Everly || Steve Rogers

54. Sokovia

"No way we all get through this." Tony said softly. "If even one tin soldier is left standing, we've lost. There's gonna be blood on the floor." Everly sighed and tucked a bit of hair behind her ear. She knew it would be a tough battle, but it hadn't quite sunk in just how dangerous it would be.

"I got no plans tomorrow night." Steve returned simply.

"I get first crack at the big guy." Stark added. "Iron Man's the one he's waiting for."

"That's true. He hates you the most." Vision said nonchalantly as he walked by. Everly chuckled lightly as Tony stared at the android in annoyance.

A few minutes later and the entire team was inside the quinjet, each doing whatever necessary to prepare themselves. Everly watched sadly as Clint tucked a photo of his family inside his vest. She peered down at her hands as Steve began to speak.

"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." Her heart sunk at the thought of all the people that would inevitably get caught in the middle of everything. "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 find out what Ultron's been building, we find Romanoff, and we clear the field. Keep the fight between us." Steve shifted on his feet and briefly met Everly's eyes before his gaze fell to the floor. "Ultron thinks we're monsters. That we're what's wrong with the world. This isn't just about beating him. It's about whether he's right."

Everly now stood in the street surrounded by honking cars, directing them on where to go. Some people decided to flee on foot as they neared the outskirts of the city. The sun was just barely visible peaking its head over the distant mountains to provide the world with a few warm rays of light. There was the slightest bit of wind that gently rustled her brown hair as her gaze scanned the crowd. All was eerily calm given the situation, which only made her more anxious. She could practically hear the clock ticking away in her ears.

Her eyes grew wide as the ground began to rumble beneath her feet. She jumped when the concrete beside her split as a robot clawed its way to the surface. A few more whizzed by overhead as explosions shook the ground. The civilians around her cried in terror and ran as fast as their legs could carry them.

"Go!" She shouted, trying desperately to help them along. A bot ran up beside her and she yanked open the door of an abandoned car, slamming it into the oncoming enemy. The door fell off its hinges as the robot clattered to the ground in pieces. Another quickly approached and she drew her blade, chucking it into the bot's chest as she plucked the pistol from her thigh. She helped a man off the ground and jumped in front of him, firing three rounds at the next robot. She stood there for a few seconds, surprised it had actually worked.

Everly took off toward the heart of the city as the world began to quake once again. Cries rang through the streets as the ground shifted beneath her feet, the sound of crumbling rock filling the air. She skidded to a stop at the sight of Steve standing at the edge of a bridge that had been ripped in two. Her eyes grew wide as the opposite side fell further away. Her heart sunk when she realized it was really them who were rising. The entire city of Sokovia was flying.

"Do you see?" Ultron's calm voice echoed across the sky, each of his robots relaying the same message. "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." Everly slowly walked up beside Steve and he glanced over at her before his gaze returned to the distant ground. "When the dust settles, the only thing living in this world," His hand curled into a fist which he raised beside his head, clunking against the helmet of an approaching bot. "will be metal."