Frostbite

Twelve

"Captain Rogers, I know you believe what you're doing is right. But for the collective good you must surrender now," Vision said, hovering over us as Tony and the others joined him. They were blocking our path to the hangar. I took in all of their grim faces, faces of the people that I loved. This wouldn't end well.

"What do we do, Cap?" Sam inquired quietly.

"We fight."

One way or another, we'd get to the jet. We had to get to Siberia; we couldn't back down with what was at stake. As our groups closed in on each other, everyone started sprinting, gaining momentum. They were not backing down either. Our groups collided violently- without hesitation.

The spiderling swung for me, his feet going straight for my face. I ducked, and he passed over me before swinging around again. I avoided the flyers fighting in the air and snapped his web string with a small ice projectile. He shouted in surprise but managed to land on his feet.

The kid dashed forward, and spires of ice erupted under his feet in response. He weaved and flipped over them as they appeared, eventually diving for me. I grabbed onto his arm and slammed him into the ground roughly.

"Impressive," I huffed, keeping him down with one arm and summoning the freezing flames into my palm threateningly, "You seem a little young to be out here. What's your name?"

He kept silent and only stared wide eyed at the flames licking my palm. "You should go... before you get hurt out here. No one here could live with hurting a kid," I barked at him, making to stand.

"Then you should just turn yourselves in. You're all breaking the law; you're wrong," he replied with such strong conviction that I stopped, still kneeling.

"And if we're right? What then?" I asked softly, refraining from smiling at him.

"Mr. Stark said you're not!" he insisted, suddenly bucking me off of him. I rolled and received a kick right to the stomach, knocking me onto my back. He dashed for me again, and I sent a blast knocking him back. He flew into a vehicle and stayed down, giving me time to get off my ass and go. Someone had to reach that hangar.

I turned the corner of another container, still avoiding the fliers above. Bucky and T'Challa were there, and I skidded to a halt. T'Challa raised one of his claws to shred Bucky's throat. Without missing a beat, a beam of energy slammed into him, tossing him into a gangway and far from Bucky. Bucky glanced at me wildly but gave a small nod of appreciation.

We continued to weave and dodge our way across the runway. Steve joined us moments later and we stopped behind a large truck to figure out our next move.

"We gotta draw out the flyers. I'll take Vision. You two get to the jet," Steve instructed, his tone leaving no room for argument. I opened my mouth to object anyway, but Sam spoke through comms first.

"No, you get to the jet! All three of you. The rest of us aren't getting out of here."

"As much as I hate to admit it, if we're gonna win this one, some of us might have to lose it," Clint agreed.

"This isn't the real fight, Steve."

"Alright, Sam, what's the play?" Steve asked, glancing around the corner at the continuous fight.

"We need a diversion, something big."

"I got something kind of big, but I can't hold it very long. On my signal, run like hell. And if I tear myself in half... don't come back for me," Scott told us with no further explanation. I couldn't hide the look of shock at his words as I glanced at the two beside me.

"He's gonna tear himself in half?" Bucky asked incredulously. I almost snickered at the look on his face.

"You're sure about this, Scott?" Steve confirmed hesitantly.

"I do it all the time. I mean once... in a lab. Then I passed out," he assured us before going quiet again.

"Dear lord," I mumbled, shaking my head in disbelief. There was a rumble behind us and suddenly Scott grew several stories tall. He snatched Rhodey from the air and laughed manically. My jaw dropped at the sight.

"I guess that's the signal," Steve said in appreciative awe. We wasted no time and used the distraction to sprint across the now open runaway. Everyone was too distracted by the monstrous Ant Man to even notice us.

We were so sure they'd all focus on him that none of us realized that Vision had separated from the group. A beam of energy fired from the mind stone on his forehead and sliced through the control tower next to the hangar. It came crumbling down, seconds away from blocking our path to the jet.

Steve and Bucky sped up as a wave of red rippling power held the tower in midair. I glanced back at Wanda struggling to hold it in place, and to see Rhodey fly up behind her. My feet faltered, and I stopped to turn back. He blasted a sonic disrupter in her direction, causing her to scream and clamp her head in pain. There was nothing I could do as the tower collapsed to the ground, separating Steve and Bucky from us.

T'Challa tried to race past, but I launched myself at him. We collided and hit the ground, rolling as we struggled. I landed several hits before I felt a sharp slice of pain in my arm. I hissed and tried to get back on my feet, but he was quicker. He raced for the hangar, disappearing in a matter of seconds.

I peered down at the slash marks on my arm. Blood was seeping through the tears in my suit.  I clamped my hand over it as the debris from the tower crumbled enough for the jet to fit through. Steve and Bucky shot into the sky with Tony and Rhodey on their tail.

"Sam-" I warned, only able to watch from the ground.

"Already on it," he replied, soaring past to catch up. Vision landed next to Wanda, holding her in his arms as they quietly talked. His head whipped around, and he shot a beam at Sam without any warning.

"Sam!" I yelled, hoping he'd turn in time. They were all indistinguishable in the sky as they got further away, but Sam plummeted to avoid the hit. It clipped one of the other two and the figure started to fall from the sky.

"Oh god," I whispered, realizing I might watch Tony fall to his death. My breathing hitched and my eyes fixated on Vision. "What. Did. You. Do," I screamed violently at him. He flew off, barely glancing at me.

My feet seemed to move on their own accord, forcing me to sprint across the open field. The body hit the ground and didn't rise again. I choked on a sob, pushing my legs to go faster. There had never been another time I had wished I could fly more than that moment.

Time seemed to slow as I approached. My body shuddered in relief when I realized it was Tony sitting upright with a limp Rhodey in his arms. Sam was groaning on the ground, and Vision was just standing there helplessly.

"Shit," I panted as I came to a halt beside them, "Is- Is he breathing?"

"Barely hanging on," Tony mumbled numbly. I knelt beside him, holding back the tears that threatened to escape. Rhodey would be fine. He had to be.

My gaze shifted back to my brother as the sirens in the distance continued to grow louder. I swallowed hard, realizing I'd be behind bars soon. Tony seemed to realize the same thing because his face seemed to darken even more if possible.

An ambulance finally arrived, the team of medical personnel rushing to get Rhodey loaded in safely. Tony said something quietly to Vision and he climbed into the ambulance without a word. It peeled off as quickly as it came, leaving only Tony and I. Sam flew back to the airport to check that the others were okay.

I rubbed at my temples, wishing all of this had been avoided. Maybe I had been wrong before; maybe we should have called Tony and explained. Too late now. I opened and closed my mouth several times, unsure of what to say.

"Melanie-" he sighed, "I'm sorry about this."

Confused, I turned my head towards him, but there was an explosion of agony in the back of my skull. Then everything went black.