The mission was a success—shockingly, almost boringly so.

No one is bleeding. No one is sulking in silence. No one has tried to kill anyone on the team in the past two hours. Yelena had commandeered the aux cord twenty minutes ago. It had started with some dramatic Russian ballad that had made John groan audibly, but now it's a chaotic mix of ‘90s American pop and obscure indie tracks that only Ava seems to recognize.

Bucky is driving, as usual. Yelena called shotgun first and won with surprising grace, though she’d threatened to "elbow anyone in the spleen" if they challenged her. She has her boots up on the dash now, brushing off the complaints of the super soldier next to her about etiquette. Behind them, Ava is curled up sideways in the bench seat, eyes half-lidded, humming under her breath to the music. Every so often she leans over to bump Alexei's arm with her elbow and mutter something dry and mean-sounding in that affectionate way people like them express kindness.

Walker sits squashed next to them, trying to stretch out and failing miserably. Head tilted back and snorting occasionally at Yelena’s commentary, even if he still pretends to be annoyed by it. And then there's you and Bob sitting opposite them, who just looks happy to be brought along for the ride for once. (He spent most of the mission waiting in the van.)

Alexei is talking. Again. "—and so I said, 'That’s not a grenade, that’s my lunch!’"

Bucky rolls his eyes but doesn't interrupt. He's learned it's not worth it. "That story makes less sense every time you tell it," Ava mutters.

"It’s about the spirit, not the facts!" He insists, undeterred. "Besides, you laugh every time."

"I’m laughing at you, not with you."

"You wound me."

"Not yet," she shoots back.

Despite the fact you're all a rag-tag bunch of individuals, you like it here with them. Living in chaos, fighting between yourselves, winding down after a mission. Maybe you'll stop for food. Maybe you'll just drive to the nearest hotel and all collapse into separate bedrooms after being stuck together for so long.

"This is nice," Yelena pipes up, mouth full. “Don’t tell Val I said that. I have a reputation."