Assemble (Book 2)

1.9

August 16, 2012

Natasha and I stood outside on the helicarrier, waiting for the quinjet to land. On board was Phil with both Bruce Banner and Steve. Nat and I were relatively close, her being my mentor and whatnot. Plus, it was either be around her and Clint or train constantly under the dreadful watching eyes of Director Fury. Our hair begins to blow slightly as we look up, the quinjet in sight and ready to land. As it lands, Phil and Steve are the first off. They both walk down the ramp and then towards us. Steve gives me a hug as Phil introduces him to Nat. "Agent Romanoff meet Captain Rogers." Steve nodded at her, and she nodded back. Great introductions. "They need you on the bridge. They are starting the face trace." I tell Phil. He nods at us, leaving. "Sorry to have left you on the plane with him alone." I say nudging Steve as we walk toward Dr. Banner, who had now come off the plane. "What do you mean?" He asks me, confused. "There was quite a buzz around here, finding you in the ice. I thought Coulson was gonna swoon. Did he ask you to sign his Captain America trading cards yet?" Nat explains to Steve. He looks back at her, shocked by Phil's level of excitement. "Trading cards?" I smile at him and Nat smirks. "They're vintage, he's very proud." We all crack a smile as we stop in front of Dr. Banner. "Hello Dr. Banner." I say to him. He turns around and smiles at us, uncomfortably. Steve walks up to Dr. Banner and shakes his hand. "Oh yeah, hi. They told me you were coming." Bruce responded, shaking his hand. "Word is you can find the cube." I interrupt, shaking his hand as well. "Agent Clara Williams." I introduce myself, letting go of his hand. He looks between me and Steve. "Is that the only word on me?" He asks, nervously. I smile at him. "It's the only word we care about." Steve smiles at him also. Nat then grips the shoulders of both boys. "Gentlemen, you may want to step inside. It's going to get a little hard to breathe." Natasha informs them as we back away from the edge, as the helicarrier shakes, getting ready to fly. "Is this a submarine?" Steve asks no one in particular. He and Bruce step closer to the edge, taking a look over the end of the aircraft. After taking a look, Steve stares in awe and Bruce looks a little more nervous than he did when he landed.

We walk inside the bridge of the helicarrier. The boys stare in awe as they see the flurry of agents, each at a computer. Maria shouts her instructions to the agents below her, leading the take off. She turns to Fury, who is behind her on the command chair, giving the orders to rise. Steve and Bruce walk around, Steve going towards Fury and Bruce taking his position at the science console. Steve sees me walk up to him and pulls out his wallet, handing me $10. I smirk, nudging Steve who shakes his head at me as he continues to stare out the window, into the sky. Fury leaves his command chair, shaking hands with Steve before walking over to Bruce, shaking his hand also. Steve and I walk off, letting Fury and Bruce get comfortable. Soon, Nat leads Bruce to the laboratory where he would feel perfectly at home. That's probably where he would feel most comfortable.

August 16, 2012

Midnight

We stood there waiting as the computers tried to find Loki using facial recognition. Phil was talking to Steve and I was sure I heard Phil ask Steve to sign his trading cards. I almost laughed, but that would've been rude. We waited. And waited. I was sure people were losing hope as it got closer to midnight but we couldn't give up. Not with one of our own out there compromised. One of the agents stood up. "We got a hit. 67% match. Weight, crossmatch, 79%." He told us. I looked to Phil. "Location?" Phil asked as the agent cleared the image on the screen. "Stuttgart, Germany. 28, Konigstrasse. He's not exactly hiding." The agent informs us. Fury looks to Steve. "Captain, you're up." Steve nods and leaves to change into his uniform. "Williams, you're flying the quinjet. You know the rules." I smirked remembering the last time I got to fly the beautiful plane. I nodded, signaling to him that I understood. "Yes sir."

August 17, 2013

Past Midnight

Location: Germany

I was flying the jet as fast as possible. We were already worried we were too late. I put my com in as Germany grew closer, wanting to be able to hear the code phrase. "Ok Steve, it's your turn." I said through the com. He nodded and then jumped out of the plane. The only thing I could think of was 'Was he wearing a parachute?'  Through the com, I could hear Steve say the phrase I had been waiting for. "I'm not the one who's out of time." With that phrase being spoken, I made the jet visible to all, a machine gun being pointed at Loki. Then I turned on the jet's microphone so Loki would be able to hear me. "Loki, drop the weapon and stand down." I threatened him. Instead of surrendering, Loki shot at me with his magical spear. Luckily, I had been expecting that to happen, so I was able to quickly maneuver out of the way. That gave Steve the time to throw his shield at Loki, letting the fight begin. Loki flung Steve to the ground. Steve manages to throw his shield but Loki swats it away. Loki knocks down Steve but then Steve flips him over and knocks him down with his leg. Loki grabs him and they flip over again. "They're all over the place. I can't get a clear shot." I mumble to myself. Just as I say that, loud music overdrives the jet's speakers. I have lost control of the speakers. From the front window, I see a gold and red suit. Tony. "Clara, miss me?" I smile, shaking my head. Tony flies over to Steve and Loki and they stop fighting to see Tony land the suit and blast Loki right back to the ground. The suit then pulls out every piece of weaponry it has. "Make your move, Reindeer Games." Tony threatens, cracking fun at Loki's antler shaped helmet. Loki puts up his hands and surrenders, his armor materializing away. "Good move." He comments. I land the quinjet, so the three boys can board the plane. "Mr Stark." Steve greets Tony. "Captain." I shake my head at the boys. Tony resents Steve because Steve was all Howard talked about. "Let's get this show on the road boys." I say through the coms, trying to diffuse the tension.