her on the ground in a safe place, far away from the crumbling building. She didn't know who was doing this; she was half-dead and not conscious enough to care. But she was thankful for whatever was happening. She had put her life on the line, but she wasn't ready to die just yet.

The girl could barely open her eyes; one of them was swollen shut and the afternoon sun was beaming down into the other. She could barely make out the image of the person above her as they laid her down on the dirt and sat with her. She knew that all the hits to the head would leave her with a huge concussion, and because of it, her vision was blurry. But as soon as she felt the touch of a metal hand to her own and a warm, rough hand to the side of her face, she knew it was Bucky. He had come back to his senses just in time. Thank god, she thought. She wanted- no, she needed Bucky to stay, but after the small kiss she had felt on her forehead, his tender touch had left her. And all that was left to do was lay there in her own pooling blood until someone else could be there for her.

~

In Greek mythology, Atlas is a Titan condemned to hold up the heavens or sky for eternity...

The Titan literally holds the weight of the world on his shoulders

~

Nine months later...

"All right, what do you see?" Steve asked through the comm. The intensity in his voice showed the importance of the situation at hand. Atlas was pulled away from the thoughts in her own head; not a day went by where she didn't think of that day in Laos, where she didn't think of Bucky.

"Standard beat cops," Wanda answered, knowing that the question was for her. It had been about a year since the witch joined the Avengers, and she was unstoppable in combat, but she needed to brush up on her espionage in case she even needed to keep a low profile. "Small station. Quiet street. It's a good target," Wanda commented.

Steve quizzed her again. "There's an ATM on the south corner, which means?"

"Cameras," Wanda answered immediately.

"Both cross streets are one way," Steve prompted again.

"So, compromised escape routes."

"Means our guy doesn't care about being seen. He isn't afraid to make a mess on the way out... You see that Range Rover halfway up the block?"

"Yeah, the red one? It's cute."

"That's what I was gonna say," Atlas said from her own table in the coffee shop, a small smile taking over her face. She was seated across the shop from Nat and Wanda and was currently reading a book and drinking a coffee as cover.

"It's also bulletproof, which means private security, which means more guns, which means more headaches for somebody. Probably us," Nat interjected.

"You guys know you have people on your team that can move things with their mind and create tornados out of thin air, right?" Wanda said, making a valid point.