"Ultron knows we're coming. Odds are we'll be riding into heavy fire, and that's what we signed up for," Steve tells you as you stand in the street, "But the people of Sokovia, they didn't. So our priority is getting them out." At his words Pietro speeds off towards the police station, Steve doesn't falter. "All they want is to live their lives in peace, and that's not going to happen today. But we can do our best to protect them. And we can get the job done and find out what Ultron's been building. We find Romanoff, and we clear the field. Keep the fight between us. Ultron thinks we're monsters, and we're what's wrong with the world. This isn't just about beating him. It's about whether or not he's right."

"Here here," You smile despite yourself at the adrenaline you can feel pumping through your veins. You couldn't get enough of it. You weren't sure if it was your enhancement or your past, but either way you never felt as good as you did when you were in action. You break from the group, eager to find either something to kill or something to save, and at this point you didn't really have a preference.

Your eyes land on a group of citizens hovering outside a cafe who turn to look at you with wide eyes as you approach, gun in hand. "Get out," You shout to them, "You need to get out of the city now!"

A man looks at you, his lips curling, "Yeah? Says who?"

"Says me," You fire a round, taking out a juice glass sitting at a nearby table. The man who had spoken looks stunned as orange juice pools at his feet and then they scatter, blindly running in every direction "Out of the city!" You call after them as a reminder. You feel wind and then you see Pietro looking at you with a half amused, half disgusted expression.

"Maybe you try not shooting at them," He offers, and then he's gone again. You stare at the spot where he had stood for another half second before you start moving again.

"He's in the church," Stark's voice says over the comm, "Headed there now."

"Coming your way now," You respond, looking at your surroundings to get your bearings. A low buzz fills the air and then you're surrounded as a dozen robots appear overhead.

"Shit, we've got incoming," You fire at the closest one, effectively drawing them to you instead of towards any citizens. "Shit," You repeat as you're forced to roll out of the way as they open fire on you. You grimace as the wall behind you explodes, sending debris raining down on you.

"They're all over," Steve responds in your ear, "We need to take them out. You alright on your end (Y/n)?" You hear a squeal of metal over the comm and you grimace. You fire two more shots, taking two down before you duck behind the nearest building. "(Y/n), status?" You aim around the corner of the building, taking down three more. "(Y/n), respond!"

"Will you chill?" You snap in a fresh clip, "I'm busy."

"Status?"

"Taking fire," You tell him. A glint of metal catches your eye and you see one flying above the alley you're currently crouched in. You take a deep breath before running up the side of the brick wall a few steps before you launch yourself backwards. You twist in the air and grab it around the neck; you fire one round into its head before landing neatly on the ground, "But other than that things are swell Cap, thanks for asking."

You bend over, resting your hands on your knees as you catch your breath after the last of the robots in your immediate area go down. "What the-" You frown at the slight vibration you feel under your feet and walk out of the alley and to the street. The vibration becomes a brutal shaking and you have to plant your feet to keep your balance. "Uhh… We got an Earthquake over here Cap. What the hell is going on?"

A loud cracking fills the air and you lose your footing, falling backwards. You wince as your tailbone cracks on the ground a few layers of skin are lost from your palms. The pavement in front of you splits and you're forced to scramble backwards as the opening grows wider. "Oh no," You breathe, watching frozen as the ground in front of you rises up past the land on the other side of the crevice.

"Cap, you got incoming," Stark's voice crackles across the comm.

"Incoming already came in," Steve sounds tense, "Stark, you worry about bringing the city back down safely. The rest of us have one job: tear these things apart." You climb to your feet, wiping the blood from your palms onto your pants. "You get hurt, hurt 'em back. You get killed, walk it off."

"Right," You say wearily, "On my way."

You tear through the city streets, taking down the robots as you come across them and directing civilians towards safer areas. Up ahead you can see Steve and Thor fighting a mass of robots. You shoot one coming up behind Steve and then spin around, grabbing two more and slamming their heads together with all your strength.

"I see you started without me boys."

"Plenty left," Steve pants, bashing one with his shield.

"Alright, we're all clear here," Clint calls over the comm.

"We are not clear," Steve radios back as another wave of the robots appear, "We are very not clear!"

"Alright, coming to you."

"Romanoff!" Steve roars suddenly, and you turn to see him throwing his shield to Natasha to protect her from an attacking robot. You turn back just in time to have a robotic fist connect with your face. Your thrown backwards, skidding across the pavement until your back hits an abandoned car, snapping your neck forward and knocking the wind out of you.

"(Y/n)?!" Steve exclaims and you lift a hand to tell him you're alright before wiping the blood from your face and climbing to your feet. You empty your clip into the one that hit you, before holstering your empty gun. You move into position with Steve, back to back and then you start tearing at anything you can reach with your brute strength.

"Think that's the last of them?" You ask Steve as Thor takes down the last robot.

Steve shakes his head, "The next wave's gonna hit any minute. What have you got Stark?"

"Well...nothing great. Maybe a way to blow up the city. That'll keep it from impacting the surface if you guys can get clear."

"I asked for a solution, not an escape plan."

"Impact radius is getting bigger every second. We're going to have to make a choice."

"Cap…" Natasha says, "These people are going nowhere. If Stark finds a way to blow this rock…"

"Not until everybody's safe."

"Everyone up here versus everyone down there? There's no math there."

"She's right Steve," You say gently, "A city versus the world."

"I'm not leaving this rock with one civilian on it." Steve says firmly.

"I didn't say we should leave," You and Steve turn to look at Romanoff, "There's worse ways to go. Where else am I gonna get a view like this?"

"Glad you like the view Romanoff," Nick Fury's voice fills your earpiece, "It's about to get better." At his words a helicarrier rises over the edge of the city. "Nice, right? I pulled her out of mothballs with a couple of old friends. She's dusty, but she'll do."

"Fury, you son of a bitch," Steve says, and your lips quirk up.

"Oooh! You kiss your mother with that mouth?" A bunch of lifeboats start flying towards you.

"This is SHIELD?" Pietro asks in awe.

"This is what SHIELD's supposed to be." Steve responds with a smile.

"This is not so bad."

"Let's load 'em up," Steve says. You head towards the nearest building where you find a group of people hiding beneath tables in a diner.

"Come on guys, your ride's here." You usher them all out the doors and towards the lifeboats. Above you Rhodey is fighting a group of robots in the air. "Just keep moving, stay with me," You tell the scared civilians. As you get them aboard your earpiece crackles to life.

"Avengers, time to work for a living," Tony says and you roll your eyes.

"What have we been doing this whole time?" You mutter to yourself. You gather with the rest of the team.

"You good?" Pietro asks his sister who nods.

"Romanoff?" Tony calls, "You and Banner better not be playing 'hide the zucchini."

"Relax, shell-head," Natasha says, "Not all of us can fly." A few seconds later she arrives, "What's the drill?"

"This is the drill," Tony replies, pointing to the Vibranium core, "If Ultron gets a hand on the core, we lose."

Ultron lands on the ground in front of you, dust kicking up from the impact.

"Is that the best you can do?" Thor mocks, and an army of robots surrounds Ultron.

"You had to ask." Steve sighs.

"This is the best I can do," Ultron says, "This is exactly what I wanted. All of you, against all of me. How could you possibly hope to stop me?"

"Well, like the old man said," Tony states, "Together."

Natasha tosses you a clip and you slam it into your gun, taking out as many approaching robots as you can get in your sights while your friends fight around you.

"You know, with the benefit of hindsight…" You hear a sudden roar, and Hulk leaps into the room, before punching Ultron and sending him flying while the robots retreat.

"They'll try to leave the city," Thor warns.

"We can't let 'em. Not even one. Rhodey!" Tony calls.

"I'm on it," Rhodey responds. You can hear the sounds of fighting then Rhodey's back on the comm, "Okay, what?"

"We gotta move out," Steve says, "Even I can tell the air is getting thin. You guys get to the boats. I'll sweep for any stragglers, be right behind you."

"Not alone you're not," You tell him, fighting to catch your breath; he wasn't wrong about the air. You weren't sure how the others were coping. He gives you a look that says he thinks he's going on a suicide mission, and you give him a small nod.

"What about the core?" Clint asks.

"I'll protect it. It's my job." Wanda says firmly, "Pietro, get the people on the boats."

"I'm not going to leave you here."

"I can handle this," a robot approaches and before you can fire your gun she destroys it, "Come back for me when everyone else is off. Not before."

You help Steve usher the last of the people onto the lifeboats. "Thor," Tony says, "I'm gonna need you back in the church."

"Is this the last of them?" Thor asks you and Steve nods.

"Yeah. Everyone else is on the carrier."

"You know, if this works, we maybe don't walk away." Tony says.

"Maybe not." You hear a jet overhead and then bullets rain down on you. Steve pushes you down, covering you both with his shield until the barrage passes.

"Get on the helicarrier," Steve tells you firmly.

"Fat chance," You reply, "I'll go when you go."

"(Y/n)," Steve sighs, "I need you to get on that helicarrier. If not for me, or yourself, then for him, okay? You need to find him."

His words are like a slap to the face because he was right. What were you doing here, playing heroes? You owed a debt and throwing yourself into danger wasn't the way to pay it. Playing house with the Avengers wasn't the way to pay it. You had lost your way. "You could find him," You tell him but there's no fire behind your words this time.

Steve reaches out and grasps your shoulder, "Stay safe." His fingers linger a moment too long and then he's gone, running away from the helicarrier. You stare after him for a moment before climbing aboard, a stony resolve settling down in the pit of your stomach.

No more playing around, no more parties, no more friends. It was time to find the Soldier.