The hellicarrier rumbling from the explosion threw them all off guard but the pipes bursting underneath the lab that threw them all in different directions. Smoke was covering Lee's vision and alls she could see was Steve purely because of his blue suit.

"Put on the suit." Lee told Stark as she stood up quickly, referencing to his and Steve's earlier argument about 'going a few rounds'.

"Yep." He agreed and the three of them ran out of the room.

"External detonation, number three engine is down." Lee heard Maria Hill over the comms. "Somebody's gotta get outside and patch that engine!"

"Don't worry, we're on it." Lee told them as she, Steve and Stark all ran towards engine number three. 

Steve and Lee got there first and it was a complete mess, but she supposed it would be considering it just exploded. She helped a few injured men back inside before walking to the edge. Steve and her held onto each other, making sure the other didn't fall off.

"Stark!" Steve yelled. "Stark we're here!"

"Good," He said and flew over in his suit. "Let's see what we got. I gotta get this superconducting coolant system back online before I can access the rotors, work on dislodging the debris."

The two soldiers looked to each other in confusion. He looked over at them. "I need one of you to get that engine control panel and tell me which relays are in overload position." He said.

"Uh, okay yeah. We got this." She muttered and pulled herself up onto one of the higher levels with Steve following.

"What does it look like in there?" He asked.

"It seems to run on some form of electricity." Steve answered. Lee sent him a questioning look but he just shrugged.

"Well you're not wrong." Stark said.

"Okay, the relays are intact," Steve told him. "What's our next move?"

"Even if I clear the rotors this thing won't reengage without a jump," Stark explained. "I'm gonna have to get in there and push."

"Uh, I hate to put a negative comment in but is that even safe?" She asked hesitantly.

"I never usually ask that question so I won't start now."

"Lee's right, if that thing gets up to speed, you'll get shredded." Steve added.

"That stator control unit can reverse the polarity long enough to disengage maglev and that could-"

"English please!" They both shouted to him.

Stark hesitated in thought. "You see that red lever?" He asked. The two looked around until Lee spotted it and got Steve's attention. "It will slow the rotors down long enough for me to get out. Stand by it, wait for my word."

The two soldiers looked at each other. "Either that or he dies." Lee reminded him before the pair jumped over. Suddenly, Lee watched Steve jump and stop a grenade from going off near the debris. She was confused until she saw two of Loki's soldiers.

Lee jumped down and punched the first guy who actually punched back until she kneed him in the balls. He managed to regain himself quickly and uppercutted her and kicked her in the stomach. She grabbed his gun and twisted him round, dislocating his shoulder before angrily throwing him over the edge.

Another guy came up behind her so she grabbed him and threw him over her shoulder, forcing him to the ground. She narrowly missed his kick and punch but then she quickly knocked him out by throwing him into the wall.

"Cap, Lee, hit the lever." Stark told them. A bit of bad timing as she and Steve were hanging on for dear life over the edge due to Steve slipping and Lee failing to save him.

"We need a minute here!" Steve shouted.

"Lever! Now!" Stark yelled back desperately.

Lee quickly climbed back up and pulled the lever as quick as she could. "There, done." She told him as Steve had managed to pull himself back up. They sat on the floor for a moment, out of breath before looking at each other and chuckling.

They high fives each other. "Just like the old days." Steve said helping her stand up.

"Did you really think we'd lose it?"

"Agent Coulson is down," Fury came over the comms, catching everyones attention. 

"A medical team is on its way to your location-"

"They're here. They called it." He interrupted the other agent.

❤︎❤︎❤︎

Lee, Steve, Stark and Cassie were now all sat on the round table on the bridge after things had quietened down. Cassie had her head down on the table and Lee and Steve had just been talking to each other quietly.

"These were in Phil Coulson's jacket," Fury said as he threw the Captain America cards on the table. "I guess he never did get you to sign them. We're dead in the air up here. Our communications, the location of the cube, Banner, Thor. I got nothing for you. I lost my one good eye, maybe I had that coming."

He began walking around the table. "Yes, we were going to build an arsenal with the tesseract," He confirmed. "I never put all my chips on that number, though, because I was playing something even riskier. There was an idea, Stark and Mikaels know this, called the Avengers initiative. The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people, to see if they could become something more. To see if they could work together when we needed them to, to fight the battles we never could. Phil Coulson died still believing in that idea. In heroes."

Tony stood up abruptly, looked at Cassie and then walked off. "Well, it's an old-fashioned notion." Fury finished.

edited: 22.06.24