Soldier Boy

The Battle of Sokovia

I was putting in a new comms earpiece when Wanda walked up to me hesitantly.

"May I speak to you?" She asks quietly. I looked over at her. She wore a red leather jacket. Nat's jacket.

"Of course." I turned towards her. "What's up?" I crossed my arms over my chest and leaned against the table.

"I would like to apologize for everything. Especially what I did to you in Africa." She said. I took in a deep breath. "I saw what I made you see and it was awful and-and-"

"Wanda." I uncrossed my arms and placed them on the edge of Wanda's shoulders. "It's okay. What you saw was my past mixed with my biggest fear." I told her.

"But-"

"But nothing Wanda. Fear is what strengths us. It is what makes us human. Whatever you did before doesn't matter. It's what you do now that makes a difference." I told her. "I'm not mad at you. If that's what you think. I'm not. If I'm being honest I'm proud. You are very powerful, Wanda. When I was your age I still couldn't contain mine." I showed her my white wisp. "When this is all over I would love to help you. Train you. Our powers are very similar. So whenever you want and whenever you are ready. I'm here." She looked stunned then all the sudden she hugged me. I was taken back for a second. I hugged her back. I softly smiled. Steve walks into the room and sees us. I rubbed her back and she pulled away.

"Sorry." She said.

"Don't worry about it. I love hugs." I told her with a smile. She smiled back.

"Time to go." Steve said. I nodded.

"Go find your brother." I told Wanda. She nodded and left the room. I walked over to Steve.

"Are you ready?" He asked me.

"Yeah. Yeah, I think so. Are you?" I looked up at him.

"I am." He nodded.

"We can do this, right?" I asked slowly.

"Of course we can." He says.

"Steve, I need to tell you something. Just in case I don't make it-"

"You will make it. We all will." He cut me off.

"Steve, I just need you to know-"

"Guys!" Clint called out for us. "Let's go." I sighed and we headed to the Quinjet. I stood with Steve as he talked to us.

"Ultron knows we're coming. Odds are we'll be riding into heavy fire. And that's what we signed up for. But the people of Sokovia, they didn't. So our priority is getting them out. All they want is to live their lives in peace. And that's not gonna happen today. But we can do our best to protect them. And we can get the job done. We will find out what Ultron's been building, we find Romanoff, and we clear the field. Keep the fight between us." Steve tells all of us on the way to Sokovia. "Ultron thinks we're monsters. That we are what's wrong with the world. This isn't just about beating him. It's about whether he's right." I looked up at him to find him already looking at me. We first dropped off Bruce and Thor. Clint landed the Quinjet and the rest of us got off. Before I left with Wanda, Steve stopped me by grabbing my left hand.

"Mason, just...just stay alive." He said it loud enough for only me to hear. I nodded.

"Same goes for you, Soldier Boy." I said. I got on my tippy toes and kissed his cheek. "I'll see you soon." And with that I left. Pietro ran ahead to the police station to tell them to help evacuate the city as Wanda and I made it to the town square.

"I've never used my powers like this before." Wanda said to me. "What do I do?" She was worried.

"Let your powers flow out of your hands and into the buildings. You need to think only of their safety. They will feel it." I told her. "Don't worry. You aren't doing this alone." We both shot out our white and scarlet wisps and seconds later people started to evacuate. It was going smoothly until robots came out of the ground and the streams. They started shooting everywhere. People started screaming and running to find shelter.