WHIPLASH ▷ QUICKSILVER !

Chapter 04: Wonderwall

‹ maybe, you're gonna be the one that saves me/cause after all, you're my w o n d e r w a l l ›

"I have to go with Bruce!" Florea cried, actual tears brimming her eyes. The rest of the Avengers shared nervous looks. They never had much experience when it came to Florea getting upset; it was usually Natasha who was able to calm her down, but at the moment, Natasha wasn't there.

For the past hour, they had been distributing labor for their next mission. J.A.R.V.I.S' synthetic body version, named Vision, had calculated Ultron's next move. After his plans to tap in to the world's internet codes, the Vision predicted Ultron's final act. The replication of Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event, in which Ultron would raise the city of Sokovia in to the atmosphere and use it as a meteor to wipe everyone out.

Florea had come in to the meeting when it was halfway through, only to find out she wasn't the one-man party assigned to rescue Natasha who was under Ultron's captivity.

"I have to save her!" Florea sobbed. Tony whispered something to Bruce, who then scuttled out of the room. Thor was patting Florea's back awkwardly. "Florea, saving Natasha isn't too complicated," Steve said, distressed. His eyes shifted uneasily towards the other men in an implied message of 'help me'. "Bruce is competent—"

"And you're saying I'm not?" Florea snapped, bursting in to more tears. Bruce came back in with the Maximoff twins in tow. "What did you do to her?" Pietro growled, at Florea's side in an instant. He placed his hands on her shoulders in an act of protectiveness, and his concern put a smirk on Tony's lips. It was quite obvious how much Florea meant to this twin.

"We're explaining to her how saving Natasha can be done by Bruce alone, and we'd prefer it if she was with a bigger group." Steve told Pietro and Wanda. Pietro's grip on Florea's shoulders loosened, and he looked down at the girl. "Tell them I can do it!" Florea demanded, turning to the twins. The Maximoffs glanced at each other; Wanda being the braver one to speak their thoughts.

"Flo, I think Steve's right..." Wanda began hesitantly, but she was cut off when Florea wailed. The Damion girl turned to look at Bruce, practically pleading: "Bruce, tell them I have to be there! Tell Steve you need my help!"

Bruce looked torn as he twiddled his thumbs together, avoiding Florea's eyes. "F-Flor, Natasha would like you to be safe," he mumbled. "If she where here, I-I'm sure she'd prefer you were with the rest. It doesn't endanger you that much."

All the hope in Florea's expression drained at Bruce's words. She sniffled, wiping her eyes with the back of her fist. "You're all unbelievable," she hissed, wrenching herself free of Pietro's grip and practically bolting out of the room.

"I've got her." Wanda and Pietro chorused at the same time, before leaving to comfort Florea.

[ . . . ]

Florea was, in the simplest of terms, pissed off. At everyone. She didn't want to talk to anybody, which resulted to her locking herself in to her room. This wasn't a rare occurrence in the Avengers household. Florea often got in to moods where she simply did not want to deal with whatever shit was going down within Steve and Stark's bickering or the likes; but during all of those times, Natasha had been there to coax Florea out.