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Carol pulled her flight jumpsuit up over her shoulder and grinned when it didn't twinge. She rolled her shoulder a couple of times and flexed her opposite forearm, checking that nothing was hurting. She had been cleared from medical to the recovery ward reasonably quickly, but the physiotherapy involved in getting her shoulder and arm back to flying condition had been long and arduous. She smirked a little. Well, flying condition for the flying she wanted to do. Planes were all well and good, and she'd been cleared for that months ago, but that wasn't what she had been waiting for.
She slid the shoulder bracers on over the flight suit and swung her arms to check that the adjustments the techs had made the day before had actually freed up her movement without the brace pinching her neck muscles. She envied the guys and their natural upper body strength that negated the need for the brace - she could more than hold her own on the sparring mats, and, as everyone kept telling her she was more than strong enough for her age and sex, but it frustrated her to have to give any ground. However the forces that her shoulders would be subject to in the flight suit were such that she needed the assistance to achieve the maneuvers they had all been practicing if they were going anything above a very slow speed.
"Cheeseburger, you good?" Rhodey knocked on the door to the change room.
"Told you yesterday, Rhodey, the new handle's Warbird."
"You'll always be my Cheeseburger, Danvers." He grinned at her as she came of of the change room. "What's with the bird names with you and Wilson, anyway? You hang out with Hawkeye too much?"
"We're getting wings. You can't have a cheeseburger with wings. Can you imagine trying to catch a flying cheeseburger?
Rhodey smirked. "I've managed it before." He slung an arm around her shoulders and started to lead the way out onto the tarmac.
"That was once. Well, ok, 'once' lasted for a while, but... And I haven't seen Clint in a couple of months. Not since the transfer to Ride, and having to spend my time hanging out with you USAF guys." "
"Listen to you. Turned your back on the Force, huh?"
She put on an expression of innocence. "I was young and impressionable and..."
Rhodey ruffled her hair. "You haven't changed a bit, Caz." He grinned. "How's your shoulder?"
"Fine. Haven't had any problems at all. Doc's are impressed."
Rhodey grinned. "You always were a tough cookie," he said.
"What's with all the food talk? You're making me hungry."
"As long as it doesn't put you in a pickle in the air..."
Carol poked him in the ribs and laughed. "I'll be fine. You still ok with me taking your spot?"
Rhodey shrugged. "It was never mine to begin with. I was only ever keeping it warm for you. It was fun, and the kid's got some good skills in the air. Now you're back to condition, the suit's all yours. Just... do me a favour, and don't get knocked out of the sky."
"They'd have to catch me first," Carol replied with a laugh. "And the way those things fly. I'd like to see them try."
Wilson was waiting for them in the back of the Caribou carrier. He was sitting one one of the benches, his EXO-2 unit resting against his leg and shifting a little as his leg bounced in either anticpation or nervousness. Carol grinned when she saw that he was wearing a similar brace over her shoulders than the one she'd been given.
"'bout time you guys showed up," he said. Carol winked at him, and moved over to sit opposite Wilson and next to her own EXO-2 unit.
"Gotta make sure my hair's just right and..." Carol said snarkily. "You know what it's like?" She smirked at Wilson.
"Can't say that I do. Sure you weren't stopping for a cheeseburger?"
Carol rolled her eyes. "I'm never gonna shake that one, am I?" she asked.
Rhodes and Wilson looked at each other and, in unison shook their heads and said, "No."
The pilot climbed down the short ladder from the cockpit and looked at the three of them. "You nutters ready?"
"As we'll ever be," Wilson said, though the grin on his face did nothing to hide his excitement.
"I've just got clearance from the tower, we'll be in the air in about ten. You coming up anyway, sir?" the pilot added, directing the question ot Rhodes.
"I am. Gotta make sure these two loons actually jump."
The pilot grinned and shook his head. "Well, strap yourselves in, and we'll get on our way.
The noise in the back of the plane was too loud for any real conversation, and both Carol and Wilson used their time to psych themselves up. It wasn't as though she hadn't parachuted before, and this was nothing more than a more complicated and slightly more controlled parachute jump, Carol told herself. There was a chute packed in behind the EXO-2 unit, and they'd already jumped several times without deploying the wings or engaging the jetpack, just to make sure they knew the procedure. This was as close as she was ever going to come to flying without a plane, and she was looking forward to it. Walter would be in the AirTC tower, watching the sensors attached to the units, and the jet packs and wings had been tested over and over in the lab and in the wind tunnels in the research facility at Ride. This was going to be groundbreaking and epic.
When they reached cruising altitude, Carol and Wilson stood up and shouldered the EXO units. They checked each others harness closures, and then Rhodes stepped forward to run the final checks. He handed each of them a pair of tinted goggles. Carol settled her flight mask onto her face and double checked that the oxygen line didn't compromise her arm movement and then settled the goggles over her eyes. Wilson was running through similar motions and signalled his readiness when he was done. Rhodes used hand signals to question if they were both ready and, at their affirmative, moved over to the cargo bay door release. He opened the door, and both jumpers moved to the edge of the platform. She looked over at Wilson and held up three fingers. He mimicked the action and they counted down together before jumping out into the open air.
When they landed gently without having to use the parachutes, Carol whooped and punched the air. Wilson was grinning just as broadly and laughing.
"We flew! We actually flew!" Carol shouted. She ran a few steps and jumped once, twice and on the third leap, she closed her left hand around the ignition switch for the EXO-2 and leapt even higher, peaking at about ten metres off the ground. She tucked and rolled into a somersault at the peak before coming back to the ground. Before she could land gracefully again, the jetpack sputtered and gave out, and she fell the last metre and a half, crashing onto the tarmac in a rather ungraceful pile. She wanted to roll onto her back and stare up at the sky, but the EXO-2 was in the way. She curled her legs and knelt with her hands braced on her knees, still laughing and trying to catch her breath before she even thought about checking for injuries from the last drop.
Wilson, Rhodes and Walter came running over to her, all relieved to see that she was laughing and not crying.
"So are crashing cheeseburgers easier to catch?" Rhodes joked, offering her a hand to get to her feet.
"I dunno, are they? You seemed to miss that time. You'll have to let me know," she challenged, taking his hand and pulling herself up. She laughed again, still high on the adrenaline rush. "Walter, you need to increase the fuel capacity. And I think we could try taking off from a running jump at ground level, rather than starting from in the sky. Oh, and the shoulder brace still pinches a little on very sharp turns." She paused for a moment, thinking. "And if its at all possible, I think the mag-clamps on the wings could be a little stronger..."
Walter laughed. "C'mon, Carol. You can tell me all about it in debrief when I can take notes." He slung an arm around her shoulder and led the way back to the hangar and the briefing room.