"Ready?"
A deep breath, Wanda closed her eyes for a moment. She flicked her wrist, calling up magics from deep inside. Slivers of red fog swirled around her fingers, like tiny kittens rubbing up against her skin, purring like the rumble of an ancient beast. When she opened her eyes, she saw Steve placing one foot behind the other, taking a stance for the sprint that was to come. His hands reached up, fastening his helmet, eyes trained on the wall of the compound.
It was early in the afternoon; they just had a delicious lunch of egg sandwiches that Steve had cooked for them. They all agreed some fresh air and a little bit of working out would be good for them, to stretch their legs and try a new trick. So, Wanda and Steve had agreed on trying out a new move they had been talking about for a while. One that would allow one of them to reach high places easily without having to go inside and look for the stairs, or climbing up, as that would leave them vulnerable.
Steve showed her a thumbs-up, smiling. "Ready," he confirmed.
Before they could start, footsteps approached from beside the building, and Clint appeared into their sight. He was holding his phone in his hand, holding it up towards them. "Haya guys," he said, flashing them a wide grin.
"Shouldn’t you be in bed?" Steve asked. It was not too long ago that Clint had been out on a mission with Nat, and gotten shot in the leg. It had healed a great deal already, but it was best if he did not rush it too much, gave it enough time to get better. To not push it.
"Probably."
"Are you filming this?"
"Definitely."
Steve rolled his eyes shortly, then sent Wanda a questioning look. She nodded, confirming his unspoken question, planting her feet firmly into the earth and titling her chin up. Deep breath in, deep breath out. She could do this. She had been training for a while to lift heavy objects while they were moving. She could do it with robots, grabbing them in the air and moving them to where she wanted them to go, so people should not such a big problem.
Only, she realized then, with the uncomfortable clench of her stomach, she would have to keep them in one piece now. Back in Sokovia, when Ultron attacked, it had not mattered if she flung them against a wall or tore them in half, as they were the evil army that could not feel, only kill. She could very well imagine that Steve would not appreciate it if she tore the limbs off his torso, leaving him a bloody mess on the ground. That did not help. She shook her head to get rid of the annoying thoughts, then nodded at the Captain once more, who seemed excited to go.
"Alright, test one," he said, bending through his knees, "Three... two... one... GO!"
Like an arrow from a bow, Steve shot forward from his spot on the grass, pulling a dead-sprint at the wall. In his runway, there was a heavy chest, large enough for two people to stand on. He was supposed to run at the chest, jump onto it, and then use it to push himself even further into the air, so that Wanda could grab hold of him with her magicks. Because the wall of the HQ was way higher than he could ever jump (even with the chest to help) Wanda had to use her hex to fling him up the last few meters. It sounded simple enough. Wanda had stopped a train with her hex before.
Jumping onto the chest was not that big of a problem, but in his next jump nothing happened, and he fell down again. He landed lightly on his feet, going through his knees down to the ground, leaning with his hand on the grass as to keep his balance. He came up again, casting Wanda a confused look. She was standing there a tad awkwardly, rubbing her hands. "Is everything alright?"
"Yeah, yeah," she answered, waving it away, "I just... hands."
The Captain walked back to the start, where he had been standing a few seconds ago, taking the sprint stance once more. Wanda nodded at him. She was ready.
"Test two. Three... two... one... GO!"
Steve pulled another sprint towards the wall. He jumped onto the chest, pushing himself upwards as hard as he could with his feet. This time, something definitely happened, but it was not quite what was supposed to happen. Something pressed against his skin, like water washing over him in a pool adding pressure, only this was not wet. It made his skin tingle, and a shiver of foreign sensations thrilled up through his spine. The building was closing in fast; he was moving forward. There was one problem, though.
He wasn't going up.
"WANDA!" He called out, seeing the wall rush into his vision faster than he liked. In instinct, he threw his arms up before his face, pulling up his legs as well. Barely a moment later he felt himself crash against the wall of the compound. The air was forced out of his lungs, arms reaching out as to grab something, anything, but there was nothing to hold on to, and he fell right down. The landing was a harsh one, his body colliding with the stone path that ran along the building, a painfilled grunt escaping his lips.
Wanda stood a little away from his run path, now covering her mouth with her hands as her face twisted into shocked horror. "Steve!" she cried, rushing up to him as he lay on the ground.
When she arrived at the wall, he was already coming up to his feet, brushing some dirt from his suit, but looking fine otherwise. He did not look hurt, only a tad startled, but he laughed it off, smiling at her without the tiniest sign of blame or anger in his eyes. "I’m alright, Wanda. It’s okay. Do you want to try again?"
Because the crash had looked rather painful, she was a bit reluctant to at first, but Steve persuaded her, mostly by telling her he was a super soldier, and he had been through way worse things. Crashing against a wall was not half as bad as being thrown through one. He made it into a joke, lightening the situation and Wanda agreed to try again. Steve took his stance and she took hers. Clint was still filming, looking quite pleased (he had looked worried when Steve crashed, but because he seemed fine Clint was not too worried). Natasha had joined him, watching with arms crossed before her chest, head tilted to the side curiously.
"Test three. Three... two... one... GO!"
Steve sprinted once more. Jump. Onto the cover of the chest. Jump. Into the air. He felt the water-like magic curl around him like a snake, around his limbs, his chest and even his head. It was like a cocoon, something soft yet rough, cold yet warm. It was unlike anything he had ever felt, reaching into every pore of his body, staying around him like a blanket of some sort. He felt himself rising up higher than he would have by himself, and for a moment, it seemed as if it was working, as if they were going to succeed. Then, however, Steve noticed that even though he was going up...
...he wasn't going up high enough.
Well damn.
A wall of bricks closed in and once again, he crashed hard against the wall of the compound, free falling to the ground below.
"I'm fine!" He called out, as soon as he was back on the ground, waving his arm in the air as to show Wanda he was not hurt, or dead. His feet stung after the fall, but again, he had fallen from much greater heights and managed to keep running after. Like in the SHIELD headquarters. That had been quite the fall, through a glass ceiling, and still he had managed to run to the garage and escape on his motorcycle. "A little higher next time, okay?"
Back to start, taking a stance.
"Test four. Three... two... one... GO!"
Sprint. Jump. Step. Jump.
Crash.
"We almost got it, a little higher still!"
By then, Natasha’s curious expression to what they were been doing had changed. Her arms were tightly crossed, a scowl on her face. That scowl was directed towards Steve, who kept crashing against the wall, looking like a complete idiot, coming back for more time and time again. The scowl became worse with each crash; Steve pretended as though he did not see it.
"Almost there, you're going great!"
Crash.
"A little further too, alright? We gotta reach the wall!"
Their fly and crash routine had called the attention of more Avengers, and Sam had joined the group as well, standing ready on top of the roof in case something went wrong. He had his wings secured to his back, ready to jump and snatch Steve out of his fall in case he was needed. Clint said he was a little late for that, but Sam wanted to try and help out anyway.
"Try to fling me up more, okay?"
It had gone wrong so many times now, and Wanda was growing frustrated with herself. She was supposed to be better than this! She had stopped a runaway train, had torn robots apart, had kept large structures from collapsing onto people. Surely, she could do this as well, right? She sucked in a deep breath, holding it for a moment before releasing it again. She flexed her fingers, shaking her hands. C'mon, you can do this!
Perhaps she had to change her approach. Her current way of hexing him up onto the building clearly was not working, he was moving forward, but not up. She could reach the building, but she had to throw him up into the air enough for him to reach the roof. She would have to try it another way, change her tactics. Maybe…
Maybe she just had to concentrate solely on Steve, nothing else. Focus only on Steve, keep her hands low towards the ground, then, as she had let her hex take hold of him, throw her hands up in the air as high as she could, so he was thrown up with the movements of her hands as well. Yes, that could work! With renewed excitement, she gave him the sign to go.
"Test eight. Three... two... one... GO!"
Sprint. Jump. Step. Jump.
The magic curled around Steve, a red fog clouding around his form, taking hold with invisible hands. Wanda felt his weight in her hands, holding it tightly. Here we go. Keeping her hold on him, she threw her hands in the air as hard and high as she could, hoping he would move along.
Oh, he was flung up alright. Steve was flung up quite high. It was definitely high enough to reach the roof of the compound. The only problem was that he was flung up way too much up, but not forwards enough. He rose into the air, like a mighty eagle taking flight, reaching up above the building, only he was nowhere enough near the edge of the roof. So, when he had reached quite the height, he plummeted right back down again, too far away to land on the roof or grab the edge in his fall. As soon as the realization sunk in, Steve let out a shout and Sam jumped into action.
As Sam ran towards the edge, the large red wings on his back flared out, and he jumped off the building, flying up at Steve to snatch him in his fall. Sam had almost forgotten how heavy Steve was, and he was now painfully reminded of that. Making a lazy turn, banking down towards the ground, Sam helped his friend land carefully. He only let go of Steve's hand when he was standing firmly with two feet on the ground.
"Maybe we should call it a day, try again tomorrow?" He turned towards Wanda, hoping his smile would ease away some of the panic that showed in her expression. His fall had startled her, not being able to reach the edge and plummeting from the sky without any safeguards. Steve reached out, putting a hand on her shoulder, squeezing softly. "You did amazing, by the way, I'm serious. With a little more practice, this could really work."
Clint sniggered, looking intently at the screen of his phone, tapping away on it. Steve thought he heard something along the lines of 'YouTube' and 'views’, but he paid no mind.
"Are you certain?" Wanda asked, hesitance bleeding through her voice.
Steve nodded, "Of course! I thought we did really great already! Like all things, the first few tries aren’t always the best. Rome wasn’t built in one day, and magic isn’t practiced in one either. You’ll do amazing, I’m sure of it."
"Yeah, that may be," Natasha spoke up then, walking up towards the three others, one of her eyebrows quirked. "But you look like a complete idiot."
The sheer look of indignancy on Steve’s face made Wanda giggle, and the Captain spluttered his own defense. "Hey, when we’re on a mission, one of us is going to get an easy ride to the roof of the building, and the other is going to have to take the stairs! Keep that in mind."