the maximoffs return... against ultron!
TONY handed the empty dinner plates to Nick Fury who was doing dishes in the Barton household. Marlene handed him the last ones as she followed Tony to the dart board. He gave her a dart while Marlene watched him miss dramatically. He rolled his eyes playfully at her as she made a near bullseye.
"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," Fury said as he was pushed out of the kitchen by Clint. He sat down at the table.
Steve's eyes never left Marlene for the most part of the afternoon. He smiled softly as she stuck her tongue out playfully at Tony when she hit the board again. "What about Ultron himself?" Steve asked, forcing his eyes away.
Fury shrugged. "Ah. He's easy to track, he's everywhere. Guy's multiplying faster than a Catholic rabbit. Still doesn't help us get an angle on any of his plans though."
"He still going after launch codes?" Tony asked as Clint took a dart from Marlene's hand and made a perfect bullseye. He shrugged with a stupid smile on his face when Tony glared.
Fury smirked at the interaction. "Yes, he is, but he's not making any headway."
Tony pulled out the darts, handing another to Marlene. "I cracked the Pentagon's firewall in high school on a dare."
"Yeah, well, I contacted our friends at the NEXUS about that."
"NEXUS?" Steve asked.
"It's the world internet hub in Oslo, every byte of data flows through there, fastest access on earth," Bruce answered, standing close to Natasha's chair as the redhead colored with Lila.
"So what'd they say?" Clint asked, throwing a towel down and turning off the faucet.
"He's fixated on the missiles, but the codes are constantly being changed," Fury revealed.
"By whom?" Tony asked.
"Parties unknown."
Marlene gave up on darts as she walked toward Steve. Placing a hand on his shoulder, she asked, "Do we have an ally?"
"Ultron's got an enemy, that's not the same thing. Still, I'd pay folding money to know who it is," Fury admitted.
"I might need to visit Oslo, find our unknown," Tony said.
Natasha sighed. "Well, this is good times, boss, but I was kind of hoping when I saw you, you'd have more than that."
Fury smiled at her. "I do, I have you. Back in the day, I had eyes everywhere, ears everywhere else. Here we all are, back on earth, with nothing but our wit, and our will to save the world. So stand. Outwit the platinum bastard."
"Steve doesn't like that kind of talk," Natasha said with a mischievous smile.
Steve placed his hand on Marlene's that was resting on his shoulder. "You know what, Romanoff?" he said playfully.
"So what does he want?" Fury asked.
"To become better," Marlene said, her accent thick.
Steve nodded and added, "Better than us. He keeps building bodies."
"Person bodies. The human form is inefficient, biologically speaking, we're outmoded. But he keeps coming back to it," Tony said with a nod.
"When you two programmed him to protect the human race, you amazingly failed," Natasha said with a small laugh as Bruce walked over to stare at the picture Lila colored. He touched it softly.
"They don't need to be protected, they need to evolve. Ultron's going to evolve," Bruce revealed, eyes going up in alarm.
"How?" Fury asked.
Bruce gulped. "Has anyone been in contact with Helen Cho?"
After that statement, it was as if the Avengers were on autopilot. Quickly getting into their gear and suits, each person began to worry over what Ultron was planning. Marlene did not change her pants, simply throwing on one of Natasha's tight tank tops and her leather jacket. Putting her hair up, she rushed downstairs to see Steve, Tony, and Fury creating a plan.
"I'll take Marlene, Natasha, and Clint," Steve said to them. Marlene smiled tiredly at Tony when he winked her way.
"All right, strictly recon," Tony responded seriously. "I'll hit the NEXUS, and I'll join you as soon as I can."
Steve grabbed Tony's arm before he could walk away. "If Ultron is really building a body—"
"He'll be more powerful than any of us. Maybe all of us. An android designed by a robot," Tony finished.
Steve smirked. "You know I really miss the days when the weirdest thing science ever created was me," he admitted.
Fury clapped his hand on Tony's shoulder. "I'll drop Banner off at the tower. Do you mind if I borrow Ms. Hill?"
Tony gave him a a look. "She's all yours, apparently. What are you gonna do?"
"I don't know. Something dramatic, I hope."
In Korea, where Dr. Cho was last seen, Steve had left the jet to find the doctor. Marlene tapped her foot impatiently, wishing she went down with him. It made her anxious because she knew that Steve was not invincible no matter how much he claimed to be.
"Two minutes. Stay close," Steve's voice crackled through the communication devices. It was quiet for a moment before they heard him yell, "Dr. Cho!"
Dr. Helen Cho's voice could barely be heard from Steve's comms. "He's uploading himself into the body."
"Where?"
"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."
"First I have to find it," Steve said as Clint used the jet to survey the area around them. "Did you guys copy that?"
"We did," Clint responded.
Natasha typed on a device. "I got a private jet taking off, across town, no manifest. That could be him."
Clint narrowed his eyes before stating, "There. It's the truck from the lab. Right above you, Cap. On the loop by the bridge. It's them. I got three with the Cradle, one in the cab. I could take out the driver."
"Negative!" Steve yelled. "If that truck crashes, the gem could level the city. We need to draw out Ultron." They could see Steve jumping onto the truck. "Well, he's definitely unhappy! I'm gonna try and keep him that way."
"You're not a match for him, Cap," Clint said seriously.
Steve sighed. "Thanks, Barton."
Marlene shook her head. "I'm going out there," she said, slamming her hand on the open-hatch button.
"Marlene!" Clint yelled as Marlene simply jumped from the moving jet.
She let her powers light up, making her fly back up before falling into the group of yelling citizens around her. Her eyes were pure blue as she flew to catch up to Steve and Ultron. She caught Steve's shield on the road just as Clint was informing Natasha to get out and help as well. Grabbing Steve's shield, she sped up as sent a blast to the robot to confuse him. She threw Steve his shield, which is used immediately.
As Natasha neared them on her motorcycle, she called, "Clint, can you draw out the guards?"
"Let's find out," Clint said. "Marlene, your right!"
Marlene turned just in time to see Ultron about to hit her. She grabbed his fist, sending a ball of blue energy that caused him to fly into Steve. Ultron groaned and said, "I don't like you!"
Before Ultron could attack her again, Steve tackled him off the truck and its a moving train. Rolling her eyes, she flew into the train as well. She grinned as Steve threw her the shield, and they both used it effortlessly. It was almost as if they were dancing, and Marlene grinned slightly at the thought.
"Heading back towards you. So whatever you're going to do, do it now," Clint said to Natasha.
"I'm going in, Cap can you both keep him occupied?"
Ultron backhanded Steve into a corner after the slight hesitation on his part. He groaned. "What do you think we've been doing?"
"The package is airborne. I have a clean shot," Clint called.
"Negative. I am still in the truck," Natasha called, and Marlene looked outside to see the truck flying. Due to her distraction and worry for Natasha, she missed Ultron's punch to her stomach. She was about to fly out the hole in the train, but a blue and silver blur grabbed her body and held it to his chest before he stood protectively in front of her.
Marlene's eyes widened at Pietro's soft gaze before her gaze went to Wanda who was standing in front of Steve in the same manner. Wanda held two metal pipes up as Pietro glared heatedly at Ultron.
"Please. Don't do this," Ultron said to Wanda.
Wanda shook her head. "What choice do we have?"
Ultron grew angry, turning to fire at Pietro and Marlene. Pietro held her to his chest as he ducked. The shot hit the driver of the train, which led the train to be moving on its own off the rails. Ultron flew off.
"I lost him! He's headed your way!" Steve yelled as Wanda stared worriedly in front of them.
Clint called, "Nat, we gotta go." There was a pause before, "Nat! Cap, you see Nat?"
Steve leaned out the hole of the train. "If you have the package, get it to Stark! Go!"
"Do you have eyes on Nat?" Clint's voice broke.
"Go!" Steve yelled before his eyes went to Pietro's arm around Marlene's body. "Civilians in our path." Pietro sped off to move the men and women. Steve glanced at Marlene and Wanda. "Can you two stop this thing?"
Wanda nodded. "Together," she said to Marlene.
Blue and red spiraled from Marlene and Wanda's hands as the pair struggled and strained to do anything to stop the train. Wanda groaned aloud as the train began to slow. As Marlene opened her eyes, Steve saw the brightest blue he had ever seen as the train halted. Marlene and Wanda wasted no time in running from the train to find Pietro.
Pietro was leaning on his knees when the two approached him. Marlene pulled him in her arms, breathing heavily. They were here. They were alive. They were on their side. "I'm fine. I just need to take a minute," Pietro whispered in her hair.
"I'm very tempted not to give you one," Steve called as he approached.
Marlene backed away with a shake of her head. "Steve," she warned as Wanda grabbed her hand to pull her attention.
"The Cradle, did you get it?" she asked worriedly.
"Stark will take care of it," Steve promised.
Wanda dropped Marlene's hand. "No, he won't."
"You don't know what you're talking about, Stark's not crazy," Steve said a bit reluctantly.
Wanda shut her eyes and sighed. "He will do anything to make things right."
Marlene's eyes widened. "H-He just wants to protect the world. He wouldn't screw with it again, would he?" she said before calling out, "Tony!?" on the comms.
"Stark, come in. Stark. Anyone on comms?" Steve asked.
"Ultron can't tell the difference between saving the world and destroying it. Where do you think he gets that?" Wanda said seriously.
Marlene lowered her eyes. "She's right, Steve."