Steel Hearts

- 15 -

After retrieving a new pair of shoes for Pietro and a jacket for Wanda, I meet them at the quinjet. Tossing the items to them, I say, "Figured you could use these."

"Thank you," Pietro responds gratefully and Wanda nods. I nod back to them in response before walking back outside of it to find Steve speaking with Bruce and Tony.

I don't hear what Tony had said, but Steve responds with, "I've got no plans tomorrow night."

I scrunch my nose up with a smile, moving further into the room, "Mmm I wouldn't say no plans."

Steve meets my eye from around Tony's frame and smirks at me. Tony doesn't meet my eye when I join them, but he pushes me jokingly toward Steve.

"I get the first crack at the big guy. Iron Man's the one he's waiting for."

"That's true. He hates you the most," Vision states as he walks up the ramp into the quinjet. Tony's face of confusion was priceless and I just shrug when he looks over at me in question.

We're a team. We might bicker sometimes, but we're a team and we all work well together. I remind myself. We're the good guys.

Barton pulls me aside after the three men make their way to the quinjet, tossing a few clips of ammo to me. I reload my gun and slip the other clips into my belt.

"It's hard to adjust to a new team. I get it," I turn around and his arms are crossed as he speaks, "But you're smart. And capable... I've seen what you can do, kid. So, why is this any different than the other teams you've been a part of?"

"Maybe because we're getting ready to fight an army of murder robots..?"

"You can blast energy from your hands and I've got a bow and arrow," he deadpans, "None of this makes sense. But if we don't do this, who will? We're the Avengers. We might be a little dysfunctional at times... But we still fight."

I sigh, scoffing as I turn in a small circle before stopping once more, "You know, I hate that you're right. But thanks for the pep talk."

"Any time, kid."

With that, I follow him up the ramp into the quinjet. Taking the last seat available, the one on Steve's right. As soon as I sit down, he places a hand on my knee. I take his hand and lace my fingers in his own, smiling up at him.

"I'm glad you're here," he tells me, glad to see my demeanor changed to be more positive than it had been several minutes ago.

I wasn't leaving the Avengers. Far from it. It had felt like they were leaving me, falling apart at the seams. But those seams stitched themselves back up in a matter of minutes.

"Me too," I lean my head on his shoulder as I've done so many times before; only this time, I felt him press a kiss into my hair. Butterflies erupted in my stomach just as they did every time I saw him smile at me. Or hear him laugh. "Can I make the speech this time?"

"The floor is yours."

I stood from my seat, moving to the front of the quinjet behind Barton's seat. My voice was clear, concise, and loud enough for everyone to hear with an authoritative tone, "Avengers."

Everyone's heads turned to me, eyes boring into me and making my nerves want to go wild. I looked to Steve who had a proud smile on his face, nodding to tell me to keep going.

"I'm frustrated. I won't lie to you and tell you that I'm not. Because mistakes have been made and even if we don't want to admit it, everyone on this team has made them. Not one of us can say that we haven't. We're not a team just because we work together to save the world. We're a team because even if we fight and bicker amongst ourselves, we come together and push past the differences that make us individuals so we can fix our mistakes. And the only way we can do so is together. Our actions in the past don't define who we'll be in the future. But our actions from here on our will.  A couple of friends once told me that the price of freedom is high and that if we don't fight, who will? This isn't about beating Ultron. This is about proving whether or not he's right when he says we're what's wrong with the world. So, let's fight like hell to prove him wrong."