Felix groaned, and then sat up suddenly.

He'd been unconscious, for who-knows how long. He stood up, dusting off his black pants and looking around.

His heart stopped for a moment when he saw Samantha, not five metres away, motionless.

"Samantha?" He asked cautiously. He walked over to her, checking her pulse. He heaved a sigh of relief when he found she was still breathing. Still alive.

Felix glanced up at the sky.

If they didn't get shelter, she might not be alive much longer.

He took in his surroundings properly then. It was dark, but he could tell that he was in some sort of desert. A few kilometres away stood a tall, snow-capped mountain, with thick forests at it's feet. So close to the desert, it was a strange sight, almost unnatural.

The desert was sandy, but littered with sharp rocks and small, dried-out shrubs. It was dusty.

And probably cold. Deserts were always cold at night.

Felix felt how dry his throat was, and looked around for any sign of their jet. That was when he remembered; it had gone down into a ravine. They'd been catapulted out according to emergency procedures, landing safely on the edge. He'd lost consciousness... when they landed? The parachutes certainly hadn't helped much.

As he thought of the parachute, Felix dragged it off his back. He threw it onto the ground, where it opened.

"Oh, now you open, huh?" He grumbled, "stupid parachute."

He picked it up anyway, knowing that if their jet was out of reach they'd need anything they could get their hands on.

I wish you were here Dad... he thought to himself, glancing at his ring. If his father and Wanda found out that he and Samantha were missing, they were sure to come after them. They'd track them down wherever they were. Because his father would do that for him, he knew he would.

He carefully draped the parachute over Samantha to keep her warm, putting his backpack, which he had grabbed in a moment of genuis, under her head as a pillow.

Felix wandered around a bit aimlessly. He needed firewood, because they were going to need a fire. A fire would keep wild animals at bay, and attract people.

And unless the inhabitants of this planet are cannibals, we need people.

-

Samantha awoke to a crash.

She sat up quickly, to see Felix standing beside her. The crash that had awoken her was the bundle of wood that he'd thrown down beside the small fire.

"How long?" was all she asked.

Felix shrugged.

"Two hours, maybe three. But considering who my father is, I guess you didn't do to badly. After all, you only took three hours longer to wake up than the son of,—"

"Alright, I get it," Samantha raised her hands in surrender, "I was an idiot. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said what I said, about your father. I... It's just that... You never used to care, and I was wondering what happened to change that."

"The world happened," Felix answered.

They were both silent for a moment, and the fire crackled on. Felix sat down, and threw another stick into it before continuing.

"Look, I've done some scouting while you were out," he began, "and we're in the middle of nowhere. It might take a while to find civilization, if there's such a thing on this planet. We're going to need each other Samantha. I might be a jerk, but I know that much."

"What are you suggesting?" Samantha asked.

Felix took a deep breath.

"I'm suggestion a temporary peace treaty."

He saw excitement lighting in her eyes, and corrected himself.

"Wait, let's call it a truce. With emphasis on temporary. The terms are this; you try to shut up about my dad, and I'll try not to kill you. And then when we get off this planet, everything goes back to normal."

Samantha raised an eyebrow; it was something she liked to do, ever since she'd mastered it first.

"Sounds like a plan."

Felix managed a smile, and leaned backwards, grabbing the parachute and his backpack from her.

"Great, then you get first watch. You've done enough sleeping for a while, Captain America."

Samantha stretched, getting up. She winced as she put weight on her right leg, and Felix looked up.

"Are you injured Samantha?"

She nodded.

"My leg just hurts a little... We'll take a look at it in the morning. And Felix?"

"Yes?"

"Just call me Sam."

And so an alliance was born.

-

As daylight streaked across the sky, Felix awoke Samantha. They'd switched watch throughout the night, and Felix had collected a little more firewood, as they'd burned through most of their supply.

"Let me take a look at your leg," Felix suggested, sitting down beside her.

He bit his lip as he found what was bothering her; a large gash on her lower leg.

"Okay, that needs bandaging," he decided, "and cleaning. We need water."

He looked around, as if an oasis would just appear. He sighed when it didn't. Of course it didn't.

"What are you planning to do now, Felix?" Samantha grinned, "heroically rip off a part of your shirt?"

Felix frowned.

"No, that's disgusting. I need my shirt. And anyway, it's a lot harder to tear one of these than you think."

He was wearing a black shirt this time; his black jacket was lying beside the fire. The sand was warming up as the sun began to rise, and Felix made a decision.

"We can use a part of your parachute," he stated, "why don't you see if you can tear some off so long, I'll go find water."

He put his backpack onto his back, and was about to start walking when Samantha stopped him.

"Hey, what about me? You can't just leave me here defenceless!"

"Watch me," Felix grumbled, but he threw his dagger to her, and it landed next to her in the sand.

"Felix..."

"You're not coming, that's final."

"Who knows how far away the nearest spring is, Felix," Samantha protested, "we're in a desert. If you need to go all the way there and back, I could already be dead before you get back."

Felix raised his eyes to the skies.

"Fiiiiiiine."

He helped her up, and collected any supplies they had. If they were both leaving, there was a good chance they wouldn't come back anytime soon. He left the firewood, just in case, and walked to the ravine, glancing once more down it.

Their jet wasn't all the way at the bottom — it had even landed with the right way up, it's wings wedged into either side of the ravine. A small ledge kept it from falling even further down. 

There was a chance, a small chance, that he could just jump down. In fact, he had no doubt that if he did, he would land exacly on the Quinjet. But the problem was; how would he get back up? In any case, the surface of the jet would be extremely slippery, so jumping down risked a sprained, or even broken leg. Or worse — a fall all the way down the ravine that was virtually impossible to survive. Another option would be to climb, but he wasn't exactly a good climber. Maybe Samantha was, but definitely not in her injured state.

Felix turned away from the jet.

They were going to have to do without it.