The Hulk launched himself toward Novi Grad, climbing the side of the Earth and eventually crashing into the woods, sending Natasha and Katiana flying through the air. Natasha rolled to her knees, but Katiana landed on her back and winced as Natasha sent the Hulk toward the city.

She stood and looked over Katiana, "You okay?"

"That hurt like a bitch." Katiana chuckled deeply, "Help me up?"

Natasha reached down and took Katiana's outstretched hand to pull her to her feet, and Katiana leaned against her shoulder for a moment as Natasha looked through the trees toward the city, "Can you walk?"

"Yeah. I'll be okay." Katiana leaned far back and stretched, then gestured for Natasha to lead the way, "I'll follow you." Natasha grinned and took off running with Katiana sprinting behind her. She followed Natasha into the city, balking when she saw all the flying robots blasting the citizens below. Katiana stopped, but Natasha kept going, not having time to babysit the woman.

"I can't do this." Katiana muttered to herself as she watched one of the apartment buildings crumble and fall off the side of the floating city. She crouched down, taking a breath as she placed her head in her hands, "What am I supposed to do to help?"

Katiana could hear the screams coming from the trapped Sokovians, and she wondered if Wanda and Pietro were among them. She raised her head, realizing she couldn't let her family die without her. Everyone who cared for Katiana was on this flying rock: the twins, Natasha, Steve. Steve was here, and Katiana needed to see him before...

She jumped up and continued running forward, pushing herself as fast as she could until she reached the town square. Robots were terrorizing the people who were trying to leave via the bridge, but there was no way out now. Katiana saw Zrinka and Costel trying to find shelter just as the Hulk landed in front of them and roared, causing Zrinka to scream.

"Hey! Hey, come with me!" Katiana reached them and tugged the young boy's arm toward the entrance to the hospital where everyone was hiding. She whipped the boy around to make sure he was okay, stroking his hair before looking up at his sister, "Where are Wanda and Pietro?"

"He's with the Avengers." The blonde answered, looking past Katiana out the door as the Hulk ripped several robots apart, "I haven't seen Wanda, though."

"I have to find her." Katiana yelled and ran out the door, immediately taking a hit in the thigh from one of the Ultron robots nearby. She stumbled and fell to her knees, scrambling to hide behind a car as she hissed.

"You shouldn't have come back. This is no place for you." Ultron's voice taunted from behind Katiana, and she looked up to see a robot standing on the car above her with glowing red eyes. Its hand aimed at her as it jumped to the ground, preparing to blast from a foot away, but suddenly the Ultron was speared in the shoulder by Captain America's shield.

Katiana's body shook as she watched the robot break apart around the vibranium, and she sighed, leaning her head against the car as Steve jogged over to collect his shield.

"Katiana?" He panted when he reached her, pulling his shield out of the car without taking his eyes off of her, "What are you doing here?"

She lulled her head back and groaned, shifting her injured leg slowly, "Ultron captured me with Natasha. We came to help."

"Why?" Steve barked, whipping around when he saw Thor take out several robots from the corner of his eye, "I can't watch you, I have to-"

"It's fine." Katiana interrupted, using the shattered window as a crutch to pull herself up. "Go."

Steve clenched his jaw and looked around, seeing that Thor was gone and the robots were overtaking the people, "I don't want to leave you."

"I just wanted to see you. I wanted to apologize, I'll be fast, I'm sorry." Katiana rambled quickly, pushing herself away from the car to fall against Steve's chest. "No matter what happens, I wanted you to know how much I care about you, and that I want to love you. I want to be your Kayla. If we survive this, I'll get the chip removed, and I'll spend every day for as long as I live making everything up to you." Steve turned quickly, holding Katiana by the waist with his right hand, to smash his shield into a robot. He turned back to face her, waiting for her to continue, "If we don't survive, I want you to know that I love you. I don't remember loving you, but I trust that I did, so I do."

Steve dipped down and kissed Katiana quickly, resting his nose against hers as he whispered, "I love you, too."

Katiana shoved his chest roughly, faltering for a moment before leaning against the car, "Go. I'll stay here with the people." He lingered for a moment, then Katiana yelled, "Go, Steve!"

As he ran back into the fight at the bridge, Katiana pulled two of her guns out of the holster on her right thigh and began shooting at any robots who tried to get close to the hospital where the people were hiding. "Over here!" She called as several people passed her, shooting the robots who pursued them. From where she was, Katiana could see Steve fighting more robots as they appeared from under the bridge. The local authorities had set up a barricade on the edge of the square fifty feet from where Katiana was guarding the buildings.

One of the officers looked at her, and she raised one of her guns and smiled weakly in greeting, then huffed before unloading the rest of her bullets into one of the robots. She tossed the gun to the side and pulled another one from her other holster, shooting both guns rapidly as she covered a family of five racing toward the doors to get inside. A half dozen robots turned their attention to the police officers who tried to keep them toward the edge of the city and away from the pedestrians.

Suddenly, a blue and red blur zipped past the officers and Wanda began to blast the robots with her magic. Katiana stood up straighter in fear as the police chief raised his hand and screamed, "Hold your fire!"

Wanda blasted the robots to pieces, but Pietro stopped running and stared at one of the officers who still had his gun up, a stray bullet had pierced his arm before the man realized they'd called a cease fire. Pietro gave the officer a dirty look, but his gaze found Katiana and he sprinted over to her. "You're okay."

"Yeah. You?"

"That idiot shot me."

Katiana chuckled as Pietro turned back to the young officer with a glare, and the cop tried hard not to look at Pietro, but kept finding his gaze, "Hey. Focus up, there are bigger things at play." Katiana nodded toward the edge of the statue in the square where Steve was helping Natasha fight robots. Katiana leaned forward on her injured leg and groaned, stumbling a bit until Pietro caught her, "I got hit."

"Then you need to get inside." He argued, kneeling down to check out the blood stain in her ripped jeans. "I'll come back for you once we get rid of all the robots."

"You keep Wanda safe, you hear me?" Katiana growled as he picked her up and sped her into the hospital, setting her down next to Zrinka and Costel. He turned to leave, but Katiana yelled back to him, "Pietro! Do you understand?"

"You know I won't let anything happen to my two girls." He promised, pressing a kiss to Katiana's temple before speeding away to help his sister, leaving Katiana with the other Sokovians to wait for instructions.

"Miss, do you need me to patch that up for you so you can walk?" An elderly man offered Katiana, and she looked up to see he was one of the doctors. She nodded, then winced as the ground shook, causing her to twitch and hurt her leg. "Give me a minute, let me get some supplies." The doctor said calmly, and Katiana couldn't help but wonder if he was trying to comfort her because she was going to die.

Steve looked out at the clouds as he and Romanoff experience a moment of calm. They'd taken care of most of the robots, and now the people of Sokovia could hide without fear of being shot. They'd fixed one problem, but it wouldn't last. "The next wave's gonna hit any minute. What do you got, Stark?"

"Well, nothing great." Tony grumbled through their comms, and Steve's heart sank, "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." Steve looked to Romanoff, realizing by her expression that she was going to agree with Stark.

"The impact radius is getting bigger by the second. We're going to have to make a choice."

"Cap, these people are going nowhere. If Stark finds a way to blow this rock-" Natasha argued, but Steve cut her off, "Not till everyone's safe."

Natasha looked at him sadly, knowing where his mind and his heart were, but it just wasn't feasible, "Everyone up here verses everyone down there, there's no math there. No matter what happens, everyone up here dies. The only difference is we can save the people down below."

"I'm not leaving this rock with one civilian on it." Steve said firmly, but Natasha could see his lip wobble ever so slightly as he dropped his head.

"I didn't say we should leave." Natasha corrected and Steve looked up at her sadly. She forced a brave smile and looked at the fluffy clouds. Nat shrugged, looking back toward the hospital building thoughtfully, "I wouldn't blame you for going. Take the quinjet and get her out of here. You deserve a win." Natasha met Steve's eyes, studying his expression, "You're going to get your girl back."

Steve sighed and scratched the back of his head as he scrunched his nose from the dust wafting through the air as they floated amongst the clouds, "I couldn't live with myself knowing that I walked away and let these people die."

"You know she's going to die, too?"

Steve leaned his head back and sighed, "I'm gonna go to her."

Natasha nodded as she stared out at the sky too beautiful for their doomsday, "I think I'll stay here. Where else am I gonna get a view like this?"

"Glad you like the view Romanoff. It's about to get better." Nick Fury's voice said through the comms as Steve and Natasha saw a helicarrier rise into the sky beside them.

Natasha smiled as Pietro zoomed to their side, "This is SHIELD?"

Steve looked to the young man, then back to the helicarrier, "This is what SHIELD is supposed to be." He looked back to Romanoff and ordered, "Let's load em up."

As Steve and Natasha sprinted toward the buildings where everyone was hiding, Pietro lingered for a moment, seeing the lifeboat carriers deploy to carry his people to safety. "This isn't so bad." He muttered to himself, then zoomed away to catch up with the Avengers.

Pietro burst through the doors as the lifeboats latched onto the ground, "Come on! SHIELD has come to save us! Let's go!" He gestured as Steve entered the building. Pietro bumped into Steve as he sped away, knocking the soldier back a step, but he got his balance and stood his ground as the people flooded around him to get out of the hospital. He watched them sprinting onto the lifeboats as Clint and Natasha helped, but he wasn't ready to go until he found who he was looking for.

Once most of the people were gone, Steve approached Zrinka and Costal where they knelt beside Katiana, who's leg was being cleaned. "You take her?" Costel asked quietly as Katiana ran her hand across his hair. Steve nodded, feeling the lump in his throat from the responsibility he was taking on, but the boy didn't seem to mind. He looked to his sister, "I need to grab something from the market. It's on the way. Real fast."

"Real fast." She repeated, standing as the boy ran ahead of her. She looked to Katiana, and smiled weakly, then eyed Captain America before chasing after her brother.

The doctor stood and wiped his hands on his pants, "You'll be okay, just might be a little tender and hard to walk. Let's get you to a boat."

"Are you getting on the boat?" Katiana asked Steve as he helped her stand. Her thigh was wrapped tightly in white gauze and the doctor had brought her a wooden crutch to lean on, even though she preferred to lean on Steve. She studied his pained expression and guessed his answer, "You aren't done yet."

"I have to make sure everyone gets on safely, then I'll be right behind you." Steve promised, then lifted his head as someone spoke into his comm, "I've got to get to the core in the church. Can you help the people onto the boats?" Steve pressed seriously and Katiana sucked in a quick breath, then nodded.

"Yes. Go, I'll make sure the people get on." Katiana promised as she stroked Steve's jaw, "I'll see you soon."

"If anything goes south, you get your ass on that ship, do you hear me?" Steve threatened, but Katiana just smirked, causing him to groan, "Katiana..."

"My name is Kayla." She told Steve sincerely, and he snapped his neck so fast she worried he'd hurt it. "I know who I am. When I see you on the other side, we'll get me all fixed up, okay?"

Steve nodded breathlessly, hearing Tony call to ask where he is. He walked backwards toward the doors, then sprinted away to help defeat Ultron.

Katiana breathed heavily as she watched him walk away. She felt lighter, and happier, even in the face of global extinction. As long as Steve made it through this, she'd be okay. If Steve didn't make it through this, she didn't know what she'd do. She gathered her courage and tabled her thoughts as she followed behind the crowd of people storming the lifeboats.

When she reached the bridge, she clung onto the metal beam and gestured for people to enter, until the boat was fully loaded. A SHIELD operative approached her, and she flinched, remembering all the times she was told SHIELD was bad and these people were what was wrong with the world, when, in fact, she was a living embodiment of how terrible Hydra could be. "Miss, there's another seat."

"No. I have to stay and make sure everybody gets on the boats safely. I'll get on after." Katiana backed away, moving towards another lifeboat that people were scrambling to get on. She yelled at people to stay calm and talked back to anyone who didn't listen, unafraid of the people she'd spent time with the past ten months. Soon, they'd be out of her life forever, but she had to make sure they got away.

The sound of screaming from the people on the boat made Katiana turn to see a dozen robots take to the sky away from the city. "Shit!" She yelled as she chased along the edge, slipping and falling onto her elbows as she watched them take off into the sky. A metal man similar to Iron Man began shooting at them, until a purple being with a golden cape soared alongside him and blasted them with a beam of light from his forehead.

Katiana blinked rapidly as she sat back on her ass and rubbed her head, wondering if she hit her head. She looked up as a blue car slid to a stop nearby, Natasha and Clint riding inside it. Natasha snorted when she saw Katiana and yelled, "What are you doing?"

"I slipped. Got shot in the leg, it's been a day!" Katiana yelled back as Clint reached down and pulled her up.

Natasha looked to where the Hulk was roaring angrily at decapacitated robots in the city square, "Tell me about it. Boat, now."

"Steve said not until everyone is on safe." Katiana argued, but Natasha turned and gave her a stern look.

"Boat. Now. Both of you." She turned to Clint and he helped Katiana wobble over to the last lifeboat, seeing lots of empty seats and very few people still trying to get on. He led Katiana onto the platform, but she pulled away to speak with a blonde woman who was trembling.

"Costel. We were in the market. I lost him, Katiana, I don't know where he is." Zrinka cried and Katiana looked up toward the market as Clint started to go after him.

"No, I'll go. I can find him. Stay with the boat, make sure everybody gets on safely." Katiana said as she pressed her hand to Clint's arm. He scanned the market, seeing the boy and pointing to Katiana. She moved past him, limping a little, but moving okay, "I got him. He knows me."

Clint nodded and looked around for any stragglers, finally seeing Thor and Steve appear from behind the buildings. Steve looked up at Clint, then around, clearly looking for Katiana. Clint jogged over to them, then motioned toward the market, "She's getting a kid. Then she's on the boat, I swear."

Steve followed his lead and followed Kayla as she reached Costel, helping him up out of the staircase he was hiding in.

"Hey buddy, it's time to go, okay?" Katiana purred as she hoisted the boy up, focusing on getting him back to Zrinka more than the searing pain in her leg.

"I'm scared." He cried into her tangled dark hair as she rubbed his back.

She shushed him, moving slowly back towards the lifeboat, "I know, but you're gonna be okay. The Avengers are going to save us all."

"I thought the Avengers were bad."

Katiana sighed, looking up and meeting Steve's gaze as he approached, "Yeah, I did, too. Guess we were both told things that weren't true." She nuzzled the boy with her nose as she stopped for a moment, then looked up at the sound of gunfire. Steve ran towards her, but he wasn't fast enough. The shots coming from the quinjet broke the ground before him and he tripped, flying out of the way as the rain of fire came toward Katiana and Costel, she tried to dive out of the way, but there was nothing to hide behind. She covered him and waited as the shots drew closer... but they never came.

Steve pushed himself to his feet as the gunfire stopped and sprinted toward Katiana, screaming her name, but her ears were ringing as she panted, pushing off of Costel and grabbing her own chest. She realized there was a shadow hovering over her, and saw Pietro standing there with bullet holes through his torso.

Katiana grabbed her mouth as she screamed, but Pietro just wavered a moment and smiled, muttering "Anything for my Kat" before falling to the ground. Katiana scrambled over to him and turned him over, shaking him violently as she stared into his open eyes.

"Pietro? No, please no, don't leave us. Please... please..." She screamed out in anguish, cradling his body to her chest as Steve reached them. She looked up at him with tears rolling down her face, "He's- he's g-gone."

Steve closed his eyes tightly as Katiana continued to wail, screaming so loud Clint came running over to see. He covered his mouth, knowing that would have been him. "I'll, uh, get the boy back to his sister."

Katiana nodded tearfully, sniffling loudly as she buried her face into Pietro's neck while Steve watched on, wishing he could have made it to her in time. He could have protected her, he could have taken those bullets for her, but even he didn't know if the young man would run in front of the bullets anyway to save Katiana. Steve would never know, but he knew this kid died on his watch, and now his sister was alone.

Steve knelt beside Katiana and held her shoulder, shushing her gently as he pressed comforting kisses to her head. She finally looked up and met his eyes, her mouth hung open to breathe as she sobbed, "This is my fault. I told them to come back into the city, I told them we had to go back to Sokovia to help. Pietro is dead because I trusted you."

"I'm so sorry," Steve whispered in her ear as she leaned her body against him roughly, still clenching Pietro's corpse as she sobbed, "I'm sorry I couldn't make it to you in time."

"Where's Wanda?" Katiana croaked, slowly releasing her hold on Pietro as her eyes widened, "Where is Wanda?"

Steve helped Katiana to her feet as she stared at him, then back toward the city, "She's guarding the core." Katiana started to run back toward the church, but Steve reached out and grabbed her arm, pulling her back to him roughly, "Get on the boat."

"No. Not without Wanda."

"Get on the boat and I'll go get her myself." Steve promised as he kissed Katiaina's hand, "Go, now. I'll bring him to the boat, then double back for her."

Katiana's lip wavered as she considered this, looking down at Pietro as Steve knelt to scoop him up, "Okay." She finally relented, hobbling back to the lifeboat beside Steve. When they reached it, she looked to Zrinka and Costel and broke down sobbing again as Steve carefully placed him on the ground next to a row of empty seats. Katiana sat and placed her head in her hands and sobbed.

Steve looked to Clint, then jogged off the boat, calling, "I'm going back for Maximoff. Keep an eye on her, okay?" Clint nodded weakly in response as Katiana stood and stepped around Pietro to lean against a beam at the edge of the lifeboat as Clint saved her spot. Steve made it about fifteen feet away when a loud whirring noise sounded from deep within the city.

Katiana looked up, then looked at Steve as the city began to free fall. She dove onto the floor and reached out as Steve leapt back toward the lifeboat, barely catching the edge with his fingertips. He yelled as he tried to get a better grip, but Katiana grabbed his wrists to hold onto him as he dangled precariously over the side of the ship. He looked back over his shoulder at the falling city, then back up to Katiana to see a tear sliding down her cheeks as she strained to hold him.

"Kay, you can't hold me." Steve yelled, realizing quickly if she didn't let go, he'd most likely tug her off the edge.

She shook her head rapidly, dismissing his insinuation, "I'm not letting you go again. You're all I have left."

Steve felt his fingers begin to slip as Katiana struggled to hold him. He met her eyes, but she didn't waver until Clint fell to his knees and grabbed Steve's arm, pulling him hard enough to get him into the lifeboat. Steve panted as he collapsed against Katiana's chest, and she wrapped her arms around him and sobbed loudly as he watched the city light up from Thor's lightning.

"Wanda!" Katiana screamed as the city vaporized into a billion little pieces, crashing into the lake below. Steve was thankful he was pressing his weight against her, because when she leaned forward she could barely move. She conceded to just bury her face into the crook of Steve's neck as the doors carefully closed, locking them inside.

Once he knew she couldn't fall off the edge, Steve shifted himself to sit on his knees as a medic came over to check on them. He shook his head and Clint led the medic away, allowing Steve and Katiana a chance to talk without being disturbed. Steve grabbed her cheeks roughly as she dry heaved, gasping for air in an effort to calm herself, but the tears wouldn't stop. "Hey, you're okay. You're going to be okay, I promise." Steve murmured as she clenched his gloved wrists. She nodded a little, then doubled over and sobbed into his chest as he rubbed her back. He carefully moved her injured leg to sit straight while she sat on her other one, then proceeded to wipe the dirt off her face as best he could with his dirty fingers, "I'm so sorry. I'm sorry I couldn't save them."

Katiana didn't answer, she just continued to wail loudly as the ship docked and everyone scrambled past them to get onto the helicarrier. Once the lifeboat was empty, Steve scooped her up and carried her to the medical bay to rest alone for a while.