Carmine Jewels ║ Wanda Maximoff

Chapter 47 - Broken Souls

Despite the chaos, Keira and Clint managed to find Steve just when the fighting momentarily died down. It seemed like the robots came in waves, and right now, they needed to seize the somewhat calm moment to lead the civilians to safety.

"We're leading the civilians to the town hall, try to meet us there." Steve informed the rest of the team over the comms while guiding the people in the right direction. It was the sturdiest building they could think of, and it was far enough from the edges of the city to not risk falling as the piece of rock rose higher and higher.

Even through the dust and rubble, Keira couldn't help the little leap that her heart did when a flock of red came into view. Could it be? "Tasha!" She exclaimed happily, abandoning what she was doing and instead throwing herself around the redhead's neck.

Natasha stumbled backwards, completely taken by surprise by the sudden launch of her best friend, but she embraced Keira nevertheless. "And here I thought you would be the one to rescue me." She teased, breathing in the familiar scent that was Keira.

"And I thought you would be capable enough to find an escape yourself." Keira shot back with a quirked eyebrow, her eyes glittering. Taking a step back, she took in Natasha's appearance and subconsciously scanned her for injuries. From what she could see, Natasha seemed to be relatively unscathed, with no open wounds at least, although she was probably a bit banged up from Ultron, even if it didn't show.

A smirk had crept up on Natasha's face, clearly ready to retaliate, but it quickly faded when she glanced over the blonde's shoulder. "Is that my jacket?" She questioned indignantly, recognizing the red leather jacket, and narrowing her eyes at Wanda.

Keira almost burst out laughing, and quickly covered it up with a cough. "Tasha, be nice. She's with us." She reprimanded lightly. Even if she was able to cover her laughter, she was unsuccessful in keeping the smile off her face. Natasha's expression was hilarious, and Keira would definitely tease her about this in the future.

"Still doesn't explain the jacket." Natasha scowled, her gaze so intense that Wanda was forced to look away in embarrassment.

Keira shook her head in amusement before shooting a reassuring glance in Wanda's direction. "Don't pay this one any mind." She slung an arm around Natasha's shoulders. "She barks worse than she bites."

But Wanda didn't seem convinced, still eyeing Natasha with caution.

"Fighting these robots is getting us nowhere." Steve cut in before Natasha had a chance to retort.

Clint, who came jogging stopped beside Natasha. "The air is getting thin. If we go up much higher, people will start dropping." He was right about that, even Keira could feel it was starting to get heavier to breathe.

"The next wave is gonna hit any minute. What do you got, Stark?" Keira asked, feeling a bit uneasy at the lack of robots.

"Huh? Nothing great." Tony answered somewhat absentmindedly. "Maybe a way to blow up the city. That'll keep it from impacting the surface, if you guys can get clear."

"No way!" Keira protested, shaking her head even though Tony couldn't see it.

"We need a solution, not an escape plan." Steve agreed. There was no way he would leave a single person behind.

"Impact radius is getting bigger every second. We're gonna have to make a choice." Tony said sadly.

And Keira knew, in the bottom of her heart, that he was right. No matter what they did, people would die. Hell, people probably had died already. And if there was a choice between the billions down on Earth versus the ones in the city...