ATLAS • W. MAXIMOFF

35 - *As The World Caves In Part 2*

"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." Tony replied with a strained voice.

"What's making this rock float in the first place, Tony?" Ophelia inquired, squinting through the dust as Natasha appeared next to her.

"Anti-gravity engines, the vibranium's keeping this whole thing together." He answered, a suspicious lilt to his voice. But before he could question Ophelia further, Steve interjected.

"I asked for a solution, not an escape plan," Steve said in his captain voice while Ophelia was lost in thought.

'Gravity...' She thought to herself, the stirrings of an insane idea awakening in her head. 'Maybe it could work, I'd just have to time it right.'

"Cap, these people are going nowhere. If Stark finds a way to blow this rock..." Natasha argued to Steve, snapping Ophelia back to the conversation.

"Not 'til everyone's safe." Steve retorted fiercely.

"Everyone up here versus everyone down there? There's no math there." As the two bickered, Ophelia had wandered off to the edge of the bridge. A growing look of disbelief on her face as the shadow of a familiar ship emerged from the clouds.

"Should I tell them Fury's come to save our asses or let them keep looking like idiots?" She mused as the super-soldier and spy continued arguing.

"I'm not leaving this rock with one civilian on it." Steve shot back to Natasha.

"I didn't say we should leave." A hint of resignation entered her voice. "There's worse ways to go. Where else am I gonna get a view like this?"

"Glad you like the view, Romanoff. It's about to get better." Fury's voice crackled over the comms as the Helicarrier finally came into full view. "Nice, right? I pulled her out of mothballs with a couple of old friends. She's dusty, but she'll do."

Ophelia turned around to face her teammates with raised eyebrows and a glint in her eyes ready to tease them for their melodrama.

"Oh, shut up," Natasha grumbled, knocking her shoulder into Ophelia's pauldron.

"Fury, you son of a bitch." Steve breathed out with a slight smile.

"Oooh! You kiss your mother with that mouth?"

As lifeboats started detaching from the main Helicarrier and citizens were ushered to safety, Ophelia leaned down to Natasha's ear.

"I've got an idea to keep this place from being blown up, but I need Steve and Tony's attention away from me." She whispered. "They'll go all mama bear on me."

"Will this idea get you killed?" Natasha whispered back.

"No...?" Ophelia trailed off with an unconvincing finish.

The unimpressed deadpan that Natasha shot her spoke for itself.

"Look I have a basic idea of what to do, just buy me some time." Ophelia pleaded, pouting as Natasha still kept a deadpan on her face. "Come on, it'll be worth it if this rock doesn't come crashing down."

"Not if it gets your dumbass killed," Natasha replied as Pietro came dashing over to investigate the new arrivals.

"Remember what happened the last time an Avenger kept secrets? If you wanna go through with this plan of yours, tell them. If not for your own sake, then for ours." And with one last look, Natasha went to help with the evacuation.

"This is SHIELD?" Pietro gazed at the lifeboats with wonder.

"This is what SHIELD's supposed to be," Steve said wistfully, looking at the efforts of his allied with hidden pride.