"We always get back up." Evan's voice was mangled by heavy breaths and Tony wasn't sure if he had heard her correctly. He hoped he hadn't.
"Stay down, kid. You're done." She continued to try to push against his arms, which were holding her in place. She wouldn't be the first one down. They always got back up. She always got back up.
"No. I'm fine. The fight's not over." Her mask was halfway off her face, one of her eyes exposed and messy brown hair peeking out in tangled strands. Her eyes were wild, unfocused, and overwhelmed by adrenaline, and pain.
"It is for you. Stay. Down. You're just a kid, I can't be responsible for you anymore." Tony's grip grew tighter on Evan's arms and she stopped struggling, taking in Tony's stern expression, his mask off now, and his black eye clearly on display. She couldn't stop the manifestation of hurt that crossed her face as he scolded her. She sat there, dumbfounded, unsure of what to do next.
"Kid, you're too young to die fighting my battles. I should have never brought you here in the first place." her expression grew dark again. She deserved to be here. She wasn't a child. She was a hero. If she hadn't proved that yet, she would now. She opened her mouth to reply when Peter swung down, stopping momentarily when he saw Evan on the ground, Tony holding her down.
"Woah, she alright?" Panic crept into his voice and he looked at Tony, frantically, the eyes on his suit narrowing.
"I'm fine, Jesus." Evan finally freed herself from Tony's grip as he was distracted by another explosion overhead. She pulled down her mask and before either Tony or Peter could say anything to stop her, she was gone, back into the thrall of the fight.
"She's not going to stop." The words escaped Peter as she flew towards Cap, who was now bringing his shield down on Rhodey. He exchanged a look with Tony, both of them coming to a similar realization that fell along the lines of it was impossible to tell her to stay down, and she would let herself die before admitting defeat. Tony's mask fell into place with a subtle clink and Peter extended an arm, but before he shot his web he turned to Tony,
"You can't let her get back up." With that, the pair was gone, returning to the fight yet again.
The fighting raged on between the heroes. So far, there were no casualties; none of the heroes wanted to hurt the others. They had all been loyal to each other only weeks ago. Peter and Evan, however, were new to the equation. They were nothing more than vigilantes that Tony had picked up to even the numbers, or at least that's what the others thought. Only Tony knew that they were really kids, barely teenagers. He spent the entire fight sneaking glances at the two of them, making sure they weren't dead. Yes, his moral compass was a bit skewed, but he wasn't in the business of killing children. So when he saw Evan fly off after the Quinjet carrying Rogers and Bucky, he could barely breathe.
"The Quinjet is leaving, with Rogers on it. Someone needs to stop them." Nat's voice flooded the comms and all the heroes looked to the skies. They were silent. Until Evan's voice responded.
"I got them." Her voice was full of determination and she took off from her place next to Peter, her new vibranium-reinforced wings carrying her at speeds she didn't think possible. Without hesitation, Tony followed, falling in behind Evan, both of them struggling to catch up to the Quinjet already speeding away.
"I have a shot." She yelled through the comms, less of a statement and more asking permission to blow Captain America away.
"Take the shot. Take it now." Tony's voice came through and a few of the team on the ground were suddenly brought to the realization that one of them could die. They all believed in what they fought for, but none of them thought they would have to die because of it.
Peter's yells, brought Sam to Tony's attention. He was tailing her, his missiles already locking in, Tony knew.
"Mr. Stark, someone's behind me. You see him?" Evan's voice rang through the comms and Peter was the only one who could hear the slight twinge of fear in her voice. Peter ripped off his mask, not caring about keeping his identity a secret anymore, looking desperately at the situation playing out in the sky. He looked around at the people beside him: superhumans, assassins, and scientific miracles.
"Mr. Stark?" Evan's voice rang through again.
"Working on it. Just don't lose sight of Rogers." Tony's voice was tense and it was clear to his team that he didn't have control of the situation, he couldn't get a read on Sam.
On the ground, Peter was watching silently, unable to move, to breathe, to think. Evan was going to die, all for Steve Roger's stupid crusade. Clint was standing next to him, gawking at how young the boy was.
"Jesus, kid, how young are you?" His voice had a hint of fear, the pieces starting to click in his brain, starting to understand what was about to happen.
"Sixteen." Peter's voice was drained, his eyes still trained on Evan as she shot through the air, her arm outstretched, ready to take the shot. Clint's eyes widened and he heard Sam come through his comms.
"I'm taking the shot." Before Clint had any time to process what he was doing, he yelled into the comms,
"No. Stand down, do not shoot. I repeat do not shoot. Dammit, Sam, she's a kid! Stark brought a kid!"
Tony was closing in, but anyone from the ground could tell he wasn't going to be fast enough to catch Sam. Sam's body jerked up as he heard the words from Clint, but the shot still went off. A missile tore through Evan's wing and exploded in front of her, knocking her unconscious. Her body seemed to float in mid-air for a second and everything stopped. Sam and Tony both watched, their minds not yet registering what had happened. On the ground, Peter brought a hand to his mouth and stumbled backward, crumpled to his knees, and eventually sat, staring at Evan as she fell out of the sky.
Then the moment ended and everything was moving again. Evan's body shot downwards, spinning caustically on its way down to Earth. Tony and Sam both shot after it, both going as fast as possible for them. Tony was cursing, trying to get Evan to respond to him in the comms, while simultaneously trying to set the best trajectory for which to catch her.
"Friday, initiate Iron Wasp." He kept his eyes transfixed on the girl's limp body as a new iron shell began to encase her, replacing her mesh one. It was just a prototype, he hadn't even planned on using it yet. He prayed that it would prevent some of the damage. He was feet away now, inches. He was going to make it, he was going to save her. He stretched out his hand and suddenly the ground came to meet him, sending him sprawling across the field they landed in. He quickly scrambled to his feet and ran towards Evan's body, which was sprawled out in a crater, a tangle of limbs and wings. He immediately scooped up her head and ripped her mask off, revealing a number of bruises and dried blood, either from the battle or the fall, he wasn't sure.
"FRIDAY, vitals." his voice was thick with rage, coming out in stiff sporadic blows, unable to calm himself enough to gain control of his speech. Because of the implants he had in Evan's suit, FRIDAY was able to read Evan's vitals and report them to Tony, something he had implanted in Peter's suit as well. He was worried about the kids. And not just because they put themselves in danger constantly.
"Heartbeat detected. Deploying an emergency med team." Tony let out a breath he didn't even know he had been holding.
"I'm sorry." Sam's voice hit Tony's ears like a pound of bricks. A rage so pure he could barely contain it suddenly flooded his body. Without even looking at him, Tony raised his arm and fired a quick shot to Sam's gut. Not strong enough to kill him, but it would leave a mark. He could only see red.
Peter was sprinting across the field as fast as he could, panic gripping his chest, making his body shake and the world lean to one side. He ran past Sam and upon seeing him begin to get up, sent a web at him, tethering him to the ground for a little while longer. He rushed up to Tony and shoved him away from her.
"Get away from her. Everyone, stay away from her!" Peter was yelling, his voice breaking making him sound like a scared little kid. He wrapped his arms around her tightly and began to rock back and forth with her in his lap.
"It's gonna be okay. It's all gonna be okay, I promise." He whispered to her, tears beginning to streak his face.
"Kid…" Tony didn't know what else to say. He didn't understand the grief this kid was feeling; how could he?
"No! You did this! You dragged us into this fight, you told her to take the shot. You should have made her stay down. I told her to stay down." Peter had turned to Tony, his face contorted in pain, sobs breaking up his last few words. He held Evan like a shield to his chest, trying to protect her now against all of this madness. He should have never let her get involved in the first place. It had just all seemed so exciting. The technology Mr. Stark had promised, the glory, the money; but most importantly, the idea that they weren't the only two who were like this. They weren't alone in the world. They were needed. He had admired Mr. Stark, and he still does, but he had told him to keep her down. He should have told her to stay down.
"I didn't want anyone to get hurt. I didn't think anyone would get hurt." Tony turned desperate, resorting to pleading with the boy, trying to wipe away some of the guilt he felt.
"But she did get hurt! She could die!" Peter screamed back, his breath coming out in quick gasps. Tony needed to blame someone other than himself. Anyone, he didn't care. He marched over to Sam who was beginning to get up again. He knocked him back down and placed an armored hand on his chest.
"Why did you shoot?" His voice was cold, quiet. Sam saw the rage in his eyes.
"Tony, I didn't know she was a kid. I didn't know." Sam tried to appeal to his logic; he knew Tony was a logical man. How could Sam have known?
"Even if she wasn't a kid. You don't miss. That was a shot to kill, I saw you take it." Tony saw Sam's expression change and he knew he was right. It hadn't been a shot in the dark; he shot to kill. But still, Tony felt some of the pressure release as he realized this wasn't entirely his fault.
"She was going to take down Cap. You know I couldn't let her do that." Sam spoke slowly as if speaking to a child, hoping Tony would understand. Instead, Tony pushed his hand harder into Sam's chest.
"She didn't have to die for this." He spoke through clenched teeth and Sam could feel the rage rolling off of him in waves.
"This is war, Tony." Sam pushed Tony back, flipping the pair so that Sam was now standing over him, "soldiers die." Tony stood and raised his arm, his blasters firing up. He was preparing to shoot, and he wasn't going to miss this time.
"We're not soldiers." The words came out as a growl and Sam stood, dumbfounded, not sure if Tony would really do it. If he would really kill him over this girl. Suddenly, Nat came rushing out of the field.
"Stop! Tony, Jesus." Her voice was shocked, as she slowly took in the scene in front of her. The boy was rocking back and forth, cradling the girl in his arms. She seemed to be waking up and was grabbing at his arms, weakly. The boy whispered something to her, but she couldn't make it out. Tony had lowered his arm now and Sam had begun to walk in the other direction. Even after this, they had been teammates once. That's not something you forget.
"The chopper is here. We need to move her now." Nat touched Tony's arm gently, trying to convey that she didn't blame him through touch. She couldn't seem to put it into words. He nodded silently and made his way back to the kids.
"Kid. Pete. The chopper is here, we need to go." Evan was beginning to wake up, her eyes unfocused. They were trying to hold Peter's gaze, but she was just so tired and everything hurt so much. She didn't want to fight anymore. She just wanted Peter to take her home. Back to Brooklyn.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." This was all she could get out. Every other combination of words kept getting jumbled in her head or lodged in her throat. She saw his face pinch up and knew he was trying not to cry.
"It's okay. It's all gonna be fine. You were great out there." He smiled a shaky smile that made Evan want to cry and never stop. She tried to return it but darkness was closing in. She couldn't fight anymore.
