[1] Tigress || Wanda Maximoff ||

Chapter Nine

"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." Steve is giving an inspirational speech on the quinjet to Sokovia, Kat is seated next to Wanda. "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. And we can get the job done, and find out what Ultron's been building. We find Romanoff, and we clear the field. Keep the fight between us. Ultron thinks we're monsters and we're what's wrong with the world. This isn't just about beating him. It's about whether he's right." At the end of the speech, Wanda turns to Kat.

"What if you get hurt?" Clint glances to them and clenches his fists about his eldest getting hurt. "What if you're taken away from me?" Wanda has tears in her eyes when Kat looks at her.

Kat cups Wanda's face in her hands, "If I am killed, I will always be with you no matter what. If I am taken away from you, I'll fight like hell to get back to you." Wanda smiles slightly and Clint smiles at his hands knowing his daughter had found something pure in this messed up world. And for the first time ever, Kat says the words Wanda had been dying to hear, "I love you."

Pietro's head snapped up and Wanda's lips parted in surprise, they didn't think Kat could ever get those words out. Kat had always thought those words caused vulnerability, like the Red Room drilled into her head. But Kat beat their training and let someone in.

"I love you too," Wanda said back and held onto the hands cradling her face. Wanda moved so that she was curled up into Kat's side while holding her hand. Her head on Kat's shoulder, they stayed like that the whole way to Sokovia.

"Let's go," Steve ordered once the quinjet landed, Wanda hopped out and went to the middle of the city. She took control of the minds of the civilians, making them leave the city. Kat was with Wanda, to protect her as Pietro ran around.

*^*^*

Ultron's army of robots starts to come out of the ground and attacks the city as everyone is evacuating. Wanda and Kat are at the bridge with Steve, Kat rushes some kids over to the other side.  "Do you see the beauty of it? The inevitability?" Ultron's voice rings through the city. "You rise only to fall. You, Avengers you are my meteorite, my swift terrible sword. And the Earth will crack at the weight of your failure. Purge me from your computers, turn my flesh against me. It means nothing. When the dust settles, the only living thing in this world, will be metal."

"Go!" Steve yells while destroying robots. Kat snapped around and decapitated a robot that tried sneaking up on her.

"Get off the bridge! Run!" Wanda orders the civilians while using her powers to rip bots apart. Kat grabbed Wanda's hand and pulled her out of the oncoming missiles way before it hit her. They looked at each other and nodded before fighting again.

"Cap, you got incoming." Stark came over the comms and Kat groaned at his voice in her head before going back to fighting. She roundhouse kicks a bot and slices it in half.

"Incoming already came in. Stark, you worry about bringing the city back down safely. The rest of us have one job: tear these things apart. You get hurt, hurt 'em back. You get killed, walk it off." Kat snorts at Steve's response but shoots her arrows before seeing Wanda going into a building, followed by her father. 

"Go, go, move!"She keeps fighting but focuses on their conversation with her hearing. 

"How could I let this happen?" Wanda starts to break down as Kat fights her instincts to comfort her and protect the civilians.

"Hey, hey, you okay?" Her father throws out questions.

"This is all our fault." Wanda whimpers.

"Hey, look at me. It's your fault, it's everyone's fault, who cares. Are you up for this? Are you? Look, I just need to know, cause the city is flying. Okay, look, the city is flying, we're fighting an army of robots, and I have a bow and arrow. None of this makes sense. But I'm going back out there because it's my job. Okay? And I can't do my job and babysit. It doesn't matter what you did, or what you were. If you go out there, you fight, and you fight to kill. Stay in here, you're good, I'll send your brother or Kat to come find you, but if you step out that door, you are an Avenger." Wanda just looks at him. "Alright, good chat." He gets up and gets ready to leave, "Yeah, the city is flying." He leaves and starts shooting his arrows at the robots and nods to Kat.

 As Clint and Kat are fighting off the robots Wanda suddenly comes out of the building and starts to use her powers on the robots to destroy them. Kat looks to her girlfriend and smirks, "Have I told you how hot you look when you're fighting?" Wanda laughs and blushes a little while Kat shoots her arrows.

"Alright, we're all clear here." Clint said into the comms while looking around and glancing at his daughter.

"We are not clear! We are very not clear!" Steve shouts over the comms and Kat help but laugh a little. Clint smiles at his daughter and the female twin.

"Alright, coming to you." They start jogging in the direction of Steve. Just then Pietro speeds in, picks up Wanda, along with Kat, and leaves.

"Keep up old man!" Pietro shouts playfully. Clint lifts his bow and aims in the direction of the speedster that took his daughter and made fun of him.

Clint drops his aim and starts jogging, "Nobody would know. Nobody. "The last I saw him, when Ultron was sitting on him. Uh...yeah, he'll be missed, that quick little bastard. I miss him already."" 

*^*^*

Steve speaks into the comms, "The next wave's gonna hit any minute. What have you got, Stark?"

"Well, nothing great. Maybe a way to blow up the city. That'll keep it from impacting the surface if you guys can get clear." Stark's answer doesn't calm anyone's nerves.

"I asked for a solution, not an escape plan."

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

Natasha suddenly speaks up, "Cap, these people are going nowhere. If Stark finds a way to blow this rock..." She trails off.

"Not 'til everyone's safe." Steve persists and Natasha looked at him.

"Everyone up here versus everyone down there? There's no math there." She knew there was going to be some casualties.

"I'm not leaving this rock with one civilian on it."

Natasha sighs, "I didn't say we should leave." Steve turns to look at her, "There's worse ways to go. Where else am I gonna get a view like this?" Natasha looks to the scene in front of her, the clouds were a perfect pink with the sun coming just over them.

Nick Fury's voice is suddenly heard, "Glad you like the view, Romanoff. It's about to get better." The Helicarrier show up. Inside the Helicarrier, "Nice, right? I pulled her out of mothballs with a couple of old friends. She's dusty, but she'll do."

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

"Oooh! You kiss your mother with that mouth?" Fury jokes.

Pietro and Kat suddenly appear nearby, taking in the sight. "This is SHIELD?" Pietro asks and looks to Steve.

"This is what SHIELD's supposed to be." Steve muses and looks at the duo.

"This is not so bad." Pietro admits and Kat pats his back while turning to her teammates.

"Let's load 'em up." She announces and everyone moves to help the civilians.

As Kat helps people, her teammates try to come up with a solution. 

"Thor, I got a plan!" Stark frantically said over the comms in a hurry.

"We're out of time. They're coming for the core." Thor answers. Kat helps an old lady onto the flying passenger seats.

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

"On it."

"Avengers, time to work for a living." Stark announces, Kat makes her way to the church with Pietro.