REAPINGS

7

"The Futurist, gentlemen!"

Clint clapped sarcastically as Tony entered their jail room. Elina pulled herself off the ground, leaning against the bars as she watched him.

"The Futurist is here! He sees all! He knows what's best for you, whether your like it or not."

"Give me a break, Barton," Tony sighed at the man. "I had no idea they were gonna put you here. Come on."

Clint spit towards him, glaring hatefully at Tony.

"Yeah, well, you knew they'd put us somewhere, Tony. Look at her," he pointed toward Elina. "You basically put one of my kids in here."

"Not your kid, Clint."

"Hush, child."

"Yeah, but not some super-max floating ocean pokey. You know, this place is for maniacs. This is a place for-"

"Criminals?" Elina spoke up with a forced laugh. Tony recognized that laugh. She wasn't angry, she was hurting. "We're all criminals now."

"Hey, hey," Tony quickly walked towards her cell. "What's a matter, honey?"

"What's a matter?" Elina laughed as her eyes became glossy. "We all just did something we can never take back. I'm not mad at anyone, I'm not. But these people in here, they're my family. Steve and Bucky are my family," she took a shaky breath. "You're my family, Stark." Elina couldn't hold back the tears now. "And we all did things today that have torn us apart."

"Elina, you have to hold it together," Tony tried to comfort her.

"You realize it's over right?" She laughed through her tears once again. "The people we were all those years ago, during The Incident, during Ultron, we can never be those people again."

Elina wiped at her eyes angrily, pressing her head into the metal.

"Everything we had is gone. Every ounce of trust we built together, it's nearly gone."

Watching Elina cry with a smile on her face made Tony frown. He hated watching the girl he considered a sister so distraught.

"Everything feels wrong, and unsafe. And I knew this would happen." Elina took a shaky breath as she gave a pitiful laugh. "Things are changing is all," she shook her head. "And I wasn't ready. I'm still not."

"Everything is going to be fine, okay?"

"Don't lie to me," Elina whispered tiredly. "You promised you wouldn't."

"Look El, I'm running out of time. I just cut the audio and visual. I'm trying to help Rogers, but I can't do that if I don't know where he is."

The Cartwell girl was quiet for a moment, looking at Tony through the bars with heavy eyes.

"Sam."

At that Tony nodded, moving across the room to talk to the Wilson man.

"You really think that?" Clint asked Elina.

The guards had made the mistake of putting them side by side, the two both talking nonstop.

"Would you still fight with them after all of this?" Elina questioned quietly.

"If it was bad enough."

"If it was bad enough," Elina repeated with a sad smile. "Um," she sniffled. "Do you remember, right before Ultron was let out, we were all sitting around drinking? We were laughing, and we liked being around each other. It was nice," she gave a laugh. "And now you're saying, if it's bad enough, just maybe, you'll consider fighting with him again."

Elina shook her head as she frowned, more tears falling.

"It's just all too much too fast," she whispered.

"I'm sorry, kid."

"Yeah," she wiped away the tears. "Yeah, me too."

Sitting around and sulking was cut short hours later when Steve busted the Avengers out of their cells.

Elina had gone with Steve, as had Sam and Natasha.

Cap had told the three about Bucky rehabbing in Wakanda, the news bringing a smile to the Cartwell girl's face. And even though it hurt Elina not to be around everyone, she knew running was the best.

"You okay?" Natasha had asked as she took the girl's hand.

"I'm perfect," Elina smiled.

"Perfect? Why's that?"

"Cause I got you, gorgeous."

And part of Elina Cartwell thought that, maybe over time, everything would smooth over and things could go back to the way they were.

But she would have never anticipated the chaos that would take place when she saw everyone again.

Elina would think back to Clint's response when it came to the Avengers.

If it was bad enough.

Oh, It would definitely be bad enough. And it would be one of the ugliest fights the Avengers had ever fought.

But, for now, it wasn't about the fighting. It was about getting away, and enjoying the calm while they could.

Elina Cartwell would soon wish that all she had to worry about was the people she loved fighting, because what was coming was going to leave them in ruins.

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