And they called it Bucky Love

Part 10 - Plans on a Plane!

And so it was, that I found myself several hours later, seated in a Quinjet, with Tony, Steve and Natasha Romanov.

Steve was flying and the rest of us were in the back. I was sat next to Natasha and Tony was opposite. Natasha and Steve were "suited up" and Tony was just......well .......suited.

Seeing the three of them looking all glam and "Avengery", I couldn't help but feel like the outcast who'd stowed away on the wrong plane by mistake, and wondered if it was too late to mention that I got airsick.     I tried to stay focused but was sure my teeth were chattering with nerves, and was also sure that Natasha could hear them, as I swear she kept giving me the oddest looks.

I bet her teeth don't chatter – I muttered to myself – little miss perfect superspy, with her perfect  green eyes and flowy red hair and perfect body in that really skin tight catsuit.   I stopped myself then before I went too far (not like me at all!). 

The tension in the air was palpable.  Tony was staring into space, and apart from the odd glance at me, Natasha seemed to be engrossed in her own thoughts.   Steve was concentrating on flying the jet, so it was left to just us three in the back to pass the time together.

I decided that conversation was the way forward.

"So Tony" I said "Where exactly in Romania are we going, and when do we land?"

"Land ?" Tony gave me one of his looks "Weird girl, what do you think this is? We don't LAND – we drop.  You've got your parachute on haven't you?"

Bugger! - must have missed that part.  Cue a look of panic on my face.

"W – w- what?"

Tony laughed. "Hey, relax!  Joke!   No jumping out of planes required.   We LAND in about 4 hours,  in a place called Briciou , just outside Bucharest". Natasha rolled her eyes at him. "Tony, you're such a dick".

I made a mental note to kill him when this was all over "Hey I knew that"  

"So, this ah - Brish- -bi - shoooo - whatever – is it a nice place?" In my head, I was imagining a romantic alpine village with snow-capped mountains, a little akin to The Sound of Music.

"No" said Tony matter of factly "It's a small town, filled with ugly apartment blocks from the cold war era and really needs to be wiped from the face of the earth"

"Oh, right" - the Bronx then.

"But it suits our needs"

"Which are?"

"Somewhere to lie low until the extraction" Natasha spoke now. "Plus which, it's the ideal place for you to get a feel for Romania"

"What do you mean – a feel?"  I said, ever so slightly shakily. "W- why would I need to do that?  I mean – you're the guys who are gonna be doing the dirty work, right?"  I half snorted when I said this, cos in the back of my mind, I was suddenly getting very nervous. Don't you do it Tony - don't you dare!

He dared.  

He came and sat next to me, so that I was the filling in the Avengers sandwich.

"Listen, weird  - sorry – Maggie"

Okay – he called me by my name, now I know he's gonna shit on me BIG time!

"Maggie – this extraction – you're aware of how hard it's going to be?"

Well doh! – yeah!  said my sarcastic inner voice.

"Of course" said my sensible outer one.

"The whole world is looking for Barnes since Vienna and we need to handle this carefully and with as little "fuss" as possible"

I knew what he meant when he said "fuss".  The Avengers weren't exactly known for their subtlety.

"If Hydra gets even one sniff of where Barnes is – they'll be onto him like termites on shit.  You understand?"

I nodded.

"So, the last thing we need are highly recognizable Avengers suddenly appearing all over the place, cluttering up Bucharest.  You follow?"

"A bit too much" I said under my breath.  I had a terrible feeling I knew EXACTLY where this conversation was heading and I didn't like it one goddamn bit.  I leaned forwards with my head in my hands and grimaced. "Go on......"

"Maggie - "

"Tony, just say it" I said in my best world weary voice.

"Okay kiddo.  You're gonna be the one going in after Barnes".

My brain went into overdrive.    It was just as I'd feared!  Tony hated me and wanted me dead! Bloody option 4 was the right one after all!  The fucker!     I didn't really know what to say.  I tried to get my rational head back on again.

"Tony" I said " You've got to realize that this would be a mistake, like, a HUGE mistake.   I'm not an agent, I'm not trained for THIS.   I can't believe you'd even think I could?"

"Maggie" - it was Natasha's voice. "listen to me" she said. "That's exactly why you ARE the perfect person to do this."    She spoke softly and I could feel the sincerity in her voice. "You're not going to be walking round the place with the confidence that I would have if this were my mission. In this instance, I'd stick out like a sore thumb.  But you – you're  - ordinary – you'll blend in - you won't be noticed".

I knew she meant the words kindly and to reassure me, but hearing yourself being described as ordinary is never easy and my cheeks went red.    

Still looking at the floor,  I pondered for a few seconds, sucking my bottom lip and biting my thumbnail, and then having done all of that, resigned myself to my fate and said in a small voice "Okay. Tell me"

I could almost feel the tension leave Tony's shoulders.  He gave me a smile and proceeded to explain the plan.