"You, Avengers, are my meteor."
"The Avengers' Extinction."
The words were echoing around in Keira's skull like some bizarre Ping-Pong game, never settling down. It couldn't be a coincidence. It just couldn't.
But how was it possible? How could Ultron have been in her dreams before she even knew of his existence? It wasn't logical, like at all. Or was she just making assumptions? Even if the words weren't exactly the same, they still meant the same thing. And if there was one thing she was certain of, it was that the voice had been the same as the one in her dream.
"Ow." Keira winced, arching her back in a futile attempt to avoid Natasha's hands.
Natasha just sighed and gripped the blonde's shoulder to pull her back, not that Keira could get very far, considering that she was sitting with her front pressed against the back of the chair. "Stop being such a baby." The redhead scolded playfully, using the tweezers to pry out another glass shard.
"You be the baby." Keira retorted childishly under her breath, biting down on her lip as Natasha made another incision around another glass shard. This was the curse of fast healing. If she were to break a bone, and was unsuccessful to fix it into the correct position quickly enough, the bone would mend incorrectly. And in order to fix that, she would be forced to break the bone again.
And it sucked magnificently.
It wasn't any different with the glass shards. Her body healed around the pieces, almost making them a part of herself and thereby making them much more difficult to remove. Keira had moved to the lab directly, eager for an explanation from the scientists.
Natasha on the other hand, had taken a moment to change into something more comfortable and had brought a hoodie with her for Keira to wear later, considering the fact that the back of the blonde's dress was cut open in order to have access to all the glass shards.
By some miracle, the team had made it out of the fight pretty okay. Maria, who had been barefoot at the time was now sitting on a chair, also plucking out glass shards from the sole of her feet with tweezers. Dr. Cho had made it out okay thanks to Steve, and the guys were mostly okay. Maybe some bruises here and there, but nothing they couldn't survive.
"All our work is gone." Bruce announced to the group from his place behind one of the monitors. "Ultron cleared out. He used the internet as an escape hatch."
Great, so not only had they no idea where the AI was, but he had also probably read through files and deleted those that posed a threat to him. And to top that, the scepter had been snatched during the chaos as well. Could this day get any worse?
"Ultron." Steve repeated quietly. The frown on his face was easy to read. He was not happy with the situation. Honesty was something he valued greatly, and now, he found out that two of his teammates had been working in secret, accidentally bringing a murderous AI to life.
Natasha, who was multitasking by both removing glass shards from the back of her best friend, and checking the computer beside her, sighed slightly as she let a piece of glass fall into the container before looking at the group. "He's been in everything. Files, surveillance. Probably knows more about us than we know about each other." At the end of her sentence, she straightened up and patted Keira on the shoulder, showing that she was done.
Keira shot a grateful smile at her over her shoulder before throwing on the hoodie, shuddering slightly as the fabric dragged over the still-mending wounds.
Rhodey, who was holding his shoulder gingerly after being thrown out a window by one of Ultron's bots, paced across the room. "He's in your files, he's in the internet. What if he decides to access something a little more exciting?"
Maria, catching on to what Rhodey meant, froze. "Nuclear codes."
"Nuclear codes." The man confirmed. "Look, we need to make some calls, assuming we still can."
"Nukes? He said he wanted us dead." Natasha spoke up from behind Keira, her forearms draped over the mutant's shoulders.
"He didn't say 'dead'. He said 'extinct'." Steve corrected her, still replaying the event in his head.
"Like the dinosaurs..." Keira quietly added. She didn't know what to feel. There was no way in hell that Tony and Bruce had programmed the AI to go off the rails like this. Something must've gone wrong. But why hadn't they said anything?
Clint, who was leaning against the railing also joined the conversation. "He also said he killed somebody."
Maria craned her neck to be able to look at Clint. "But there wasn't anyone else in the building."
But Keira shook her head sadly. "Yes, there was." She breathed, at the same time that Tony muttered the same words. The realization hit her now when her brain finally had some peace and quiet to piece the puzzle together. The ignored command from before when Ultron had shown himself hadn't been a coincidence.
Tony just nodded in defeat, flicking his tablet up and a hologram filled the center of the room. It was hard to tell what it was at first glance, but Keira knew. The broken consciousness of JARVIS, Tony's trusted UI. It almost felt disrespectful to see the UI like this, its fragmented remnants flickering and hanging in the air.
"What?" Bruce breathed, walking closer to the hologram, barely believing his eyes. "This is insane."
"JARVIS was the first line of defense. He would've shut Ultron down. It makes sense." Steve analyzed strategically, barely looking at the group now.
"No." Bruce immediately contradicted the soldier's statement. "Ultron could've assimilated JARVIS. This isn't strategy. This is... rage."
Heavy footsteps striding across the room cut the conversation short. Thor had his armor on, Mjölnir in his hand as he stared down at Tony with a hateful expression. He grabbed the billionaire by the throat, lifting him from the ground so his legs flailed in the air.
"Woah, woah, woah!" Steve exclaimed in shock.
"It's going around." Clint muttered.
Keira was about to rise from her seat, wanting to break the two men apart, but was halted as Natasha firmly pushed down on her shoulders. Glancing back at the redhead, Natasha shook her head warningly, telling her to stay out of it, and Keira reluctantly sunk down in her chair again.
"Come on, use your words, buddy." Tony choked out, grabbing ahold of Thor's arm.
But Thor was pissed, probably the most pissed in the room. After finally getting the scepter back after months of searching, Ultron had snatched it from right under their noses. "I have more than enough words to describe you, Stark."
"Thor!" Steve barked, trying to convince the god to let go of Tony before his oxygen completely ran out. "The Legionnaire."
Thor dropped the man with reluctance, the latter stumbling and gasping for breath.
"Trail went cold about a hundred miles out, but it's headed north. And it has the scepter." The god recited in irritation. "Now we have to retrieve it, again."
"Genie's out of that bottle. Clear and present is Ultron." Natasha analyzed, not the one to dwell on the events of the past. She'd rather focus on retrieving the scepter than be angry with a mistake that couldn't be unmade.
Helen Cho, who was leaning over the table that held Ultron's broken body suddenly spoke up. "I don't understand. You built this program." She slowly turned towards Tony, her face painted with confusion. "Why is it trying to kill us?"
Tony just started laughing, to everyone's disapproval. He couldn't have picked a worse moment for it, earning glares from the whole team, but not from Keira. She couldn't help the sigh that escaped her lips, because even if she didn't approve of the method, she had figured out why the idea of Ultron had come to life in the first place. The Avengers' raw strength invited challenge, and challenge invited conflict.
By eliminating the Avengers, the world would regain some peace. The playfield would be neutralized for some time. Although, laughing about it when everybody hadn't figured it out may not be the best way of expressing that.
"You think this is funny?"
"No. It's probably not, right?" Stark questioned rhetorically, working hard to stifle his laughter. He failed terribly, and his smile kept threatening to widen. "This is very terrible. Is it so... is it so... it is. It's so terrible."
"This all could've been avoided if you hadn't played with something you don't understand."
"No. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. It is funny." Tony strolled over to Thor, no longer intimidated by the dark look on the god's face. "It's a hoot that you don't get why we need this."
"Tony..." Bruce softly interrupted, trying to calm things down before they escalated. "Maybe this might not be the time."
"Really?! That's it?" Tony whirled around to face Banner. "You just roll over, show your belly every time somebody snarls?"
"Only when I've created a murder bot."
"We didn't. We weren't even close. Were we close to an interface?" Tony asked, and the look Bruce gave said; we kinda were, yeah.
"Well, you did something right." Steve cut in, his arms crossed over his chest. "And you did it right here. The Avengers were supposed to be different than SHIELD."
Well, maybe they all were destined to follow in history's footsteps. Because once again, secrets were being kept and they all ended in catastrophe. And this time, they had no one to blame but themselves. Before, it was easy to shift the blame to SHIELD, to Fury. Not anymore. Now, they had to face the consequences of their actions.
"Anybody remember when I carried a nuke through a wormhole?" Tony began, starting to get to the point but only earning more annoyed glares from the team.
"No, it's never come up."
"Saved New York?"
"Never heard that."
"Recall that? A hostile alien army came charging through a hole in space. We're standing three-hundred feet below it." Tony managed to collect himself, calming his voice down. "We're the Avengers. We can bust arms dealers all the livelong day, but that up there, that's... That's the endgame. How were you guys planning on beating that?"
There it was. The fear. The fear of being unable to protect those he loved. Unfortunately, mankind had a talent for creating the thing they dread. And it looked like this wasn't an exception.
"Together." Steve replied gravely.
Tony took two steps closer to the supersoldier. "We'll lose."
"Then we'll do that together too."
The two men just stared at each other, a silent battle raging between them. Once again, they displayed their differences, and Keira knew that one day, one day, they would clash horribly. But here, she understood both sides of the coin. Tony just wanted to protect the world, and while Steve wanted that too, he didn't believe this was the way to do it.
The tense silence was finally broken when Tony glanced to the side, silently admitting defeat and Steve took the opportunity to speak to the room at large. "Thor's right. Ultron's calling us out. And I'd like to find him before he's ready for us. The world's a big place. Let's start making it smaller."
As everybody scattered to follow Steve's orders, Tony remained, bent over a computer, his back to the rest of them.
Keira pushed herself off the chair, receiving a reassuring squeeze from Natasha before the redhead disappeared through the doors of the lab. The blonde didn't need to worry about any broken glass still lying on the ground, the soles of her Converse were too thick for the glass to puncture them. "Tony..." She began silently as she found herself beside the man.
It appeared as if Tony had been too preoccupied with his own mind to even notice her because he jumped when she put a hand on his shoulder. "Come to reprimand me like the rest of the team?" He smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes.
Keira shook her head sadly. "No, I'm not here to reprimand you. Or maybe just a little." Upon seeing the worried look that flashed across the man's face however, she continued quickly. "No, no. I didn't mean it like that. What I mean is... I won't tell you 'I told you so', because you've already figured that out on your own."
"Geez, if this is supposed to make me feel better, you're failing spectacularly, Nowak."
"Oh, shut up, and let me finish." She rolled her eyes, giving him a half-smile. "What I mean is, I don't agree with your methods. You already know I don't like secrets, and this was a pretty damn big secret. But I do understand why you did it." She didn't fail to catch the look of surprise shining in his eyes. "I understand why you felt the need to protect the ones you care about. If I had the choice, I probably would've gone for the same thing."
Her gaze fell to the desk, and she exhaled deeply through her nose. "Don't forget that you're part of a team, Tony. We're a family, whether we want to be it or not. And families fight. But in the end, they all love each other. This also means we talk to each other. Don't be afraid to voice your ideas, Tony. I promise you, you'll be surprised at how much the team is willing to help you if you just have the nerve to ask." She squeezed his shoulder gently, her smile widening and reaching her eyes.
Tony didn't say anything, but he didn't need to. Keira could read him even without having to try and connect with his tendril of thought. She knew that he hadn't expected anyone to understand him, let alone her.
"Well, I'm gonna get out of this dress now if you don't mind. It's not exactly appropriate for mission research." She chuckled, leaving the quiet man behind. Her smile faded when her steps led her out into the living room.
Shards of glass littered the floor like freshly fallen snow. Furniture was either overturned or broken and near the bar, the floor was sticky from all the spilled liquor. The little glass statue she had given Tony was no longer hanging from the shelf but lay discarded and broken on the floor.
Her previous tiredness had completely melted away with everything that had happened, and she even found the strength to jump in the shower, although she was careful when washing her back, it was still a little bit sore from the cuts and bruises that the glass shards had caused. When she finally had managed to pull on a pair of sweatpants and a regular t-shirt, she made her way back to the lab.
She strolled over to Natasha, who was typing away on the keyboard, clearly trying to gain information. "Managing to get anywhere?" She asked, draping her forearms over the redhead's shoulders.
Natasha shook her head, her red hair swaying slightly as she did so. "No. This thing is smart, it keeps putting up new firewalls every time I crack one." She huffed, pushing herself from the desk, but remaining seated.
"So, you're telling me that Ultron is smarter than you?" Keira couldn't help the smirk that played on her lips, earning her a smack on the arm.
"Shut up. It's only slightly smarter than me."
Keira held up her hands in surrender at the death glare she received. "Okay, okay, whatever you say." It felt nice to joke around a little, although the guys in the room didn't seem to share her feelings.
Thor was pacing back and forth, a frown deeply etched on his face. Banner and Tony were situated in front of separate computers, also trying to gauge some information about Ultron and his plans. Where Clint and Steve were, Keira had no idea.
Speak of the devil, the two men entered the room alongside Maria. Judging from the serious look on their faces, it wasn't something good. Thor got handed the tablet and his frown only deepened upon seeing the picture that was on it.
"What's this?" Tony asked, the team gathering around the god. He got the tablet slammed into his chest in answer, Thor had obviously still not forgiven him.
"A message. Ultron killed Strucker."
"And he did a Banksy at the crime scene, just for us." Tony commented, handing the tablet to Keira, who had her hand outstretched.
As her eyes landed on the picture, she gave a low whistle. It was Strucker alright. The place where his heart should've been was just a bloody, gaping hole. And on the wall, one word had been written in his blood; 'Peace'.
Okay, great. So, not only was the AI determined to bring about the Avengers' end, but it was also furious enough to kill other people without mercy.
"Looks like you gave Ultron the dramatic flare." Keira deadpanned, handing back the tablet to Tony. Because the robot could've just killed the man without the theatrics, but some of its maker's personality seemed to have seeped into it. "But this is clearly a smokescreen." She continued. Why would Ultron have found the need to kill Strucker in the first place?
Natasha nodded. "Exactly, why send a message when you've just given a speech?"
"Strucker knew something that Ultron wanted us to miss..." Keira muttered, voicing her thoughts loud enough for the others to hear. The cogs in her head finally seemed to have clinked into place and when she received looks of confusion, she shrugged. "Well, it makes sense. If Strucker had sensitive information, then why would Ultron let him live? To prevent that information from getting out, he gets silenced forever. Simple tactic."
"That's cold..." Tony muttered.
Natasha, who had caught on to what Keira meant, had started typing again, trying to back her up. "Yeah, I bet he... Yep. Everything we had on Strucker's been erased." She confirmed, the information popping up on the computer.
"Not everything."
"No." Keira groaned, letting her head fall back. Upon seeing Bruce's confused face, she gave him a half-smile. "It means old, physical files. Who doesn't love returning to the Stone Age?"
❆
Keira couldn't help but chuckle as she entered the room where they had decided to gather all the files. What hung on the wall if not an old poster of Steve, reading the words 'Cap salutes you!'. "Hey, look, Steve. Maybe Stark is a bigger fan of you than he cares to admit?" She nudged the supersoldier and nodded in the direction of the poster.
Steve's face scrunched up in embarrassment and he immediately dived for a box to hide the light blush creeping up his neck. Judging by the age of the poster, he would guess it was a relic of Howard, his old friend.
One after one joined them, selecting a box and shuffling through the files. Keira settled down with a box in her lap on the stairs, beside Clint who already had a couple of boxes splayed around him. The rest of the team gathered around the table, shuffling through the files in silence, their faces scrunched up in concentration.
Keira could see that Thor was quickly losing his patience, ripping the lids off and throwing them carelessly around the room. "Hey, Thunderbolt. Mind keeping the frisbee throwing to a minimum?" Upon seeing Thor's confused face, she tried her best to smother her laughter. "I can feel the dust bunnies creeping up my nose and I'd rather not have a sneezing fit right now." She continued, and Thor's face flooded with understanding.
"My apologies, Lady Keira."
"No worries."
Again, silence fell over the room, all of them returning to their files.
Bruce, who was shuffling through a box of known associates of Strucker, spoke up. "Well, these people are all horrible."
"Wait. I know that guy." Tony interrupted, pointing at the file in Bruce's hands and taking it from him. "From back in the day. He operates off the African coast. Black market arms." He didn't miss the judgey look that Steve threw him. "There are conventions. Alright? You meet people. I didn't sell him anything." He continued with narrowed eyes at the supersoldier.
Keira pushed herself from the stairs and looked at the picture over Tony's shoulder, standing on tiptoes as she did so. "Hey, I know him too." She interjected, knowing the face of Klaue far too well for her own liking. "Back then, he was talking about finding something new, a game-changer."
"It was all very Ahab." Tony filled in. "He's HYDRA?"
"Not part of the organization but they worked together closely."
Thor, who had one part of the file in his hands, studied the pictures of the man. "What's this?" He questioned, pointing to a red mark on Klaue's neck.
"Uh, it's a tattoo. I don't think he had it..."
"No, those are tattoos." Thor cut Tony off, pointing to the black marks around the man's neck, citing the differences. "This is a brand."
"Oh yeah." Bruce said from his place in front of the computer, having scanned the picture and cross-referencing it across the internet. "It's a word in an African dialect meaning thief, in a much less friendly way."
"What dialect?"
Bruce turned back to the computer, trying to read it but he ended up stumbling over the word. "Wakanada. Wa- Wa-"
"Wakanda." Keira cut him off, earning a nod from the scientist. "And you two-" She smacked Tony and Steve lightly on their chests. "-can pick your jaws up from the floor. I'm not just here to raise the pretty factor of the team, you know?"
Tony just raised an eyebrow, gaining some of his old sarcasm back, although he was still treading pretty carefully. "Yeah? You sure about that, disco ball?"
"Watch it." She warned in a dangerously low voice. "Or I might just dangle you from the top of the tower."
Tony gasped, clutching a hand over the arc reactor in his chest. "Oh, you wouldn't dare." But his smile fell quickly, returning to the subject at hand and he shared a meaningful look with Steve. "If this guy got out of Wakanda with some of their trade goods..."
"I thought your father said he got the last of it."
"I don't follow." Bruce got up from his place in front of the computer and lumbered over to them. "What comes out of Wakanda?"
Both Keira, Steve, and Stark looked down at Steve's shield. "The strongest metal on Earth."
"Where is this guy now?"