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mrs-dr-reid · 2 years ago

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Age of Ultron Part 2

Word Count: 7698

A/N: Oh damn, she be THICC!!! Sorry in advance for however long it takes you to read this.

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Status Report:

All right, back to business. Tony’s unintentional murder-bot Ultron began his big evil plan last night, so we’ve been going over strategies like there’s no tomorrow. It’s kind of annoying, yeah, but hey. It’s kind of what we do for a living. We’re pretty used to it by now (or at least I would hope we are).

Steve and I were in the elevator with Maria, and we got out where the events from last night were still very noticeable (the lounge was still a ginormous wreck), before starting to talk business. Maria said, “He’s all over the globe. Robotics labs, weapons facilities, jet propulsion labs. Reports of a metal man, or men, coming in and emptying the place,” and when Steve asked, “Fatalities?”, she replied, “Only when engaged. Mostly guys left in a fugue state going on about old memories, worst fears, and ‘something too fast to see’,” so I said, “The Maximoffs. It makes sense he’d go to them. They have someone in common.”

Maria said, “Not anymore,” then handed me her tablet, which displayed a picture of Baron Strucker, dead, with the word “Peace” written in all caps on the wall behind him presumably in his blood, which made my jaw drop in horror, and a whisper of, “Damn, this guy means business,” escape my mouth when I saw a shiny, metallic body in the right-hand corner. We walked into a room where Clint was on the phone with somebody, and Steve said, “Barton. Might have something,” so he ended his phone conversation, and when I asked, “Who was that?”, he simply replied, “Girlfriend,” and his right eye twitched in a wink-like gesture, so I smiled and stealthily winked back because I knew who he was actually talking to.

All of us gathered together in the lab, and Steve handed Thor the tablet with the image of Dead Strucker. Tony said, “What’s this?”, so Steve said, “A message. Ultron killed Strucker,” and after Thor smacked the tablet against Tony’s chest, Tony quipped, “And he did a Banksy at the crime scene, just for us,” which made me roll my eyes. Nat said, “This is a smoke screen. Why send a message when you’ve just given a speech?”, so I thought for a minute, then said, "Strucker knew something that Ultron wanted us to miss,” and Nat said, “Yeah, I bet he… Yeah,” as the computer she was sitting at beeped. She said, “Everything we had on Strucker’s been erased,” so Rose thought for a minute, then said, “Not everything,” which made all of us shoot a confused look at her. We ended up in a room full of boxes of manilla envelopes from the S.H.I.E.L.D. archives, and we all started digging through all of them to try and find something.

Steve picked up a box, then set it down on a table and said, “There. Known Associates,” so after I riffled through it to get a summary of the contents, I whistled and said, “Baron Strucker had a lot of friends,” earning a nod from Steve and Nat. Bruce said, “Well, these people are all horrible,” then Tony said, “Wait. I know that guy,” when Bruce went to put a particular file on the discard pile, so Bruce handed it to him, and he continued, “From back in the day. He operates off the African coast. Black market arms,” and handed it back to Bruce.

Steve and I both shot him a “Really?” look, so he said, “There are conventions. All right? You meet people. I didn’t sell him anything. He was talking about finding something new, a game-changer. It was all very Ahab,” then Thor pointed to the man’s picture and said, “This?”, so Tony said, “Ah, it’s a tattoo, I don’t think he had it,” but Thor said, “Those are tattoos, this is a brand,” and pointed to a red spot in the man’s skin. Bruce did a cross-match with the image on the computer, then said, “Oh, yeah. It’s a word in an African dialect meaning 'thief’. In a much less friendly way,” and when I said, “What dialect?”, he looked at the screen and said, “Wakanada. Uh, W-w-w-Wakanda,” before turning around again.

Steve and I turned to look at Tony, and he said, “If this guy got out of Wakanda with some of their trade goods…,” so Steve said, “I thought your father said he got the last of it,” and when Bruce said, “I don’t follow. What comes out of Wakanda?”, Steve, Tony, and I turned to look at Eleanor, and I said, “The strongest metal on Earth,” then we turned back to Tony. When Steve said, “Where is this guy now?”, I immediately knew we had a recon mission on our hands.

We took the Quinjet to a salvage yard on the African coast, and we told Bruce to only leave the jet if we conveyed a need for a Code Green (what we like to call a situation when the Hulk is needed/required). We snuck our way into the boat where our perp was hiding out, and we overheard Ultron say, “It’s a thing with me. Stark is… He’s a sickness!”, so Tony said, “Ah, Junior. You’re gonna break your old man’s heart,” then he, Thor, Steve, and I all lined up on the little bridge thing.

Ultron said, “If I have to,” so Thor said, “Nobody has to break anything,” and when Ultron said, “Clearly you’ve never made an omelet,” Tony said, “He beat me by one second,” which made me scoff and roll my eyes at him. The male Maximoff twin Pietro said, “Ah, yes. He’s funny. Mr. Stark. It’s what? Comfortable? Like old times?”, and I knew he was making a jab at how Stark Industries used to be the top weapons manufacturer in the world. Tony said, “This was never my life,” and I put a hand on his metal shoulder, making him turn his head and pat my hand to show that it was okay, so I went back to standing beside Steve, who said, “You two can still walk away from this.”

Wanda (the girl) said, “Oh, we will,” so Steve said, “I know you’ve suffered,” and would’ve continued if Ultron hadn’t scoffed. He chuckled, then said, “Captain America. God’s righteous man. Pretending you could live without a war,” which made my eyes widen in anger behind my cowl, and I clenched my fists. Steve must have noticed, because he put a hand back to somewhat restrain me and hint that engaging most likely would end badly for me. Ultron continued, “I can’t physically throw up in my mouth, but…,” but Thor cut him off by saying, “If you believe in peace, then let us keep it,” so Ultron responded, “I think you’re confusing 'peace’ with 'quiet’,” and Tony said, “Uh-huh. What’s the vibranium for?”

Ultron said, “I’m glad you asked that, because I wanted to take this time to explain my evil plan,” then clenched his fist, and a magnetic field started pulling Tony forward, then lasers shot out of his fingers and pushed Tony back again while Steve, Thor, and I started beating up his weird clone things, the twins setting to work while Tony and Ultron were beating the motor oil out of each other. Wanda shot her magic at Steve when he went to get her, which knocked him back, and I yelled his name before running over and helping him up. I saw a bot flying around above our heads, and after exchanging a look with Steve, he readied himself, I backed up, then ran forward and jumped off the shield to stab the robot in the head with an icicle, then continued sliding around on an ice ramp, taking out a robot here and there before flipping off and landing on the walkway.

I felt a whoosh of air pass under me just before I landed, and Steve went down like he received a sucker punch to the face, so I knew Pietro was messing with everybody. I helped Steve up, then I heard a yelp, a dull hum, and a crash, so I’m assuming that Pietro had tried to grab Mjölnir, and he wasn’t worthy so he went down. Ultron and Tony had taken their fight outside, and we kept dominating. Steve and Thor took out some robots, then Steve and I found Pietro amidst a pile of boxes, and Steve made him get back down when he was just starting to stand up again. Steve said, “Stay down, kid,” and we went off to kick some more ass.

After the fighting had wound down a bit, Steve said, “Thor, status,” and Thor replied, “The girl tried to warp my mind. Take special care. I doubt a human could keep her at bay. Fortunately, I am mighty,” then disconnected. Pietro sped through, then kicked Steve into a pile of spare parts, so I screamed, “STEVE!”, and went to help him, but Pietro picked me up, sped me away, then rammed me into a wall, temporarily incapacitating me. Wanda hit me with some of her magic, and I instantly got a splitting headache, making me wince in pain and let out a groan. I stood up and took my helmet off, and as I walked, a bright light appeared, blinding me.

When I could see again, I was in a church wearing an all-black outfit and surrounded by other people dressed similarly to myself, many of whom I recognized as former S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. Maria walked up to me, then said, “Hey, Steph. How are you feeling?”, so I said, “I’m good, I guess. How are you?”, and she replied, “I’ll power through,” which confused me slightly, but I didn’t address it. I noticed that there was a coffin at the front of the church, and I said, “Is this a funeral?”, so Maria said, “Yeah. I’m surprised you aren’t more of a wreck,” and just as I broke through the crowd to see who was in the coffin, I heard her say, “I mean, he was your fiancé,” and it felt like the world came crashing down around me when I saw Steve’s picture beside the open casket, and his body lying inside it wearing a nice suit, completely motionless. I looked down at my left hand, and, sure enough, an engagement ring was on my finger. Tears started streaming down my face, and when I let out a desperate scream of, “STEVE! NO!!!,” the blinding light came back, and I was lying on my back in the abandoned boat, a few feet away from my original position, breathing hard.

I sat up, and a single tear rolled down my cheek, because even though I knew what Wanda had shown me wasn’t real, that didn’t stop it from leaving a mark. I heard Tony say over comms, “Rosie, I could really use a lullaby,” and Clint replied, “That’s not gonna happen. Not for a while. The whole team is down. You got no backup here,” so Tony said, “I’m calling in Veronica,” and I knew that Wanda had somehow gotten to Bruce, and the Hulk was raging through the nearby town, which made me a little worried, because whatever she made him see must have been really bad if it got the Hulk to come out.

I wandered around the boat, and when I saw Steve starting to get up, I let out a squeal of his name, then ran into his arms, hugging him tighter than I ever have before. His arms wrapped tight around me, my feet left the ground, and we just stood there, holding each other like it was the end of the world. When he set me down, I cupped his face in my hands, and when I looked into his sparkling blue eyes, I knew that Wanda had gotten to him, so I stood on my toes and pressed a soft kiss to the bridge of his nose, which made him smile and kiss my forehead when I pulled away.

Tony stopped the Hulk from doing too much damage, and we all made it back to the Quinjet in one piece before taking off. As we were flying back, Clint was piloting the jet, Bruce was wrapped up in a blanket on the floor, Nat was sitting in a chair and staring into space with a broken look on her face (my poor red-headed assassin baby), Rose was sitting opposite her in the fetal position with glassy eyes and the occasional shuddery inhale (whatever she saw must have been awful, the poor dear), and I was snuggled into Steve’s chest, not intending to move anytime soon. Maria was talking to Tony on the communication screen, and she said, “The news is loving you guys. Nobody else is. There’s been no official call for Banner’s arrest but it’s in the air,” so Tony said, “The Stark Relief Foundation?”, and Maria said, “Already on the scene. How’s the team?”

Tony said, “Everyone’s… We took a hit. We’ll shake it off,” and I snuggled closer to Steve, his arm wrapping tighter around me and his lips pressing a kiss into my hair. Maria said, “Well, for now, I’d stay in stealth mode and stay away from here,” and when Tony said, “So, run and hide?”, she said, “Until we can find Ultron, I don’t have a lot else to offer,” so Tony sighed before saying, “Neither do we,” and hanging up. He got out of his seat, walked up to Clint, and said, “Hey, you wanna switch out?”, so he replied, “No, I’m good. If you wanna get some kip, now’s a good time because we’re still a few hours out,” and when Tony said, “Few hours from where?”, Clint replied, “A safe house,” a smile coming to my face because I knew exactly what he meant.

Clint landed the jet in a grove of trees, then all of us got out and trooped down the dirt path to the farmhouse at the end of it, Nat leaning on Clint, Rose supporting Bruce, and Steve not letting his arm leave its comforting position on my waist, for the benefit of both him and me. We walked up the stairs, and Thor said, “What is this place?”, so Tony responded, “Safe house,” and Clint added, “Let’s hope,” before opening the door and ushering us in. When all of us were inside, he called, “Honey? I’m home,” and his wife Laura (who is very pregnant) walked into the room holding markers and construction paper.

Clint said, “Hi. Company. Sorry, didn’t call ahead,” and she said, “Hey,” before giving him a quick kiss and a hug. Tony said, “This is an agent of some kind,” and Clint said, “Gentlemen, Rose, this is Laura,” so she waved, then said, “I know all of your names,” before chuckling slightly. Tony raised his hand in a form of greeting, then the sound of two pairs of feet came pounding closer, so Clint said, “Ooh. Incoming,” and Cooper and Lila, his son and daughter, came racing around the corner. Lila said, “Dad!”, so he said, “Hi, sweetheart!”, and picked her up, then kissed Cooper’s head and said, “Hey, buddy! How are you guys doing?”

Steve made a series of very confused facial expressions right in a row, and Tony said, “These are… smaller agents,” while Clint said, “Look at your face! Oh, my goodness,” and squeezed Cooper. Lila said, “Did you bring Auntie Nat and Auntie Steph?”, and Clint gasped, so Nat smiled and said, “Why don’t you hug them and find out?”, so Lila ran over to her and was picked up in a hug. She said, “Auntie Steph!”, when she saw me, so I said, “Hey, Honey!”, and rubbed her cheek with my thumb as Nat walked past with her. Steve shot me a look, then said, “Sorry for barging in on you,” Tony adding, “Yeah, we would have called ahead, but we were busy having no idea that you existed,” which made me sock him on the arm slightly before Clint said, “Yeah, well, Fury helped me set this up when I joined. He kept it off S.H.I.E.L.D.’s files. I’d like to keep it that way. I figure it’s a good place to lay low.”

Laura said, “Honey,” and Thor accidentally stepped on a LEGO creation, which made Steve and him look down at the carnage before he swept it under a chair with his foot. Nat addressed Laura and said, “I missed you. How’s little Natasha, huh?”, and placed her hands on Laura’s stomach, so Laura said, “She’s… Nathaniel,” which made Nat’s smile fall off her face before she bent down next to Laura’s stomach and said, “Traitor,” making me laugh. Lila walked over to Thor, and she looked up confusedly at the tall and unfamiliar person standing in her living room, making Thor give her a confused look right back. She walked over to me, and I said, “Hey!”, then picked her up before saying, “He’s pretty big, huh?”, making her nod while saying, “Uh-huh. Maybe bigger than Daddy,” so I said, “Thor’s definitely bigger than your dad, Sweetheart,” and she giggled.

When she saw Steve standing behind me, she said, “Who’s the guy dressed like America?”, so I said, “Oh! Um, that’s Steve. He’s my boyfriend,” and he smiled at her. She said, “He’s handsome. Where’d you find him?”, and after I exchanged a look with him, I said, “We met at work,” and she said, “Awww! Does that mean he’s my uncle?”, so I said, “Well, now that is up to you, Little Lady,” then tapped her nose, making her giggle. The toaster went off, then Thor left the room to go outside, and Steve followed him. I heard Steve say, “Thor?”, and Thor said, “I saw something in that dream. I need answers. I won’t find them here,” so I set Lila down and said, “How about you make a picture for Auntie Nat? I bet she’d love it,” she nodded, then went off to do her thing, so I walked outside to see what was going on.

I walked out the front door just in time to see Thor swing Mjölnir around and fly off, and when Steve turned around to see me standing in the door, he smiled, then nodded at the path, so I smiled too, then walked forward, we wrapped an arm around each other’s waists, and walked towards the Quinjet to grab our normal non-mission clothes. We changed, then I gave Steve a quick kiss before going back into the house to give Laura a hand with whatever needed to be done while he and Tony chopped firewood outside.

I supervised Clint and Cooper while they fixed the porch to make sure they didn’t hurt themselves while Laura and Lila made lunch, and I could hear the other boys’ conversation from where I was standing. Tony said, “Thor didn’t say where he was going for answers?”, and Steve replied, “Sometimes my teammates don’t tell me things. Besides Steph, I was kind of hoping Thor would be the exception,” while he grabbed a log. Tony brushed some wood dust off his hands before he said, “Yeah, give him time. We don’t know what the Maximoff showed him,” so Steve said, “'Earth’s mightiest heroes’. Pulled us apart like cotton candy,” and brought his ax down on a log.

Tony said, “Seems like you walked away all right,” so Steve said, “Is that a problem?”, and Tony shrugged before saying, “I don’t trust a guy without a dark side. Call me old-fashioned,” chopping a log between the two sentences, so Steve said, “Well, let’s just say you haven’t seen it yet,” and Tony said, “You know Ultron is trying to tear us apart, right?”, earning Steve’s snarky reply of, “Well, I guess you’d know,” which made me say, “Ouch,” under my breath while taking a sip of the lemonade Lila helped me make for the boys and myself. Steve continued the conversation and said, “Whether you’d tell us is a bit of a question,” and chopped another log, so Tony said, “Banner and I were doing research,” and when Steve said, “That would affect the team,” Tony snapped, “That would end the team!”, which made me set down my lemonade with intrigue.

Tony continued and said, “Isn’t that the mission? Isn’t that the 'Why We Fight’? So we can end the fight. So we get to go home!”, then Steve ripped a log in half with his bare hands to shut him up, which made me whistle slightly. Steve said, “Every time someone tries to win a war before it starts, innocent people die. Every time,” then Laura walked up to the men and said, “I’m sorry. Mr. Stark… Clint said you wouldn’t mind, but our tractor doesn’t seem to want to start at all. I thought maybe you might…,” so Tony said, “Yeah, I’ll give her a kick,” then called out to me, “Hey, Princess! Take over for me, would ya?”, as he walked towards the barn. I called back, “Yeah, sure!”, then said to Clint, “Don’t break yourselves,” before tying my flannel around my waist (I was wearing a tank-top underneath, relax) and walking down to the chopping station while tying my hair up into a bun, then I picked up an ax and started chopping. I grabbed a log, then said, “By the way, you ripping that log in half was pretty hot,” which made Steve say, “Thanks,” before bringing his ax down on his log.

Nick turned up for dinner (he’s always had a flair for arriving unannounced), and we started going over our plan. Nick said, “Ultron took you folks out of play to buy himself time. My contacts all say he’s building something. The amount of vibranium he made off with, I don’t think it’s just one thing,” and when Steve said, “What about Ultron himself?”, I said, “He’s easy to track. The dude’s everywhere. He’s multiplying faster than a Catholic rabbit,” and Nick added, “Right. But it still doesn’t help us get an angle on any of his plans, though.”

Tony was playing Darts with Clint, and he said, “Is he still going after launch codes?”, and Nick said, “Indeed he is. But he’s not making any headway,” so Tony said, “I cracked the Pentagon’s firewall in high school on a dare,” which earned Nick’s reply of, “Well, I contacted our friends at the Nexus about that,” after he set his drink down on the table. Steve looked at me and said, “Nexus?”, so Bruce said, “It’s the world Internet hub in Oslo. Every byte of data flows through there. Fastest access on Earth,” and I pointed at Bruce while making a “what he said” face, Steve nodding in understanding.

Clint said, “So, what did they say?”, and Nick replied, “He’s fixated on the missiles. But the codes are constantly being changed,” so Tony asked, “By whom?”, then a dart zipped right past Tony’s face and hit the target dead in the center, so Tony shot a dirty look at Clint, but he just shrugged innocently. Nick answered Tony’s question by saying, “Parties unknown,” and when Nat said, “Do we have an ally?”, I said, “Ultron’s got an enemy. That’s not the same thing.”

Nick added on to my statement and said, "Exactly. But still, I’d pay folding money to know who it is,” so Tony said, “I might need to visit Oslo. Find our unknown,” and Nat said, “Well, this is good times, boss, but I was kind of hoping when I saw you, you’d have more than that,” which made Nick say, "I do. I have you. Back in the day, I had eyes everywhere. Ears, everywhere else. You kids had all the tech you could dream up. Here we all are, back on Earth, with nothing but our wit and our will to save the world,” and everyone was silent.

I stood up and said, “Nick’s right, guys. Ultron says us Avengers are the only thing between him and his mission. But whether or not he admits it, his mission is global destruction,” and Nick said, “Precisely. All this, laid in a grave. So stand. Outwit the platinum bastard,” then Nat said, “Steve doesn’t like that kind of talk,” so Steve said, “You know what, Romanoff?”, and I cracked up while Nat shot a smirk at Steve. Nick sat down, then said, “So, what does he want?”, so Steve said, “To become better. Better than us. He keeps building bodies,” Tony added, “Person bodies. The human form is inefficient. Biologically speaking, we’re outmoded. But he keeps coming back to it,” and when Nat said, “When you two programmed him to protect the human race, you amazingly failed,” I said, “Amen to that, sister,” and high-fived her while taking a sip of beer, Lila bringing Nat the picture I suggested she make, which turned out to be a butterfly.

Nat thanked her for it, then after studying it for a few seconds, Bruce said, “They don’t need to be protected. They need to evolve. Ultron’s going to evolve,” so Nick said, “How?”, then after a few seconds of silence, Rose’s eyes widened in realization. After she made nervous eye contact with Bruce, she said, “Has anybody been in contact with Helen Cho?”, which made everybody exchange nervous glances. Steve and I suited up, and while he put his shield on his back, he said, “Steph and I’ll take Nat and Clint,” and Tony said, “All right. Strictly recon. I’ll hit the Nexus. I’ll join you as soon as I can,” so I said, “If Ultron’s really building a body…,” then Tony finished, “He’ll be more powerful than any of us. Maybe all of us. An android designed by a robot,” which made a shiver run through my body. Steve sighed and said, “You know, I really miss the days when the weirdest thing science ever created was me,” so I laughed, then put a hand on his shoulder, said, “Join the club, Captain Dorito,” and kissed his cheek.

Nick walked by while pulling on his coat and said, “I’ll drop Banner off at the Tower. You mind if I borrow Miss Hill and Miss Jackson?”, so Tony said, “They’re all yours. Apparently,” and when Steve said, “What are you gonna do?”, Nick said, “I don’t know. Something dramatic, I hope,” then left, but not before I said, “See you soon, Nick,” and he nodded. I hugged Laura before we headed towards the jet, and I said, “Give the kids goodnight kisses for me and Nat, okay?”, so she said, “You got it. It was good to see you again,” I said, “You too,” and gave her one last hug before walking over to Steve and going out the front door. As we were walking towards the jet, I heard Laura call from the porch, “You better keep her around, Steve! She’s a real catch!”, which made Steve start laughing, so I yelled back, “Laura! Stop it, you’re embarrassing me!”, but I laughed anyway because it’s literally impossible to stay mad at her.

We got on the Quinjet and headed to Seoul to see if Dr. Cho was okay. Steve and I got dropped off on a building, and Steve said, “Two minutes. Stay close,” before we headed into the lab. We went inside, and we were greeted with the sight of a trashed lab, and Helen was lying on the ground, bleeding a lot. Steve said, “Dr. Cho!”, helped her sit up, and I knelt beside her. She said, “He’s uploading himself to the body,” and I said, “Where?”, but she shook her head, indicating that she didn’t know. Steve went to go, but she gripped his arm tighter and said, “The real power is inside the Cradle. The gem, its power is uncontainable. You can’t just blow it up. You have to get the Cradle to Stark,” so Steve said, “First, we have to find it,” and she said, “Go.”

We stood up, left the lab, then Steve said over comms, “Did you guys copy that?”, so Clint responded, “We did,” and Nat said, “I got a private jet taking off across town. No manifest. That could be him,” but Clint said, “There. It’s a truck from the lab. Right above you guys. On the loop by the bridge. It’s them. You got three with the Cradle, one in the cab. I could take out the driver,” so I said, “That’s a negative, Barton. That truck crashes, the gem could level the entire city,” and Steve said, “She’s right. We need to draw out Ultron,” and Clint agreed with silence.

The truck passed under the overpass, so Steve and I nodded at each other, then we jumped off the bridge and landed on the truck. Steve tried to open the door, and I heard Ultron yell, “Leave me alone!”, before he shot the door open, slamming Steve into the side of the truck. I cried, “Steve!”, and he yelled back, “I’m good!”, before pushing off the side of the truck and bringing the door back around. He peeked through the crack, then Ultron blew the door off, sending Steve into the air, and making me fall back onto my ass in surprise. Steve landed on the door (that was now dragging on the pavement), and he said, “Well, he’s definitely unhappy. I’m gonna try and keep him that way,” so I said, “Are you crazy!?”, and Clint piled on, “Steph’s right. You’re not a match for him, Cap,” which earned Steve’s sarcastic reply of, “Thanks, Barton.”

I let out a laugh at Steve’s comment, then prepared to fight, because Steve was thrown off the door by Ultron’s weird pulse-wave thing and into the windshield of a nearby car. He yelled to me, “I’ll distract him! Do what you have to do!”, then used a garbage truck to parkour back to our target truck, so I used my ice to climb along the side of the truck, then found a good spot to hang and listen. I heard Ultron say, “You know what’s in that cradle? The power to make real change. And that terrifies you,” so Steve replied, “I wouldn’t call it a comfort,” then they started battling it out. I heard Ultron say, “Stop it,” then Eleanor went tumbling off the truck and into the road, so I said, “Damnit, Steven,” then stabbed the side of the truck with two icicles and swung onto the top to give him a hand until we could get Eleanor back.

Ultron shot Steve in the chest, which sent him over the edge and onto the front of the truck, which made me say, “You bastard!”, before taking my turn to kick his metallic ass. I heard Nat say, “Us ladies are always picking up after you boys,” over comms, and Clint said, “They’re heading under the overpass. I’ve got no shot”, so Nat said, “Which way?”, he said, “Hard right. Now,” and I said, “Get here as quick as you can, Nat. I need my partner, and he’s useless against lasers without his metal Frisbee,” which cued Steve’s objection of, “Hey!!!”, and Nat’s response of, “I’m on my way, Steph.”

Ultron got ahold of Steve, so I yelled, “HOW ABOUT NO?!”, and flipped in with two icicles to try and get at him, but he was having none of it. Nat threw Eleanor to Steve, and he whacked Ultron with her, which made him pull up a hunk of concrete in front of Nat, which she expertly avoided. Ultron knocked Steve off the truck again, then made a bunch of cars flip over, but Steve wasn’t rattled, because he actually car surfed to get back to the truck, which made me exclaim, “Hang ten, Steve!!!”, and he sarcastically replied, “Very funny, Doll,” before jumping back into the fight.

He yelled, “Come on!”, and Clint came in to shoot at Ultron, but his clone things flew out the back to take care of him. Steve threw Ultron into a bridge column, but he came back to continue the fight, which made me yell, “Give it up, already! Jeez!!!”, before Ultron tackled Steve off of the truck and into the train next to us. I let out a yelp of surprise when it happened, but then I just sighed in resignation before diving into the train to help Steve. I heard Clint say, “They’re headed back towards you, so whatever you’re gonna do, do it now,” so I said, “You got this, Nat,” and set to work.

I heard Nat say, “I’m going in. Cap, Steph, can you keep him occupied?”, and Steve replied, “What do you think we’ve been doing?”, which made me laugh before helping him up (Ultron knocked him down with his laser thingies). I heard Clint say, “Okay, package is airborne. I have a clean shot,” and Nat replied, “Negative. I am still in the truck,” so I said, “What the hell are you…?”, but she cut me off and said, “Just be ready, Clint. I’m sending the package to you,” sounding very out of breath. He said, "How do you want me to take it?”, and she replied, “Uh, you might wish you hadn’t asked that,” which made me laugh.

Ultron was beating Steve up, and I was herding the citizens away when a streak of blue knocked Ultron away from Steve, a smile coming to my face because I knew exactly who it was. Pietro Maximoff returned to normal speed and crossed his arms while looking at Ultron, so Ultron started walking towards him, but a familiar red mist moved two safety bars in front of Ultron to keep him away from Pietro, and I turned my head to see Wanda at the end of the car. He turned, then said, “Please, don’t do this,” and she replied, “What choice do we have?”, so he blew a hole through the train and escaped.

Steve yelled through comms, “We lost him!”, and I added, “He’s headed your way!”, while we ran to the front of the train. The driver was unconscious, the controls were busted, and we were heading full speed towards the end of the track. We hit the roadblock, but the train kept sliding through the city, knocking produce stands and cars to the side, and sending the citizens into a panic. Clint said, “Cap, Steph, do either of you see Nat?”, and Steve said, “If you have the package, get it to Stark! Go!”, but Clint said, “Do you have eyes on Nat?”, so I yelled, “Just go, Barton!!!”, and he did. Steve turned to the twins and said, “Civilians in our path,” so Pietro sped out the hole to assist the people, then I addressed Wanda and said, “Can you stop this thing?”, but she didn’t respond.

Wanda and I kept the people on the train away from the windows, and Steve went up to the front to keep an eye out for roadblocks. We went through a building, and a piece of rubble sent him flying backward into our car, so I helped him up, then Wanda worked her magic and brought the train to a stop. Wanda went out to check on her brother, who was catching his breath from all that running, and as Steve and I walked over to them, I heard him say, “I’m fine. I just need to take a minute,” which made Steve say, “I’m very tempted to not give you one,” and I put a hand on his chest while saying, “Steve, chill.”

Wanda said, “The Cradle. Did you get it?”, and I said, “Tony will take care of it, Hon,” so she said, “No, he won’t,” and she sounded genuinely scared for the first time since we met her. Steve said, “You don’t know what you’re talking about. Stark’s not crazy,” so I made a face before saying, “Well, it depends on your definition of crazy,” and Steve shot me a look before Wanda said, “He will do anything to make things right,” which made me realize that she had an incredibly valid point.

Steve must have realized it too, because he said, “Stark, come in. Stark,” over comms, but no one answered. I said, “Anyone on comms?”, but nobody spoke up over the line, so Wanda said, “Ultron can’t tell the difference between saving the world and destroying it. Where do you think he gets that?”, which made me exchange a look with Steve because everyone and their mother knows that Tony Stark doesn’t know when enough is enough or where he should draw the line (which is a very bad quality in somebody who owns a business (to be fair, Pepper is the CEO, but still)).

We got back to the Tower, and walked into the lab to see Tony and Bruce doing something with the Cradle, and when Steve said, “I’m only gonna say this once,” Tony looked up and said, “Yeah. How about 'none-ce’?”, so I snapped, “Tony, shut it down!”, but he replied, “Nope, not gonna happen.”

Steve said, “You don’t know what you’re doing,” and Bruce said, “And you do? She’s not in your head?”, but when Wanda tried to interject and say, “I know you’re angry,” Bruce said, “Oh, we’re way past that. I could choke the life out of you and never change a shade.”

Steve said, “Banner, after everything that’s happened…,” but Tony cut him off and said, “It’s nothing compared to what’s coming!”, so Wanda said, “You don’t know what’s in there,” making me add, “She’s right, Tony. This isn’t one of your dumbass party games!”, and while we were arguing, Pietro went super-sonic, unplugged everything, then said, “No, no. Go on. You were saying?”, which made me smirk. A gunshot sounded off, then Pietro fell through the glass floor, and Wanda yelled his name as he landed on the floor below. The computer started beeping, and Tony said, “I’m rerouting the upload,” so Steve threw Eleanor at all the computers and smashed them, then Tony got one of his suit hands and fired a repulsor ray at him, knocking him backward.

I said, “Oh hell no!!!”, then launched myself at Tony and landed a solid punch across his jaw and a kick to his gut before he suited up and threw me away from him. He and Steve faced off for a few seconds, but Tony’s arc reactor blast knocked them away from each other and sent Tony through a glass pane. Thor came bursting in, then flew forward, stood on top of the Cradle, and conjured his lightning. Bruce yelled, “Wait!”, but Thor didn’t listen, because he shocked the Cradle with the lightning and sent it into power overload.

All of us shielded our eyes, and when the intense light faded away, we just stood there in silence for a few seconds, then the cradle burst open, sending Thor flying backward, then a red and yellow being came out of the cradle. He stood up, looked around at all of us, then suddenly flew at Thor, who chucked him through the lab window, but instead of attacking us, he stopped himself just short of crashing through the main window of Avengers Tower, and just looked at himself in the glass.

Steve jumped over the gap, and I slid across on an ice slide, but Thor held out a hand, signaling that we didn’t need to attack the strange being. Everyone else came into the room, and as he hovered back over to us, he conjured a blue body suit similar to Thor’s so it didn’t appear that he was naked, then he said, “I am sorry. That was odd. Thank you,” in what sounded like Jarvis’ voice before conjuring himself a cape. Steve said, “Thor. You helped create this?”, so Thor replied, “I’ve had a vision. A whirlpool that sucks in all hope of life, and at its center is that,” and pointed at the glowy thingy in our new friend’s forehead. Bruce said, “What? The gem?”, so Thor said, “It’s the Mind Stone. It’s one of the six Infinity Stones. The greatest power in the universe, unparalleled in its destructive capabilities,” and when I started to say, “Then why on Earth would you bring…?”, he cut me off and said, “Because Stark is right,” which made Bruce say, “Oh, it’s definitely the end times,” and me say, “Amen to that, my brother,” earning a gentle elbow to the ribs from Steve.

Thor said, “The Avengers cannot defeat Ultron,” and the being said, “Not alone,” which made Steve say, “Why does your Vision sound like Jarvis?”, so Tony said, “We reconfigured Jarvis’ matrix. To create something new,” and Steve said, “I think I’ve had my fill of new,” which made me sigh, “Steve…,” but then the Vision said, “You think I’m a child of Ultron,” and when Steve said, “You’re not?”, he replied, “I’m not Ultron. I am not Jarvis. I am… I am,” earning a stunned silence from everyone in the room for a solid five seconds before Wanda broke it and said, “I looked in your head and saw annihilation,” so Vision said, “Look again,” earning a scoff from Clint.

He said, “Her seal of approval means jack to me,” so I snapped, “Knock it off, Clint,” then Thor said, “Their powers, the horrors in our heads, Ultron himself, they all came from the Mind Stone. And they’re nothing compared to what it can unleash. But with it on our side…,” but I cut him off and said, “Is it?”, then turned to Vision and said, “Are you?”, Steve clarifying, “On our side?”, Vision was silent for a few moments, then said, “I don’t think it’s that simple,” so Clint said, “Well, it better get simple real soon,” I shot him a dirty look, and the Vision said, “I am on the side of life. Ultron isn’t. He will end it all.”

Tony said, “What’s he waiting for?”, and Vision replied, “You,” so Bruce said, “Where?”, and Clint said, “Sokovia. He’s got Nat there, too,” then Bruce stepped closer to the Vision and said, “If we’re wrong about you, if you’re the monster that Ultron made you to be…,” so Vision said, “What will you do?”, but Bruce didn’t continue his statement, most likely because he couldn’t come up with a viable threat.

Vision said, “I don’t want to kill Ultron. He’s unique and he’s in pain. But that pain will roll over the Earth. So, he must be destroyed. Every form he’s built, every trace of his presence on the net. We have to act now. And not one of us can do it without the others. Maybe I am a monster. I don’t think I’d know if I were one. I’m not what you are, and not what you intended. So, there may be no way to make you trust me. But we need to go,” then shocked all of us by grabbing Mjölnir and holding her out to Thor as if she were lighter than a feather.

I’m pretty sure I let out an audible gasp of, “Oh my god,” but nobody called any attention to it. Thor took her from Vision, he walked away, Thor smacked Mjölnir into his hand, then said, “Right. Well done,” and clapped Tony on the shoulder before following the Vision. I exchanged a look with Steve, then he said, “Three minutes. Get what you need,” and all of us started bustling about to get ready.

I jogged past the Maximoff twins to get to my armor closet, and I scanned my hand on the access panel before saying, “Winter Rose Mission Suit. Mark 5,” then after the system said, “Confirmed,” the rack cycled through my super old standard issue S.H.I.E.L.D. catsuit, the very first Winter Rose suit S.H.I.E.L.D. made me, the updated suit I wore during the Chitauri Invasion, my stealth suit from the HYDRA Uprising, and the empty stand that belonged to the suit I was wearing right then before landing on my all-new white suit with red accents, inversed color logo, and matching cowl. I took a deep breath, then took off my current suit, slipped into my new one, and after I zipped up my suit and strapped my gloves tight around my hands, I looked myself over in the mirror, then walked off to join the others, satisfied with how I looked.

I met up with Tony, Bruce, and Steve in the main area, and Tony said, “No way we all get through this. If even one tin soldier is left standing, we’ve lost. There’s gonna be blood on the floor,” so Steve said, “We got no plans tomorrow night,” and I nudged him before Tony said, “I get first crack at the big guy. Iron Man’s the one he’s waiting for,” then Vision walked by after that statement and quipped, “That’s true. He hates you the most,” which made me let out an ugly snort and lean against Steve’s shoulder.

All of us got on the jet, and Steve said, “Ultron knows we’re coming. Odds are we’ll be riding into heavy fire. And that’s what we signed up for. But the people of Sokovia, they didn’t. So our priority is getting them out. All they want is to live their lives in peace. And that’s not gonna happen today. But we can do our best to protect them. And we can get the job done. We find out what Ultron’s been building, we find Romanoff, and we clear the field. Keep the fight between us. Ultron thinks we’re monsters. That we’re what’s wrong with the world. This isn’t just about beating him. It’s about whether he’s right,” and we all sat in silence, knowing that the outcome of this fight would determine the future of the human race, and the entire planet as we knew it.

TO BE CONTINUED…

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