Roxi Ryder had a bad past, like the kind your whole body tries to forget to make it easier, but your mind won't let you. That was one of the reasons she never told anyone her first name; she was paranoid they would look her up in the database of S.H...
"It's the dining room. If I knock out that east wall, it'll make a nice workspace for Laura, huh?" Roxi allowed herself to smile softly at Clint's antics and how he could be thinking so domestically while they were still fighting Ultron. It wasn't a bad thing, at least in this situation. Perhaps she had needed the normality, because it let her remember that they had beat things like this before. It was their job, and they were good at it. They'd faced Loki and his army of aliens in New York, Pierce and HYDRA in DC, and now they were against robots. They didn't even have the ability to think for themselves. The Avengers would make it through this, and that was the fact that Roxi grew steadily more sure of as Clint continued to drive.
"Put up some baffling, can't hear the kids running around, what do you think?"
"You guys always eat in the kitchen anyway," Natasha replied, and Roxi could tell that her mind wasn't on the conversation, and she was only replying for Clint's sake. She was almost sure that the redhead was as nervous about their odds of winning this as Roxi had been before Fury had shown up, and she wished she could think of a way to comfort Natasha.
"No-one eats in a dining room," Clint agreed with an incredulous scoff as he weaved between cars, some of which were on fire, others completely crushed by girders and fallen buildings.
"You'd have to repaint the walls," Roxi supplied, knowing that it would bug him if he didn't know that before he'd started the project. While it helped to keep her anchored, it still felt odd to be driving through the wreckage of a city while the robots were still here, and talking vaguely about Clint's need to renovate his home while so much else was going on.
"We don't have a lot of time," they pulled to a stop near the life boats and all three of them got out quickly, with Roxi allowing her fingers to drift against the metal of her quarterstaff. It hadn't been much use in this battle, partly because of the long range, and partly because Roxi's powers were so much more effective in this situation. She felt the amount of power she had used beginning to weigh down on her and the waves ebbed to a soft tide and everything in her body seemed exhausted all at once.
"So yet your asses on that life boat. Both of you," Natasha said sternly, her eyes lingering on Roxi's face for a second or two longer than they had on Clint's. Roxi nodded, as if in confirmation that she would be okay, before Natasha ran off to try and find the Hulk. After all, he always seemed much happier to be himself rather than his hot-tempered, green personality. Both Clint and Roxi exchanged a look, and in that moment, they agreed that neither of them were going to leave without making sure they got absolutely everyone they could onto one of the lifeboats. So, they both waited on the ramp, shoulder to shoulder, both glancing across the lifeboat and then back across the city in front of them every few seconds to check that everything was okay. A woman's voice cried out from the ship behind them, yelling a name.
"Costel! We were in the market," she pleaded to anyone who would listen, and that happened to be both Clint and Roxi. The woman let out another yell of the boy's name before Clint spotted him and pointed him out to Roxi, though he was quick to stop her when she started to move with him.
"No, stay here. Make sure everyone else is here." She hesitated, and Clint seemed to take it as a sign that she had listened, because he was jogging back through the ruins of the city seconds later, towards where Roxi could just make out a small form trapped under what once was a building across the relatively clear area they had been in when Fury brought in the Heli-carrier. Despite her weariness, Roxi sighed, knowing that she wouldn't forgive herself if something happened and she didn't at least try to follow Clint. After one last check to see that everyone else looked secure, she set off in Clint's direction. He was about half-way there, and Roxi sped up slightly to try and catch up, jumping over any of the obstacles as she noticed that now, after all the conflict, the city of Sokovia seemed eerily still. But they were still rising, and if she looked up, Roxi probably would've seen the last layers of clouds getting closer and closer. But she didn't look up, and instead she focused on her path, making sure not to trip over anything.
She should've looked up earlier, she knew, when she reflected back on the scene. In fact, she had only taken her eyes off of Clint once she saw that he had the boy in his arms, and instead found her eyes being drawn to the direction of the Quinjet, to the sound of gunshots. It seemed that Ultron had somehow found the jet, and was now raining down bullets on them, and as he came closer, Roxi steeled herself, knowing this would take the last part of her power out of her, at least for the time being. So, she arranged her body into a sturdier stance, waiting for the right moment as the deranged AI came closer to where they were. The moment the bullets were vaguely close to Clint and the child in his arms, Roxi threw out yet another shockwave, though this one was different.
This one covered the area that Clint stood in, along with a weaker barrier in front of herself. She felt each bullet as they ricocheted off her shield, and it was a stronger feeling than she had expected. It was as if someone had jabbed her harshly in the stomach each time, leaving her slightly winded as she raised arm once again to help keep the focus of what she was doing. The bullets made noise as they hit the shield, a sort of dull thudding that would join her in nightmares for months to come. She clenched her jaw harshly as she found her knees beginning to weaken, and allowed herself to fall forwards slightly so that she was kneeling upright as she fought to keep herself awake to keep herself fighting.
But her muscles were aching, she had used all of her emotions, she was physically and mentally exhausted, and she hadn't gotten a moment to rest since Clint's farm days ago. The last thing she saw before her body shut down was a flash of blue and silver as she egged herself on to try and keep this going longer. But it was no use. Roxi's body shut down, and she hit the ground roughly.
She fell unconscious before the guns stopped firing.
{A/N:} Idk why I feel so evil writing this. Ik loads of you wanted Pietro to survive, but honestly, I think it provides really important character development for Wanda and it'll probably allow me to develop Roxi's character further as well. So, I'm sorry, but I think it's better for the book.
I'm also really happy that I actually got this written today. Look at me being prepared for once :). I think I'm going to try this thing where I actually pre-write chapters for once, and hopefully the quality goes up. Ik it'll be in a week when you see this but I hope everyone's okay and doing well.
Please vote, comment, let me know what you think, etc.,
2885 Words
Written: 27 / 02 / 2021
Published: 06 / 03 / 2021
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