Marble Statues ⏃ Captain America [4]

nine

09. | THE VISION

"WHAT DO YOU THINK Stark plans on doing with the Cradle?" Wanda asked Steve as New York came into sight ahead. It had been a long and fairly silent flight, tension still hanging in the air. Steve wasn't entirely sure what to think of the Maximoff's sudden change in alliance. They clearly didn't want to see the destruction of their world, but he wasn't sure if that made them trustworthy or not. Right now they needed to worry about taking Ultron down. They could figure out everything else later.

"I don't know," Steve said truthfully. He didn't know what was being formed inside the Cradle or what it meant for them. If it was Ultron's creation, then there was little chance of anything good coming from it.

The Quinjet softly landed on top of Avengers' Tower where a smaller landing pad was centered. The Avenjet was sitting on the main landing pad, so he knew Clint had arrived safely with the Cradle. Steve really hoped Natasha was in the Tower too. Had he not been trying to stop the runaway train he would have been able to do more to help find her—or if he hadn't forced Christina to stay behind, maybe Natasha wouldn't have been taken at all.

Wanda and Pietro hesitated when Steve moved to exit from the jet. He turned to them. "You're safe here," he said. "If you're serious about helping us, then no one here is going to harm you."

"We want to help," Pietro said, stepping forward.

"Good."

"Will the blonde woman be there?" Wanda asked, following her brother's lead.

Her words made Steve stop mid-step and he turned to face her. He knew Wanda must've felt a connection to Christina—they shared very similar abilities—but more than that, they were connected on deeper levels. They'd lost like she had, they'd been on the wrong side like she once had, they'd seen war and been experimented on. And like Christina, Steve felt a desire to keep them safe too, keep them away from Ultron and Hydra's influence. Help them gain the Avengers' trust just like Christina had.

"Christina?" Steve asked and Wanda nodded slightly. "Yes, she will be inside with the others."

Wanda seemed relieved almost. "She's like us. Strucker talked about her often during our time with him—said she was very powerful."

"She's the strongest person I know," Steve replied. "Tony will be in the lab."

"What will he do?" Pietro asked, following Steve as he entered the Tower from the roof, heading down to the lab.

"I think we're about to find out," Steve said as they made their way down, hearing voices as they neared the lab.

"You have to trust me," Tony's voice flittered out into the hallway.

"Kind of don't," Christina replied.

"Tony, you have got to upload that schematic in the next three minutes," Bruce's voice sounded as they entered the room. The Cradle was situated in the lab, cables hooked up to it. Bruce leaned down to check one while Tony worked off to the side.

▲▽▲

Christina was sitting in a corner, watching the two of them work. They had attached multiple machines to the Cradle, though she didnt understand what they were doing. All she knew about it, was that their goal was to get Jarvis into whatever was inside that Cradle. It was a mad plan. A stupid plan. But she couldnt stop them.

How was she supposed to? They were her teammates. She couldnt exactly attack them. And even if she did, would she win? Bruce could turn and Tony could send a hundred Legionnaires down on her in minutes. There was no way that she—in her current state—could take on either of them. Christina gingerly rubbed her lower abdomen mindlessly.