𝑻𝒓𝒂𝒑𝒅𝒐𝒐𝒓 ✘ 𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐀𝐒𝐇𝐀 𝐑𝐎𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐎𝐅𝐅

{3²²} {IS IT ENOUGH TO JUST SURVIVE?}

"The next wave's gonna hit any minute. What do you got, Stark?"

"Well, nothing great," it was blaringly obvious, not simply because of Tony's words, but the slightly dejected tone that he spoke them in, sounding like he wished he could tell them almost anything else, "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 insisted, voicing the thoughts that Roxi was slowly beginning to feel trickle back into her mind as her brain became less numb and she began to get more into the strategic, more considerate mindset rather than the one she had been in for the past half an hour, which had been mainly to follow orders and crush whatever robot she saw.

"Impact radius is getting bigger every second. We're gonna have to make a choice." Tony's words held the same tone of dejection and failure, the fleeting smile on Roxi's face having vanished within the first few words of the conversation, replaced with a concentrated look as she kept her eyes fixed on the ground in front of her, determined not to trip and sprain her ankle, especially as she'd split up with Clint a few minutes ago, vaguely recognising the route they were taking. 

"Cap, these people are going nowhere. If Stark finds a way to blow this rock.." Natasha's voice was faint, and was definitely not coming through the comms, but Roxi had managed to make out her words, her head snapping in the direction of the sound instantly as she wove through skinny alleys and ran through all that was left of some buildings, determined to reach Steve and Natasha where the stood near where one of Sokovia's bridges had once stood.

"Not 'til everyone's safe." Roxi sped up, still being careful of the boulders and twisted scraps of metal that stuck up jauntily from where'd they'd been crushed by falling rock, jumping over the debris and flattening the land where she could.

"Everyone up here versus everyone down there; there's no math in that."

"I'm not leaving this rock with one civilian on it," Steve argued, his voice growing louder as Roxi found the edge of the buildings and almost ran right off the island, managing to grab one side of a doorframe to stop her momentum from carrying her forwards into the abyss of the sky that now lay below them, her breaths coming out long and fast. She gave herself a moment to recover, moving back from the drop before her, that, if she hadn't noticed, she would be falling into once again.

"I didn't say we should leave." Natasha's words were much quieter than Steve's and harder to catch, but with the wind carrying them towards Roxi, she could make out the redhead's words, interrupting her steadying breathing with a sharp sigh as she realised that Natasha was right. If they left, they would simply be cowards running away from a massacre that they had been the cause of. Then they would survive, but it would be harder to live. No matter what happened, they needed to save as many lives as possible. They needed to stop Ultron, and if that meant going down with the ship, Roxi supposed, then so be it.

"There's worst ways to go; where else am I going to get a view like this?" The sentiment wasn't strong, merely a way of assuring Steve that they weren't going to abandon thousands of people on this rock, even if they couldn't save them. If they couldn't save these people, they probably didn't deserve to save themselves. That was the way the rest of the world would see it. But Roxi couldn't focus on the rest of the world in that moment in time. These people, suspended thousands of feet above the ground, were probably going to die today. At least it would be on their own soil, surrounded by what they knew. Roxi hadn't been to Spain in years; not since before 2012; before New York. The thought of the Battle against the Chitauri, strangely, filled Roxi with more hope than she had had for their situation yet. If they could save one of the largest cities in the world from an alien army hundreds of thousands strong, why couldn't they save Sokovia. Sure, they were flying, but they had Vision, Wanda, Pietro, and Roxi knew how to use her powers now. All were huge advantages, and they were about to get another one.