If I Burn (Avengers/Agent Carter Crossover)

How it Begins. . .

Ultron had won. The human race was dead.

Their planet had gone up in flames, charred beyond recognition. All of the buildings were gone. They were now tangles of steel that the remaining animals used to hide. Maybe, if Natasha was optimistic, there were people hiding down there as well. But she doubted they had any sort of humanity left. They weren't human anymore. None of them were.

Earth's Mightiest Heroes had failed everyone.

Natasha's legs dangled off the edge of their escape craft. There were families inside. Children were crying. Natasha was being forced to take a break. She supposed she understood Steve's sentiment of him wanting her to sleep. She wished Steve would understand that she would never be able to unseen the destruction Ultron had caused and Natasha hadn't been able to prevent. This was so much worse than anything Natasha had done while still in the Red Room.

She couldn't get the noises and images out of her head. Pietro had died a human shield to save her Hawkeye. Sam and James were somewhere in America when the world had been destroyed. They hadn't even had a chance to defend themselves. She wasn't even sure what had happened to Bruce. There were rumors that he had taken off in one of Tony's untraceable ships or that Ultron had captured the Hulk. She remembered Wanda's howling sobs as Natasha rushed her onto the ship. She wondered what would have happened if they let Tony activate the Vision—There was a slight rustle next to Natasha that snapped her out of her thoughts. She spun to the side, expecting it to be Ultron. They were hiding from him now. The Avengers were too weak to face him.

Clint was there, a worried furrow was evident in his brow. He scanned Natasha and seemed to be trying to approach the subject they had avoided for the three weeks after the city fell.

She looked to his lips. She fully expected him to start speaking, trying to shout over the loud winds. But, instead, he began signing. He made two thumbs up that pointed to his chest. He folded them over so the thumbs pointed at her. He crossed his pointer and middle finger and brought those outwards from his lips. He then pointed at her. How are you?

She shook her head. She didn't want to communicate. There was nothing she had to say or sign. She just wanted to stare at the sea below them. Clint understood her need. He wrapped his arm around her. Natasha leaned into his chest. She allowed herself a moment of undeserved comfort. She was selfish.

Then the ships alarms started screaming. Ultron had found them.

Agent Carter's eyes snapped open and she shot off the bed. She frantically reached out and flipped on the lamp. She was growing tired of these frequent nightmares. Each night they grew worse. She was afraid that one of these times she would knock something over in her fright and wake Angie.

She threw on her robe and slippers and silently trudged past Angie's room. Tonight was Angie's first night on Broadway. Peggy couldn't ruin Angie's beauty sleep. If Angie was cranky while on stage, there would be no way she could score a role larger than a minor character. Her entire career was on the line. Peggy didn't want to be the one to ruin Angie's chances.

So that's why for these last three weeks, Peggy suffered alone. She had pulled out the entirely too strong coffee recipe Bucky had made for Steve during the war, it was the only thing keeping her going. By the time she made it to the kitchen it would be worthless to head back to bed and pretend to be asleep. So, she softy turned on the hums of jazz music and tried to make Angie and herself breakfast. So far, Angie hadn't asked why there were spectacularly large, burnt breakfasts waiting for her every morning for the past three weeks.