Burning

It was easier to focus on the robots in front of them with Falcon and War Machine taking to the air to distract Ultron’s minions. The airmen didn’t just help fight, their quick banter over the comms did a lot to boost the other Avengers’ spirits. At least, Natasha thought so. Only moments before, she had felt that they were so isolated, so alone in the cold air above the world. Now, their team was complete, and they could truly fight back.

She and her teammates on the ground made their way to the center of Novi Grad, to the church in the middle of town. It was there that Tony revealed the terrible machine that was pushing them upwards.

“So we protect the core until all the people get off and you do the heat shield thing,” Nat summarized as the rest of the group tricked in.

“That’s the long and short of it,” Tony replied.

She nodded before turning to survey the rest of the Avengers as the arrived, one by one or in pairs. So far, they all seemed intact, all okay. Even the kids. At least, she thought so until James reached out to Pietro.

“Is that blood?” James demanded, gripping the younger man’s elbow with his metal hand.

Pietro glanced at the tear in his arm and let his breath out in a huff. “Yeah, I got shot.”

James raised an eyebrow.

“It was kinda cool,” Pietro hurried to finish, his trademark cocky grin pulling at the corners of his mouth.

James muttered to the boy to be more careful as Pietro yanked his arm away, and Nat couldn’t help but smile in amusement. Who would have thought the Winter Soldier could be so doting?

Unfortunately, she hardly had time to revel in the moment, let alone tease him about it, as a characteristic stomping echoed through the church’s broken walls. Resisting the impulse to anxiously bite her lower lip, Natasha slowly turned to see the Hulk approaching the rest of the team.

He met her eye with a snort of breath, and Nat tried a casual smile and small wave.

“Hey Big Guy,” she offered.

But the Hulk turned away with a grunt, refusing to acknowledge her further.

Natasha pursed her lips. She supposed his hurt feelings were unavoidable, but that didn’t make them any easier to face.

Neither had the chance to mend any broken bridges, however, as Ultron chose that moment to appear, flanked by his metal minions.

As the AI robot began his monologue about using his might against theirs, Natasha wondered to herself about whether this being really was so “intelligent.” While it was gloating, the rest of the Avengers were able to arrange themselves into a defensive circle around the core.

And when his army charged, they were ready.

The battle was frenzied, brutal, smokey, and chaotic, but despite the danger and the exertion, Natasha felt a warmth flow through her. As she fought Ultron’s bots, the combat had her constantly moving, twisting and turning, bringing the other Avengers into view one by one.

They were all fighting in earnest, with everything they had. But they weren’t just tackling each opponent individually… they were working together. Wanda used her crimson magic waves to throw a robot upward where Vision was able to blast it with the Mind Stone. Steve bashed an enemy with his shield right into the Hulk’s waiting, crushing hands. And Tony knocked a minion out of the air where James was able to bring his metal fist down to crush its head.

After all the arguing, all the hidden truths, and all the distrust, the Avengers were finally one again.

James looked up to catch Nat watching and threw her a wink. She didn’t have time to do more than give him a pursed smile in response, but inside she was elated. Even he was getting along with the others, even if just for a few moments.

Their synergy was effective, and they had Ultron all but routed. Once the Hulk threw the monstrous villain out of sight, Captain America took a moment to address the rest of the team.

“We should do one last sweep, make sure we have all the civilians off this rock. Then, each and every one of you need to get on a boat.”

He paused, and then glanced up at Iron Man, who hovered just above. “Well, almost every one. You got the heat shield?”

“Easy peasy lemon squeezy,” Tony replied before zipping off.

“A few rogue minions might come back, so I’ll guard the core ‘til he’s ready,” Steve began, but Wanda quickly stepped forward to cut him off.

“No, I’ll do it,” the girl said, her expression steely. Steve opened his mouth to protest, but Wanda lifted her chin. “It’s my job.”

Natasha didn’t miss the nod Clint gave when meeting the young woman’s eyes and made a mental note to ask her friend about it later. But for now, it was time to carry out the captain’s orders.

—-

Rhodey and Sam had been working diligently to get the civilians safely onto the boats. Despite his prior disagreements with either or both men, Bucky had to admire the efficiency of their work. In such a crisis if a situation, he wouldn’t expect to simply have to board a rescue boat and wait to be ferried to safety, but at this point, there wasn’t much else to do.

He watched Clint jump on before Bucky moved behind Tasha, his hand on the small of her back and she stepped from Ultron’s makeshift meteor onto the flying liferaft. A dreamlike feeling clouded the back of his mind. It couldn’t be over. It couldn’t be this easy.

That’s when a frightened mother cried out from her place on the boat that her son was missing. That’s when everything snapped back into focus.

Bucky’s cold blue eyes met Natasha’s, and he didn’t miss the pleading within her meadow greens, silently begging him to stay by the safety of her side. Clint began to step forward, but Bucky raised his metal hand to stop his friend. Clint had a family, a wife and kids. If anyone needed to survive today, it was him.

And so, Bucky turned from his friend and from the love of his life to go back to the little piece of earth that was doomed to either explode or crash into the planet or something very, very soon.

The distraught woman had said she had been separated from her son in the marketplace, so that’s where Bucky headed first. Fortunately, in the small town, he had passed it several times during their rescue efforts and knew exactly where it was.

He paused in the square, blue eyes scanning the rubble around him, concentrating on finding something, anything out of place.

The comm in his ear sounded with Natasha’s voice asking the whereabouts of the Hulk, and Thor responding that the monster was still on in the city. Bucky ground his teeth and yanked the piece from his ear, holding it in his right hand. He didn’t want to hear his team; he needed to be listening for the boy.

It turned out to be a smart move, as the whimpering of a frightened child was the first clue Bucky had. He placed the comm back in his ear and purposefully strode toward a pile of rubble, near some overturned cars.

He was only a few steps away when all hell broke loose. Again.

A jet came screaming from above, blasting a line of bullets from the gun on its belly. A millisecond after noticing that, Bucky saw Pietro rush in, a black and blue streak, crouching and covering the boy with his body,

Bucky acted as quickly as a super soldier could. He yelled to Pietro to hold onto the boy, and launched himself forward. Two steps and a dive were all he had time for, launching himself just past Pietro’s back. But his metal arm reached out as he dove, grabbing the speedster’s arm and using all of his inertia to pull the other’s body along with him.

He landed just behind one of the overturned cars, feeling Pietro roll along with him. There was a scream of terror from the child, and then silence. When the world turned right side up again, Bucky found himself on his hands and knees facing Pietro, who was on his back, propped up on one elbow, holding the missing boy in his right arm. The jet shot a fiery storm of bullets where they just had been, but besides a few scratches, all three, remarkably, we’re unharmed.

Bucky panted, dazed by the sheer luck of being able to grab Pietro in time. But after a few seconds, the shock wore off, and he leveled a glare at his young teammate.

“Getting shot is not cool,” he scolded.

Pietro nodded. “I didn’t see that coming,” he muttered before laying back on the pavement, winded.

—-

“Make room!” Natasha commanded, pushing a few civilians away from the lifeboat's door. She told herself she shouldn’t be surprised at the trio striding up to her. James and Pietro were enhanced, more than capable of safely navigating the dangers of the rising city. More than capable of saving the child. Yet she couldn’t help but let out a puff of breath she didn’t realize she had been holding as they approached.

The mother, near hysterics, pulled her missing son from Pietro’s arms as soon as they set food on the craft. Nat flashed a questioning glance at James, who gave her his “I’ll tell you later” shrug.

Pietro immediately found a very attractive young nurse to tend to the wound on his arm, while Nat and James, arms wrapped around each others’ waists, found a pair of seats near Clint. The three sat in relieved silence, listening to the final updates from their teammates over their comms, as the lifeboat detached and began its slow flight back to the SHIELD helicarrier.