CHERRY POP-TARTS
"You think Fury restocked the kitchen back at the tower?" Elizabeth asked as she tied her hair up into a ponytail. Sitting in her seat on the Quinnjet, she looked to Natasha and Clint who sat in the cockpit. "Or at least told someone to do it?"
Clint continued on pressing some buttons that she had no idea even had a purpose as he responded to her. "Why?"
Natasha turned in her seat to look at Elizabeth. Seeing the way that Elizabeth avoided any eye contact Natasha immediately knew something had happened. "What did you do?"
"I may or may not have eaten most of the Pop-Tarts," Elizabeth admitted as she retied the laces on her boots.
"Wait, so you didn't finish it?" Clint repeated what she had said as she nodded her head in confirmation. "Then what did you leave left?"
"The cherry ones," Elizabeth mumbled.
Clint and Natasha both laughed at her with shake of their heads. "Yeah, you messed up." Natasha told her as Elizabeth grumbled out an 'I know.'
"Thor hates that one," Clint told her as if she didn't know. "You should definitely restock it once we get back."
Crossing her arms across her chest defensively, she sat up straighter in her seat when the jet took a quick turn. "I don't get why we even get that flavour anymore," Elizabeth said. "The only one who likes it is Bruce and he doesn't even eat it sometimes."
"He just leaves it in there incase he feels like it," Natasha explained. She stood up at the same time as Elizabeth and they both made their way to the back of the jet, ready for their cue. Elizabeth rolled her eyes at the mans familiar ways.
"Alright," Clint began as he pressed a button to open to door to the Quinnjet. "You two ready?" He yelled over the harsh wind that blew into the jet.
Natasha and Elizabeth stared at the sleek black motorbike that sat by the open space in the floor. Elizabeth shrugged the green flannel that she wore off her shoulders and tossed it to one of the empty seats. The thin grey t-shirt she wore blew lightly in the wind along with some stray strands of her hair.
"So who's back and who's front?" Elizabeth asked loudly with a glance at her partner. Natasha simply rolled her eyes before climbing onto to the front of the bike. "Guess I'm back then," she answered her own question before climbing onto the bike and wrapping her arms around her waist.
"You know," Elizabeth began once more over the loud wind. "In other situations this might not be so bad," she flirted as she readjusted her arms around the redheads waist.
Natasha scoffed as she started up the engine of the bike, adding to the loud noise around them. "Buy me dinner first," She retorted playfully.
The pair stared down at the streets below that passed by in a blur of colours. In the front seat of the jet, Clint lowered the jet until they were hovering a few metres of the ground. "Give em' hell, ladies." The archer gave the pair their cue before Natasha revved the engine and dropped them onto the road below.
Cars passed by them in a blur as Natasha definitely went over whatever the speed limit was in Seoul. The two of them swerved in between cars as they rushed to their destination. It was loud with the sound of car engines and the wind blowing through her ears. Elizabeth would lean to the side whenever her partner would, not wanting to make it any harder for her.
In between two lanes, Elizabeth saw the upturned outline of Steve's shield. The passing cars making the piece of metal move ever so slightly. Patting Natasha on the side of her leg, Elizabeth alerted her of the shield.
Accelerating, they made a beeline toward the shield, making sure to avoid crashing into the side of any close cars. "Boys," she said to Natasha with a shake of her head over the wind. Reaching out to the side just in time, Elizabeth scooped up the shield in her arms before sitting up right.
"They're heading under the overpass," Clint's voice came in over the radio. The archer kept a close eye on Steve and the truck that held the body. "I've got no shot."
"Which way?" Natasha asked as the pair came close to an intersection up ahead.
"A hard right," Clint answered slowly. Waiting for the right moment, he watched the bike from the tracker on the screen of the jet carefully. "Now," he said just in time for Natasha to make a hard right into a lane between rows of shops.
Elizabeth kept a tight hold onto both Natasha and the shield, not wanting either herself or the piece of metal to fly off. Following the road they were on, Natasha and Elizabeth ended up going through a narrow alleyway as they saw the figure of the truck up ahead.
Natasha increased speed just in time to come up to the side of the truck. On the top of the vehicle they saw Ultron holding Steve in a tight choke hold. Slowing down momentarily, Natasha gave Elizabeth just enough time for her to throw the shield up to Steve's hand, helping the man to maneuver his way out of the situation.
"You're next," Natasha turned to face her for a moment before dragging her eyes back to the road. Once again slowing down, Elizabeth stood up on the bike ready to jump inside the truck to get the cradle. Suddenly, a part of the road, no bigger than a car rose up in front of them. Making Natasha slam on the breaks.
Acting as fast as she could, Elizabeth jumped off the bike and onto the piece of the road. Jumping up once more, she tried to make it inside the truck. However, she overestimated the distance and landed on the roof of the car. Cursing under her breath she looked up just in time to see Ultron blast Steve with his laser beams and send him flying back into the cars behind him.
Groaning at what she knew was about to some, she stood up straight to face Ultron on the other end of the truck. "Hello again," Elizabeth waved with her hand sarcastically before firing a blast of energy at the robot.
Ultron deflected it easily before approaching her with a raised fist. She ducked out of the way just in time. Clenching her fists, she sent an uppercut to the metal chin of the robot. As Ultron stumbled backwards slightly, she winced lightly while shaking her hand. Elizabeth wasn't a super soldier like Steve, so she should've expected that punching metal would hurt her too.
"Clint," Elizabeth heard Natasha say over the radio. "Change of plans. You think you can draw out the guards?"
Ultron tried to come at Elizabeth again but she sent blast after blast of energy at him. Making sure to keep the metal man as occupied as she could for however long Natasha would need.
"Let's find out," Clint answered the red head. "But what about Ultron?" He asked.
Just then, Steve jumped up onto the truck beside Elizabeth. She looked to the blond who gave her a nod of his head before replying to Clint. "Lizzie and I got him."
"Copy that," the two heard Clint say before the radio went silent. Steve saw what Ultron was doing before she did. Ultron had raised his fists and fired a laser beam straight at Elizabeth. Steve pulled her close to himself as he raised the shield to protect them both.
When the two pulled apart, they saw that Ultron was being shot with bullets from above. Clint saw that he had managed to do his job when Ultron's puppets saw and made a move to fly up into the sky. Proceeding to attack the jet.
Steve and Elizabeth continued their attack on Ultron relentlessly. Not leaving any space for rest. Steve threw his shield at Ultron causing him to take a step back. Finding the perfect opportunity, Elizabeth fired a blast of energy from her hands powerful enough to send him flying back into a beam that held the highway above them.
Annoyed at her, Ultron quickly recovered and flew straight at Elizabeth. Worried for his friend, Steve ran over to her and protected them both with his shield. All three of them were pushed off the moving truck and into one of the carriages of a nearby train that was still moving along the rails.
The glass shattered around them as they broke into a large window. Steve and Elizabeth quickly stood up and checked their new surroundings to see if anyone was in any immediate danger. The cart was half-full and Elizabeth instructed everyone to head as far back as they could and away from Ultron. Who was now, beginning to rise from his place on the floor.
"They're heading back towards you," Clint said through his earpiece as he watched the two robots he had lured out of the truck make their way back. "So whatever you wanna do, do it now."
Picking his shield up off the ground, Steve threw it at Ultron. It bounced off the metal body and came back to him. Steve moved out of the way just in time as Elizabeth threw another burst of energy the robots way.
"I'm going in." Natasha's voice came in through their earpieces. "You two doing okay?" She aimed her question toward Elizabeth and Steve.
"Could be worse," Elizabeth replied through heavy breaths. The two stood on either side of Ultron as they put up their best fight.
Ultron swiped a hand at Steve, sending him to the ground as he knocked his head on one of the seats harshly. "But could also be way better," he added through a pained groan.
Turning to face Elizabeth, Ultron raised his metal fist and punched her in the stomach. The action made her feel the wind get knocked out of her as she doubled over in pain. She took a step back and fired at him only for him to side step it, making her blast the door to the cart clean off its hinges.
When she got close enough, she front kicked him in the chest hard enough to send him back into Steve. The man jumped onto the robots back as he punched at the head while Elizabeth sent a round of blasts to his chest.
For a moment, Elizabeth actually thought they had the upper hand. But then Ultron fired a laser beam from his fist that grazed the side of Elizabeth's thigh. She dropped to one knee out of surprise and pain. Inspecting the wound, she saw that a chunk on her flesh had been seared clean off.
The wound was red and had parts of her cargo pants that melded slightly with her flesh. There was a faint smell of burnt flesh as she watched blood slowly drip out of the wound and down her leg.
Brushing the pain she felt away, she stood up to help Steve. The man was pinned against the wall of the carriage as Ultron landed punch after punch on him. Steve's shield that he held up to his body being the only thing keeping Ultron from tearing into his flesh.
Suddenly, a blur of blue came in through the carriage and knocked into Ultron with enough force to make him stagger back and away from Steve. In the back of her mind, Elizabeth knew she had recognised that blur somewhere.
Pietro Maximoff stopped his running to stand right next to her where she leaned on a seat for support. He sent her a smirk that said 'you're welcome,' before watching his sister on the other end of the carriage. Unsure of where he stood now, she decided not to punch him in the face and focus on the other Maximoff twin.
Ultron stood in front of two poles that were now crossed to form an 'x' with a red hue around it. Wanda Maximoff stood in front of the robot with a determined expression on her pretty face.
"You don't want to do this," he said to her sadly.
Wanda shook her head at him. "What choice do we have?" She responded through gritted teeth. Something must have happened for the twins to change sides so suddenly. Last, Elizabeth checked the two were ready to put her six feet under, but now they were helping them.
Ultron shook his head disappointedly before raising his fist and sending a laser beam straight through the metal poles and to the front of the train. Wanda ducked just in time to avoid her head from being cut clean off. The robot went to the side of the carriage and flew out through the large hole, not taking another glance back.
Across from her, she saw Steve on the floor with his back resting against the seat. When he saw what had happened he got up from the floor and made his way to the front of the carriage. "We lost him!" He exclaimed into the radio.
Elizabeth made her way to Steve up front. The driver was slumped over the control board, there was no blood anywhere but when Steve tried to shake the man awake, he didn't budge. "He's heading your way," Elizabeth told Clint as she looked out of the train and into the sky.
In the air, she could see the blurry outline of Ultron approach the Quinnjet. She cursed as she lowered her gaze to right ahead. "Steve," she muttered to get his attention. The two stared in horror as they saw the buffer stop at the end of the train tracks with the train showing no signs of stopping.
Soon enough, the train ran straight through its stop and continued on the streets with a loud screech. The train went through countless crates, bins and other things as it didn't halt its movement.
"Guys," The two heard Clint's voice. "Do you see Nat?" He sounded worried and frantic as he searched for his best friend.
The two in the train peeked their heads out of the broken windshields as the looked out for her. "If you have the package just go!" Steve said as the wind blew in their ears from the destroyed windows.
Elizabeth looked up at him with hesitance in her eyes. Steve looked at her and saw what she was silently asking him. 'Are you sure?' Her face said with a grimace. She didn't want to leave anyone behind, that wasn't what they did.
But Steve knew that the main priority now was the package. The body that Ultron could use to lead to the worlds destruction. "If you have the package just go. Get it to Stark," Steve said with a sigh.
"Do you have eyes on Nat?" Clint persisted, not willing to leave without Natasha. At their silence on the other end, Clint grew restless. "Do you have eyes on her?" He repeated again.
"Clint, you have to go." Elizabeth tried to reason with him in a softer voice. Elizabeth could hear him begin to protest but then it went dead on the end of the line.
The two at the front of the train shared weary glances before heading back to the Maximoff twins. Pietro stood by Wanda's side as her hair flew all over the place from the wind. The people on the train had moved as far back as they could, leaving their carriage empty.
"The civilians in our path," Steve instructed Pietro with a glance out the window. "Move them out of the way." Pietro nodded before heading out the side of the cart in a blur of light blue.
Steve turned to Wanda with hope in his eyes. "Can you stop this thing?" He asked her. Wanda looked at the hesitantly before nodding her head slowly.
Elizabeth looked at Steve, already knowing what to do. "I'll head to the front," she told him. She made her way to the front of the train with a limp as she tried to ignore the burning pain from her leg.
She stood by the broken windshield, watching as the warehouse that stood in their path come closer and closer into view. Elizabeth felt all the heat rush to her hands before lifting them up in front of her. The minute she saw the the steel gray doors and brick wall come close enough for her, she fired a blast of energy right in front of her.
She did it twice for extra measure, wanting to make sure that no bricks managed to come into the train and injure anyone onboard. A hole appeared in the building, large enough so that the train could pass through with no more damage than the edges scraping the sides.
Up ahead of the train, she could see people running to avoid getting hit. Those that didn't have enough time to react were moved aside by a fast blur. Feeling the floor beneath her shake, there was another loud screech as the train slowly came to a stop.
Sighing out in relief, Elizabeth slowly made her way out of the train. Feeling that the people around her were slightly panicked, she was somewhat glad that there was no pain other than her own. Seeing Steve talking to Pietro and Wanda by the side of a building, she limped her way over to the three.
"I'm very tempted not to give you one," She heard Steve say to the twins once she came to stop beside him. Steve glanced over at her for a minute before extending a hand to her when he saw her leg.
Wanda stood beside her brother who was trying to catch his breathe. "The cradle," she started worriedly. "Did you get it?"
"Stark will take care of it," Steve answered.
The twins shared a secretive look and Elizabeth could tell that they were both filled with dread. "No, he won't." Wanda shook her head at them.
"Listen," Elizabeth wanted to stick up for her friend. "Tony isn't a bad guy, it's not like he's crazy." Steve backed out from the conversation to check on the rest of the team through the radio.
Pressing her lips into a thin line, Wanda turned to look at Elizabeth. "Ultron can't tell the difference between saving the world and destroying it," she informed them. "Where do you think he gets that?" Elizabeth looked between the twins with a heavy sigh as she lowered her gaze to the ground.
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