time lapse ⇒pietro maximoff

XXIX

Eden

The moment the quinjet brushed the ground, my wings had spread. In their full lush, the grey hues elegantly fanned out and my barbs hung gracefully, swaying subtly with each motion I made.

The whole ride to Sokovia was relatively silent, aside the words of encouragement from my brothers. They had faith in me- in my ability. They didn't think I would need their help, but gave me a special word to say if I did. 

The back of the quinjet opened, the fans whirring to a slow murmur outside. I got to my feet, along with Pietro, and we were the first to exit and survey the area. The mission was to evacuate as many people as possible, then bring the fight directly to Ultron. 

"Come on my love, we've got a mission to carry out." Pietro said to me, and I nodded, and he released my hand, pecked my lips with a cheeky grin, and sped off to father-knows-where to evacuate citizens. My hero...

I lifted into the air, all six of my wings flapping harmoniously, and I spotted a shopping center, with more than a thousand people inside. I then heard rapid gunfire and explosions, and I knew that Ultron had made his descent into Sokovia.

I darted into the shopping center, and the people trapped inside were screaming in fear, but once I squeezed inside, their screams began to subside. I held my hands out at the blocked exits and the white energy surged from my veins, blasting the blockade and opening an escape route.

I touched down onto the ground, watching the surging sea of humanity make their way out of the shopping center and outside.

"Please find a dock and please load all women and children in first to safety!" I called out to the people, and they seemed to listen, to some extent. The strength of command in my voice startled me. Perhaps my brothers' faith really resounded within me. 

The people fleeing at various paces were all too concerned to the damage to their city and homes to really pay attention and heed  my words, but I saw to it that they made it to the edge of the city to safety. I saw the occasional silver and blue streaks, knowing it was Pietro, at work.

"Ultron knows we're coming. Odds are we'll be riding into heavy fire." Steve said through our ear pieces, he made us put them in our ears to ensure we could all communicate. Steve made the point especially clear for me, since we weren't all Archangels of the Lord. I felt my heart squeeze at the sound of Steve's voice in my ear. What if he got hurt? He was certainly what humans call a 'best friend' to me. 

"And that's what we signed up for. But the people of Sokovia, they didn't." He continued.

"So our priority is getting them out."

"We're under attack. Clear the city, now." Tony curtly responded, and I hung onto every word. 

"All they want is to live their lives in peace. And that's not going to happen today." I heard from behind me and I jumped.

I saw Steve behind me, and he took his mask off and clipped it to the hook above his back pocket.

"You're a little distracted." Steve remarked. The usually reserved Captain had seemed to be full of words today.

He's angry, he wants to make sure you're fired up and prepared to ride into battle. Gabriel said in my head and I grimaced for a second.

"We will do our best to protect the people, and we will get the job done." I said to Steve, alerting him that I'm fully focused. I wore a mask of total ease, trying to reassure Steve that he had nothing to worry about. I am here to protect and serve.