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had already made them a day behind, and they did not want to waste another second.

"Get what you need." Steve ordered.

Everyone was grabbing anything that would be of use. Clint loaded up his bow pack, the twins were given better clothes to wear, and Alex put on her suit. Tony had given her a similar piece of tech that he had; it was a small box that enabled her to put on the suit at any given time. He had also added a small mask that only went over her eyes that allowed her to read energies more clearly.

She had contemplated going to see Loki, but Tony advised her not to. She needed to focus, and Loki was only a distraction.

They finally boarded the jet, and Steve gave some words of encouragement.

"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 going to happen today. But, we can do our best to protect them. Find what Ultron's been building, find Romanoff, and clear the field."

"Ultron thinks we're monsters." Alex spoke up. "That we're what's wrong with the world. This isn't just about beating him, it's about whether he's right."

Steve smiled at her, proud she was stepping into her role on the team.

The jet started, zooming off into the sky. Alex sat next to Thor, who was impatiently tapping on his hammer.

"What do you think about Joule?" She asked.

"Like the precious stone?"

"No, it's what energy is measured in--I guess that goes in the reject pile."

"The harder you think about it, the harder it'll become." Bruce called from the front of the jet.

"Oh, yeah? Where did you even get the word 'Hulk'?" She retorted.

"Not everyone can think of a kickass name for themselves, and that's okay."

"Yours is literally 'Iron Man'."

"Sticks, doesn't it?"

The banter died down as the jet landed. As soon as they touched down, they moved to evacuate the city. Wanda mind controlled many citizens to leave. Pietro ran, quite literally, all around town spreading the word. Alex guided cars out, and Steve yelled at people to move. It was beginning to get chaotic as people rounded up their families to get out.

Tony flew off toward the church, where his new system 'Friday' directed him to go.

Then, the bots attacked. Blasts flew everywhere in the sky, and people screamed. The citizens were not fully out, so the group tried to contain the fire. They began their work. Steve took out bots with his shield, and Clint used his bow. Alex froze bots, then kicked them over so they'd break before they thawed. Wanda remarkably created a whole shield around a group of people so they could run.

Thor was using his hammer to destroy bots, and Pietro ran through dozens of them. He ran over to Alex, who was standing above seven broken bots. She looked at him, grinning.

"Does it look like I need help?"

"Not yet." He said before racing off.

Vision was working to destroy Ultron's inner mind network, but he was attacked in the middle of it. Ultron had something in the middle of the church, and Tony didn't know what it was just yet. Thor had made his way into the cave where Ultron created his machines. He looked around, confused as they lit up.

A split started to draw itself into the cobblestone road, and created a perimeter of the city. The ground shook, catching the team off guard.

The city began to lift.

"Do you see the beauty? The inevitability? You rise to fall." Ultron's mechanic voice spoke loudly. "You, Avengers, are my meteor. The Earth will crack with the weight of your failure."

"Purge me from your computers, turn my own flesh against me. It doesn't matter. When the dust settles, the only thing living in this world will be metal."

The fighting commenced as the city kept rising.

"Cap, you got incoming." Tony spoke.

"Incoming already came in. You worry about bringing the city back to safety. The rest of us only have one job: tear these things apart. If you get hurt, hurt 'em back. If you get killed, walk it off."

"Uh, I'm reading thermal of a very strong energy that just entered the atmosphere--it looks like the scepter." Alex spoke as she fought off some bots. "You've got to be fucking kidding me."

She looked up to meet what was in front of her. Loki was in his fighting armor, the scepter in his hand.

"What in the absolute fuck are you doing here?"

"Helping."

He shot a blast out of the scepter that took out two bots at once. He smirked at her, and she scoffed.

"Team, we got an ally." Her voice was defeated.

"Who?"

"Loki," You could hear the grin in Thor's voice.

"Did you let him out, Thor?" Alex demanded.

"I do not recall doing such a thing."

She kept fighting the bots that surrounded her and Loki. She froze some, and drained others. He shot more blasts, but they just kept multiplying. Loki crouched down, allowing Alex to run on top of him to slam her foot into a bot. Finally, Loki slammed the scepter down, and the momentum swept the bots. Alex was breathing heavily as she looked to him.

"Nice shot."

"Don't act as if we're friends. I know how much you want to slit my throat." He spoke.

She laughed, tapping her earpiece. "I would, but I'm quite busy right now."

Pietro came zooming over, ignoring the threatening look from Loki. As he picked Alex up, she gave Loki a sarcastic salute and a smirk. With that, Pietro zoomed off to another area of the fight.

The Hulk was now in the fight, smashing everything in his path. Clint helped Wanda dodge a group of bots, who was a mess.

"It doesn't matter what you did, or where you were. If you go out there, you fight, and you fight to kill. If you step out that door, you are an Avenger."

"Go kick some ass, Wanda." Alex called through the system.

Steve and Thor helped people who were about to fall off the flying city. Wanda finally stepped out of her hiding place, using her extraordinary powers to obliterate the bots in sight. Pietro picked her up, bringing her to Steve where he left Alex.

"Alex, duck!"

Steve threw his shield above her, breaking the bots that were attacking her. Tony was still figuring out how to save the city.

"Impact radius is getting bigger every second. You're gonna have to make a choice."

"Cap, these people are going no where. If Stark finds a way to blow this rock--" Alex tried.

"Not until everyone is safe." He spoke. "I'm not leaving this rock with one civilian on it."

"I didn't say we should leave."

He looked at her. "Look who's gotten her hero wings."

"Don't be condescending." Alex chuckled. "But what better view to look at while dying?"

"I'm glad you like the view, Clark." Fury's voice sounded over their system.

The helicarrier came rising up next to the city. They all looked in awe as it settled.

"Fury, you son of a bitch." Steve laughed.

"You kiss your mother with that mouth?"

Smaller ships flew out toward the city, ready to take civilians. Bots flew toward the ships, but another force stopped them. Rhodey, in his war machine suit, had come to assist. They used hundreds of civilians to the ships, helping them board.

"Thor, I got a plan." Tony heaved.

"We're out of time. They're coming for the core."

"Rhodey, get the rest of the people on board that carrier."

"On it."

"Avengers, time to work for a living. And where the hell is Loki?" Tony yelled.

"In the church with us." Alex responded.

"Loki's here?" Clint responded.

"Yeah, didn't you hear? Tweedledee, Tweedledum, and Tweedle-Stupid over here wanted to be a little fighting trio."

Alex rolled her eyes at Tony's remarks. "You're acting like I want him here."

"I can't hear whatever you all are communicating about, but I can sense it's not very polite." Loki shot blasts of light out of the scepter.

All of them were in the church now, keeping as many bots out as they could.

"What's the drill?" Natasha asked.

"That is the drill," Tony nodded to the structure in the middle of the church.

"If Ultron gets a hand on the core, we lose."

They all were together now, looking at Ultron who approached the church. They stood tall, ready for anything he would throw at them.

"Is that the best you can do?!" Thor yelled, Mjölnir in hand.

Ultron held up his hand, and his clone bots came running to him. "This is the best I can do. This is exactly what I wanted. All of you, against all of me."

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

The bots unleashed themselves onto the group. They fought back, surrounding the core. Alex drained whatever she could, desperately keeping them away. Loki shot a couple of bots that started toward her, and she pretended not to notice.

For every bot they killed, it seemed that three more were in its place. But, they fought together, and that's what mattered.

Tony, Vision, and Thor unleashed their power together on Ultron. It almost worked, but what really took him out was the Hulk smashing right into him.

The bots then ran off, attempting to escape.

"We can't let them leave, not even one. Rhodey," Tony spoke frantically.

"I'm on it," Rhodey flew toward the bots.

"The air is getting thin, you guys gotta get to the boats. I'll handle stragglers." Steve ordered.

"What about the core?"

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

"Steve, I'm staying with you."

"No, Alex, go to the boats." He argued.

"You heard the man, let's go."

"You don't even try to argue with me." She shot at Loki.

Clint and Natasha drove to the boats, rounding up the remainder of the citizens. Wanda stood next to the core, protecting it with her life. She sent Pietro to finish off the citizens, not letting him stay with her.

That left Alex and Loki.

She fought off the bots that didn't stray, using her bare hands this time. She ripped the arm of one clean off, kicking it backward.

"Nicely done,"

"Are you going to help or are you just going to stare?"

Loki chuckled, firing up the scepter. Side by side, they fought. It was working until more bots began to crawl upon them. Suddenly, a bot sliced at Alex's arm, ripping her suit. She hissed in pain, her veins beginning to glow.

Loki looked over at her, his eyes raking over her body. He was instantly distracted by how tight her suit was on her body, and the mesmerizing sight of her veins shining through the cracks.

But what really amazed him was how she had grown into her power. Alex screamed, holding the bot so tightly it exploded. She breathed heavily, kicking the shrapnel out of her way. Surrounding them was multiple broken bots, their parts scattered on the rubble.

He threw down the scepter, and started for her. She had barely any time to react as he grabbed her face, smashing her lips to his. She was so shocked, she didn't move. Fluttering her eyes closed, she began to move her lips against his.

Pulling back, she blinked. "That was amazing, but now is not the time."

He only smirked. They ran back to the edge of the city where the helicarrier was still boarding citizens.

Meanwhile, Tony was desperately trying to fix their impending issue.

"Thor, I need you back in the church. If this works, we maybe don't walk away." Tony said.

"Maybe not." Thor raced to the church.

Over near the edge of the city, Clint raced to save a young boy as Ultron fired multiple shots down on them from his newly acquired jet. He held tightly onto the boy, shielding him.

Thought it happened fast, it all happened in slow motion to Alex. She watched as Pietro sprinted to Clint, picked him up, and carried them to safety. She grabbed Loki's hand as she realized what had just happened.

Covered in bullets, Pietro collapsed to the ground.

Steve and Alex ran over, looking to Clint. He felt for a heartbeat, but by his grim expression, they knew they'd lost a teammate. Alex picked up the child in her arms, carrying him somberly back to the helicarrier.

Clint carried Pietro's limp body, setting him down on the craft before he himself collapsed from exhaustion.

Alex was sitting on the helicarrier, and she felt the fatigue taking over. It was a different type of fatigue, however. It didn't come from using her powers; it was emotional fatigue. Her eyes began to close, sleep threatening to take her.

As the helicarrier raced off into the sky, her head fell sleepily against Loki's shoulder.

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𝚠𝚘𝚠 𝚘𝚔 𝚕𝚘𝚝𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚘𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚘𝚙𝚎 𝚞 𝚐𝚞𝚢𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎𝚍