The Soldier and His Girl. (Steve Rogers Love Story)

Chapter Eight: Suit up

I let out a groan as my body flipped and smashed into the back wall. My body tingled with the creation of new emotions that flooded the hovercraft. I felt a shaky breath leave my lips as I watched the ice retreat down my arm and back into my fingertips. The sensation was unlike anything I'd ever experienced—every nerve in my body felt like it had been dipped in liquid nitrogen, the cold seeping deep into my bones. My hands buzzed with energy as I pushed myself off the ground and leaned against the wall, looking up to see a sea of pipes and a gaping hole in the floor of the ship. I turned towards the wall, crawling myself up, and listened to the shouts coming from above. I fell back against the wall as another wave of cold washed over me. Catching sight of my reflection in the pipes, I saw my eyes glowing blue, my once dark brown hair now streaked with white. My hand misted at my side, and frost covered the wall around me.

Slowly, I followed the spirals and ducked under the pipes until I found myself leaning against the wall, listening to the chatter on the other side. A group of who I assumed were Loki's men stood there, pulling various S.H.I.E.L.D. tech from the walls. I placed my ear to the wall and listened as they continued to extract whatever they desired, including hard drives filled with secrets that would surely go to the highest bidder. With a shaky breath, I placed my hand on the wall and let the frost travel upwards, hearing yelps of pain and thumps signaling their fall. Jumping from my hiding spot, I kicked out my feet and moved towards the exit of the lab, hoping to find someone, anyone.

I ducked under flailing arms and dodged kicking legs, moving left and right while fists smashed against my back and shoulders. The two men standing on the other side tried to stop me, but I sent out beams of ice, panting as I watched the ice leave my body and shoot at their chests. With a wiggle of my fingers, I froze them solid. The men struggled, trying to pull the ice away as it traveled up their bodies, cutting off the oxygen from their lungs. Once fully frozen, they fell to the floor with a thud. My body stiffened as I heard approaching footsteps. I raised my hands, mist wrapping around my fingers. The S.H.I.E.L.D. agents quickly stopped and raised their hands in retreat. I couldn't help the smirk that left my lips as I dropped my hands.

I walked up to them and patted each one on the shoulder. "All yours, boys," I said, pushing a hand through my hair before leaning against the wall and looking back at the frozen bodies. I let out a breath of exhaustion, feeling the small speaker in my ear click into place. Fury's voice came through.

"Agent Coulson is down."

The words sent a shock of pain through my body as I held my hands to my chest, letting out a breath.

I placed my hands on the small speaker. "Fury, I'm coming I—I ca—"

"They're here." He said, and I let out a puff of air, a hand rising to my mouth. "They called it."

There was a long pause.

"Agent Johnson is down."

I felt the cold enter my body as I ran into a nearby room, closing the door behind me and leaning against it. I placed my hand on the speaker again. "Is he—Is he—"

"Critical condition."

My hand dropped from my lips, and I began to feel tears pool in my eyes and spill over as I tightly shut them. Slowly sliding down the wall, I brought my knees to my chin, laying my forehead against my knees, sobbing as the cold became too much to contain. Looking around the empty room, I saw it covered in frost, snowflakes dangling in the air. I let out a shaky breath, my heart clenching when I heard Tony's voice.

"Frostbite, you okay?" he asked. I looked around the room, watching the snowflakes stay in place, pushing the tears away and nodding.

"Yeah," I said while wiping away the last tears, "I'm okay."