didn't see that coming... or marlene loses a part of her
STEVE watched as Marlene and Wanda stood next to each other, hands lit with their powers as they tried to keep everyone together and out of harm's way. "The next wave's gonna hit any minute. What have you got, Stark?" Steve asked.
"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 said with a sigh.
"I asked for a solution, not an escape plan," Steve said with a scowl on his face when his eyes met Marlene's striking blue ones.
"Impact radius is getting bigger every second. We're going to have to make a choice," Tony admitted.
Natasha's voice was soft as she said, "Cap, these people are going nowhere. If Stark finds a way to blow this rock—"
"Not 'til everyone's safe," Steve denied.
"Everyone up here versus everyone down there? There's no math there," Natasha tried as Marlene landed softly on Steve's left.
"I'm not leaving this rock with one civilian on it."
"I didn't say we should leave," Natasha said as Marlene let her hand intertwine with Steve's. His eyes went from Natasha to Marlene with a worried expression on his face. "There's worse ways to go. Where else am I gonna get a view like this?"
Marlene furrowed her eyebrows as a crackle appeared in the comms. Suddenly, Nick Fury's voice was heard. "Glad you like the view, Romanoff. It's about to get better." Marlene smiled softly as a large Helicarrier appeared, flying next to them. "Nice, right? I pulled her out of mothballs with a couple of old friends. She's dusty, but she'll do."
"Fury, you son of a bitch," Steve said with a grin as he squeezed Marlene's hand once.
"Oooh! You kiss your mother with that mouth?" Fury joked.
Lifeboats began flying toward them as Pietro sped to a stop next to Marlene. He gave her a look.
"This is S.H.I.E.L.D.?" Pietro asked in awe.
Steve nodded. "This is what S.H.I.E.L.D.'s supposed to be."
"This is not so bad," Pietro concluded with a smile.
"Let's load 'em up," Steve called to the Avengers around them.
As robots tried to hit the lifeboats, War Machine flew to help fight. "Yes! Now this is gonna be a good story!" Rhodey cheered in the comms.
Tony laughed at his best friend. "Yep. If you live to tell it."
"You think I can't hold my own?"
"We get through this, I'll hold your own!"
Rhodey sighed. "You had to make it weird."
Marlene was helping a group of people onto the next lifeboat, smiling at a small boy who was watching the Avengers in wonder. She picked him up to help him to his mother, smiling when he grinned at her with a toothless smile. Filling up the lifeboat fully, she saw Steve tap the top of it. "Filled!"
The lifeboat closed and took off to the Helicarrier. Marlene felt so much better knowing the people would all be safe.
"Thor, I got a plan!" Tony said suddenly, referring to how to get the rock to blow.
Thor yelled back, "We're out of time. They're coming for the core."
"Rhodey, get the rest of the people on board that carrier," Tony commanded.
"On it."
"Avengers, time to work for a living!"
Marlene nodded at Steve as she took off toward the church. Letting her feet land on the ground next to Thor, she watched as each Avenger made it to the core before Ultron. Thor eyed her as she was watching Vision.
"Are you okay?" Thor asked softly.
"Yeah," she whispered. "Yeah, I'm fine.
Pietro sped in, grabbing Wanda's face gently as he asked the same. "You good?"
"Yeah," Wanda said back a bit breathlessly.
Tony landed near the core as he called, "Romanoff? You and Banner better not be playing hide the zucchini."
Natasha laughed as she appeared after driving a large truck. "Relax, Shell-head. Not all of us can fly." When she made it to Tony, she asked, "What's the drill?"
Tony pointed to the Vibranium core. "This is the drill. If Ultron gets a hand on the core, we lose."
As Ultron appeared ahead of them, Marlene walked forward without fear. Thor stepped next to her before shouting, "Is that the best you can do?"
"Oh," Marlene whispered as Ultron rose his hand and called for his army. Robots appeared behind him, waiting to fight.
Steve glanced at Thor. "You had to ask," he said.
"This is the best I can do. This is exactly what I wanted. All of you, against all of me. How could you possibly hope to stop me?" Ultron called.
Tony let his helmet shut. "Well, like the old man said. Together."
As the robots attacked, Marlene flew up to be back to back with Vision as he used the Mind Stone in a similar manner to herself as she used her own powers. Around them, Tony went straight for Ultron. Thor and Steve fought near each other, using the hammer and shield as they effortlessly took out the robots. Clint used his bow until he decided to transform it into a staff to stab the robots. Natasha used her electric rods, twisting in the air to fight. Wanda used her powers near the Hulk as Pietro ran at abrupt speeds, going through a few robots at a time.
When Vision suddenly went to Ultron, Marlene watched as Thor, Tony, and Vision cornered the robot outside. They sent everything they had at it until Ultron was almost completely disintegrated.
"You know, with the benefit of hindsight—" Ultron began just as the Hulk landed next to him and knocked him half-way across Sokovia.
Thor watched as the robots turned away from the core. "They'll try to leave the city."
"We can't let 'em, not even one. Rhodey!" Tony shouted.
"I'm on it. Oh, no, I didn't say you could leave. War Machine, comin' at you, right—" Vision flew up to help him. "Okay, what?"
Steve took a relieved breath when he saw only a scratch on Marlene's face as her eyes became grey once more. "We gotta move out. Even I can tell the air is getting thin. You guys get to the boats. I'll sweep for stragglers, and be right behind you."
"What about the core?" Clint asked.
"I'll protect it. It's my job," Wanda promised. Steve, Clint, and Natasha left, leaving Pietro and Marlene to worry over leaving Wanda alone. "Get the people on the boats."
"I'm not going to leave you here," Pietro said with a scoff.
Wanda blasted an approaching robot. "I can handle this. Come back for me when everyone else is off, not before."
"Hmm," Pietro grumbled as he eyed Marlene.
"You understand?" Wanda asked.
Pietro smirked. "You know, I'm twelve minutes older than you."
Wanda chuckled. "Go."
Pietro picked up Marlene and sped from the church toward the boats. When they made it there, he set her down gently. Her body froze as her eyes went blue. She could hear Pietro's voice but not the one in front of her.
"You didn't see that coming."
"Go to the boats. Do not leave them. Understand?" Marlene demanded as her eyes fell to grey again. She cupped his face.
"Like I'll leave both of my sisters. I'm not going anywhere," Pietro said.
"Please," she said softly.
Pietro rolled his eyes as he turned to walk to the boats, helping people along the way.
As Marlene was helping the last of the people onto the boat with Clint, she heard a frantic voice shouting, "Costel? We were in the market. Costel!?"
Clint looked at her. "I got it."
Marlene watched Clint run out to find the boy.
"Thor, I'm gonna need you back in the church," Tony called in the comms.
Thor glanced at Steve before pointing at the final boats. "Is this the last of them?"
"Yeah. Everyone else is on the carrier."
Marlene smiled as Clint found the little boy. Walking off the boat, she went to meet him halfway just as she could hear gunshots firing. Turning her head, she saw Ultron flying a jet, shooting right at them. Using her magic, she created a shield to cover Clint as the man turned to cover the child.
Knowing she was not close enough to cover herself, she prayed the shield lasted until Ultron was gone.
Closing her eyes, she gasped when she heard the gunshots stopping. She could see the Hulk attacking the jet just as her eyes moved in front of her to see Pietro smiling softly with bullet holes all through his chest. She realized he threw a car in front of her to block her, but he did not block himself.
"You didn't see that coming," Pietro whispered, just as he did in her head moments ago. As Pietro fell and died right before her eyes, she felt a piece of herself break.
She could have saved him. She could have saved him. She felt it coming. She heard it.
Falling to her knees, she felt her magic release without warning as she screamed. Unbeknownst to her, Wanda was feeling the same breakage from her body. And, without realizing it, she had almost took out the last boat had Steve not blocked the ray of energy with his shield—almost pushing him off of the rock.
Clint hurried to the boat as Steve helped get Pietro's body as well. No one could touch Marlene as she encased herself in her magic. She felt herself unable to breathe as she seemed to be stuck in her nightmares. Her memories. He was right there. She should have saved him. She should have. He was the one person she had since the beginning. Since she could not even remember who she was.
All of the Avengers had gotten off of Sokovia besides Wanda, Vision, Tony, and Thor. Steve was still shouting for Marlene to get the hell off of the rock that was set to blow. Once he was out of her hearing range, he called for someone to get her.
Eyes wide and full of fear, she could see explosions happening around her. She felt herself lose the power shield she had encased herself in as she felt her magic become uncontrollable.
Suddenly, Thor landed in front of her with wide eyes. "Marlene!" he called as the explosions continued. If they did not get out, they would die. Behind Thor, Vision held Wanda in his arms as Tony followed to get away from the explosion. "Marlene, we have to go!"
Marlene felt her magic explode again, and Thor used his hammer to deflect the ray that almost hit him. Almost as if she had nothing left, she felt her head fall as the tears finally escaped.
Thor picked her up effortlessly as he swung his hammer to fly off. Behind them, Sokovia blew to bits–a part of Marlene left behind in the rubble.