It was all going so well. Clint Barton, Natasha Romanoff and I had infiltrated the Hydra base and were crawling through the ventilation system. The rest of us had busted through the back to create a distraction. The captain was flinging his shield everywhere and the Hulk was smashing like there was no tomorrow. Tony was shooting everything with his repulsers.
It all went downhill from there.
Our intel was completely inaccurate. There were more guards that we had anticipated. The distraction had failed and the three of them were captured. Soon after, some soldiers came and pulled the two assassins and me out of the air ducts. We were all reunited in a single prison cell.
They had left us armed, but there was nothing much we could do anyway. If we moved around too much, a guard would come and jab us with an electric rod. It hurt like hell.
Finally I sighed. "Mr. Barton, do you remember what I asked you that day in the gym?" I got a nod in return and confused looks from the rest of the team which I promptly ignored.
"Here's the deal. Tony, you blast the cell open. Collect as much data as you can and get the hell out of here. The rest of you, I want as many bombs set to blow as possible".
Not surprisingly, Tony was the first one to speak. "You do realize that this place is crawling with guards? And what about you? We're not leaving you behind.". I set my jaw and cracked my knuckles, to which Steve winced.
"I'm going to stay here and buy you some time. You all have three minutes starting from now".
"No!" shouted Tony. "I'm not leaving you behind. Yinson tried to buy me some time and he ended up dead. No one is getting left behind. We stick together!". I could see a few tears beginning to pool in his eyes. Sighing, I gave a look to Clint.
"Tony," Clint said. "No one is getting left behind. But it is simply more strategic to split up than to stay as one group. Besides, Mavis promised to make us that Paella today, she wouldn't let us down would she?". Clint gave me a sad look, as if he knew what I was about to do.
Everyone stared at me while I closed my eyes. I reached out with my mind, looking for every enemy soldier in this base.
"Go to sleep", I thought, and I could feel the many minds beginning to shut down. I could hear the guards outside our cell collapse and the whine of Tony's repulsers. I realized that I had fallen to my knees on the cell floor, but I did not stop.
It felt like I was running around, shutting down a billion computers. Except a whole lot more tiring. I finally opened my eyes, feeling like I was enveloped by a blanket of lead. I could feel the life seeping out of me. When I looked down, my hands looked pale, as in paler than usual. I was dying.
All of a sudden, I felt strong arms underneath my knees and behind my back. I was being lifted into the air, and whoever was carrying me was running. I forced my eyelids to open and I looked up into the face of Steve Rogers.
"What're you doin'?" I said, my words slurred. "You're wasting time, where's the rest of team?"
Steve Rogers looked down at me and gave me a sad smile. "No one get's left behind. Not because I need the team to function but because you are all my friends".
"It was never going to work, the plan. The only we could destroy Hydra is from the inside. We needed to captured". I looked up at his eyes, which were a misty grey blue colour. "Keep 'em safe, Steve", I said urgently. "For me, keep 'em safe".
He began to look a little panicked but I could no longer support my neck and my head lolled to side, away from his chest. All energy had left me and I felt the world dissolve around me.
The avengers were seated around a rectangular conference table as they silently remembered their lost friend.
"She hated rectangles", Tony said finally with a soft voice. "Rectangles and squares, she hated them. She loved the look of circles". Pepper Potts was silently crying beside him, and Tony had his hand on her knee under the table. Natasha's eyes look sad and empty. Nicholas Fury entered the room.
"She sacrificed her life in service, she died in honour, and she will be remembered as a hero". Suddenly, Nick gave a ferocious cough.
"She had no personal effects, but she said that she built a robot, which is currently situated in the garage at Stark Tower. She named it Axel. She said she wanted Tony to have it".
The avengers stood up, and shuffled out of the room.
"The last thing she said to me before that mission", said Clint, "was that I need to secure the future of the team, and that I needed to make sure that her orders were carried out to ensure our safety. It's my fault that she's dead".
As Tony exited the SHIELD HQ with the rest of the Avengers, he saw a girl walking down the sidewalk across the street.
"Hey", he whispered to Clint. "doesn't that girl look exactly like Mavis?". Clint gave him a confused expression.
"Who's Mavis?" he asked. Tony halted in his place and stared at him.
"The girl who has been living in the Avengers tower for the past two months. The one who died today?". Tony looked around and saw that the rest of the team was giving him concerned looks.
"Are you okay?" asked Dr. Banner. "There has never been a girl named Mavis living in the tower, and nobody died today".