♡

"Is it over?" Vex grumbled through her earpiece, her eyes closed tightly as she held back screams of pain. She had to break her leg again so that it would heal right and it hurt worst than when it originally happened.

"Not yet no. Don't worry, you're still getting that kiss when it's over," Steve reassured her after a few moments. "How do you feel?"

"Like shit," she replied harshly, feeling pain flood through her again. Steve winced at the sound of her voice, feeling sorry for the brunette.

"Stop being mushy on the comms!" Clint shouted as he barged into the shack in which Vex sat, Wanda running in right behind the man. "We can hear you!"

His frown fell when he noticed the state Vex was in and struggled to say anything. The woman noticed and she smiled slightly.

"I got taken out by a damn robot," she said, "threw me into some rubble and the rubble happened to have glass in it as well."

Clint flinched at the sound of it and flinched again when a piece of glass fell out of Vex's leg, on its own. "Alright well..Wanda may be having a mental breakdown so I'm leaving her here with you."

Wanda, who was quiet the entire time, watched as Clint left. Her left eye was twitching and Vex noticed how she held her hands at her sides, her fists balled up.

"What happened out there?" the woman asked hesitantly, eyeing the brunette carefully. Wanda didn't answer for a while, and Vex assumed she hadn't heard her.

"I-this is my fault. I helped him. If I hadn't helped Ultron, none of this would've happened," Wanda spoke with tears in her eyes and her irises flashed red.

"Wanda this would've happened with or without you. Yes, you helped speed up the process but who cares. You didn't start this...but you can help them finish it," Vex told her, groaning right after.

"What about you? Are you going out there?" Wanda watched Vex's movements, something she always did when she was in the woman's presence.

"I can't. Cap's orders." Vex offered Wanda a weak smile but the latter saw right through it, frowning as she moved closer to her.

"I can help you, can't I?" Wanda questioned, inspecting Vex's injuries. "I can do what you do, and can't you heal people?"

"Yes, but it takes practice and it will physically drain you. It can drain you mentally as well and that's not good," Vex shook her head, backing away from Wanda.

"You are more experienced than I am." Wanda's mind was already set as she rolled up her sleeves and pulled her hair up. "They need you out there, not me."

Vex waved her hand, her eyes glowing madly as she moved back even more. "Listen to me Wanda, I-"

"I," Wanda began, her eyes glowing as well, "am a teenager. Do you want a teenager on the battlefield?"

"Kids really aren't on my mind right now, but thanks for asking," Vex smiled sarcastically, before she took her hair out of her loose ponytail and put it up again so that it was out of her face.

She spoke quickly as she tried to teach Wanda and part of her was terrified. If Wanda messed up at any time, she could injure Vex more, she could even kill her. The woman would never tell the teenager that though, since she didn't want to put more pressure on her.

Vex bit her lip to hold back from screaming as Wanda held her hands out, red energy emitting from them. Her injuries were illuminated, turning a deep scarlet color, and they started to heal even quicker. She caught the brunette before she could fall over, and sat her down correctly.

"I did it," Wanda managed a weak smile, though Vex was able to feel the happiness radiating off of her.

The anti-heroine nodded, a smile of her own on her face. "Damn right. Now stay here, I'll send your brother to come and get you, alright? Your energy should come back to you in about half an hour."

Wanda nodded, wanting to rest for a while. "I understand. Now go save the world for me," she smirked. "Try not to screw up."

"You little bastard, you're like my carbon copy," Vex shook her head as she stood up, a smirk of her own on her face. "Ridiculous."

The brunette offered the younger female a smile before she left, shouting a quick 'thanks' as she ran off. Her eyes landed on Steve fighting and he didn't seem to be winning.

"We need to get to the machine, it's in the middle of the city!" Tony shouted, Vex pressing her earpiece and replying quickly before she advanced on Steve.

He was tossed over the broken bridge and Vex killed the robot, sighing in relief when he held on to the edge. She rushed over, her head hanging over the bridge as she glanced down at Steve. The blonde man nearly lost his grip at the sight of the brunette and he struggled to find the right words.

"You are supposed to be resting," he scolded, earning an eye roll from Vex.

The brunette scoffed before she reached down, helping Steve up. "Now is not the time for this Steve. We have to save the world."

Steve smiled as he grabbed the brunette's hand, squeezing it. "That's called character development."

Vex snorted though she couldn't help but smile as well. "If we don't get to that machine, it's going to be called 'world extinction'."

The blonde's face fell as they began to run towards the middle of the city. "That's called a mood killer."

♡

"Why isn't he dead yet?"

Steve glanced at Vex, who had spoken, before he glared over at Tony. "Ask him," he said, throwing his shield towards a few robots.

"Are we seriously still doing that?" his voice broke through the comms and Vex smiled slightly as she fought.

Wanda's energy had been restored, and the teen fought alongside the woman, focusing on killing as many robots as she possibly could. Vex was proud of her and made a mental note to congratulate the teen later. She ducked just in time, Steve's shield flying past her at an incredible speed. It ricocheted off of the dead robot and Vexed grabbed it, using it to kill another one.

"I guess we are," the woman shrugged, throwing Steve his shield back.

The robots weren't stopping; Vex noticing how as soon as they killed one wave, another one was already waiting for them. It was tiring but Vex had to press on, as did the Avengers and the twins. The city began to elevate even higher and Steve had left with Tony and Natasha to help civilians into the helicarrier, leaving the twins with Vex.

Thor was thrown next to Vex by Ultron but his body was destroyed by Vision, who arrived just in time. The red android eyed the hammer oddly, a frown on his face.

"This thing is terribly well balanced," he commented, throwing the item back to its owner.

The blonde man shrugged, rolling his shoulders. "Well if there's too much weight, you lose power in the swing, so."

"Thor! I got an idea!" Tony yelled through the earpiece and Vex resisted the urge to rip it out, wincing in pain. The woman tried her best to take down the robots, and she even worked with Thor to take them down quicker.

"We're out of time," Thor told the man, "they're coming for the core."

"Well as long as I'm here..and these kids, they're not getting near it," Vex promised him, earning a respectful nod from the Asgardian.

"Avengers, time to work for a living!" Tony announced, most of the Avengers filing back in as he spoke. "Romanoff! You and Banner better not be playing 'Hide the Zucchini'!"

Natasha scoffed over the comms, the sound of an engine filling Vex's ears. "Relax shell-head, not all of us can fly."

Steve offered Vex a small smile as he entered the small space and looked her over when she turned the other way, making sure she had no serious injuries. The brunette did the same to Steve when he began to fight, relief flooding through her when she realized that his injuries were only minor. Vex also glanced over at Wanda, making sure that the teenager was alright.

This was her mistake though, as she felt something hard connect with her side. The woman was thrown to the side -again- and took Steve down with her. "Please stop doing that," the blonde male squeaked, gently pushing Vex off of him.

Vex scoffed, narrowing her eyes as she dusted herself off and continued fighting, ignoring the limp she had. "Oh shut it, that wasn't intentional! I didn't ask to be thrown like a rag doll!"

Steve glared over at her as he fought beside her. "Well maybe if-"

"I swear you two argue like an old married couple," Natasha grumbled, grunting as she took down another robot.

"Don't worry, you and Banner will be like us in no time," Vex reassured the red-head jokingly, shock flooding through her when she received a smile from the Russian-born woman. "Did you just smile at something I said?"

Natasha shook her head, trying to keep the smile off of her face. It broke though and Vex grinned like an idiot, causing the Avenger to snort. "Don't get used to it."

"We gotta move," Steve announced suddenly, noticing how the robots retreated along with Ultron. "Even I can tell the air is getting thin. You guys get to the boat, I'll sweep for stragglers, be right behind you."

"Oh, and refrain from making decisions that you'll regret later," Steve told Vex, pointing a finger at her.

"I'm regretting the decision I made coming here," Vex grumbled, brutally taking down a robot.

"Alright, that was slightly scary," Steve commented meekly. "But hurry up, I don't want you staying here long. Get your ass on that helicarrier, okay?"

Vex nodded as Natasha left behind Steve, along with Clint and Tony. The only ones left were her and the twins, though Pietro was about to leave. He glanced over at his sister, who looked like she had no plans of leaving.

"Go," Wanda urged. "I'm going to stay here with Vex, go!"

Pietro hesitated and Vex looked at Wanda warily, a frown on her face. "Wanda, you need to go with your brother!"

Wanda shook her head violently, her hands twitching involuntarily. At the moment, she felt the need to stay near the brunette and she wasn't going anywhere. "I'm staying here with you!"

"I'm not leaving you here," Pietro said angrily, narrowing his eyes at his stubborn younger twin sister.

"I can take care of myself," Wanda replied, using her powers to take down three robots at once. "Understand?"

"You know," Pietro stated as he began to leave, "I'm twelve minutes older than you." Wanda smiled at her brother and Vex couldn't help but smile at their interaction.

"Well I'm almost twelve years older than the both of you and I say 'Pietro get your ass out of here'." Vex shooed Pietro away and received a smile from the silver-haired teen.

The two were alone for a while, occasionally fighting off robots who dared to enter the church. Vex couldn't sense anyone -besides Wanda of course- around her and pressed her earpiece. "Are all the civilians safe?" she asked, waiting for someone to reply to her.

"Yeah," Steve told the brunette. "Everyone else is on the carrier. You can come back now, Tony and Thor can handle it."

"Steve, I can-"

"Vex, don't argue with me on this, please," Steve practically begged the brunette as he stood by the helicarrier, looking out in the distance as if she'd magically appear. "Come back. I don't want you on this thing when Tony and Thor blow it up."

The woman held her tongue, and went to reply when Wanda let out a shrill scream. Vex groaned and placed her hands over her ears, watching as all of the robots in the church -as well as the ones that were in close proximity- were killed in an instant. With quick feet, Vex managed to catch Wanda before she fell to the floor, and held her in her hands as she sobbed.

Vex comforted the teen as she mumbled about her brother being dead. Her only family left, just gone. Vex's heart went out to Wanda, not saying anything as she held the teenager close to her. Tony and Thor entered the church, their sights set on Ultron's machine.

"You two need to leave! Now! Unless you want to get blown to smithereens," Tony advised the females.

"Wanda, we have to go," Vex ushered the girl, her voice surprisingly soft as she spoke to her.

Slowly, Wanda stood to her feet, her legs shaking in the slightest. Her face looked void of all emotions and glanced over at Vex for a moment before she looked outside of the open church.

"Go. I will meet you there," Wanda told the woman, not even bothering to look at her. "I have to do something first."

Vex hesitated, but hearing Steve's concerned voice through the comms made her hug the teen once before she ran off search of the helicarrier. With her enhanced hearing, she heard Thor and Tony attempting to break the machine and she picked up speed, hoping that she -and Wanda- made it to the helicarrier in time.

Steve spotted the brunette and sighed heavily in relief, making his way over to her. She didn't notice him though, and she still looked around, trying to find him. "It took you long enough."

He jumped back when Vex shouted in surprise and smiled slightly. "Maybe-"

The blonde didn't get to finish before Vex launched herself at him, pressing her lips against his. He held the woman close to him, not able to hide the smile on his face as they kissed. Vex's right arm was thrown over his shoulder, her hand wrapped securely around the base of his neck. She pulled away first but leaned in for another one when Steve didn't let her go.

Steve breathed heavily as he held her, the smile still written on his face. "I think that was way overdue."