Elemental {Avengers}

46. About time

Steve

Hijacking a supply van was easy. That hard part? Making sure Romanoff, Loki and I didn't enter the compound detected. A group of men patrolled the roads, checked to see whether anyone was illegally entering, and of course, they missed us, mainly due to Loki's useful kinetic abilities.

I could tell he was agitated. We all were. And to make matters worse, he knew that our plan would be the only thing that would work, and therefore he would have to stick with it. Or maybe he wouldn't. Either way, Thor and Tony would be there soon, providing that they didn't get caught up with anything else. We had knocked out some agents, stealing their clothes and hijacking a weapons truck. "Serial number and name" a man ordered, stepping beside our truck as we neared the compound.

" 656-109" Nat said easily, morphing her voice into a different accent. Russian. " Sasha Ivashkov"

A couple more men opened the back of the truck, checking inside. All they would find was Loki, disguised as someone else. " And you?" he asked me.

" 987-299" I nodded. " Grant Taylor"

" Are you on the list?"

" Of course. Here"

She handed him her ID card, and I did mine. He nodded, glancing at them for a short time and handing them back. Of course, the photostatic veils worked a treat. They allowed for us to disguise ourselves almost as well as if we were actually the person.

" Um, boss says to watch out for any strange activity. Apparently, the Avengers are coming pretty soon. We rally in the compound in 30 minutes. Defensive positions. I'm pretty sure you two are in the east quadrant."

" No problem" Nat nodded, putting the truck into drive.

We drove slowly along the quiet, gravel road, snow collecting on the sides of the road in mounds. A creaking sound came from behind us and Loki opened the small door that connected the back to the front of the truck, and poked his head through, a completely different head to his own, he even dropped the black hair. Carlos Nixon, I realised.

I couldn't help but feel slightly repulsed by him, but nonetheless, tried to compose my face. " Are we here yet? You know, if you even bothered to get a faster vehicle, not this slow chunk of metal, we'd be here long before now"

" We get it, Loki" Nat said. " But if we zip through here cat and mouse style we'll get killed, and you know that"

" Can you at least step on it? I could walk faster than this"

A faint grin crossed Nats face, something I hardly ever saw. " How do you know what 'step on it' means? Have you been reading up on earth phrases?"

" Why on Midgard would I do that?"

" You tell me" she slyly murmured, raising an eyebrow.

"  Maeve taught me how to drive"

I turned around to him, and I knew a disapproving look crossed my face. " Driving without a license is illegal, you know"

" Says the person that doesn't actually have a license. And we also hijacked multiple cars. This one included."

" Tony gave me one" I said, looking through the trees at the side of the bus in case I spotted anyone lurking. " Tony knows all about that kind of stuff"

" He pulled a few strings, you mean. You have to take a driving test" Nat countered.

" Have you?"

" Rogers, do you really think I'd drive a car around New York for an hour with an old timer watching every move I make just to get a piece of plastic? No, I had Tony pull some strings as well"

A faint smile came to my face, despite the strange position we were in. " We're nearly here"

" Have you been here before?"

" Scouts are situated throughout the forest more often. They've all got camouflage, as well as alien weaponry. One every 100 metres"

" AKA, Andrei has a lot of soldiers to spare" Nat murmured.

" It also means that it'll be easier to blend in with so many people" Loki commented.

Sentinels lined the roads every 10 metres or so, scanning for any signs of intruders. We were stopped for a second time, our licenses checked, our faces scanned. Thankfully, we got through with little to no questions asked.

" I'm going for Andrei" Loki abruptly said as we pulled away.

" No. You're not. We'll attack him when the time comes" Nat insisted.

He paused. " Fine." he audibly rolled his eyes, and moved his head back into the back of the truck.

" If 'fine' means that you'll do it, just without our approval, than no!" Nat almost yelled, so that he'd definitely hear it from the back. " We stick to the plan"

" And what was the plan again?" he stuck his head back out.

" You sidle up to Andrei until Thor and Tony come around. When that happens, you convince him to hide somewhere in the compound- Just make sure he doesn't get away. Thor and Tony can safely knock out Maeve. Steve and I will disable any soldiers who get in our way, and then we'll go after Andrei. I've literally said this a hundred times."

" I wasn't listening"

We couldn't have him adjusting the plan to fit his own desires, to kill Andrei, or to try to get Maeve back, either would likely end with someone being killed. That wasn't how we played the game. No surprises.

But, after all, we had to start trusting him for him to trust us, to start working as a team, even though I didn't think 'team' was in Loki's vocabulary. Sometimes, I found myself thinking, how did he even gain our trust in the first place?

The truck pulled up to the facility, much like a military camp, with less buildings. One giant, metal structure stood in the middle, like a box, no windows, only a couple of doors, which were bustling with soldiers and weapons being carted out of the place. More and more soldiers started to gather around, taking defensive positions. The truck groaned to a halt, alongside others, which were being loaded and unloaded.

I walked around the back, trying to keep my head down in case anyone recognised the person I was playing. Thankfully, no-one pulled us up about it, and were mainly engrossed in what they were doing.

Drills buzzed and chains rattled inside the building, and I suddenly wondered what was going on in there, what was happening. But we kept quiet, opening the back of the truck, metal grinding against metal.

Loki wasn't there.