By the time you reached Leipzig, the battle between your friends, your family, was well underway. It was hard for you to distinguish teams though, as there were so many insular battles happening within the whole of the fight, that it was hard to track just where the loyalty lines were drawn. Maria had brought you in as close as she could get you safely, her vehicle taking a descent hit when a truck barreled through the air and landed in a massive fireball only a few feet away.

"Are you kidding me right now?" you hollered out to her over the chaos, with her in the driver's seat next to you. "This isn't just some argument! They look like they're actually trying to kill each other!"

"You need to get out there! Get someone to see that you're still alive, it's the best shot we've got!" she yelled back while trying to maintain control. "Get Steve to see you! He can stop anyone on his side! Make sure that Tony knows you're here!" She brought the truck to a quick stop when she saw Iron Man land just beyond where the flames had erupted, pointing you towards him and waiting for you to jump out before getting herself out of the line of fire.

"Was this a part of the plan?" Natasha asked Tony as he lifted her from the ground, bringing her up to stand at his side.

"Well my plan was to go easy on them, you wanna switch it up?"

"Tony!"

"(Y/N)?" he called back, in complete shock at the sight of you. "What the hell are you doing here? You were supposed to be with Hill, where it's safe. You're not supposed to be here. Who even told you where we were?"

"(Y/N)?" Natasha practically squealed, but her voice began to falter and her attempt at surprise only ended up sounding like a pitiful whimper that deteriorated into almost nothing. "You're...you're alive? How...?"

"I can't explain that right now, Nat, I'm sorry," you deflected, keeping your focus on Stark. "Tony, is this why you disappeared? You and Steve are fighting? You have to stop this before someone gets really hurt."

"Dammit, (Y/N), you're not supposed to be here," he repeated, this time to himself in a low growl, looking around urgently for any threat that could be headed your way. "I want you out of here, now." Tony reached out and wrapped an arm around you to lift you from the ground, but before he could take flight, he got a call from Rhodes that Steve's team was making a run for the jet; he was torn between his two duties, but one had to take precedence. "Stay here until I can get back," he commanded, releasing you and grabbing Nat's hand, taking flight and heading towards the tarmac.

"Like hell I will," you argued, breaking into a run towards his destination. There were scattered fires in every direction, and sirens blared around you in a deafening pitch; the airport had become the Avenger's personal battle field and they were wasting no time at all in shredding it. You ran as fast as you could, and even with your best effort, as you reached the line that had been drawn between them, the two groups were beginning to move towards each other. You didn't know if you could make a difference, but you had to try. "Stop!"

Wanda turned first, her crying gasp stopping Steve in his tracks. Sam couldn't stifle his laugh of delight at the sight of you, and Clint decided that no matter how the fight would play out, he couldn't continue one second more without making contact with you to be sure that you were real.

"(Y/N)?" Steve choked out, jogging up to you. "Oh my god, they told us...they said you were dead...that they found your body..."

"Steve, please, you have to stop this," you urged, ignoring his shock. "Nothing can be so bad that this is the way to handle it. Nothing can be so bad that it can't be forgiven. No matter what's come between you and Tony, it can be fixed, right?"

The Captain turned away and glanced over his shoulder at Tony's team, still standing firm in their line and ready to continue their assault. Even if he tried to make amends now, he couldn't shake the feeling that this was too far gone, and that the cuts had been made too deep. Bucky stood next to him, looking at you with a million questions in his eyes as to who you were, and as much as Steve wanted you to know his friend, he couldn't stop to take the time. "I'm sorry, (Y/N), but there are things going on here that you don't understand."

"Try me," you challenged, but your only reply was a shake of his head in determination. Even when you tried to reach out to take his arm and hold him back, he recoiled away. "Cap..."

"(Y/N)...I...I'm sorry. I'm so relieved that you're okay," he offered quickly, turning away and into a run, reluctantly followed by the rest of his team. "Please, just get somewhere safe. You don't need to be a part of this. I'm so sorry."

You tried to call out to stop him, but your pleas fell on deaf ears; you thought that you could maybe count on Clint or Wanda to hesitate, but whatever was happening was enough for them to follow his lead, and all you could do now was stand by helplessly as the battle began again. The two teams ran at each other with angry determination that you had seen from them on the most violent missions, and it terrified you to your core at the idea that any of them might not get out of this one alive. What was worse, was that it would be at the hands of people that they called friends, and the aftermath would shatter them forever.

"Hill, what do I do?"

"I'm swinging around to get you," she answered back in your comm, "hold your position there, unless you're getting in the way."

"I have to do something. I can't just stand here and watch them do this to each other."

"Stay. There."

You couldn't help it; the drive to stop them was too much, and you let out a loud groan in reply, only to rip the device from your ear and toss it aside as you broke into a sprint towards the center of the action. As you ran, your mind was moving as fast as your feet, trying to figure out which of your former team would be your best bet to approach and stop; you had thought it would be Tony, but his insistence on fighting despite your urging for him to stop left you feeling suddenly cold towards him. Nat or Wanda might be a good choice, but your assassin best friend was nowhere in sight, and Wanda was too busy trying to keep anyone from actually getting themselves killed. You caught sight of Clint and began to make your way towards him, but before you could get more than a few steps into your path, a towering shadow suddenly appeared and darkened the ground beneath you.

"Holy shit! Who the hell is that?" you exclaimed, coming to a quick halt. By the time that you had stopped gawking at the immense form of one of Steve's teammates, you looked back to where you had seen Clint and found him now fighting with someone in a black cat suit. "This is just getting weirder," you muttered, seeing Maria's truck racing towards you. "I'm not leaving!" you yelled out to her and turning to leave, but with a squeal of tires against the asphalt, she spun the vehicle to come to a stop to block your progress.

"Get in the damn truck, (Y/N)!"

"You brought me here to stop this, so that's what I'm trying to do!"

"Yeah, and it's not working all that well, now is it? Get in the truck!"

"If someone gets hurt or killed, and I didn't do everything that I-"

The roar of jet engines shook the sky over your head, and the shape of the quinjet created a shadow big enough to cool your skin as it blocked the sun. "No, no, no," you groaned, desperation filling you as you searched for anyone left on the ground that might be willing to hear you. Vision was only a few hundred feet away, kneeling at Wanda's side, and he quickly became your target; it was a focus that wouldn't last, however, when he shot a blast into the sky that would bring another of your friends spiraling towards the ground, out of control and at speeds that no one would be able to stop, not even Tony, who was giving fast chase. Your pace built up to the fastest that you had ever moved before, sprinting towards Vision and calling his name to get his attention before he could take flight without you.

"Viz! Wait! Get me out there!"

"Take my hand," he commanded, reaching out for you. His feet left the ground before he had his grip on you, but you were able to take a hold with both hands to hang precariously as he flew at speeds that left you a little nauseated despite squeezing your eyes shut to try to avoid it. You opened them only when you felt your feet once again hit solid ground, but the sight in front of you left you wanting nothing more than to close them again; Rhodey wasn't moving, and Tony was looking as panicked as you had ever seen him.

"(Y/N)," he panted, "please...can you do it?"

"I don't know," you whispered, kneeling at Rhodey's side, "get it open."

Tony and Vision began to work together to pry Rhodey's suit apart so that you could make contact, despite Tony's growing rage towards him for causing this accident in the first place. Sam landed just behind you and offered his apologies, but Tony wasn't having it, firing a warning blast that knocked him down, and came within only inches of hitting you too.

"You want to watch where you aim that thing? Sam, you okay?"

"I'm...okay..."

"Sorry...I didn't mean...I'm sorry," Tony stammered, still cutting metal away to get to his friend. You knew that in this state, he was compromised and wasn't acting like himself, so forgiveness was readily given. "There, is that enough?"

You slid a hand carefully into the area that Tony had cut away, wincing when a jagged edge scraped along your skin, but you didn't pull back; you could feel the warmth of your own blood running down your hand and between your fingers, but you did your best to put that out of your mind so that you could focus on Rhodey's injuries and not your own. You laid your injured hand over his chest and closed your eyes, searching for what it was that you needed to heal. "Tony, I don't know...this is...this is bad."

"Please, (Y/N)," he begged softly, "please try."

"This could take everything..." You took a deep breath and turned to look at Tony, which you should have known would be a mistake before you even considered it. The pleading and pain in his eyes shook you, and there was no other answer that you could give him, "I'll try. But Tony, I can't guarantee-"

"I know."

Putting your other hand atop Rhodey's forehead to steady yourself, you closed your eyes and tried to focus on exactly where the laceration in his spinal cord was, and to see the structure in your mind. You could feel tony moving closer to you, now out of his suit and watching you intently with every ounce of hope that he could muster. "This is why I came here," you whispered to him, "to stop something like this from happening."

"I know that too."

"You're not who I thought you were, Tony. None of you are."

"(Y/N)-"

"I can't be a part of this team anymore," you sighed, "not if this is how easily you can choose to hurt each other. This didn't have to happen."

"I don't want you to leave," he urged, his voice sounding even more desperate than when he asked you to do the work you were doing now, "please, (Y/N), I don't have anyone else."

"Then you should have thought about the consequences..." Your voice trailed off slightly, your energy surging into Rhodey and leaving you increasingly weaker. Healing another person always took some of your strength, but the work that you usually did wasn't this intricate and essential to do exactly right. One incorrectly joined nerve would leave him paralyzed for life, or worse, it could destroy pathways that controlled a vital organ. "I don't know if I can..."

"(Y/N)?" Vision joined in, sensing the drain that the procedure was having on you. "(Y/N), your heartbeat has slowed considerably."

"Hey, sweetheart, don't do this if it's too much for you," Tony quickly backpedaled, coming back to the reality of what was happening. "I don't want it to hurt you too."

"Just...catch...me..." you answered, feeling the last of what you could offer your friend coursing through you and into him, your vision darkening and your ears pounding with the sound of your slowing pulse. Maybe this was why Maria brought you here. You had known this was the risk you were taking, but if draining the last bit of your power to fix Rhodey's injury might possibly teach Tony a lesson and get him to see that he needed to be the one to fix this situation if no one else would, then it was worth the chance that your eyes might stay closed forever.