AMERICA'S POV
We arrive just in time to find Steve and Ultron battling it out inside a speeding train full of civilians. Not a good combo. Wanda uses her powers to create a barrier between Ultron and the group of us. When he notices us, specifically the twins, he sighs.
"Don't do this." It's pathetic.
"What choice do we have?" Wanda growls, a darkness to her voice I didn't expect. Betrayal. Ultron aims a blast at Pietro and I, we both duck and he takes off, flying away. Steve runs to the front of the train, and I immediately follow him. The driver's completely unconscious, and the train is barreling too quickly and off-rails.
"Civilians in our path," Steve says. Pietro and I nod, and we're both off, moving people out of the way to help them. It's again a flurry of motion, my speed up against the clock to save the lives of others. Adrenaline rushes through my veins as I weave my way through crowds, relocating all of them. And through a powerful red swirl of magic, the broken-down train slows to a stop. I lean over to catch my breath. There were a lot of people, even with two of us. A steady hand pulls me up. I sigh with relief when I see Steve is okay, and so are the others. Pietro is also bent over, and Wanda quietly questions if he'll be okay.
"I'm fine. I just need to take a minute."
"I'm very tempted not to give you one." He turns to me and mutters in my ear, "are you okay?"
"Yeah, just a bit tired." He nods.
"The Cradle," Wanda says, stepping away from her - our - brother. "Did you get it?"
"Tony'll take care of it," I say wearily. That's his job. My part of this is supposedly over for now.
"No, he won't." Steve and I both stare at Wanda, clearly uncomfortable.
"You don't know what you're talking about," Steve says. He shakes his head. "Stark's not crazy."
"He will do anything to make things right."
Understanding dawns on the two of us at the same moment. I can't believe Tony didn't learn the first time. Actually, I can, I just don't want to. "Stark, come in. Stark. Anyone on comms?" Steve asks, but no one responds. All we hear is silence and static.
"Ultron can't tell the difference between saving the world and destroying it. Where do you think he gets that?"
———
We find Bruce and Tony exactly where Wanda predicted, creating another bot that will kill us all. "I'm gonna say this once," Steve warns. "Shut it down."
"Nope, not gonna happen," Tony says, going about his work like he's making a cup of coffee.
"You don't know what you're doing!" I insist, stepping forward.
"And you do?" Bruce asks. He motions to Wanda, who recoils a bit. "She's not in your head?"
"No one gets in my head. Not anymore," I hiss.
"I know you're angry," Wanda says carefully.
Bruce grins a dark smile and shakes his head. "Oh, we're way past that. I could choke the life out of you and never change a shade."
"Banner, after everything that's happened-" Steve starts, but Tony cuts over him.
"That's nothing compared to what's coming!"
"You don't know what's in there!" Wanda yells.
"This isn't a game!"
"The creature-!"
Pietro glances at me, rolls his eyes, and runs, unplugging and destroying the lab equipment in one go. Nice one, I think. He raises his eyebrows at the shocked scientists. "No, no. Go on. You were saying?"
A bullet pierces the glass floor we're standing on. Steve grabs me before I fall, but Pietro isn't so lucky.
"Pietro!" Wanda cries shrilly. A beeping noise fills the room. Power loss critical. I know he's fine, so I focus on other matters.
"All right, I'm rerouting the upload," Tony says to Bruce. He can't do that. We can't have another Ultron.
Steve hurls his shield at the screen. It ricochets off of multiple surfaces, sending sparks flying everywhere. Tony summons an Iron Man fist and blasts Steve backward. Bruce grabs Wanda. I kick Tony in the side before running to narrowly avoid being blasted myself, but I almost crash into someone else.
Thor.
He jumps and lands on the cradle. Thrusting his hammer in the air, he summons lightning and starts to charge it. "Wait!" Bruce shouts, but it's too late. Even Tony looks shocked. Steve pushes me back a few feet, and we watch with fear in our eyes. There's nothing else we can do. None of us have the strength to overcome Thor.
He stops the lightning, and I hold my breath in anticipation. Thor gets blasted backward, shattering glass all over, and a figure emerges from the cradle. A red and silver android man, with a yellow gem in his forehead. He eyes us all, but his gaze lands on Thor. He lunges, but Thor throws him through a window. He only stops right at the window closest to the outside and stares at it curiously. We all follow, but Thor holds out a hand to stop us from acting.
"I'm sorry, that was...odd." He has a British accent that seems familiar. To Thor, he quietly adds, "thank you."
"Thor, you helped... create this?" Steve asks, trying to regain a sense of control of the situation.
Thor nods. "I've had a vision. A whirlpool that sucks in all hope of life and at its center is that." He points to the yellow gem.
"What, the gem?" Bruce asks as he walks down the stairs.
"It's the Mind Stone. It's one of the six Infinity Stones, the greatest power in the universe, unparalleled in its destructive capabilities."
Steve still isn't following. "Then why would you bring it to-?"
"Because Stark is right." I let out a low whistle and take a step back. Strange day indeed.
"Oh, it's definitely the end of times," Bruce jokes.
"The Avengers cannot defeat Ultron."
"Not alone," the android finishes.
"Why does your 'vision' sound like JARVIS?" Steve asks warily. Vision. Hm. I like that. Vision. Better than 'the android' anyway. In this short time, he's created an outfit for himself, complete with a golden cape.
"We... we reconfigured JARVIS' matrix to create something new."
"I think I've had my fill of new," Steve mumbles. I give him an apologetic, understanding look because I know that while I'm upset right now, he's much worse.
"You think I'm a child of Ultron?"
"You're not?"
"I'm not Ultron. I'm not JARVIS. I am...I am." He shrugs a bit. Wanda approaches Vision with skeptical eyes.
"I looked in your head and saw annihilation."
"Look again."
Clint rolls his eyes. "Yeah. Her seal of approval means jack to me."
"Their powers, the horrors in our heads, Ultron himself, they all came from the Mind Stone, and they're nothing compared to what it can unleash," Thor explains. "But with it on our side..."
"Is it?" Steve asks, turning to Vision. We all do the same. "Are you? On our side?"
The Vision only shakes his head. "I don't think it's that simple."
"Well, it better get real simple real soon," Clint growls. He's worried about Nat, worried that we're wasting our time here.
Vision looks at us thoughtfully. " I am on the side of life. Ultron isn't, he will end it all."
"What's he waiting for?" I ask.
"You."
"Where?"
"Sokovia. He's got Nat there, too," Bruce answers. Sokovia. My home country. He hesitates before continuing. "If we're wrong about you, if you're the monster that Ultron made you to be..."
"What will you do?" We would destroy him. But I don't want to. I kind of like him. I want to trust him, but I can't, not yet. Vision begins to pace around. "I don't want to kill Ultron. He's unique, and he's in pain. But that pain will roll over the earth, so he must be destroyed. Every form he's built, every trace of his presence on the net, we have to act now. And not one of us can do it without the others. Maybe I am a monster. I don't think I'd know if I were one. I'm not what you are, and not what you intended. So there may be no way to make you trust me. But we need to go."
He holds up the hammer for Thor.
He's holding it.
Once Thor takes it, shock on his face, Vision leaves. To him, it's like he picked up a paperclip. "Right then. Well done," Thor says, obviously happy with his choices.
Steve then addresses us all. "Three minutes. Get what you need."
I'm already in my suit, so I take the time to braid my hair back securely. Tony glances at Bruce, Steve, and I. "No way we all get through this. If even one tin soldier is left standing, we've lost. It's gonna be blood on the floor."
"I got no plans tomorrow night," Steve says, grinning.
I bend over and whisper in his ear. "Do you want to have plans tomorrow night?"
"Sure. What are you thinking?"
"Movie night. If we survive, of course." I kiss him on the cheek.
"Of course."
"Stop being cute," Tony says, faux gagging. "Anyway, I get first crack at the big guy. Iron Man's the one he's waiting for."
"That's true!" Vision calls from his spot by the window with Thor. "He hates you the most."
Despite the really inappropriate timing, I laugh way too hard.
We load onto the Quinjet minutes later. I find a spot next to Pietro, who won't meet anyone's eyes. He's probably nervous. I am, too. There's nothing protecting any of us. We're all we've got.
"Ultron knows we're coming. Odds are we'll be riding into heavy fire, and that's what we signed up for. But the people of Sokovia, they didn't. So our priority is getting them out. All they want is to live their lives in peace, and that's not going to happen today. But we can do our best to protect them. And we can get the job done, and find out what Ultron's been building. We find Romanoff, and we clear the field. Keep the fight between us." Steve pauses, mulling what he's said over. "Ultron thinks we're monsters and we're what's wrong with the world. This isn't just about beating him. It's about whether he's right."
Monsters.
I used to be one.
Not anymore.
This week has been sooooo long, but I hope you liked this one!