Bound By Purpose

Sokovia Falls

"I've got incoming on the bridge!" I say looking down from my spot in the air.

"Cap you've got incoming." Tony says to my left. Looking over at him I feel confident that I've found my new purpose here, next to Tony in the skies. He still has the real control over the suit but we have a trust that I won't do anything to make him take control and he wouldn't do anything just to sideline me from danger.

 "Incoming already came in." Steve says rather strained. I hover just above looking down at a path of robots dismembered. "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 'em back. You get killed, walk it off." I find myself paused in the moment looking down over the hell that this place has been put to in a matter of moments. The city keeps climbing and I have to readjust my thrusters every few minutes to carry me higher. If I didn't have the suit on I'm sure I'd start to feel the effects of the altitude.

From the air I'm able to cover those on the ground, picking bots off one by one. I keep to Tony's wish and stay out of the direct line of fire. When we have a moment to breathe, Steve looks up at me. "The next wave's gonna hit any minute. What have you got, Stark?" I let myself lower to the ground waiting for Tony's response.

"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." My heart drops.

"I asked for a solution, not an escape plan." Steve says looking at me but then looking away not wanting to face the inevitable.

"Impact radius is getting bigger every second. We're going to have to make a choice." But who could ever make that choice? Nat joins the two of us gripping Steve's shoulder.

"Cap, these people are going nowhere. If Stark finds a way to blow this rock..." Steve shakes his head.

"Not 'til everyone's safe." He says.

"Everyone up here versus everyone down there? There's no math there." She says looking to me. I'm at a loss. 

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

"Steve..." I begin 

"I didn't say we should leave." Nat says as Steve looks between us. "There's worse ways to go. Where else am I gonna get a view like this?" I turn and look out at the clouds. For a brief fleeting moment I feel at peace.

"Glad you like the view, Romanoff. It's about to get better." There's a rush of air as clouds dissipate revealing a helicarrier. "Nice, right? I pulled her out of mothballs with a couple of old friends. She's dusty, but she'll do." I feel a smile spread wide across my face.

"Fury, you son of a bitch." This comes from Steve whose found a smile once again.

"Oooh! You kiss your mother with that mouth?" Nick's voice comes cleary across comms.

Maria cuts off the banter. "Altitude is eighteen thousand and climbing." 

"Lifeboats secure to deploy. Disengage in three, two...take 'em out." There's a voice a don't recognize.

"This is SHIELD?" I turn to my left and see that Pietro has appeared.

"This is what SHIELD's supposed to be." Steve turns and smiles at me. This. This is what we worked to build years ago.

"This is not so bad." I have a proud moment gleaming out at that beautiful savior. I could be proud for a moment, for what I had recently lost. 

"Let's load 'em up." I take this as my cue and take to the skies. Rhodes and I help to ferry the boats back and forth taking out the rogue bots. I watch as the team on the ground loads them up. Vision and Tony fly by just to show off leaving Rhodes in absolute awe.