Always Mine (An MCU Fanfiction)

3. All Hands On Deck

Peyton's POV

The sound of Nicole playing music on her Bluetooth speaker as she made a breakfast smoothie woke me up. I wish she'd wear her earphones whenever she plays her music.

"Nic! Some of us are tryin' to sleep here!" I hollered and pressed a pillow against my face.

"I couldn't find my earbuds!" she called out.

"Aren't they in your bag or somewhere in your room?"

"I'm not sure, but I'll look in a bit."

The blender went off, which toned out the music. I checked my phone and saw that it was a quarter to seven, and I figured I'd try to get myself up.

It had been a few days since we last talked to Casey. We couldn't contact her while she had her next assignment. I had been sending her a series of text messages whenever she got around. Vince decided to get corny and send her a bunch of memes and GIFs.

I went into the kitchen and helped myself to a bowl of Special K with strawberries and almond milk. Vince came out a couple of seconds after me and was about to drink out of a jug of orange juice when Nicole snatched it from him.

"Hey! Don't spread your saliva all over this!" she snapped, and handed him a small plastic cup, pouring the juice into it.

"Aw, c'mon!" Vince moaned.

Sean arrived with a worried expression on his face. The three of us took notice as we ate.

"S'up, man?" Vince asked.

"Phil just texted. Clint's been compromised and Casey's been abducted," Sean replied.

I dropped my spoon just as Nicole choked on her smoothie.

"Wait, what?" I gaped wide-eyed.

"And, Fury wants us on the Helicarrier ASAP," Sean added.

"Did Phil tell you what happened?" Vince asked.

"We'll find out more when we get there."

We quickly ate our breakfast, got dressed, and packed each of us a small bag of necessities, since we would all be gone for a while. I went into Casey's room after packing my things and dug out her weekender bag, filling a couple of her pants, two shirts, and lingerie, figuring she'd want to change clothes after being rescued. I found her Nintendo 3DS, complete with its case, game cartridges, and charger, in case she got bored. Next, I located an extra phone charger, a toothbrush, toothpaste, a hairbrush, deodorant, and a small bottle of body soap from Bath and Body Works. Casey would be so glad to have these things!

"Guys, ready?" Sean called out.

"Coming!" I replied as I zipped up the bag and grabbed both, then met up with the others in the hallway.

Vince, Nicole, and I followed Sean outside after locking up the apartment.

"Pey, why do you have two bags?" Vince asked, gripping the strap of his duffle.

"One of them is Casey's," I replied.

"Great idea!" Nicole nodded at me as she read my mind on my reason for packing it.

A SHIELD agent was waiting for us in a parked black sedan. The four of us got in and the agent drove us to the airfield outside the city, where we ended up boarding a quinjet.

During the flight, we took turns reading a file. Turns out Casey had been helping Fury with guarding a dangerous device called the Tesseract, which fell into the hands of Loki, Thor's trickster brother, who showed up. He mind-controlled Clint and Dr. Selvig and abducted Casey. Fury got the Avengers Initiative on when he couldn't get hold of Thor, who was still in Asgard. Sean, Vince, Nicole, and I were surprised that we, including Casey, were on the list of the Avengers.

Several hours later, the Quinjet landed on the deck of the Helicarrier somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean. We ended up meeting Steve Rogers, who was known as Captain America back in the forties. He had been frozen literally in the Arctic for seven decades and had just been thawed for nearly a month. Steve was still trying to learn his way in the 21st century. Each of us offered to give him a few pointers without overwhelming him. Phil couldn't seem to stop following Steve as he was a huge fan, as well as a nerd. It was evident to us that Phil himself had a set of Captain America trading cards and told Sean, Vince, Nicole, and me repeatedly that he was hoping to get Steve's signature on them.

"For an old guy, he's still lookin' good!" Nicole grinned at me after we met Steve.

I rolled my eyes. Whenever it came to guys, especially the good-looking ones, she became extremely bubbly. However, I have to admit that Steve looked like he worked out a lot at the gym.

The four of us also met Bruce Banner, a mild-mannered doctor who was known as the Hulk. It's best to keep calm around him. He had been recuperating in Calcutta since the Hulk wreaked havoc in Harlem a few years ago. I could tell Bruce was worried about people getting hurt if he transformed into the Hulk.

"Hey, guys," Natasha Romanoff nodded on seeing Sean, Vince, Nicole, and me.

"Hey, Nat," I replied.

She's known as Black Widow. Natasha had taught each of us, including Casey, advanced fighting tactics. Most of the agents didn't feel comfortable around her. To Nat, we were teenagers even though we were already adults.

"Heard about Casey. How are all of you handling this?" she asked.

"Just hoping we'd find her," I replied.

"We will."

I could also tell that Nat had heard about Clint. She felt she owed him a great deal ever since they met in Budapest. Clint had been sent there to eliminate her, but changed his mind. Ever since then, they have remained close friends.

All of us entered the Helicarrier as it was preparing for takeoff. During the lift-off, I noticed Craig pacing anxiously by an agent seated at one of the computers. Last year, Casey broke up with him right after he got after her for getting caught up in the Destroyer's attack by calling her stupid. From what Casey told me, she was trying to help evacuate the Puente Antiguo locals and get them out of the Destroyer's path. Casey refused to talk to Craig ever since, especially when he didn't apologize for getting after her like that. However, Craig felt that he still had to look after her on every mission, even though she was capable of taking care of herself. It all had something to do with Craig promising Casey's dad he'd look after her. And he felt that her abduction was a failure to do so. Someone has to tell him that he already did his job and to trust Casey. And not to mention, realize that she ended their relationship and let her go!

Also, I noticed Steve pulled out ten dollars from his wallet and handed it to Fury. I had to guess they made a bet, and the boss ended up winning it!

"Guys!" Craig called out as he approached the four of us.

"Hey man," Vince nodded with a lack of enthusiasm.

"I should've been there for her."

"Dude! Seriously! You wouldn't have been able to take on Loki. He would've either mind-controlled you or worse," I stated, like Craig was out of his mind.

"I don't care," he shook his head, "I would've liked to get a shot at 'im."

"That wouldn't have worked out well for you," Nicole muttered.

"Peyton's right, Craig," Sean interjected, "Trying to take on someone who's been around longer and has more battle skills than any of us is pointless."

Craig reluctantly nodded in agreement.