"Doctor Halsted... Elizabeth... Lizzie..." The menacing drone of Ultron's voice drew her out. Her eyes opened to the dark metal of his face just inches from her own as he crouched before her, like a tiger assessing its wounded prey. "Such a pleasure to officially make your acquaintance." He sneered.
In the depths of the darkness around them Pietro stood with his sister, watching... waiting. As Elizabeth stared into the abyss of destruction hidden in his eyes a faint blue sheen formed around her and Wanda watched with wonder at the woman, oblivious to her own control, at the feet of Ultron.
"Pietro, look." Her whispers faded in the wind, heard only by her brother. "She is like me."
Pietro watched as Wanda's eyes glazed over and a familiar glow of red flickered behind them.
"Why did he ask you to get her Pietro? What is his aim?" She stepped forwards. "I cannot access his mind. But her... She is good... And she is afraid of him."
"She's going to join us Wanda." He soothed her as he pulled her back, brushing his hand over her hair and pulling her into a hug. "He said she is like you. Why wouldn't she join us?"
As he spoke Ultron rose to his full height, looming over the frail and frightened girl, and Pietro watched him intently. He hoped he was right but something told him to be prepared. His weight shifted as he got ready to run.
"It is a shame to waste such potential," Ultron condescended, laughing a little, "but, my little one, you are a threat to my plan."
Pietro moved away from Wanda.
"And so," Ultron smiled. "I must dispose of you."
As Ultron's fist smashed down upon Elizabeth she screamed. Her power faltered and flickered and the slick metal crashed against her face. The impact was controlled, slowed by the shred of pain that remained locked in and fighting. She pushed back as the power flickered again and his fist smashed down upon her once more. The scream that filled the space now was not hers.
Wanda dropped to her knees, clutching her head as tears rained from her eyes. She could feel her. She could feel the sting of the metal cutting through her face, the pull of exhaustion she fought so hard against, the longing for home, for family. She felt the grip of terror and the power of pain. She felt as Elizabeth pushed back and her power threatened to overwhelm her and she cried for her.
"Pietro!" Wanda cried. "Pietro. Help her. We have to help her."
The stream of silvery blue slipped beneath Ultron's lifted fists and Elizabeth disappeared from his clutches. The maniacal machine spun and charged towards Wanda, still clutching her head in the depths of Elizabeth's despair and lunged for her. His hands came up empty as a mist of red smoke swirled around him and he screamed out, throwing his fist through the nearest pillar and destroyed the last standing wall.
"Bring her to me now!" He bellowed into the empty air as fury ripped through him and the cold night air sat dead and silent around him.
*
These walls once housed photographs. Now they stood bare and disappointed. This space had brought comfort. Now it only brought pain.
Pietro gazed up at the clear night sky through the hole torn through the ceiling as he stood with the woman bleeding on his chest. He could feel the life of the room and it was tearing at him; what he had lost. How he had lost it. This woman in his arms was a friend of Stark. He knew this. Stark's technology made him a killer. He knew this too. But Ultron was a killer in his very essence. Pietro only had to look at the blood-soaked face of this woman to know this. She was defenceless. She had no energy to fight back. She was not a threat and yet he had viciously tried to destroy her.
As he lowered her onto the old loveseat that had once been his parent's favourite place to spend an evening he brushed her soaked hair back and tried to come to terms with the fact he had nearly brought her to her death. The faint blue glow faded in and out as she slipped between conscious moments and moments of darkness.
"I'm so sorry." He whispered as he ripped a strip of fabric from the shirt he wore and pushed it against the gaping wound on her scalp. "I had no idea what he would do."
Elizabeth tried to stay awake. She focused on his voice. It was soothing and calm, despite it eliciting fear just moments ago it was now the only thing keeping her from slipping away. Her hands were heavy as she tried to reach her neck. If she could just make sure she still had them then she would know if she was safe.
"The -" her voice was weak. "The tags."
"Hush, darling." Pietro brushed her hair back again and tried to soothe her. "We will look after you."
"The tags." She repeated herself, louder this time as her eyes fluttered open and fuzzy specks of white and grey floated in her vision. "They're tracked. They'll -" Her eyes fell closed again as she groaned and he eased the pressure on her wound. "They'll be here soon. I need to - I need to stay awake. So they know. So they know you helped me."
The blue flickered out and her head rolled back.
"Hey?" Pietro shook her slightly, waking the blue and sighing with relief as it stung him. "Stay awake then, darling."
"I can help with that... If you let me." Wanda appeared next to Elizabeth in a mist of red and her eyes were sad and downcast. She held her hands out towards where Elizabeth lay and felt the acceptance. She felt the desire to stay awake, the need to protect. As she fed her her own power, fed her the sister magic of stones neither woman knew the extent to which they possessed, Wanda could sense it. She felt Elizabeth get stronger and she pushed more power into her.
"What are you doing?" Her eyes were clearer, her mind not just lucid but alive, buzzing with activity and connections. Elizabeth's eyes widened as she breathed in the pain of the woman before her.
"I think we are the same," Wanda grunted as she felt her body protesting against her actions. "We are created by Infinity Stones. If I am right, I can feed your power. Give you enough strength to fight. If you choose to fight."
As the buzz and connections and power surged through her she felt fire and ice burning in her veins and Elizabeth screamed.
"I can't!" She cried out as Pietro held her, rubbing soothing circles against her back as she jolted forwards, trying to escape the surge of power. The surge she could not control.
"It's okay." He soothed, wrapping his arms around her and holding her as she grabbed hold of his hands, gripping him tightly and crying for it to end. "It's going to be okay. Just focus on me. I'm so sorry I put you in this situation. Just breathe. I'm so sorry."
She focused on her breathing, still clinging to him as he rocked her gently and tried to calm herself, matching every breath with his. She felt herself becoming her again, slowly, piece by piece, and she let out a breathy laugh.
"It's okay. You also got me out of there." She pulled back and took in his face for the first time. His hair was an unnatural dirty blonde and too long but he had soft eyes that seemed to seep sadness as he looked at her. His smile was a little lopsided and lazy... like the one smile she'd seen thousands of times before: before everything changed. "I think that balances us out."
She reached out and took Wanda's hand, turning to face her and smiling softly.
*
"Buck," Steve spoke in hushed whispers that were drowned out by the whir of the engine and the plans formulating among the group. "Talk to me. What are you thinking?"
Bucky stared out of the glass blankly, his mind spinning and his chest thumping as each second without her passed. He was aching, dying for her. His bones felt splintered with every move he made and his head was cloudy with misty images that did not belong to him and yet showed him who he once was.
"I don't know Steve," he choked. "I'm thinking that the one person I trusted to tell me who I was lied to me." His eyes grew distant as he raked them over Steve in anger and pain. "I'm thinking I have no idea who Lizzie really is, but I fell like I know her. Like I am meant to know her. And I keep thinking that this is all my fault. That I should have let her have the distance she was trying to keep." He looked to his left, where Sam sat with his head in his hands, tuning out the noise around them and his eyes grew darker, menacing in their pain and rage. "And I'm thinking that if anything happens to her Bird Brains dies."
Steve waited. He watched as the anger faded from his features, as the hard set of Bucky's jaw started to quiver and his gaze dropped to his hands. The gleam from the silver of his hand sickened him as he desperately searched his mind for a single moment with her, a glint of a memory, a slither of hope.
"Why don't I remember her Steve?" His voice shook as he finally gave in to the pain of it all. "And what if I never do?"
*
Tony had watched the two men with a heavy heart. Steve, so strong for Bucky's sake, hadn't slept a wink in the six hours they had been on the quinjet. Neither had Barnes. Both shared the same withdrawn countenance. Their eyes gave little away other than pain; excruciating, devastating pain.
He felt the pull of pity as Barnes tears fell, his voice cracking as he asked the one question Tony knew was haunting him the most.
"Why don't I remember her Steve?"
Tony tapped the band on his wrist activating the compact suit that now began to wrap around him.
"And what if I never do?"
Tony placed a gentle hand on his shoulder and waited for the crystal blue of his eyes to meet his own.
"First we save our girl, then you can figure out the memory thing. Okay?" He tilted his head to the door of the jet, now lowering, opening up to the dismal setting of Sokovia.
*
On the ground Bucky followed Barton as he ran in the direction of an abandoned street, still crumbling and deserted from a history of war and bombings. Sam was hot on their tail while the others headed to the city centre, trying to find Ultron and put an end to this.
Barton was focused. His aura calmed Bucky as he followed. There was a familiarity to following the orders of someone else that he knew had been engrained into him during those days he could not recall and Clint had an authority to him that made him easy to follow.
"The tags are about two blocks from here," he called over his shoulder as he pushed forwards, knowing they were both following closely behind. "She's probably not alone so get ready for a fight boys!"
Bucky grunted in return and Sam simply pushed forwards with more power.
"Let's go get our Little Liz." Clint clicked his neck as he reached over his shoulder and pulled an arrow from the sheath on his back. He had his target in his mind and he never missed.
As the three men slowed, ducking lower to avoid detection and creeping through the deserted streets Sam grabbed hold of Bucky's arm.
"Look Barnes." His eyes pleaded with Bucky as he glared at him with distain and disgust. "Bucky, please. Before we do this I need you to know I'm sorry. I know you care for her, I do. But so do I and trust me: you can't hate me more than I hate myself okay?"
Bucky paused. He could see the anguish. He could recognise the self loathing. He wanted to hate him, to blame him, to tell him to back the hell off and stay away from Lizzie or he'd have him to deal with. He wanted to hit him. He couldn't have anticipated his own words and neither could Sam.
"It's not your fault Sam. She needs us, so let's go bring her home."