The Mimic

95

A/N: Besties... I'm going on holiday! I'll be leaving tomorrow, and I'll be away for a week. I have a post lined up for tomorrow, but after that I'm not sure when I'll have time to update. I promise I'll be back to daily updates once I'm home, but updates will be iffy until then. It's only a week, you can do it! I love you all <3

There were tall barriers surrounding the whole building, preventing anyone from seeing what was actually going on. The barriers were covered in a fake company name, simply leading the public to believe there were some renovations occurring. Inside the perimeter, there were several government and army vehicles set up. Yet none of them seemed to be going anywhere near the building. There were medical tents set up, and scientists trying their hardest to figure out the species of creature, but nobody knew anything. Nobody knew if the aliens were dangerous, and nobody even knew what the creatures were doing inside there. They knew nothing. That was why they were sending in the Avengers. The Avengers would just run headfirst into any sort of fight, why not let them run into this? 

It didn't take long for the team to arrive and get debriefed on what was about to go down. The main plan was to just blow up the nest and wipe it out completely, so each team member was loaded with tiny explosives to set up across the nest, all linked up to one control on the outside of the building. This definitely wasn't their typical mission, it was a complete jump into the unknown, but everyone seemed up for it. They just had to go in, rig it with explosives, and get out. Easy.

The building was huge, consisting of of one giant play structure that was several stories high. It was a kid's dream. There were several ball pits, slides, foam pits, climbing areas, a machine that spat out foam balls, and so much more. God, it looked so fun. But, the structure was, of course, designed for children, so there were many tight spaces that were going to be fun to watch a group of grown adults try to navigate. The structure was big enough for the whole team to have to go in on their own, their only source of communication being their earpieces, and if they run into one another along the way. 

The team had managed to smash open one of the windows in the entrance to the building, trying their hardest not to damage any of the vine-like tendrils. Y/n was the first inside, holding onto her pistol both both hands as she took careful steps. "Oh, this is weird." Y/n murmured as she glanced around, broken glass smashing under her boots. The 'vines' were all over the ground and the walls, just seeming to get thicker as they got closer and closer to the play structure. 

"Stay on guard, these things could be anywhere." Steve's voice announced through the earpiece. 

Y/n just seemed to roll her eyes, she didn't to go into one of Steve's 'focus modes'. She wasn't in the mood. Y/n just wanted to have fun with this mission. However, her attention was quickly diverted by a row of cubbyholes next to her entrance of the play structure. "Sweet." She whispered to herself, a mischievous smile on her face. Usually kids weren't allowed to wear their shoes when playing in one of these things, and y/n didn't want to break those rules. It seemed to be the only rule she'd follow, and she was only following it so she could take her uncomfortable boots off. Y/n sighed in relief as she pulled her boots off, setting them neatly in one of the cubbyholes. "Don't forget to take your shoes off, everyone!" Y/n chimed into the earpiece, knowing it'd annoy Steve.

"What?" Nat and Sam asked at the same time, y/n could already imagine the confused looks on their faces.

"Huh?" Wanda and Tony said in unison over their earpieces.

"Y/n, what're you talking about?" Bucky asked over the earpiece, a slight chuckle audible in his voice.

"Y/n. Focus." Steve snapped, obviously annoyed at her.

"Don't worry, I already have!" Scott suddenly chimed, the excitement obvious in his voice.

Y/n laughed at the mixture of reactions, happy that Scott had the same train of thought as her. God, if Peter and Thor were here they would've joined in too. "What? Did you guys not read the rules? No shoes! We don't want to get it dirty, it's not fair on the other kids!" Y/n exclaimed dramatically, mostly just talking so she could bug Steve more and more. Her smile just seemed to widen as several voices begun to speak at the same time over the earpiece. She'd missed starting pointless arguments during missions. 

The stand-out voice was Bucky's, and y/n didn't know if that was just because his voice was louder, or if she was specifically listening out for him, but she wasn't going to admit it either way. "We're literally blowing the place up, Doll. I don't think they'll care if we follow the rules or not." He hummed over the earpiece, but y/n could tell that he was smiling, causing her to just smile even more. Bucky was right, but y/n didn't care. Her boots were so painful, she wouldn't be too upset if they were blown up in the explosion. There was probably a reason why her boots were uncomfortable, they were probably bulletproof or shockproof, but y/n didn't care either way. She was a trained assassin with a long list of powers to mimic, there was no way she was going to get shot in the foot. 

Y/n couldn't wipe the smile off of her face as she listened to the team argue. They tried to add y/n back into the conversation, but y/n didn't respond. She was quite happy just sitting back and hearing them all bicker. She sighed quietly to herself as she reached into her pocket, pulling out her phone and Peter's wireless earphones. She'd 'borrowed' them whilst he was busy making his project. Peter was definitely going to be mad, but she was planning on giving them back! This was just a temporary 'borrow'. Y/n put one of the earphones in her ear before she slipped the case back into her pocket. She would've put the other one in, but her earpiece was in the way. Y/n listened to the team continue to bicker as she scrolled through music on her phone, landing on a playlist that Peter had created for her. "Nice..." She hummed to herself, making sure the volume was as loud as possible.

As soon as y/n pressed play, she zoned out all of the talking, finally stepping inside the play structure. The feeling of the foam under her feet was an amazing contrast to the hard ground she'd been walking on for hours. She kept both hands on her pistol as she explored the structure, still unsure whether the aliens were hostile or not. But, the smile on her face still hadn't disappeared. Music just made everything even more fun. She was in her element when good music was playing, even if it meant zoning out the rest of the team. Y/n knew what she was doing, though. She knew what the mission was, it wasn't like she needed to ask any questions to the team - especially if she was just going to get a condescending answer from Steve. He made it obvious that he still didn't trust her. But y/n wasn't going to work like a dog to get it back. Steve was the one that had a problem, not her.