Old Soul (Captain America/Steve Rogers)

30

<Narrator's Pov>

Steve and Vision came to the streets, immediately greeted by the violence. If Steve had to compare it to any fight that he's fought before, he could easily see the similarities in both this battle and the skirmish between Loki and his forces in Manhattan.

Fighting their way to the center of the battle, Steve and Vision found most of the others, holding their ground while fighting back to back. Wanda, Bucky and Thor fought in the middle while the Hulk tore apart the outer edges of the fight. Tony, Sam, and James were in the air, taking down the many aircrafts the flew in to deliver reinforcements. Clint stationed himself in a building floor, shooting arrows wherever things were getting too crowded. And that was pretty much everywhere.

Steve joined the three, as that's where most of the chaos was. Vision decided to get a better perspective and hover above them, knocking some of the stragglers that got past Banner.

"There's too many!" Wanda shouted as a spark of red shot out of her hands. "They just keep coming!"

"Abort?" Clint questions from above, listening in via ear piece.

"No," Steve replies. "We stand and fight!"

"It's getting crowded, Cap," Sam notes, chasing down a jet. "They're not backing down."

"And neither are we!" Steve responds without hesitation. "If we pull back now, what's to stop them from attacking us?"

No one replied to that, realizing that Steve was right. Hydra would only realize that S.H.I.E.L.D. was weaker than they appeared and launch an attack.

But Steve wasn't just fighting and encouraging the others to do the same just to prevent an attack. He was fighting on behalf of everything Hydra has put him through, emotionally and physically. From brainwashing Bucky to trying to experiment on Avalie, he's been through hell and back because of Hydra. And because of that he had never fought with more purpose and determination before now.

"Now lets get organized!" Steve demands after letting his order sink in. And he did what he did best: he commanded his army like the captain he was.

"Captain," Wanda says as the Avengers change their positions to fit his orders. "What about the threat?"

Steve furrows his eyebrows, slamming his shield against someone's head as he considers what Wanda asked. "That's a good question," he admits grimly.

•••

Meanwhile, Avalie sat next to Natasha, dabbing her forehead with a wet cloth. Bored, she mindlessly started to sing, an old folk song her grandmother sung to her when she was little.

Over the hills
I skip away
Down grassy slopes
Blowing dandelions astray
Picking flowers as I go
I make bouquets
To bring back to mommy
At the end of the day
So take me home
Winds and ways
Because the sky
Is rather gray
Come back I will
For I cannot stay
But when it's sunny
I will come say hey

Avalie finishes the song, not  realizing that there were sad tears in her eyes until the rhyme ended. Reaching up to wipe her eyes, Avalie shook her head in disappointment in herself.

If only her grandmother knew where she was now, practically lying in her own grave. And not only did she walk into her own fate, but she brought the others to their deaths as well. She knew exactly what her grandma would say. "You can't expect things to get better just because things have gotten worse," she would mutter while shaking her head.