The Mimic

94

Y/n and Bucky soon arrived back at the compound, bright smiles on both of their faces. "You were so petty! You can't just step on a kid!" Y/n laughed, pulling her shoes off as soon as they stepped into the compound. Usually she'd just walk straight in, but her feet were killing her. Plus, she had no clue what half of the things she stepped in were. She prayed it was water, but she doubted it was. Bucky rolled his eyes, waiting for y/n to catch up before he continued walking. "Me, petty? I wasn't the one that threw a chocolate bar at his head!" Bucky exclaimed, shaking his head fondly. God, the adrenaline of racing out of the school reminded him of some amazing memories. He used to always get in trouble with the teachers at school, and he'd somehow drag Steve into it every single time. They probably spent more time bolting down the hallways than in class. Those were good times, and being able to do that with y/n just made it even better. 

Y/n and Bucky just planned to relax for the rest of the day. Maybe put on some sitcoms and just relax. Sitcoms was their little thing, a time where they could both just get immersed into those perfect little worlds. But, their plans seemed to be halted by the sight of everyone in the missions room, all suited up and ready to go somewhere. Y/n's smile fell, letting out a breath of disappointment as she turned to look at the team, who were all watching them. She didn't want to go on a mission right now, her feet were killing her. Her and Bucky were tired, so tired. But they only had themselves to blame for that. Neither seemed to regret it though, that night out was probably the best night they'd had in a long while. 

"Oh, nice of you to finally show up! Did you enjoy your little night out?" Tony said in a tone that made him sound like a disappointed father. He pulled up a few images that paparazzi and members of the public had taken of the pair, just looking at them expectantly. He was happy that they'd had a nice time, but it wasn't really the best idea when a mission could pop up at any moment, just like today. Luckily y/n had left a note before they left, so nobody freaked out that her and Bucky weren't there in the morning, they just found it pretty funny.

Y/n just seemed to shrug, setting her shoes down on the ground and her coffee cup down on the table. "We did, actually. We had a really good time." Y/n hummed, not buying into Tony's disappointed dad act. She wasn't going to apologise. She didn't need to. They were grown adults. Y/n smiled at the photos that appeared on the screen, she remembered the joy in every single one of them, maybe she'd have to get them printed out. "So, what's the mission?" Y/n asked, tossing Bucky his mission suit before she grabbed her own. She moved behind one of the dividers in the room so she could change, not bothered enough to leave the room to change. Nobody could see her from where she was anyway, so it didn't make any difference.

Natasha just seemed to smile when Tony's little façade didn't work, she was happy to see y/n getting her confidence back. She moved to stand at the side of the divider, wanting to give y/n a bit more privacy to change. "We don't know yet, we've been waiting for you two to get back." She hummed, crossing her arms over her chest as she gave Bruce an expectant look. She just wanted to hear what the mission was, if it wasn't important she was going to be annoyed that it disturbed her day off. 

Bruce glanced over at Tony first, unsure of whether he was going to try and snap at y/n again, but he didn't seem to be wanting to. He cleared his throat slightly as he swiped away the images of y/n and Bucky, instead pulling up a map of what seemed to be a kid's play area. "So, the government's keeping this under wraps, that's why it's not in the news, but this definitely isn't one of our normal missions." Bruce said seriously, a nervous look on his face. "They call it a 'unidentified creature's nest'-"

"What?" Y/n suddenly cut Bruce off, poking her head out from behind the divider. Her eyebrows were furrowed in confusion, just like everyone else. She thought this was just going to be a normal mission, you know, beat a few people up and then go home. But this didn't sound like a normal mission. Not one bit. Y/n almost doubted that she'd heard Bruce properly, thinking that her lack of sleep was making her hear things. But, the serious look on his face didn't seem like it. "We're going to an alien nest?"

"Well, yeah. We're going to an alien nest, and getting rid of it." Bruce nodded, pulling up a few images that had been sent to him. "Nobody has entered the building yet, so all we have are pictures from the outside, and any view they could get through the windows." He sighed, looking up as the rest of the team glanced at one another. They were being used as lab rats. Of course they were. Nobody else wanted to go inside, so they'd send in the super-powered people to test it for them. What could go wrong, right? 

There were three images. The first image displayed a the front entrance of the building, but it seemed to covered in thick, vine-like tendrils that stopped the door from opening. The 'vines' were an almost void-shade of black, with what seemed to streaks of neon blue. The other two images were taken through the window of the play area, and it just seemed to be even more overrun with the same 'vines'. They looped around the big play structure, seeming to find it a perfect place to build a nest. However, none of the aliens were actually pictured, which just seemed to add to the uneasiness of the rest of the team. There was a reason nobody had entered. The aliens were probably dangerous.

"So... We're being sent in there to die, right?" Y/n asked as she stepped out from behind the divider, completely dressed in her mission suit, apart from the boots. Her feet were killing her, she was trying to not wear any type of shoes for as long as possible. Especially her mission boots, the blisters she got from those things were horrible. She made her way toward the weapons wall, grabbing a pistol to put in her holster. However, she seemed to hesitate at the sight of the knives, her hand hovering over the variety of knives. Y/n hadn't used a blade in battle since she almost killed Bucky, hell, she hadn't even touched the ones in the kitchen...

The whole team picked up on y/n's hesitation as they watched her pick out her weapons. It was hurt that she was still so affected by what happened, but it would just make it worse if anyone mentioned it. Natasha quickly elbowed Bruce in the side to get him to speak, giving Steve a threatening glare. If Steve even opened his mouth, Nat would kill him. She could see in his eyes that he wanted to tell y/n that she didn't have to come on the mission if she didn't want to. Y/n wasn't weak, she could do this. "Basically, yeah." Bruce replied after Natasha nudged him, a weak smile on his face. It was true, this mission really did sound like a death trap. They'd either die, or come out as mutant freaks - but most of the team were already mutant freaks, so that didn't really make any difference.

Y/n took a deep breath, quickly grabbing two blades and setting them in the holders on her legs. She turned to face the team with a smile, acting as if she didn't hesitate at all. "Great! Shall we go, then?"