Dad, Natasha, and I take out the last robots in our area and guide the civilians to safety.
"The next wave's gonna hit any minute," Dad tells me. "What do you got, Stark?" He asks Tony.
"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 answers.
"I asked for a solution, not an escape plan," Dad says as we walk back to Natasha.
"I mean unless you do have an escape plan," I say.
"Unfortunately no. Impact radius is getting bigger every second. We're going to have to make a choice."
"Cap, these people are going nowhere. If Stark finds a way to blow this rock..." Nat says as we stand beside her.
"Not 'till everyone's safe," Dad says.
"Yeah there are innocent civilians here. We can't exactly just blow it up and we're not leaving if there's a single person on this rock." I say.
Natasha smirks. "You're starting to sound like him." She points at Dad.
"Well I am his daughter."
"Adopted," Roy says, causing me to roll my eyes.
"Everyone up here versus everyone down there? There's no math there." Nat says.
"I'm not leaving this rock with one civilian on it," Dad says.
"Same goes for me," I say.
"I didn't say we should leave," Nat says. Dad and I look at her. "There's worse ways to go. Where else am I gonna get a view like this?" She looks at the sky.
I sigh. "If only we had something large enough to carry all these civilians."
"Well I'm glad you say that (Y/n) because I have just the thing." Fury's voice rings through our earpieces. We look to see the Helicarrier appear out of the clouds. "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," Dad says.
"Woah, language!" I exclaim jokingly.
"Oooh! You kiss your mother with that mouth?" Fury teases.
"I'll deal with you later." Dad points a finger at me.
"Is that a threat Spangles?" I smirk at him.
"Someone's gonna get it." Roy teases.
A blue and silver streak zooms in front of us. Pietro comes over to me and puts an arm around my shoulder. I lean my head into him, closing my eyes and taking in his scent. I hug him tightly.
"This is SHIELD?" Pietro asks no one in particular.
"This is what SHIELD's supposed to be." Dad answers.
"This is not so bad."
"Let's load 'em up." Dad orders as he sprints away to load the civilians on the aircrafts, but not before giving Pietro a murderous glare.
I sigh and open my eyes to look up at Pietro. "You heard him Speed Racer."
Pietro kisses my forehead and we both take off, finding civilians and guiding them to the aircrafts.
"Come on people! Let's move!" I say as I usher them to the crafts.
"Thor I have a plan!" Tony says.
"We're out of time. They're coming for the core." Thor says.
"Then we have to protect it. If even one of those robots gets to the core it's game over." I say.
"Rhodey, get the rest of the people on board that carrier," Tony says to Rhodey.
"On it." He responds.
"Avengers, time to work for a living."
I make my way to the church, but on my way I pick up Roy. Thor, Vision, and Tony are already there fighting off the robots coming for the core. I set Roy down.
"You okay?" I ask him.
"Yeah, just exhausted." He pants.
I smirk. "Aren't we all."
Roy readies his katanas once again and starts slicing the robots while I take them out with my repulsors. Pietro, Wanda, Clint, and Dad make it to the church as well to help us.
"Romanoff? You and Banner better not be playing 'hide the zucchini'." Tony says.
"Relax, Shell-head. Not all of us can fly." She replies. She joins us in the church a few seconds later. "What's the drill?"
"This is the drill," Tony answers as he points to the vibranium core. "If Ultron gets a hand on the core, we lose."
Hulk then shows up, taking out the last few robots which leave us with Ultron. We all face him.
"Is that the best you can do?!" Thor booms.
With a wave of his hand, Ultron summons hundreds of more robots.
"You had to ask." Dad glares at Thor.
"This is the best I can do," Ultron says. "This is exactly what I wanted. All of you, against all of me. How can you possibly hope to stop me?"
"Well, like the old man said," Tony mumbles as he glances at Dad. "Together."
Hulk roars as Ultron's army runs at us.
"Showtime a-holes!" I say as the robots come closer.
We all stand, circling the core as we fight the robots side by side. Ultron's minions don't get far before they're in pieces. Pietro and I fight side by side, taking his minions out with our speed like there was no tomorrow.
"Capsicle!" I yell to Dad as I raise my repulsors.
He looks at me and readies his shield. I send a beam and it reflects off his shield, hitting the oncoming minions. I then turn and send a beam out on either side of me before running to take them out again. A feel a pair of arms wrap around me from behind. I go to attack, but then recognize the warmth of the arms around me, holding my waist.
I take my phone out and snap a picture of us and post it on Instagram with the caption, 'Out here saving the world again from a murder bot named Pinocchio.'
I put my phone away and turn around to look at Pietro. We both smile at each other and he picks me up, taking me by surprise. I immediately wrap my legs around his torso and hold onto his shoulders.
"Ready?" He asks me.
I nod and hold out my repulsors to either side of me as he uses his speed to spin us in a circle. I send a beam out of my repulsors, taking out the minions nearby, as he continues to spin us. He eventually stops and stumbles around trying to regain his balance. Pietro puts me down and I look up to locate Ultron. I see him throw Vision into the brick wall. Vision then shoots a beam out of the Mind Stone, making Ultron stay out of the church and away from the core. Thor, Tony and I join Vision. Tony and I send beams to Ultron while Thor uses his lighting. We stop, but Ultron still manages to stumble to his feet even though we burnt him.
"You know, with the benefit of hindsight—" Ultron begins, but Hulk punches him in the air.
Hulk looks at the rest of the minions and they run for their lives, going to the edge of the city and flying off.
"They'll try to leave the city!" Thor says.
"We can't let 'em, not even one," Tony says. "Rhodey!"
"On it!" Rhodey responds.
I make my way back inside the church. Nat, Clint, Wanda, Roy, and Dad are standing around the core.
"We gotta move out," Dad commands. "Even I can tell the air is getting thin. You guys get to the boats, I'll sweep for stragglers, be right behind you."
"I'm coming with you," I say.
"No, take Roy to the boats with you and you stay on it. Take even one step off of it and I'll ground you. Understand?"
I sigh in defeat. "Yeah, whatever."
"What about the core?" Clint asks.
"I'll protect it." Wanda offers. "It's my job." She says as she looks directly at Clint. He nods.
"Nat, this way," Clint says to her and they run to the aircrafts.
"Go!" Dad says to me as he runs in the opposite direction.
I pick up Roy, bridal style, and run us to an aircraft. I see Clint about to get on the same aircraft as us, but then he runs back out.
"What is he doing?" I say as I make my way to the entrance of the aircraft with Roy following right behind me.
Roy nudges me. "(Y/n)." He says and points to a jet in the air.
I look closely to see Ultron in the jet.
"Ultron." We both say.
We see him start shooting from the jet. I see Barton carrying a little boy and in the path of Ultron's rapid firing. I take off to save Barton and the boy, no matter what happens. If I get there fast enough I can catch the bullets before it hits them hopefully.
I then feel someone push me down. I roll to the ground and look up to see Pietro. Time slows down around us.
"What are you doing?" I ask him.
"What needs to be done princess." He says to me. "I'll get Barton, you get back to the aircraft."
"No, I'm getting Barton and you get to—" I'm cut off as Pietro bends down and kisses me on the lips, distracting me from the situation. I'm taken aback at first but then slowly close my eyes and kiss him back. I take in the softness and taste of his lips. He pulls away and my eyes flutter open. I blush slightly and stare into his eyes and smile. He smirks and then takes off to get Barton.
That sly little... "Pietro!" I scream as I see Ultron shooting in their direction.
I can't see anything due to the dust and dirt flying everywhere. Ultron then turns the jet in my direction, but I'm too worried about Pietro, Clint, and the little boy to notice. I want to know if they made it.
"We gotta move!" Dad yells as he scopes me up off the ground and sprints as Ultron starts shooting at us.
"No no no no." I shake my head and start squirming in Dad's arms. "I need to know if Pietro is okay! I need to know that they're safe!" I say desperately.
"We have to get to safety first!" Dad counters as he holds me tight and continues to run.
We eventually get into the aircraft, away from Ultron. Dad sets me down and Roy comes over and hugs me.
"Please don't do anything stupid like that again." He says and he squeezes the life out of me.
I hear someone call Dad's name which causes him to turn his head. I think it's Barton but I'm not sure due to the life being squeezed out of me by Roy as I try to pry him off of me.
"Can't... breath." I wheeze.
He lets go and laughs. "Sorry."
I look at Dad. "Dad what's going on?" I ask. He doesn't look at me at first, but when he does there's a hint of sadness on his face.
I try to look behind him, but he blocks my view.
I smile, thinking he's playing. "Dad stop playing around," I say and try again to look behind him but once again he blocks my view. My eyebrows furrow in determination and I shove Dad to the side just a little to see what he's hiding from me. My smile falters as I look at the sight in front of me.
Pietro's body is limp on the ground.
One more chapter of aou left!
—ASE715