This Is Stella's Reality

July 15, 2015

It was late by now. Past midnight as the team gathered what they needed from the training rooms and filed into the quinjet.

We rose into the sky and headed for Sokovia. It was quiet for the most part. The gentle hum of their thoughts floated through my ears. Anxiety, guilt, depression. I shoved it away. It was too much to handle.

Steve, Tony, Bruce, and Thor were standing at the center console. I sat beside Bucky, holding his hand close and stroking my thumb over his knuckles. We were both watching Steve, hoping he'd come over to us and we could be normal again.

He didn't. Loki sat on my other side. His hand ghosted over my knee. "Goddess," he said softly, "you seem particularly perturbed."

My eyes fell to his. I knew Bucky was watching us. I swallowed down the rising acid in my throat and gave Loki a fake smile. "Remind me to talk to you about my vision," I said.

He nodded. "And I shall tell you mine," he sighed. He stayed sitting there long after we finished talking. His eyes wandered over the rest of the team, surveying them and likely reading their every thought.

I let my head fall to Bucky's shoulder. He leaned over and kissed my forehead. I love you, wife. More than anything. Be safe, please.

I love you too, husband. Don't leave my side. I'll protect you.

He smiled at that and pressed another kiss to my hairline.

The group at the console broke apart and stood to face those of us who had been sitting. "Ultron knows we're coming," Steve said. "Odds are, we'll be riding into heavy fire, but that's what we signed up for."

Steve looked at Bucky and I as if he were trying to make a point. You signed up to be Avengers. Stop disappointing me. My heart fell.

"The people of Sokovia didn't," he continued. "Our priority has to be getting them out. They've wanted peace for a long time, and unfortunately, that won't happen today. The least we could do is protect them.

"We need to find what Ultron's been building, we find Natasha, and we clear the field. Keep the fight between us. Ultron thinks we're monsters. That we are what's wrong with the world. So this isn't just about stopping him.

"It's about whether or not he's right."

When we landed, Wanda, Loki, and I got to work sending mental messages and visions to the citizens of Novi Grad, Sokovia's capital city. Soon, the streets became flooded with dazed families and individuals making their way across exit bridges and over highways.

Pietro, Bucky, and Steve got to work finding anyone we happened to miss and getting them out of the city as well. Tony, Thor, Vision, and Sam used their flight to survey the city and try to find what Ultron had been working on. Clint and Bruce left to find Natasha.

"He's in the church," I heard Tony say over the comms. Cars honked all around me, and I guided people over hurdles and towards the main roads.

FRIDAY, Tony's new artificial intelligence, came over our earpieces. "There's a vibranium core inside the church. Function is still unclear."

I groaned internally. What the hell does that mean? It didn't matter right now. There were thousands of people in the streets that I had to get to safety. They were my first priority.

Ahead of me, a little boy stumbled into a pond. I jogged over to him and gently lifted him from the water. "Hey, silly goose," I teased. "Be careful, okay?" I sent him back to his parents who were dazed with my magic and walking towards the city's main exit into the countryside.