CHAPTER THIRTEEN:
YOU'RE FORGIVEN

TO SAY SALEM DIDN'T SEE it coming when Fury appeared from nowhere with a helicarrier would be an understatement. He had brought a chance for them to get the citizens of Sokovia to safety, and so that's what they were all currently doing. They ushered the people into the boats, putting as many on them as they could before sending them back to the helicarrier. Salem could see Rhodey killing the bots from a distant, a small smile forming on her face before she went back to doing her job. She shared a look with Wanda, nodding her head at the woman before they led that next group of people onto the lifeboats. Suddenly, Tony's voice filled their comms.

"Thor, I got a plan!"

"We're out of time. They're coming for the core." Thor responded.

"Rhodey, get the rest of the people on board that carrier." Tony oredered.

"On it." Rhodey answered.

"Avengers, time to work for a living."

"Oh yay, the fun stuff." Salem smiled before she walked over to Clint who took her hand, allowing her to teleport them both to where Tony and Thor were. when they appeared, they started to fight off the bots that were already coming. One by one, all of the avengers joined in, except for Natasha and Bruce who they were all patiently waiting on. The bots stopped coming for the moment, but they all stayed prepared in case more were to come.

"Romanoff? You and Banner better not be playing "hide the zucchini."" Tony spoke.

"Relax, Shell-head. Not all of us can fly." Natasha retorted. She soon joined, looking at Tony as she said, "What's the drill?"

Tony pointed to the core. "That's the drill. If Ultron gets a hand on the core, we lose."

Salem couldn't help but smile when she saw Natasha, taking the quiet moment to give her a side hug before removing herself. Natasha smiled gently at the teenager before they all directed their attention to Ultron who appeared in front of the church.

"Is that the best you can do?!" Thor shouted, looking at the robot. Salem glared at the god, mumbling curses under her breath as she watched Ultron raise his hand, allowing a giant wave of robots to appear behind him.

"You had to ask." Steve sighed, glancing at the god.

"This is the best I can do." Ultron told him. "This is exactly what I wanted. All of you, against all of me. How could you possibly hope to stop me?"

"Well, like the old man said. Together." Tony said. Hulk let out a roar and like that, the fight was initiated.

Robot after robot crawled into the church, trying to touch the core, but the avengers were too fast. Salem continuously teleported, using her knives to stab them, or her hands to rip off their heads. Wanda used her chaos magic, trying to keep in control and make sure she didn't hit anybody. Pietro sped around, punching his fist at the robots and shattering them. Vision would use the mind stone to his abilities, occasionally flying up to destroy a robot that tried to dive for the core from above. Tony used his blasters to obliterate the bots. Thor used his hammer, swinging it and shattering them into pieces. Steve used his shield to knock them away or to stab them in the chest with it. Natasha used her widow bites, gun, and electronic batons to kill them whilst Clint used his bow and arrows to shoot them dead.

The fight continued to get more and more tense, and Salem stood beside Wanda, swallowing as she let out a breath before narrowing her eyes and fighting her way through what she could feel her body draining. She continued to jump from robot to robot, stopping only when she noticed Vision taking hold of Ultron and throwing him out of the church. He used his mind sotne to melt the robot, Tony and Thor joining him. When they stopped using their powers, the robot looked at them with his face half melted.

"You know, with the benefit of hindsight. . ." Before he could finish, Hulk appeared and punched him away. Salem let out a breath, placing her hands on her knees as she tried to gain her strength back.

"Are you alright?" She looked up when she heard Wanda speak. The Sokovian woman looked down at Salem who offered her a tired smile.

"Yeah, I'm alright. Just need to gain my strength back."

"We gotta move out." Steve spoke, gaining the others attention. "Even I can tell the air is getting thin. You guys get to the boats, I'll sweep for stragglers, be right behind you." he was looking at Clint and Natasha as he said this, both of them nodding their heads.

"What about the core?" Clint asked.

Wanda was the one that quickly spoke up. "I'll protect it." Salem stood up from her leaning position to look at the female. A frown was etched on Salem's face and Wanda glanced between Clint and Salem before saying, "It's my job."

Salem couldn't help the smile that twitched on her face as she nodded her head. Wanda met Salem's eyes, the two staring at each other for a brief moment before Salem turned away and walked over to Clint and Natasha. Natasha sent the girl a small smile before they all leave to help the citizens get onto the boats. Clint was driving a car he found, Natasha in the passengers seat whilst Salem sat in the back.

"I know what I need to do." Clint spoke. "The dining room! If I knock out that east wall, it'll make a nice work space for Laura, huh? Put up some baffling, she can't hear the kids running around, what do you think?"

"Oh lord." Salem rolled her eyes.

"You guys always eat in the kitchen anyways." Natasha shrugged.

"No one eats in a dining room." Clint nodded. They reached the lifeboats and Clint looked at Natasha before saying, "We don't have a lot of time."

"So get your ass on a boat." Natasha retorts, exiting the car before looking at Salem and pointing at her. "You too."

"Only if you promise you'll come back." Salem told her. Natasha looked at the teenager for a moment before offering a small smile.

"I promise." With that, the redhead ran off.

"So, let me ask you a question." Clint said as they both exited the vehicle.

"Hmm?"

"You still like her, don't you."

Salem furrowed her eyebrows. "I'm afraid I have no clue who you're talking about." Clint shook his head as a chuckle escaped his lips. The two entered a lifeboat before they heard a mother calling out.

"Costel? We were in the market. Costel?!"

Clint looks around and Salem looks at the man before watching him run off to find the boy. "Clint!" She shouted after him before muttering curses under her breath and going after him. She stopped when she made it beside of Thor and Steve, a huff falling from her lips as she narrowed her eyes, watching as Clint found the boy and picked him up. And then, suddenly, gunshots started to go off. Salem's eyes widened and she looked over to Clint who had turned his back, holding the boy close to his chest. She went to teleport, but Steve grabbed onto her and used his shield to keep her from harm. She let out a fit of coughs as dust filled in her lungs.

She looked up, her eyes searching for Clint. "Clint?!" She yelled, running in the direction he was in. Steve followed her close behind and both of them stopped when they saw Clint looking down at Pietro's body. Multiple gunshot wounds filled his body and Salem covered her mouth. She felt her eyes fill with tears, her heart aching as she knew that Wanda was going to be heart broken.

"Wanda." She whispered before running off.

"Salem!" Clint shouted after the girl.

"I'll be back!" She called after him. Clint yelled her name again but she just kept running. The man cursed under his breath before picking up the boy. Everyone headed back to the lifeboats, Steve checking for straggles still, Tony and Thor preparing to blow up the flying city, and Salem was running around the city in search for Wanda.

"Wanda!" She shouted, hoping for a response.

"Sal, where the hell are you?" She heard Clint say in the comms, but she ignored him. She continued running. And then suddenly, everything started to go up. Salem let out a gasp, knowing that the core had just been activated. She clenched her jaw in determination before teleporting until she found Wanda. The woman looked at her before Salem grabbed hold of her and closed her eyes tightly, teleporting them onto the helicarrier. And as soon as they landed, Salem passed out.

***

A groan fell from her lips as she opened her eyes. She blinked, her eyes looking around the unfamiliar looking hospital room before her eyes fell on Wanda, she frowned slightly. She noticed Wanda messing with her fingers before the girl looked up, catching Salem's eyes. She straightened slightly as Salem sent her a weak and tired smile.

"Hey," She croaked.

"Clint came to visit, but he said he had to go home. And Natasha was about to come in here. I can leave if you want-" She started to stand up , but Salem grabbed hold of her hand, stopping her.

"Stay." She looked at Salem for a moment before nodding her head and sitting back down.

"After what happened. . . what I did. . ." Wanda started, frowning. "Why would you save me?"

Salem smirked slightly before saying, "Everyone makes mistakes, Wanda. You didn't know what you were doing. And it took me a few days to realize that, and now that I have, I forgive you."

Wanda's eyes brightened a little before she frowned again. "I don't deserve your forgiveness."

"Wanda, look at me." Salem spoke. Wanda's eyes met Salem's and the latter offered her a small reassuring smile. "Me and you, we're just kids. We've barely lived. We're in the stage where we're supposed to make mistakes, but we learn from those mistakes. We constantly need forgiveness, and until we can get into the flow of things, it'll be like that. So, yes, you do deserve my forgiveness. and whether you like it or not, you are forgiven."

Wanda looked at the woman and smiled gently. Salem smiled back in response. "You know. . . I think this is the first time we've had a serious conversation."

Salem let out a small laugh. "Cherish it, it's not something that happens often."

Wanda smiled at this before she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and stood up. "I, uh, have to go. I'll be back."

Salem nodded her head. "See you soon, sweetheart."

Wanda looked at the woman, fighting off a smile before she said, "Don't call me sweetheart." She turned her head, walking out of the room. She could no longer contain her smile when she could hear Salem laugh at her response.

End of Part One