Beyond The Stars (UNDER REVISION)

War and Destruction

"We need to evacuate guys. Come on," I lead Sokovian citizens out of the city. Bots start flying around, attacking us. Suddenly, Pietro appears next to me. 

He smiles and winks. "Pleasure to save the world with a beautiful lady," he says, his accent causing me to smile. 

"Pleasure's all mine, Speedy." I feel the ground begin to shake after he zooms off, destroying all of the bots. I fall to me knees. "Uh, guys? What's happening?" I ask, panicked. 

Suddenly, Ultron's voice in my head. "Do you see the beauty of it? The inevitability? You rise, only to fall. You, Avengers, you are my meteor. My swift and terrible sword and the Earth will crack with the weight of your failure. Purge me from your computers, turn my own flesh against me. It means nothing. When the dust settles, the only thing living in this world... will be metal."

I focus on getting the citizens to a safe place. "Cap, you've got incoming." 

"Incoming already came in. Stark, you worry about bringing the city back down safely. The rest of us have one job, tear these things apart. You get hurt, hurt them back. You get killed, walk it off." 

I shake my head, "I don't think that's in my repertoire, Captain," I say to myself.

 I notice a child on the edge of the floating city. "Mommy!" 

One of the robots aims for the kid, so I jump in front of him and pull him behind an empty car. "I've got you. I've got you." I hold the kid close as he screams. I softly sing to the boy. 

"Is now the time for lullabies, Dri?" Captain says into my earpiece. 

"Cap, I don't know what to do," I say, worried. More shots come at us, so I curl around the boy. He's about 3 years old. I hear footsteps above me. There's a loud bang and a sharp pain radiates through my back.  I look up to see Cap fighting off a robot. 

"On your feet. This fight isn't over yet." 

I sit up to expose the small child I was protecting. "I need to get him to safety." Cap nods waves over someone. Pietro runs over and notices me holding the child. "Get him somewhere safe," I say, worry all over my face. The Sokovian nods and grabs the boy. The child clings to my armor, refusing to let go. "It's okay," I softly say. "It's okay." The child lets go of me and Pietro runs off. I try to stand, but I double over in pain. 

"You're hurt!" Cap says, helping me. 

I scoff and push him away. "It's nothing. Let's save the world," I salute to the blonde. 

"Is that the best you can do?!" Thor yells at Ultron. 

Suddenly, hundreds of bots appear. "You had to ask," Cap says. 

"This is the best I can do. This is exactly what I wanted. All of you against all of me. How can you possibly hope to stop me?" 

"Well, like the old man said... Together." Tony says. 

All of the bots charge at us from different angles. I find myself almost losing, but a green hands grabs me, pulling me away before the bot can kill me. "Thanks, Big Man," I smile at The Hulk. He smiles back before tearing the bot apart. The fight continues. I take a few more minor hits. 

"You know, with the benefit of hindsight-" Hulk punches Ultron, sending him flying. 

Rhodes goes to stop the bots from leaving the city, but Vision steps in. "Okay... What?" I want to laugh, but I can't. 

"We gotta move out. Even I can tell the air is getting thin. You guys get to the boats. I'll sweep for stragglers. Be right behind you." 

"What about the core?" 

"I'll protect it," Wanda says. "It's my job." 

I look at Wanda, giving her an appreciative nod. "I'll help Cap look for more civilians. I'm faster."

"The only one faster than you is me," Pietro says through the comms. I allow myself to smile. I feel like him and I are going to be great friends. 

 I teleport myself through the city, checking buildings. Once making sure everything is clear, I meet up at the boats. "Is this the last of them?" Thor asks. 

"Yeah. Everyone else is on the carrier." 

"You know, if this works, we maybe don't walk away," Tony says. 

"Maybe we don't," Thor replies. 

I kiss Thor's cheek. "Be safe," I softly say. I see Barton trying to help a kid over Thor's shoulder. 

"I always-" I teleport, cutting Thor off. 

I work on lifting the beam that's keeping him pinned. "Need a hand?" I say to the struggling man. I hold it up while he pulls the child out. I hear gunshots. We both turn to see an aircraft firing at the ground. Barton turns to protect the child and I protect Barton. I hear a whooshing by my ear. Barton and I exchange looks when we don't get hit. I look up to see a bullet filled Pietro. 

"You didn't see that coming?" He weakly says. 

I teleport over, catching him before he hits the ground. "No, no, no, no. Come on. No." I hold his lifeless body. I feel a wave of intense pain that isn't my own. Cap rushes over. I help him lift Pietro's body. Once on the boat, I collapse into the floor. 

"It's been a long day," Barton says. 

"Tell me about it," I reply.  

I stand outside the new Avenger's Facility, looking at the man I call family. "So, back to Asgard for you? Space adventures?" 

"I need to find why-" 

I let out a laugh. "I need to find the reasoning behind the appearance of the stones," I say in Thor's voice. "You've said that 4 times in the past hour, Thor. Just... Say hi to Heimdall for me? And tell Odin I plan on returning soon. I know it's been a long while since our last visit." 

"I'm not returning to Asgard." 

"Oh?" 

"I want to live a normal life, here, on Earth while I try to figure this out." 

"Then why are we saying goodbye?" 

He smiles. "Because I'm not staying here." 

"Where are you staying?" 

"That's where you come in, dear sister." 

I roll my eyes. "Oh, boy." 

"I've heard of this nice place. Called Australia, I believe." 

"Australia?"