"Shit!" Tony's voice came over comms as the Avengers took down a HYDRA base less than a year later after the whole HYDRA/SHIELD/Bucky thing.

"Language!" Steve chimed. "Jarvis, what's the view from upstairs?" he added.

Maggie snorted as she launched a tree at a group of soldiers with her powers.

"The central building is protected by some kind of energy shield. Strucker's technology is well beyond any other HYDRA base we've taken," Jarvis said.

"Loki's scepter must be here. Strucker couldn't mount this defense without it. At long last," Thor said.

"At long last is lasting a little long, boys," Natasha said over comms.

"Yeah. I think we lost the element of surprise," Clint said.

"Wait a second. No one else is going to deal with the fact that Cap just said language?" Tony said.

"Thank you!" Maggie laughed, ducking as some soldiers started firing at her.

"I know," Steve groaned. There was a loud bang. "It just slipped out," he said.

"That's what she said," Maggie chimed, jumping down a hill to fight more soldiers.

"Maggie!" Steve scolded her.

"Go kid," Tony laughed loudly.

"We have an enhanced in the field," Steve said.

"Of course we do," Maggie sighed. "Because chemically altering one kid wasn't enough, my dad had the bright idea to do it to tons of us," she said.

"Loving the sarcasm, kid," Tony said.

"Thank you, I do try," Maggie said.

"Clint's hit!" Natasha's voice came through comms. "Somebody want to deal with that bunker?" she added.

Maggie heard the loud crash of Bruce destroying it.

"Thank you," Natasha said.

"Stark, we really need to get inside," Steve said.

"I'm closing in," Tony said loudly.

Maggie took down a few more enemies while they waited for Tony.

"Drawbridge is down, people," he said.

"On it," Maggie said.

She saw a tank ahead of her and nodded to herself. She climbed onto the back and opened the top, dropping down into the chamber.

There were four guards staring at her.

"Sorry to drop in, but I kind of need your tank," Maggie said. She pulled out her gun and shot the four of them in quick succession.

She sat herself in the driver's seat and used her powers to navigate the tank towards the HYDRA fortress.

"Clint's hit pretty bad, guys. We're gonna need evac," Natasha said over

"Mighty Maggie, you, Steve and Stark are securing the scepter. Barton and Natasha are going to the jet with me," Thor said over comms.

"Copy," Maggie said.

"Maggie, are you in that tank?" Tony's voice came.

"Not all of us can fly. You're all just lucky that I can control this with my mind. I'm a terrible driver," Maggie said. She made the tank stop and climbed out of it, running into the base

"Maggie," Tony said.

"Yeah?" Maggie said.

"Cap is gonna take Strucker. I'm taking the intel and the scepter. You have to find the enhanced," he said.

"You know they won't come to me just because we're all screwed up together, right?" Maggie said.

"I know," Tony said. "But you're most likely nearest their age and, well, you have a very persuasive way of making people do what you want," he said.

"I'm a manipulative bitch, you mean," Maggie said.

"I was saying it nicely but, yeah, sure," Tony chuckled.

"I'm afraid I can't do that, though," Maggie sighed as she shot a few guards down.

"Why not?" Steve's voice joined their conversation now.

"Because if my dad is here, we're screwed," Maggie said.

Steve had filled the others in about Maggie's father when they'd been taking down HYDRA bases in the past year. They all knew that Dimitri Sokolov was one of the main HYDRA men and he had to be alive somewhere.

Maggie was personally ready to sign his execution notice and do it for good, this time.

"What are you gonna do?" Tony said.

"I'm gonna find the bastard," Maggie said simply.

"Be careful," Natasha's voice came.

"Such a mom," Maggie rolled her eyes fondly, slipping down a hallway towards some labs.

Maggie was walking towards the exit of one of the labs when she saw something blue glinting at her from in the fridge. She turned slowly and walked over to it.

It was a vial of the same liquid she'd been injected with. She opened the fridge and took it out. No label.

She tucked it into her jacket and left the lab, walking down the hallway again.

"No sign of him," Maggie said.

"Are we sure?" Tony said.

"I mean, I'm pretty sure my father isn't running around here creating havoc, but who knows? The prick escaped last time and hid for years. He's probably doing the same this time around. Nobody wants the Avengers after you," Maggie said.

"Good point," Steve said.

"I found a vial of whatever they injected me with, though. Tony, you and Bruce can look at it in the lab?" Maggie said.

"You know it, kid," Tony said. "Let's get out of here and go home," he said.

"Let's do it," Maggie said.

"What do we know?" Maggie greeted Tony and Bruce in the lab a few hours later. They were working on both the scepter and the vial. A weird feeling twinged in Maggie's stomach but she ignored it, focusing on the men to explain what they'd found.

"Well, the two are definitely connected," Tony said.

"They are?" Maggie said.

"Yeah," Bruce nodded. "We believe the power from the scepter is what's powering the vial," he said.

"So, whatever is in there is altered by the shit the scepter can do? Like, mind control?" Maggie said.

"We think. Have you had any new abilities show following your injection?" Tony said.

"Well," Maggie hummed as she tried to think.

Sure, her nightmares had gotten worse when she had them, but she'd been having them a lot less often. She had gone from 1-2 hours of sleep a night to 3-5, which was a massive improvement. She'd also gotten better at controlling her powers, but that could just be because the Avengers had been training her more often than before.

She had been able to get a better grip on her flying, too, but that was still pretty bad because, as Maggie said, she was a terrible driver. That included driving herself around. Her sense of direction was laughable for an assassin/Avenger.

"I mean, nothing new. I just got better at my old ones," Maggie said.

"So, it acts as an enhancer, then," Bruce said.

"It could be. The scepter could be giving it the power to get stronger," Tony said.

"So, what?" Maggie frowned. "That's like, super soldier serum on crack?" she said.

"Essentially," Tony said.

"Okay," Maggie walked over and picked up the vial. She grabbed a needle, too.

"What are you doing?" Bruce said loudly.

"I'm injecting myself?" Maggie frowned.

"Why?!" Tony said, grabbing it from her hands.

"Because it helped me get a grip on my powers," Maggie said.

"But, think about this, Magpie," Tony said. "You got that with no problem. You barely fought anyone on your way to the labs. You found it easily and you left easily. We all got trouble, everyone except you. Maybe Strucker and your father were connected and he wanted you to have this. Maybe this batch is different than the last one. This could take your powers or make you do things you don't want to do," he said.

Maggie studied the vial for a few seconds.

"Good point," she put the vial down on the table again. "Keep it safe, though. If there's a time we might need it, I'm taking it," she said.

"Deal," Tony said. "Now, go and get ready for the party tonight," he said.

"Can I drink?" Maggie smirked.

"If your mom says," Tony nodded.

"She won't say yes," Maggie frowned. "You know that," she said.

"Then I guess you'll have to be extra nice to me so I slip you some on the side," Tony smirked at her.

"I'm not getting involved," Bruce covered his ears. "I didn't witness that," he said.

Maggie laughed as Tony winked at her and turned to leave the room.

"Thanks, uncle Tony!" she teased, hurrying from the lab to get ready.

"Whatever you want, Magpie," Tony called after her with a beaming grin.

"Maggie Romanoff," a voice came from behind Maggie at the party. She hid the glass of vodka lemonade behind her back and turned.

"Oh, thank god," Maggie sighed when she saw it was Sam and not Natasha, like she'd expected.

"Hiding from someone?" Sam chuckled, holding a hand out for her to shake.

"No," Maggie smiled innocently. "How's the, uh, missing person's case coming along?" she asked.

"It's slow. No new developments," Sam shrugged. He had continued looking for Bucky. "How are you?" he said.

"Good," she said.

"Any developments in Dimitri?" he said.

"Nothing new," Maggie shrugged.

"Magdalena Stefania Romanoff," a voice came from behind her. Maggie winced. She turned around slowly, meeting Natasha's eyes.

"Yeah, Nat?" she said.

"Who gave you a drink?" she said.

"I got it myself," Maggie lied. "C'mon, Nat, I'm sixteen. One glass isn't gonna kill me. And we're Russian. Vodka has been a part of our diet as long as food has," Maggie pouted.

"That's your only glass," Natasha warned her, walking away to rejoin the others.

"This is my fifth one," Maggie muttered to Sam with a smirk.

"I didn't hear that," Sam laughed, covering his ears.

"Of course not," Maggie said, following after Natasha to rejoin the others, too.

The Avengers, plus Maria Hill, James Rhodes and Dr. Cho, sat around in Tony's living room after the party was over. Thor's hammer sat on the table between them all.

"But it's a trick!" Clint laughed as he motioned at the hammer.

"Oh, no. It's much more than that," Thor said.

"Uh, whosoever be he worthy shall haveth the power!" Clint put on a voice, making all of them laugh. "Whatever man! It's a trick," he said.

"Well, please, be my guest," Thor said.

"Come on," Tony scoffed.

"Really?" Clint said.

"Yeah!" Thor grinned. Clint got to his feet with a smirk.

"Oh, this is gonna be beautiful," Rhodey, laughed.

"Clint, you've had a tough week, we won't hold it against you if you can't get it up," Tony said.

"You know I've seen this before, right?" Clint grabbed Thor's hammer but couldn't lift it. He laughed as he looked at Thor. "I still don't know how you do it," he said.

"Smell the silent judgment?" Tony teased.

"Please, Stark, by all means," Clint said. Tony got to his feet with a smirk.

"Oh, here we go," Natasha laughed, Maggie's head in her lap as the two of them watched the men be idiots.

"Okay," Maria laughed.

"Uh, oh," Rhodey said.

"Uh, huh," Clint laughed in agreement.

"Never one to shrink from an honest challenge," Tony said.

"Get after it," Clint said.

"Here we go," Natasha said.

"It's physics," Tony said simply.

"Physics," Bruce echoed.

Tony put his hand on Thor's hammer.

"Right, so, if I lift it, I...I then rule Asgard?" Tony said.

"Yes, of course," Thor said.

"I will be re-instituting Prima Nocta," Tony said.

He tried to lift the hammer but couldn't.

"I'll be right back," Tony left the room.

He returned with his hand but, again, couldn't. Tony gave the hammer a disgusted look.

Maggie laughed as Tony and Rhodey, both in full suits, failed to lift the hammer.

"Are you even pulling?" Rhodey said.

"Are you on my team?" Tony scoffed.

"Just represent! Pull!" Rhodey said.

"Alright, let's go!" Tony said.

They pulled as hard as they could, but failed.

Bruce was next, roaring as he pretended to change into the Hulk. Everybody stared at him and Maggie could practically feel how weird the atmosphere had gotten.

"Huh?" Bruce said weakly.

"Your turn, Cap," Maggie extended a leg to nudge Steve's side.

"Alright," Steve said.

"Let's go, Steve, no pressure," Tony grinned as Steve got up.

"Come on, Cap," Rhodey agreed.

Steve grabbed the hammer and managed to move it a little bit. Thor's face dropped, but his grin was back when Steve gave up.

"Nothing," Thor laughed.

"And?" Tony scoffed.

"Widow?" Bruce smiled at Natasha.

"Oh, no, no. That's not a question I need answered," Natasha said.

"Magpie?" Tony smirked at Maggie. That was his latest favourite nickname for Maggie and she secretly liked it, but made it very apparent that it annoyed her.

"If Steve can't, I can't," Maggie shrugged.

"You should try anyway, Mighty Maggie. If anyone here could be worthy, it's you and Cap," Thor said.

"I'll pass," Maggie said. She didn't want to fail to lift and start thinking she wasn't worthy because of a stupid hammer.

"All deference to the man who wouldn't be king, but it's rigged," Tony said.

"You bet your ass," Clint laughed.

"Steve, he said a bad language word," Maria teased. The Avengers, minus Steve, all roared with laughter.

"Did you tell everyone about that?" Steve whined to Tony and Maggie.

"Yes," Maggie grinned.

"The handle's imprinted, right? Like a security code. Whosoever is carrying Thor's fingerprints is, I think, the literal translation?" Tony said.

"Yes, well that's, uh, that's a very, very interesting theory. I have a simpler one," Thor got to his feet and flipped the hammer into his hands. "You're all not worthy," he said.

There was a loud screeching noise, like microphone feedback, and Maggie's head started reeling. She buried it into Natasha's lap to try and stop it from burning in her ears. Her body started shaking as a weird feeling came over her. She knew whatever was here.

"Worthy," a robotic voice came from the door. "No, how could you be worthy? You're all killers."

Maggie's head shot up quickly. There was one of the Iron Legion suits wobbling in the doorway.

"Stark," Steve said.

"Jarvis," Tony said quietly into his watch.

"I'm sorry, I was asleep. Or... I was a dream?" the robot said.

"Reboot, Legionnaire OS, we got a buggy suit," Tony said.

"There was a terrible noise... and I was tangled in... in... strings. I had to kill the other guy. He was a good guy," the robot said.

"You killed someone?" Steve said.

"Wouldn't have been my first call. But, down in the real world we're faced with ugly choices," the robot said.

"Who sent you?" Thor asked.

"I see a suit of armor around the world," Tony's voice came from the robot. Tony made this?

"Ultron," Bruce muttered.

"In the flesh. Or, no, not yet. Not this... chrysalis. But I'm ready. I'm on a mission," Ultron said.

"What mission?" Natasha asked.

"Peace in our time," Ultron said simply.

The walls around them exploded as several Iron Legion bots stormed the room.

Maggie got up and ran quickly to take cover behind one of the supporting floor beams, in direct sight of the living room so she could use her powers to attack the robots with furniture. It wasn't her best idea but it was all she could think of while being attacked by murder-bots that her uncle Tony had accidentally created.

Eventually, they'd taken down all of the bots, but Ultron and another. Steve launched his shield at the other bot and destroyed it.

"That was dramatic! I'm sorry, I know you mean well. You just didn't think it through. You want to protect the world, but you don't want it to change. How is humanity saved if it's not allowed to...evolve?" Ultron picked up one of the bot heads. "With these? These puppets?" he said. He crushed it in his hand. "There's only one path to peace: The Avengers' extinction-"

Thor threw his hammer at Ultron and sent his body into the floor, crushed. Ultron's eyes flickered in the bot's head.

"I had strings, but now I'm free. There are no strings on me, no strings on me," Ultron sang creepily.

He fell silent and Maggie walked over to the hammer and the bot. She knelt down, putting her hand flat over the bot's chest.

"What are you doing?" Natasha asked.

"I can feel him," Maggie frowned. "I can feel something," she said.

"What do you mean, something?" Tony said quickly.

"I don't know. When it got here, I felt something. It was like I knew it. And now I can feel it. I can feel Ultron," Maggie said.

"Why the hell can my kid feel a robot that you created?" Natasha spun to glare at Tony and Bruce.

"The vial of liquid she found, the one Dimitri injected her with, it was charged by the scepter. So was Ultron," Bruce said slowly.

"So, to put it simply, Maggie and Ultron are now connected," Natasha said.

A frown came across Maggie's face.

"When I came into the lab, I felt something. It was when I saw the scepter and the vial," Maggie said.

"They're connected," Tony nodded slowly.

"Well, fuck," Maggie groaned, leaning against the wall beside Ultron's crushed body.

"You better fix this," Natasha glared at Stark, storming off to find out what damage Ultron had done elsewhere.

"C'mon, kid," Steve walked over to Maggie and extended a hand. He pulled her to her feet and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "Let's get you another drink. I think you need it," he said.

"Yeah, I really do," Maggie muttered.

"All our work is gone. Ultron cleared out, used the internet as an escape hatch," Bruce said.

"Ultron," Steve said slowly.

"He's been in everything. Files, surveillance. Probably knows more about us than we know about each other," Natasha said.

"He's in your files, he's in the internet. What if he decides to access something a little more exciting?" Rhodey said.

"Nuclear codes," Maria said.

"Nuclear codes. Look, we need to make some calls, assuming we still can," Rhodey said.

"Nukes? He said he wanted us dead," Natasha said.

"He didn't say dead. He said extinct," Steve scoffed.

"He also said he killed somebody," Clint said.

"But there wasn't anyone else in the building," Maria said.

"Yes, there was," Tony said.

He brought up a 3D hologram of Jarvis' consciousness. 

"This is insane," Bruce whispered.

"Jarvis was the first line of defense. He would've shut Ultron down, it makes sense," Steve said.

"No, Ultron could've assimilated Jarvis. This isn't strategy, this is...rage," Bruce frowned.

Thor barged into the room and grabbed Tony by the throat, holding up up in the air.

"Woah, woah, woah! It's going around," Clint said quickly.

"Come on. Use your words, buddy," Tony muttered weakly.

"I have more than enough words to describe you, Stark," Thor growled.

"Thor! The Legionnaire?" Steve said. Thor dropped Tony onto the floor.

"Trail went cold about a hundred miles out but it's headed North, and it has the scepter. Now we have to retrieve it, again," Thor said.

"The genie's out of that bottle. Clear and present is Ultron," Natasha said sarcastically.

"I don't understand. You built this program. Why is it trying to kill us?" Dr. Cho frowned.

Tony started laughing slowly and Maggie raised an eyebrow. He either had a terrible sense of humour or wanted Thor to kill him.

"You think this is funny?" Thor scoffed.

"No. It's probably not, right? Is this very terrible? Is it so... is it so... it is. It's so terrible," Tony said.

"This could've been avoided if you hadn't played with something you don't understand," Thor said.

"No, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. It is funny. It's a hoot that you don't get why we need this," Tony said.

"Tony, maybe this might not be the time to-" Bruce said.

"Really?! That's it? You just roll over, show your belly, every time somebody snarls," Tony scoffed.

"Only when I've created a murder bot," Bruce said.

"We didn't. We weren't even close. Were we even close to an interface?" Tony said.

"Well, you did something right and you did it right here. The Avengers were supposed to be different than SHIELD," Steve said.

"Anybody remember when I carried a nuke through a wormhole?" Tony said.

They all groaned loudly.

"No, it's never come up," Rhodey said sarcastically.

"Saved New York?" Tony said.

"Never heard that," Rhodey shook his head.

"Recall that? A hostile alien army came charging through a hole in space. We're standing three hundred feet below it. We're the Avengers. We can bust arms dealers all the live long day, but, that up there? That's... that's the end game. How were you guys planning on beating that?" Tony said.

"Together," Steve said.

"We'll lose," Tony said.

"Then we'll do that together, too. 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," Steve said.