- NINETEEN -
The flight to Sokovia felt like a lifetime. I tried to close my eyes- to get to rest I knew I would need- but nothing worked. My brain only spun with every single possible outcome of this battle. Even now, as we walk towards the city centre, my heart races so loudly I swear the others can hear it.
"Everybody know what we're doing?" Thor asks, turning to look at everybody nodding their heads. When his eyes finally meet mine, he cocks his head to the side. "Even you, shadow girl?"
Shadow Girl.
He gave me that name during the days of preparation. It is funny having a nickname. I never had one as a child, and certainly not during training.
"Ready as I'll ever be."
I steel my face, trying to look like I am telling the truth. I trained, studied, and worked so hard to become something so different than whatever I am now. Nothing could have prepared me for this.
"Listen up," Rogers says, looking over his shoulder.
"You say that like we have a choice," Stark replies, only his face visible behind his suit.
Rogers ignores him. "Our first job is to evacuate the city. We still don't know what his plan is or what he did with all the vibranium, so be on the lookout. Pietro, I need you to run and get the warning to everybody. Fast."
Without warning, the speedster is off, leaving nothing but a small plume of dust in his wake.
"Wanda, I need you to reach in to their minds; get them to leave the city."
The timid girl that I met those months ago is gone; in her place stands a woman who is ready to give her all. Fear is etched on her face, but I can almost feel the determination racing through her veins.
Slowly, her red tendrils make their way like veins through the city- in to houses, across streets, and reaching the minds of any citizen within reach.
"Nina and Tony," he finally turns to look at us, "you know what to do. Vision won't be far behind and the rest of us will be there as soon as we can."
He looks at the others. "We go on foot. Help where you can but keep your eyes open."
I nod my head at him and he reciprocates- an understanding between soldiers. A small acknowledgment by two people who's lives could have been so different but have somehow both found themselves on the dusty streets of Sokovia.
"I know you did not agree to this," Tony says from behind me, "but if I asked you would have said no."
Suddenly, his hand is around my waist and we are soaring through the air, hundreds of feet above the now small buildings below. The breath is torn out of my lungs as he banks left and descends, landing in the city centre.
He unceremoniously drops me in an alley, not before turning back and yelling,
"Stay here. Wait for the signal."
Just as he turns the corner, a wave of panic rushes through me. It has been a long time since I have felt raw, undiluted fear, but suddenly it all comes crashing down; these people, this team- I might let them down again. I might fail. All this sacrifice, all this death. It could be for nothing.
"Stark!" I call after him. "Wait!"
He stops, poking his head back around the corner. He raised an eyebrow impatiently.
"I-" I stutter, the realization that I have never been this scared before hitting me square in the chest.
"Spit it out, Blahov, we don't have all day."
"What if I-" I shrug, trying to sound casual over the racing of my heart, "what if I mess up. What if- because of me- we fail."
Slowly, he makes his way back around the corner, stopping only a foot away from me- close enough that I can see the worry lines etched on his forehead and his eyes flicking across my face.
"Kid, I don't know if you have seen our track record, but nothing ever goes to plan," he says, a trademark smirk playing on his lips. "So keep pushing, adapt, and think of the team. If you can do that, you won't fail."
"But I'm not an Avenger."
The words pour out so fast that I could not have kept them back if I tried. But they are true; I'm not an Avenger. Despite my choices, I am still not one of them.
"Well shit, Shadow," he huffs, "do you want it in writing? 'Nina Blahov, Pain-in-My-Ass/Avenger'?"
I almost laugh, but catch myself as his gaze turns serious. He grabs my hand, holding it in both of his. I can feel the calluses that could have only come from hours of working on his suit as he squeezes tightly.
"You helped us, kid. You turned your life around for the better and helped us out a hell of a lot. You're one of us now. You're an Avenger."
I do not even have time to process what he said as he drops my hand and runs back out on to the main road, against the flow of fleeing citizens and leaving me glued to my place.
The Trinity.
Agent Blahov.
Nina Blahov.
Avenger.
I whisper the words to myself, the title foreign on my lips. I think back to that day on Barton's farm- the day that everything changed. It was only a few months ago, but every breath, every word, every thought, feels miles away.
By now, the Red Room will have reported me Missing in Action. Or maybe they think I am dead. In a way that is true. The girl that graduated the Red Room never left that small farm. She died right along with her fear of the terrors of her past. She could have never imagined the woman I have become. The Avenger I have become.
I am quickly ripped from my daze as a voice hisses through the intercom.
"Blahov, get in to position."
Quickly, I move from the alley, creeping towards the small church in the middle of the city. The church has no walls, only pillars holding up it's domed ceiling. In the middle of the temple stands Ultron, but this time, his body is different- sleeker. Stronger. He looms feet above Stark, dwarfing him with his newly-made vibranium body.
I continue to move forward, straining my ears for Stark's signal. I look up as Vision flies overhead, gliding in through the pillars. The small yellow jewel glows on his head as he grabs on to Untron's face. So far, the plan is working- Vision just needs to lock Ultron out of the web. If Vision succeeds, then Ultron would die here. If not, then he could send himself out in to the world, recreating himself in any form.
Ultron lets out a shout. He grabs Vision by his head, pushing him in to one of the pillars, bricks crumbling around them. Together, they fly through the air, crashing in to the ancient stone
"What are you doing!" Ultron cries out. "You've blocked me out of the system! You think I care? You take away my world, I take away yours."
The ground rumbles under my feet and a mechanical hiss rings out over the city.
"His robots," Rogers says over the intercom. "He's released them in to the city."
"Blahov," Tony hisses, "now would be a good time for a distraction."
Quickly, I run towards the church, slowing my pace just before I cross the threshold.
When Ultron turns, his glowing eyes lock on to mine and he laughs.
"Have you come to confess your sins?" he asks.
"You and I both know we don't have time for that."
He continues to stare, not even noticing Vision fly away. Or if he does notice, he doesn't care.
"It ends here, Ultron. Whatever your plan is, it ends here," I say, my neck craned to look up at his new face.
"You sound confident. Don't you remember the first time we met?"
He circles me like a lion and it's prey. I can feel Stark close behind me, but he doesn't dare break the silence.
"Yes," I breath, "but this time, you're not in charge. You don't get to play God anymore. Not here, not ever."
He laughs again. "You're so naïve, shadow girl. You have no idea what is going to happen and yet you fight for them. You fight with them."
He is right. Months ago, the thought of fighting alongside the Avengers would have made me laugh; but somehow in the midst of my world being turned on its head, I have come to realize that there is nothing I wouldn't do to escape the life that was meant to kill me. Nothing I wouldn't do to win against someone trying to take that freedom away from everybody else, either.
"I bested you once," I smirk. "What makes you think I won't do it again?"
"Because you can't!" he laughs, "None of you can! Not this time."
"We've locked you out of the system, Ultron. You can't-"
"But you think that will stop me?" Ultron erupts, his red eyes glowing brighter. "Nothing can stop me."
Suddenly, something erupts from the centre of the church. Metal, whirring and hissing as gears move, spins out of the ground. A metal core shines even in the shadowy darkness.
"The vibrainum," I whisper. Tony nods and the mask over his face lifts to reveal wide eyes and a pale face.
"This is what you made with it," Tony says. "What have you done?"
"That," Ultron mutters, "you will have to wait and see."
I think I can see a smile on his face as he turns to me. He in not human, but in every movement I can feel his pride. His eagerness to destroy us all. I don't dare turn as the vibranuim core begins to scream, the mechanical noise ringing in my ears.
"Or maybe not."
And suddenly, the world cleaves in half.
///////
Did I say I was going to post this chapter four days ago? Yes. Did I get nervous and re-write the whole thing that same day? Also yes.
Thank you so much for your patience with this story. We are so close to 30k reads and I can't believe it. The support I have received and the reception this book has had is so incredible and I'm unfathomably grateful.
There are only a few more chapters left in the book before I have finished, so I'm hoping to be updating regularly for the next few weeks, but no promises.
As always, all comments and votes are so appreciated.
Lots of love,
B