AN: Alright, I'm back! Sorry for the delay, and as usual thanks again for the support!
The flight to the Eastern European country feels like it takes forever. It wasn't the fight that scared me, it never had been. My whole life I've been fighting. It had a sense of home. No, it was the lead up to the fight, the sickening sensations telling me that someone wasn't making it out of this one unscathed. And that terrified me. I had grown to love everyone on the team over the years.
Even the twins meant quite a bit to me now. I would never want to lose them. Although I've only known the twins for a very short time I still wanted this newfound friendship to last. Worry had me bouncing my leg up and down lightly, which Pietro discreetly and gently placed his hand on leg, making me stop as he gave it a reassuring squeeze.
We all had our different jobs for this plan to work. Pietro would run to the police station to get their help, Wanda and I would go to the streets to control the minds of the citizens, Thor and Bruce are going underground to find Natasha, Clint would find a tower to perch in while Steve helped with the evacuation, and Tony and Vision took their places to face of Ultron at the church, where Ultron had first requested Wanda and Pietro to meet him, in the center of the city.
When the quinjet landed in the main square of Sokovia, everyone began to file out the jet. I made my way to exit as well until I felt a warm, large hand grasp my bicep halting my movement, it was Pietro.
"In case it ends badly," Pietro breathed, and attached his lips to mine quickly and I happily returned the kiss.
"Alright, lovebirds," Tony quipped, making Pietro and I step away from each other.
"Sorry, right. Let's get a move on," I stated, letting out a breathy chuckle.
"Of course, printessa," Pietro kissed my cheek, and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear before quickly sped off.
"Once upon a time you told me that it was difficult to explain what you and Pietro had," Steve began, as he stopped next to me.
"Steve," I groaned, looking up at the sky knowing where this was going.
"What? I'm just repeating what you told me," Steve commented smirking.
"Shut up," I said playfully, rolling my eyes.
"Are you talking about Amara and Pietro?" Clint asked joining the two of us.
"Yeah, we are. Maybe in the foreseeable future, she and Pietro will have little speed demon children," Steve added chuckling.
"Oh God, kill me now," I groaned, covering my face with both hands.
"As long as I'm their God Mother, I'm okay," Wanda chirped in.
"Oh no Wanda, not you too," I begged.
"God Mother to who? Pietro and Amara's children?" Tony chimed in. "I predict, married and pregnant before the end of the year,"
"Please, just shoot me now," I grumbled, unholstering my gun.
"Can't do that, we'll break the kid's heart," Clint teased.
"It's official, I hate all of you guys," I declared as I walked off and tried to not act embarrassed.
"Awe, don't be all Miss Pouty on us, Eryss," Tony called teasingly
"Shut up, Stark!" I exclaimed, as everyone began to split up.
Wanda and I stood back to back in the main square of the apartment blocks both using our similar power of manipulation, planting the urge need to leave. I looked at all the people around us, they all carried bags and coats and formed lines walking over the borders. I noticed in the eyes of the civilians there was a slight hint of red to signal that the manipulation was working.
"We've done the job. Let's get back," I announced, looking at Wanda.
Wanda dropped her glowing hands and nodded her head in agreement. Wanda and I were quick to gather ourselves to Clint who was on the bridge escorting more civilians out of the city.
I let out a small pant, "Done. They should all be moving to get out of the city," I reported to Clint.
Clint opened his mouth to say something, but he was cut short as we heard the scream of civilians. We all looked up and from all over the city iron legions burst out, the ground, the buildings, and flying through the air, and they were gaining in on our position. Wanda and I shared a glance before we rushed over to the bridge. I shouted at them to run while Wanda pulled up an energy shield just in time for one of the suits to shoot at us. As I pushed the people back, Wanda's shield faltered at the blast of a suit and she went flying onto her stomach, letting out a groan.
I took out my guns from their holster and ran forward towards the legionnaires. I aimed and started firing at them before I also got thrown back from a repulser blast and I let out a yelp as I slammed to the ground.
Clint quickly came over and helped us up, "You okay Wanda?" I asked as we both got up, and she nodded in reply.
Wanda looked around like a deer caught in headlights just as there was a very loud crack. The ground was beginning to crack in two. The ground rumbled dangerously, and a sudden jolt knocked us back. I held tightly to the railing and I glanced around my eyes wide as I looked over the bridge. We were ascending. The city was lifting off.
"Holy shit," I muttered, just as the entire ground shuddered as we were lifted higher into the air.
"Do you see...? The beauty of it," Ultron's voice said through a legionnaire. "The inevitability. You rise, only to fall," Clint shot the robot that had Ultron's voice coming from it, but when one fell, another took its place. "You, Avengers, you are my meteor, my swift and terrible sword, and the earth will crack with the weight of your failure. Purge me from your computers, turn my own flesh against me, it means nothing. When the dust settles, the only thing living will be metal,"
I moved away from the edge of the city that was rising into the air and steadied myself onto my feet.
The ear piece in my left ear crackled before I heard Tony's voice, "Cap, you got incoming," Tony said quickly.
"Incoming already came. Stark, you worry about bringing the city back down safely. The rest of us have one job; Tear these things apart. You get hurt; hurt them back. You get killed—Walk it off,"
I grinned as I made eye contact with Clint and shrugged as I fired at two iron legion bots, "You heard the Captain,"
Beside me, Wanda breathed heavily, panicking. Clint jumped over a car, flipping backwards before shooting two arrows into the machines, "Eryss," he called
"I've got her," I nodded and grabbed Wanda's arm and quickly started leading her towards a window. The iron legion took aim and fired barely missing us as Clint pushed both Wanda and I through the window. We all rolled and ducked down.
Wanda crawled to the far wall, "How could I let this happen?" her eyes were open but unseeing, she was hyperventilating.
"Hey, hey, you okay?" Clint nudged her with his foot.
"This is all our fault," she mumbled.
"Hey look at us," I grabbed Wanda's shoulder.
"It's your fault, it's everyone's fault. Who cares? Are you up for this? Are you? Look, I just need to know," Clint began. "Okay. Look, the city is flying, we're fighting an army of robots and I have a bow and arrow," he paused as some robots fired blasts at us. He aimed an arrow and shot them through the holes left by the lasers. "None of this makes sense. But I'm going back out there because it's my job. Okay? And I can't do my job and babysit," Clint continued, with a sympathetic expression.
"It doesn't matter what you did or what you were. If you go out there, you fight, and you fight to kill," I leaned over and shot through one of the many holes in the wall, destroying two iron legion as I reloaded.
"Stay in here, you're good. We'll send Pietro to come and get you. But Amara and I are going back out there because it's our job. You step through that door, you are an Avenger," Clint's voice was firm. Wanda's faced smoothed over as a determined look entered her eyes, Clint nodded. "All right. Good chat," Clint stood up, notching an arrow and peering out the door. "Yeah, the city is flying," he murmured and fired, disappearing through the doorway.
I squeezed Wanda's shoulder. She glanced over at me, and I nodded. She returned it, seeming determined, I stepped out the door my gun raised, finger squeezed on the trigger. I sprinted towards a flipped car taking cover as another wave of bullets aimed my way. I dropped down beside Clint. Silently we looked to each other, this was not going in our favor. My shoulders tensed as the doors behind us slammed open, Wanda stepped out, an aura of red around her as she shot a beam of energy in the direction of an iron legion. Without even looking she tore one in half. Several others glowed red and exploded.
Wanda was back in the game.
I grinned and aimed again, shooting through the mass of seemingly unending robots.
"All right, we're all clear here," Clint spoke into the com.
"We are not clear!" Steve yelled, the clanging of metal echoing through my earpiece. "We are very not clear!" Steve grunted, sounding worse for wear.
"All right, coming to you," I went to start jogging toward Steve when a familiar feeling of weightlessness took over me.
"Keep up old man," Pietro spoke smugly as he scooped up both Wanda and I and ran towards Steve.
I smiled up at Pietro who winked, and I laughed, burying my head in the crook of his neck.
"I could do it. Nobody else would know," I heard Clint mutter through the com. "Where'd he go? Last I saw him Ultron was sitting on him. Little bastard, I miss him already,"
"Clint, I kind of would like the chance to ask him out. Could you not shoot him please?" I laughed.
Within moments we stopped at a barricade with police using the cars as cover. Pietro dropped me gently down before sliding both himself and Wanda closer to the machines. Expertly Wanda waved her hand and sent them flying back and apart.
"Hold your fire!" the captain of the police yelled.
But a bullet was accidentally fired and grazed Pietro's arm causing him to pause.
"Pietro!" I exclaimed.
"I'm fine, Amara," he reassured me, and glared at the cop who had fired the shot. With a 'come-on-man-really?' expression and throwing his arms up in exasperation before running off again.
There was a lull in the fighting as the one wave of drones had been taken care off. But we knew there would be another soon. I was carrying a woman bridal style after having cut her leg badly, into a place of safety telling a man to look after her.
"The next wave's gonna hit any minute," Steve said taking a deep breath. "What have you got Stark?" Steve's voice asked through the intercom.
"Nothing great. Maybe a way to blow up the city... that will keep it from impacting the surface if you guys can get clear," Tony replied solemnly.
"I asked for a solution not an escape plan," Steve snapped back.
"Impact radius is getting bigger every second. We're gonna have to make a choice," Tony reasoned, as I ran out of the building to stand in the dust with Steve and Natasha.
Relief flooded me seeing the appearance of the red-head spy, Wanda and Pietro joined me and we looked out over the now visible clouds floating below us.
"Steve, these people are going nowhere," I told him, hating the idea of having to die. "If Stark finds a way to blow this rock-"
"Not until everyone is safe," Steve insisted, cutting me off.
"Everyone up here versus everyone down there? There's no math there," Natasha interjected, trying to convince him.
"I'm not leaving this rock with one civilian on it!" Steve told her adamantly, clearly frustrated.
"I didn't say we should leave," Natasha countered, Steve turned to Natasha and then over to me all of us looking out at the clouds. "There's worse ways to go," she shrugged. "Where else am I going to get a view like this?" she asked.
"She's right, I'm surrounded my friends and someone I could see a future with," I stated, and looked Pietro and he tugged my body closer to his with his hand. "There are worse ways to go," I agreed.
"Glad you like the view, Romanoff. It's about to get better," Fury said into our coms, just as a helicarrier rose up to meet the side of the floating city. I couldn't help but smile in delight. "Nice, right?" Fury asked rhetorically. "Cleared a lot of moth balls, she's dusty, but she'll do," he chuckled.
"Fury, you son of a bitch," Steve chuckled in relief.
"Ooh, you kiss your mother with that mouth?" Fury asked, making both Natasha and I start laughing.
Pietro looked up at the huge aircraft, "This is S.H.I.E.L.D.?" he asked smiling.
"This is what S.H.I.E.L.D is supposed to be," I answered grinning.
A smile still gracing his lips, Pietro leaned down towards me, his lips brushed my temple, "This is not so bad," His voice made me shiver.
"Let's load them up," Steve turned towards the civilian filled building as the lifeboats floated down close to the edge anchoring themselves on the floating city.
"Yes! Now this is gonna be a good story," I heard Rhodey exclaim as he flew out and started to shoot at some of the rouge legionnaires that were trying to leave the city.
"Yep. If you live to tell it," Tony replied.
Typical him. I ran off to help civilians onto the boats.
"You think I can't hold my own?" Rhodey asked incredulously.
"We get through this, I'll hold your own," Tony retorted.
"What does that even mean?" I thought.
"You had to make it weird," Rhodey deadpanned.
I found a family that were scared out of their wits and I used my powers to calm them and lead them to one of the lifeboats. I made my way towards the direction of an apartment building hoping to find more people.
"Thor, I got a plan!" Tony said over the ear piece.
"We're out of time. They're coming for the core," Thor told us, and I took this as my cue to run straight to the church instead.
Returning to the church where the detonator for the city is, I reach the dilapidated building to find the other Avengers as well as Pietro and Wanda guarding it.
"Rhodey, get the rest of the people on board that carrier," Tony ordered, as I reached the core and decided to finally use my batons.
"On it," Rhodey replied.
"Avengers, time to work for a living," Tony told us. "Romanoff? You and Banner better not be playing 'hide the zucchini,'"
Oh dear lord the innuendo.
"Relax, shell-head. Not all of us can fly," And with those words Natasha made her way to join the rest of us. "What's the drill?" She asked.
"This is the drill. If Ultron gets a hand on the core, we lose," Tony addressed all of us, gesturing to the core in the middle of the room. Just like that we all spotted Bruce in Hulk form, with Ultron hovering outside the church.
"Is that the best you can do?" Thor taunted, making me shake my head.
Laughing darkly, Ultron spreads his arms summoning the arrival of hundreds of more robots to rush toward us, encircling us on all sides.
"This is the best I can do," Ultron gloated. "This is what I've been waiting for. All of you against all of me!"
"You had to ask," Steve and I complained at the same time, looking at the stunned god.
"How can you possibly hope to stop me?" Ultron demanded.
"Well, like the old man said..." Tony grew quiet before continuing. "Together,"
The Hulk roared and we surrounded the core from every angle, guarding it like no tomorrow, as the entire legion ran or flew towards us, this was it.
AN: Can't believe this story is about to wrap up soon.