Song: Battlefield by Jordin Sparks

******

By the time we got a grip on what it was we were doing, it was too late. Ultron, while we were gone, had gotten ahold of Dr. Cho... and Loki's staff. We were totally screwed, and our next track was to get them back. An obvious statement, clearly.

We suited up and prepared to go after him, but I stopped when Bruce said, "I'm going to stay here. Try and figure out a way to track Ultron and keep tracking him. You go on ahead. I don't need Avery having to multitask this time and risk her getting hurt more."

The others nodded and went on preparing to leave, but I looked over to him and he met my eyes. I merely offered him a small smile, which he returned. He picked up my gloves from the table and tossed them over to me and I caught them.

"Go kick some ass, Avery," he said with a smile.

"Oh, I will. You stay out of trouble, Mr. Banner," I replied, and the air suddenly felt tense.

He chuckled at that. "I'll try my best."

I nodded and then turned away from him, the awkwardness too much, and turned to find Steve, holding the gloves in my hands to find him suiting up in a corner. He smiled at me as he adjusted the cuffs on his wrists.

"Hello, Angel," he said softly and I smiled even more as I stopped in front of him.

"Hello, darling. You ready?"

He nods and took the gloves from my hands and helped me put them on, strapping them on at the wrists securely, careful with the one I had injured, even though it had pretty much healed by now.

I watched him curiously, wondering why he was doing this. He did the same with the other glove on my other hand, his fingers brushing against my palms as he made sure they were secure. He held my hands afterwards and I stood on my tiptoes and caught his lips with mine to give him a kiss. He kissed me back, his hands squeezing mine.

I pulled away and said with a smile, "Hey, you ready to go and kick some robot butt?"

He nods and laughs softly. "Ready as I'll ever be," he replied and kissed my forehead. "Will you be ok out there? We'll be in the open- civilians this time. They'll see you."

I moved a hand to his cheek. "You worry too much, Steve. I'm an Avenger. Let them see me. I'm here to save them."

He smiled at me. "And they'll love you, Avery. Every part of you." He leaned down and caught my lips in his and I kissed him back, grabbing onto the strap of his suit.

******

"So let me get this straight. Ultron's got a thing that builds living tissue?" I asked as we flew on the Quinjet towards Ultron's coordinates. "And a powerful scepter created by gods with some sort of powerful stone in it? And then he's going to build himself an organic body. Just making sure I got an understanding of what's going on."

"You pretty much covered it, yeah," Clint said.

I pinched the bridge of my nose, then said, "Alright. This is fine."

Steve smirked and shook his head slightly, hefting his shield and securing it to his back.

"Alright guys, we're nearing the spot where Ultron is being picked up. Avery, you ready to fly out?" Clint asked.

"I'm ready," I said, flaring my wings out and bouncing on the balls of my feet. I looked to Steve and asked, "You coming with me?"

He hesitated, blinking. "You are gonna carry me?"

"I'm stronger than I look," I said with a shrug. "I was bench pressing three hundred the other day. You don't look anything over two-forty."

His cheeks tinted pink as he refused to meet my eyes but he mumbled, "Sure. Fine."

"Great," I said and walked over to the latch and hit it, the back of the jet opening as we approached the lab. Steve looked down at the lab several hundred feet below, then to me.

"You sure about this, Angel?"

I nodded. "Yeah. Let's go," I say and grab his hand and jump over the edge, bringing him with me. He yelped and grabbed onto me as I flicked my wings out and caught myself, holding onto him as I flew down towards the lab.

As we got closer, I gasped. "It's been attacked!" I circled around the building, then found a hole in the side. I flew over and Steve positioned his feet so he could run along the floor and I released him and flapped my wings and landed a few feet ahead of him, squatting slightly as I landed.

He looked at me with his mouth slightly agape and I walked over and kissed his cheek and said with a grin, "Genetic modifiers, am I right? C'mon, we should check for survivors." He laughed, and I turned and ran off down the hall, Steve close behind me. We entered a large room and I gasped to see several people were lying dead on the floor, and Dr. Cho was laying up against a wall, a large gash across her chest.

Steve raced over to her and picked up a cloth and began to hold pressure to her wound.

"Where is Ultron and the cradle?" He asked her.

"He's gone. Took it with him. He's trying to build himself a body. But... that gem from the scepter... it's too powerful. You can't destroy it- it's too much and could devastate the city."

Steve and I shared a look, then he said, "Avery, get her to the hospital and meet up with me. Did you all get that?"

"Yup. Loud and clear," Clint replied over the coms.

I walked over to Dr. Cho and stopped and very carefully picked her up, her arm moving up around my neck. I turned to leave before Steve stopped me. "Avery, I can't wait for them to see you out there protecting them. Go show them who you are."

I looked back at him and said with a smile, "I had a good instructor." I then held Cho closer and took a running start and leapt over the ledge of the hole in the building and flew off to find the closest hospital.

As soon as I found it, I landed at the entrance to the emergency room, ignoring the shocked gasps around me as people left and right gawked at my wings, whispering.

"Hey! This woman needs medical attention, now!" I shouted as I entered the emergency room.

Suddenly, every eye was on me. A range of emotions crossed the faces of the people who stared at me and my wings and white hair and green and black suit. Paramedics rushed over with a stretcher bed and I gently laid her on top of it and turned to leave when a small voice asked behind me,

"Hey are you like a bird superhero?"

I paused and turned to face who had spoken to see a small girl, clutching a stuffed toy bird in her hands. It was a small dove with a green felt olive branch in its mouth. A small smile touched my lips as I squatted in front of her and patted her shoulder. "Yeah. Like a little bird."

A smile lit up her face and I stood and met the eyes of the others in the room, staring at me in wonder. Several people had their phones out and videoing me, taking pictures and smiles on their faces as a few waved to me. They were looking at my suit, my wings, and my hair and eyes. I wasn't a freak to them, I realized with a start. I was a hero.

"Stay safe, everyone. The Avengers got this."

I gave them a little salute, then turned and left the hospital, taking a running start out of the building and raised my wings and launched myself up and into the air. Their cheers sent me out of the building, and I couldn't stop the smile from spreading across my face.

I touched my earpiece and said, "Dr. Cho is at the hospital, where are you?"

"Kinda busy," Steve grunted on the other end and I heard a shot of something that sounded like crunching metal and a shot of plasma.

"Sounds like it. Where?" I asked.

"Sending coordinates," Clint replied and I looked down at my wrist as my watch lit up with a blipping light and I flew off towards the block to find Steve on top of the trailer of an eighteen-wheeler...

...being thrown off of it by Ultron and towards oncoming traffic.

I sucked in a breath and dove for him, catching him and flying back up into the air as I flew off after the truck again and dropped him on top of it in front of Ultron, and I flew around to land behind him. My hands glowed white at my sides.

Then, Ultron attacked. I dodged beams he threw towards me, and snuck in with my powers when I could, but I was scared of hurting Steve. Then, I watched in shock as Steve tackled Ultron off the top of the truck and into the side of a moving train.

They disappeared as we sped off in opposite directions.

"Steve!" I yelled, but knew deep down he would be ok. He had to be.

I looked up in time to see the two robots that were guarding Ultron fly down towards me, but instead of attacking, they flew down to the sides of the trailer. I frowned, then stumbled as the whole thing jolted, and I watched as Natasha dove into the back of the trailer as it took to the air.

I remained crouched on top of the trailer and touched my com. "We've got the package, Clint, it's airborne."

"Wait- what?" Clint asked.

"Avery??" Natasha asked.

"I'm on top of the trailer- don't ask," I replied.

"Alright, how am I taking the package?" Clint asked.

"You're gonna regret asking that," Natasha replied. I watched as the Quinjet lined up with the trailer, and I looked down towards where Steve undoubtedly was. And then, I felt a strange presence touch at my mind and and I could hear Wanda's voice say,

We saw what Ultron planned for this world, and we realize our mistake now. We want to help you defeat him. I'm sorry for leaving you, sister. We never will again.

I frowned, shocked still for a moment as I stared down at the ground far below...

I snapped back to attention as the Quinjet moved into position to catch the cradle and Natasha. But that's when I saw Ultron shooting up towards us.

He didn't see me. His eyes were on Natasha.

I ground my teeth and crouched down farther, spreading my wings slightly, and as Natasha fell out of the trailer, and landed inside the Quinjet with the cradle, Ultron made a grab for her leg, but I pounced and dragged Ultron off of and away from her.

Our eyes locked momentarily and I smirked as Ultron grabbed ahold of me and pinned my arms and wings, flying off to who knew where. Then, something hard hit the back of my head and my eyesight went black.

The last thing I heard was Natasha's voice screaming my name over the comms. Closely followed by Steve's...

******

I came to slowly, looking around me to see I was on the floor. I groaned, slowly sitting up and holding my head. I froze when I looked up to see Ultron standing over me.

"What do you want?" I demanded.

If a robot could look amused, he did. "You were there with Stark and Banner while they created me. You never thought it was a good idea, but you kept that to yourself. Why?"

"I wasn't in a position to say otherwise at the time. I was just there to support them. I then started to believe they were doing the right thing. Turns out we were sorely mistaken," I replied, glaring at him.

He nodded and stood and walked over to a table. "I'm glad you're awake. I want to show you something. What I'm creating. It's gonna save the world," He looked at me, glowing red eyes seeming to read right through me, and I wondered just how much he actually knew of my past...

"I think a lot about meteors. The purity in them. Then... boom. The end. Start again. And then the world is made new. I was meant to be beautiful, and the world would look up to see hope and newness. But now they'll look up and see horror. Because of you."

I sat up and began to back away as he stomped towards me. "But you know what they say- what doesn't kill you-"

Suddenly, something behind him burst through his face, sending sparks and pieces of metal everywhere as a whole Ultron stepped through the old body, tossing it to the side as he finished,

"-just makes me stronger." He then reached up and dragged the door to a cell I now found myself trapped inside.

I wrapped my arms around myself, my wings covering me like a cocoon as I felt my heart begin to race, my breathing coming out hard and fast.

No, no, no...I couldn't be in a cage again.

I wrapped my arms around my knees and stuffed my face into them, tears racing down my cheeks as I wrapped my wings around myself. My heart was beating so hard in my chest that it hurt, and I tried to recenter my thoughts, tried to keep my eyes off of the four walls around me.

They would find me. They would find me. I kept telling myself that. To make myself believe this wasn't a hell I'd have to live in for much longer.

I didn't know how long I was in that cell- hours, days. I had no idea. I was frozen stiff in fear, and all I could do was keep telling myself I would be rescued.

And I didn't move from my scrunched up position until I heard Steve's voice echoing through the warehouse.

"Avery? Angel, where are you?!"

I looked up, choking on a relieved sob as I pulled myself shakily to my feet, my muscles sore, and grabbed ahold of the bars, a renewed sense of strength coming over me. "Steve! I'm here!" I called back.

And then he was there. Right in front of me. He reached through the cage and I latched onto his hand, and his fingers tightened around mine.

"You found me," I croaked, tears running down my cheeks.

"I always will," he said with a small smile. "Stand back, Angel, ok?"

I reluctantly pulled away from him as he stepped back and threw a kick into the door and it broke off its hinges, falling forward. He pulled the door away and turned to catch me as I threw myself into his arms, hugging him tightly.

After a few moments, I pulled away and his hand moved to my cheek, eyebrows drawn together in concern. "What happened?"

"I... don't know. I remember I dove for Ultron when he went to try and get Nat, and then something hit my head and I passed out. I woke up here. Where is here?"

"Sokovia," he said.

I frowned. "Oh. What are we doing here?"

"Ultron is here. He intends to wipe out the city with a weapon, and then most of the countryside around it," he replied grimly.

"Well, we can't have him doing that. Where are the others?" I asked, going to move away to get out of the room, but his hands gripped my arms tighter. "Steve?" I asked and lifted my hands to his cheeks. "Hey. I'm here. What's wrong? You saved me, see? I'm ok."

"It's not that, Avery. I just... when we got separated, the next thing I saw was Ultron carrying you off, and I know... I know how bad this was for you, even if you're not letting me see how badly it affected you right now," he said and gently moved his hands to my cheeks. "You don't need to be strong all the time. I'm here for you. If you need to take a minute, it's ok."

I felt my eyes sting slightly and I stepped in and wrapped my arms around his waist, his own coming up around me and I wrapped my fists in the fabric of his suit.

"You're right..." I whispered. "Ultron knew about my past. He locked me up in that... that cage. He wanted to break me."

His arms tightened around me. "It didn't work, because you're stronger than him," he said. "You want to know why I fight big men that push people around?"

"Why?" I asked softly.

"My dad pushed my mom around," he said softly. "He hit her. He hit me. He got drunk a lot. But my mom took most of it to protect me. If she could do it for me, I can do it for other people." He moved a hand to my chin and gently guided my face to look up at him. "You can do the same, in fact I've seen you doing the same. You take care of people, even when you are falling apart. Let someone take care of you, Avery Grace. I love you."

I smiled and reached up to hold his face in my hands as I said, "You inspired me every day, Steve Rogers. I love you so, so much." I then pulled him down and kissed him, his arms wrapping around me as he kissed me back.

I pulled away and smiled and said, "Ready to go kick this robot's ass again?"

I smiled, "You know me. I can do this all day."

I pulled him along behind me until we found the exit and I began to run as he ran with me towards where we found the others with Wanda and Pietro. My siblings stopped and stared at me uncertainly and I stared back.

Wanda stepped forward towards me and Steve stiffened next to me. I squeezed his hand and looked at him, nodding. His eyes met mine, and his grip somewhat loosened on my hand. I looked back to my sister and asked, "Well? Are you with us now?"

"Yes," She says with a nod and Pietro nods in turn. "We are now."

I nodded and held my hand out to her and she took it and I pulled her into a tight hug. "We'll figure things out when this is all over, ok?"

She hesitated, then hugged me back. "Ok."

Pietro stepped forward and wrapped his arms around the both of us, and I pulled away from them first and looked to the others and nodded. "Alright. Let's go."

I looked to Steve as I lifted my wings to fly off, but he grabbed me and pulled me to him and kissed me. My eyes closed and I kissed him back, surprised by the kiss, but welcoming it.

I pulled away and met his eyes. "See you soon?" I asked, smiling.

He nodded. "Yeah. See you soon. Be safe, Avery. I love you."

"I love you, too," I said with a smile and turned and spread my wings and jumped into the air.

The battle was intense. I dove around with my siblings, smashing and destroying Ultron's robot minions left and right. I saved a family from a falling piece of wall, and caught a child who was falling from a building. The ground shook as the weapons Ultron had built to lift the city out of the earth began to turn on.

Hours into the battle, Tony found the source and he and Thor were figuring out a way to stop it while Steve, Natasha, Clint, the twins, and I worked together to destroy robots and protect the civilians. Hulk was somewhere destroying every robot in sight.

My mind wandered to how much time he'd need after this. I also wondered if I'd even see Bruce Banner after this.

Then, when everything seemed futile, Fury arrived with a giant ship, several carriers flying off of it and onto the floating city, suspended a couple hundred feet off the ground now. Dropping it now would be devastating.

"Tony. We need to destroy the city," I said into the comms.

"Glad to see you're on the same track," He replied grimly. "Dropping it will send an earthquake that could devastate the whole country."

"My home country," I mumbled, looking around at the devastation and ruin. I smashed a robot. "How long do we have before it goes off?"

"An hour," Tony replied. "Maybe less. Maybe more. I'm still trying to figure that out."

"You do that, Stark. We'll get the civilians," Steve's voice said. "Wanda, Avery, Pietro, do what you can to help save people and keep the robots away as we get people out."

I looked at my siblings and they grinned, nodding to me, and I smiled, nodding back. "Let's do this."

I wasn't sure how long it was, but there was an announcement over the comms from Fury saying we had everyone and it was time to go.

I was helping load people onto a craft when I saw Clint run off back into the city, a woman screaming, but being held back on the carrier.

And I saw a robot lining up a shot at Clint.

I ground my teeth and lifted my hands and smashed the robot like a tin can, my hands glowing white and the force shaking the ground.

But, a bullet got loose, and time seemed to slow as I screamed, and it caught in my throat as I watched Pietro catch it and collapse.

Wanda screamed next to me and took out several robots around her and ran for her brother. And that's when I saw Clint helping him up, his face contorted in pain, a child holding onto him. Wanda made it to them and I jumped into the air.

"Didn't see that coming?" My brother asked, blood dripping from his left shoulder.

"Idiot," I grumbled and looked to Wanda and Clint. "Let's get out of here."

We made it on the craft and settled in and I watched as the island was detonated in mid air.

And as I watched the island crumble, I looked up to see a Quinnjet flying off in the opposite direction. I frowned, squinting at it and pressing my hands to the glass.

I spun to Steve, a look of horror crossing my features as I realized all at once what was happening. And who was missing from the hangar. I slammed at the comm at my ear, biting back hot tears.

"B-Bruce? Bruce! Bruce listen to me. Tell me you can hear me. Come back! I know that's you. We need you here. We can figure this out, we can, B-"

The comm went dead and I stood in utter shock, staring at the jet taking off into the distance, the city exploding all around us.

I sank to my knees, tears falling down my cheeks, and I felt arms wrapping firmly around me, and I realized it was Steve and I turned and hugged him tightly, my face buried in his shoulder, and he held me tightly and let me cry.

And he held me as my heart broke as the realization of what I had lost hit me all at once.