DISAPPEAR

As soon as the rubble had been picked up off of Tony, he was on his feet again. He was determined to take down Steve, his fury guiding his actions. He didn't waste a second spitting at Ileana, demanding her to find Barnes. 'The sooner the better', he'd said. The weight of the mission lay on her shoulders, and it was crushing all of the life out of her. 

She nodded quickly, intent on finding the child spider. He was the last one to have seen them, there was a chance that he knew where they would be next. Her eyes scoured the airport, and she saw a flash of red and blue flying through the air, landing next to Natasha, T'Challa, Rhodey and Vision. Her attention was captured by the people standing directly opposite them, stances defensive. Amongst them, Bucky glared at them defiantly. 

Ileana sighed, jogging in their general direction. She'd found Barnes, as Tony had instructed. Yet he hadn't been so specific on what to do next. It wouldn't be her fault if he somehow escaped her. 

Time slowed down all around them. It took an eon for her to reach her teammates side, mustering all of the hatred within her and blasting it at them forcefully. It wasn't that hard to send a particularly heated glare at Wanda, who reflected all of her anger. Neither of them appreciated what the other did. 

Bucky's head instantly snapped towards her. His mouth opened and closed, as though a question was on the verge of passing his lips. He was stumbling over invisible words, letting them come to a halt when he noticed the ever so slight shake of Ileana's head. If they wanted to communicate, they'd have to do it alone. She could sign him something - there were too many people, it was too risky. Especially with Natasha at her side, someone who understood her native tongue. 

All words were blocked out. She just paid attention to Bucky, taking in every twitch and movement. He was blank, lacking any emotion. It struck her suddenly, the sudden difference in his demeanour since she'd left him. 

He left you, a voice hissed in her head. Ileana clenched her teeth, using all of her strength to block it out. She was going to be a good person, try to repent by saving someone else's life. It was the least she could do, and what she thought of as selfless was actually disguised as a selfish intention. Behind her actions, only a sliver of care remained for Bucky, her kind attitude enforced by a heavy conscience. 

The atmosphere was tense. She could've cut through the air with a knife, all of the faces she glimpsed stony. No one held any remorse or regret for anyone else. If they did, they hid it extremely well. None of them were as cold as Tony's, his face being the only one revealing emotion. Betrayal. Exhaustion. Fury. These all were decorated on his expression, the downward curl of his lips being the only attempt to hide it. This curl didn't move was he spoke, passion projecting out of his words. 

"You're going to tear the Avengers apart." 

Those words rung the clearest. They were heard the loudest by all. They were the ones that sparked a rebellion in Steve's eyes. 

His lips moved, forming a sentence they knew he would regret later on. The certainty he spoke them with shook her to her core - he wasn't going to give up. And that made him dangerous. "Let's fight."

Everyone before her strode forward, whipping out their weapons. Her heart raced in her chest. She was going to get caught up in the very thing she wanted to avoid. They didn't stop their advance, increasing the speed of their strides. Their dead set gaze never left theirs. 

Tony powered forward, enticing all the others to follow. Ileana felt as though she was outside of her body, her feet propelling her forwards in the direction of danger. Her arms swayed at her side, evolving into a pumping action when the other side got nearer. 

They were coming, and they were merciless. 

Ileana knew that their side was more powerful, they had a king on their side for crying out loud, but still her palms moistened. They were embarrassingly damp, her weaponless hands becoming slick. It was now more than ever she resented herself for telling Tony that she didn't need a weapon, stubbornly refusing to hold even a knife, after seeing the terrifying crimson stain her hands. 

Even if their side was more powerful, the others were stubborn. Too stubborn to give up easily. And that meant that there were going to be a lot of casualties. 

They were both running towards each other, all of them crashing together in a clash of weapons. Ileana gasped as a bullet skimmed the side of her face, spinning to Natasha to send her a exasperated glare who only shrugged her shoulders, mouthing 'sorry'. She rolled her eyes, continuing the dodge out of the way of other people's battles. She was awkwardly dancing around the superheroes, waiting for a chance to pounce. 

Bucky was in the middle of it all, battling T'Challa. After telling him so many times to let her do what she needed to do, he let his own agenda get in the way. A low growl escaped Ileana, and she suddenly weaved out of the way of a stray arrow. Of all times she needed to talk to Bucky, he had to be in the middle of the chaos. He couldn't help it, he was a magnet and bad intentions were pulled to him. 

Ileana hovered around the two, pulse rocketing even higher. She had to intervene, to actually talk to Bucky. The only way to do that was for Black Panther to leave. If he wasn't going to leave Bucky alone, she needed to do the unthinkable. Jumping into action, she rushed to where the stray arrow that had come close to impaling her landed, scooping it up. Her hands shuddered under the feather light weapon. She took a deep breath in. She closed her eyes, puffing out a breath, along with all of her anxiety. 

Her eyes opened. Her hands were still shaking, but now she could see the arrow without it becoming a blur. She felt a dark tendril of guilt intertwine itself around her insides: she pushed it back down. 

With a renewed purpose, she charged towards the fighting duo. T'Challa's back was turned to her, and replaying the move in her head she gathered her courage, doing the thing she'd only done once on a normal human, without enhanced reflexes. She flew through the air, twisting her legs around his neck. A surprised cry left his lips, in time with her twirling her hips and flipping the suited man to the ground. She quickly rolled off of him, tucking her legs close to her body and jumping to stand up. Her lips stretched in an apology. 

Before he understood what was going on, she aimed the arrow for his shoulder. 

The weapon crumpled in her hands. His suit remained spotless, her advantage useless. Her face slackened in shock, and T'Challa was on his feet in a blink, squaring up to her. 

"What do you think you're doing?" Venom leaked out of his voice, and she felt it poison her body. Honestly, she had no clue what she was doing, and as far as Tony was aware, she was doing what she needed to do. Get to Barnes. Still, the toxicity of his tone made her gulp. 

How she managed to hold his angry stare, she didn't know. Her knees felt weak, as though they were about to break any minute and fail at their job, letting her collapse to the ground. Her stomach was queasy, knotting and inviting vomit to rise. She defied it, keeping it down. She stood her ground, for one of the first times in her meaningless life. 

If she could speak, she had lots to say to him. She wanted to sass him so badly, and she knew it would be wasted on him if she used sign language. So she did the only thing he understood and shrugged, a satisfaction taking over when his body tensed. 

T'Challa turned away from her, eyes swizzling. He was quiet for too long. Ileana felt anxiety bubble inside of her, and he followed his disbelieving gaze. 

Bucky had gone. 

Ileana bit her tongue to stop the tears flowing. This time she knew that he'd abandoned her willingly. It didn't make it hurt any less. Metallic blood filled her mouth, and she didn't bother spitting it out. 

He was going to pay. 

Sprinting from T'Challa without another word, she let her feet explore every area of the airport. She was assessing where they would go next, where the next tactic lay. Ileana didn't give up, rushing around empty hangars and desolate rooms. Her patience paid off eventually, though it wasn't her deduction that revealed where they were. It was the two people speeding towards one of the hangers she had yet to check, the unmistakable uniform and shining arm exposing them. 

She didn't waste a moment, adrenaline coursing through her veins as she pushed her aching body forward, ignoring the fire building up in her legs and the inferno burning her lungs. Ileana sped up, pumping her arms harder, stray hairs from her braid whipping her in the face. Sweat ran down her face, pooling in the dents in her skin. She still didn't slow down, gaining on the two slowly and steadily. 

They were close enough to make out their facial features, and this was when she knew. She knew that she wouldn't double cross, or save Bucky. Bucky had no problem saving himself, and he didn't care about her. It was time she stopped caring about him too. 

It happened so fast. Vision's laser cut through the ground, stopping the duo in their tracks. Ileana grinned to herself, knowing that this was her chance to catch Bucky and take him out. She would knock him unconscious, dragging his heavy bulk before T'Challa as a peace offering. Her feet stilled, a familiar red magic caressing her feet. Wanda stood there, looking at Ileana with the type of pity she hated. 

"I've seen inside your head, you've endured so much. Don't do this, don't let them endure what you did." A hint of a Russian accent laced her voice, words sickly sweet. Ileana hated them all. 

Wanda moved closer to her, keeping a watchful eye on the duo ahead speaking to Vision. Ileana waited for her to say something else to set her teeth on edge, but she surprised her by keeping her mouth closed. She just kept walking closer, as though she was begging for Ileana to attack. 

So she did. 

Ileana whipped her head forward, whacking Wanda straight in the forehead. Instantly her hold on Ileana's feet was gone, and no longer paying attention to the Russian accented girl, she swayed slightly. Her head was a cloud, and she was moving with it as it rode on the sky. Even though she sped onward, her steps were faltered, and she couldn't reach them in time. The duo had sprinted off, running at full speed towards the hanger. She was close behind, her head cursing her actions and demanding her to close her eyes. Little was she to know, that this was going to become the least of her worries. 

Vision sent his laser beams at the hanger. The ceiling crumbled under the heat, sending the boys in front of her to pick up speed. Ileana sighed breathlessly, pumping her arms extra hard. The asphalt beneath her feet was jarring her bones, and she was coated in sweat. Yet she still powered on, hoping that she would manage to slide into the hanger in time. 

Her feet crossed the threshold, the ceiling above her becoming weaker. Her steps faltered, her panting breaths catching the attention of Bucky and Steve. Just in time to see her shriek, and her form to disappear under the debris.