salvation ; 𝐛. 𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐬 , 𝟐

018. screaming skies

"YOU KNOW, FOR an evil group of terrorists, they sure chose the continent with the best accent," was the first thing I heard when I stepped off the jet into the open, warm air.

I wasn't the only one who stared at Cara with furrowed eyebrows and my mouth dropping open. "Cara, what the fuck?"

The young woman beside me shrugged and held up her hands. "What? It's way more fun to kick some Australian guy's ass, he'll just say, 'oi! Me leg!' when you jack up his kneecap!" The smile and the overbearing confidence in her tone was too much to crush, so I just nodded and let her believe what she said.

"Remind me why we ever let her hold a gun?" Sam mumbled to Steve, who chuckled softly, though it never reached his eyes. He just stared at Cara, his eyes holding the same hurt and regret that I'd seen in hers just a few hours before.

Cara scoffed, reaching into her jacket pocket to pull out her trusty handgun. "'Cause I'm good at shooting things. Simple as that," she said in a tone that said, duh.

The six of us around her took a step back, a chorus of discomfort and warnings ringing out into the open space of the field that we'd landed in.

"Put the gun away," Nat hissed. "What are you trying to do, get us shot right after we get here?" She ducked her head as if a sniper was somewhere in the distance, waiting to pick us off like sitting ducks.

I took a deep breath and looked around me. The wide-open plain we'd landed in happened to be a dry desert, the winds stirring up some small and harmless cyclones of dust. Either way, I narrowed my eyes and wished for something that I could see in order to get my bearings. There was nothing, and I mean nothing, near us that would give us any insight into where we'd arrived.

"Deserts?" I asked my brother. "In Australia?" But I mean, who was I to have doubts about the Australian geography? I hardly knew anything about it.

Cade nodded, pulling out a phone from his pocket. "We're in Queensland, the northeastern part of the country." He turned around to look back at the Wakandan jet, staring at it expectantly. "You sure this works?" He asked Nat. "It would kind of suck if they found a fully-powered jet from a supposedly third world country in the middle of their biggest desert."

Behind him, the blonde woman rolled her eyes. "Don't doubt Wakanda. What's more, don't even think of doubting their princess. Shuri will get it done for us."

"Get what done?" Wretton asked. I'd almost forgotten he was there with us, as he'd stayed pretty silent throughout the ride over here, just listening to everything we said.

If I knew anything about how the CIA operated, he was probably eavesdropping on all of our conversations and then reporting back to Ross each night so they could add more dirt to our files that they'd no doubt started for when they arrested us at the end of all of this.

His voice was quiet and soft, almost uncertain. This entire time, he'd always said things with the utmost confidence that all CIA operatives held in their voices, believing that everything they said was as important as the law. But now, for me to look at Wretton and see him so unsure of himself...well, I wasn't sure what to think.

Nat and Cade said nothing, just staring at the giant jet in front of us. Within just a few seconds, the sides of it began to disappear. I widened my eyes. "What the f—?"

"It's invisible," Sam said, shocked. "They can do that?"

"Like I said," Nat shrugged with a smirk, "Shuri can run circles around Tony."

My brother's head jerked up all of a sudden, locking eyes with Steve. "Care to talk?" He asked, probably the first time he'd said more than a greeting to him.