"I am sick to death of fighting robots!" Maggie yelled as she blasted a group of robots away from her and Steve as they tried to stop the robots from stopping the evacuations of the now floating island of Sokovia. God, her day got weirder and weirder.

"You don't say!" Steve panted, throwing his shield to take out a few more.

A sudden wave of bots launched at them, sending Maggie and Steve flying back onto cars' windscreens. Maggie groaned as a dull thud bore through her body.

"Cap, Magpie, you got incoming," Tony said.

"No shit," Maggie groaned.

"Incoming already came in. Stark, you worry about bringing the city back down safely. The rest of us have one job: tear these things apart," Steve said, yanking Maggie back to her feet. "You get hurt, hurt 'em back. You get killed, walk it off," he said.

"Great peptalk. I'm really loving the whole tough love vibe you've got going on," Maggie said.

"Just fight, Magpie," Steve teased, throwing his shield at a few robots near Maggie.

"Hey!" Tony's voice came over comms. "That's my nickname for Maggie. Yours is Little Romanoff," he whined.

"People are dying, guys," Bruce's exasperated voice came over comms.

"I'll tell you what Sherlock Holmes, you are unbelievable," Maggie said sarcastically.

She rolled her eyes and used her powers to send a few bots into buildings.

"Alright, we're all clear here," Clint's voice came over comms.

Maggie and Steve ducked as another bot joined the horde already trying to murder them.

"We are not clear! We are very not clear!" Steve cried.

"Alright, coming to you, then," Clint said.

A blue blur appeared holding a certain red witch. Maggie sighed but whistled loudly so they would come and help them fight the horde.

Wanda and Pietro ran over and a red mist started glowing in Wanda's palms. Maggie focused her energy on the horde and she felt the tingling feeling start to burn, but it wasn't a painful burn. It was a good burn.

Their combined powers sent the horde halfway across the city. They stared with wide eyes at the now almost empty courtyard. Clint, Steve and Pietro stared at the two of them, slightly astounded, also slightly proud.

Maggie felt Wanda's eyes burning into the side of her face and she turned to meet them. A small red ring ignited in Wanda's pupils before it disappeared. Her eyes, however, looked a lot more soft than they had a few seconds earlier.

"I'm sorry," Wanda said, slightly breathless. Maggie couldn't even force a word out of her lips.

Of course now was the time to have gay panic, Magdalena thought. God, her mom would laugh her ass off if she saw how stupid Maggie looked right now.

"Romanoff!" Steve snapped out of his daze when he saw Natasha running over to them.

Maggie's gaze snapped from Wanda's to meet Natasha's. A wide smile spread across her lips and she ran over, practically launching herself at her.

Natasha laughed as she caught Maggie, kissing her forehead three times in a row.

"Malyshka, how are you?" Natasha said.

"I'm glad you're back," Maggie mumbled into her neck. She let Natasha put her back on her feet. "Did Bruce tell you I'm connected to the Mind Stone?" Maggie said.

"He did," Natasha said, a small frown on her face as she smoothed Maggie's hair out of her dirty face. "When did you last eat? Or sleep?" she said.

"Nat," Maggie whined, a small blush spreading across her cheeks.

"As adorable as the Romanoff family reunion is, we still have murder bots trying to kick our asses. Maybe when we're done you can send your kid to bed, Nat," Clint said.

"Why do people keep thinking that we're forgetting about the robots trying to murder us?" Maggie scoffed, stepping away from Natasha to get back to the fight.

"Yeah, guys," Natasha smirked, pulling out her electric prods to fight the robots coming back at them.

"The next wave's gonna hit any minute. What have you got, Stark?" Steve's voice came over comms as the evacuation team took a minute to get their bearings again.

"Well, nothing great. Maybe a way to blow up the city. That'll keep it from impacting the surface if you guys can get clear," Tony said.

"I asked for a solution, not an escape plan," Steve said.

"Impact radius is getting bigger every second. We're going to have to make a choice," Tony said. Natasha and Maggie hurried over to Steve as he stepped through the fog towards them.

"Cap, these people are going nowhere. If Stark finds a way to blow this rock..." Natasha trailed off.

"Not 'til everyone's safe," Steve said.

"Everyone up here versus everyone down there? There's no math there," Maggie said.

"I'm not leaving this rock with one civilian on it," Steve said firmly.

"We didn't say we should leave," Maggie said, leaning her head back into Natasha's chest.

"There's worse ways to go. Where else am I gonna get a view like this? When else can I do this with my family at my side?" Natasha said.

"Glad you like the view, Romanoff. It's about to get better," Fury's voice came over comms. The Helicarrier slowly floated into eyeline and Maggie laughed in disbelief. "Nice, right? I pulled her out of mothballs with a couple of old friends. She's dusty, but she'll do," he said.

"Fury, you son of a bitch," Steve laughed.

"Ooh! You kiss your mother with that mouth?" Fury laughed.

"Good to have you back, grandpa," Maggie grinned. "Let's get this shitshow on the road," she said.

"Avengers, time to work for a living," Tony's voice came over comms.

Maggie ran over to Natasha and climbed into the tank she'd commandeered.

"Seatbelt," Natasha said quickly.

"Such a mom," Maggie sighed, but put it on anyway.

Natasha started driving the tank towards the church in the middle of Sokovia where Ultron had made his base.

"Romanoff? You and Banner better not be playing hide the zucchini while your kid is in the car," Tony's voice came over comms.

"Relax, shell-head. Not all of us can fly," Natasha said.

"I mean, I can," Maggie said as they jumped out of the tank, "I just don't fly very well," she said.

"What's the drill?" Natasha asked as they joined Tony, Thor, Steve, Wanda, Pietro, Clint, Hulk and Vision in the church.

"This is the drill. If Ultron gets a hand on the core, we lose," Tony pointed at the Vibranium metal port in the middle of the church.

Ultron floated into sight and Thor brandished his hammer angrily.

"Is that the best you can do?" Thor roared.

"Wow. What an idiot," Maggie groaned.

Ultron raised his arms and his army of robots quickly flew to join him.

"You had to ask," Steve sighed.

"This is the best I can do. This is exactly what I wanted. All of you, against all of me. How could you possibly hope to stop me?" Ultron said.

"Well, like the old man said. Together," Tony said.

It was like something had signalled all of the robots in their heads at once. Maggie figured it was an order to attack them, because they flew ahead towards the group. Maggie sighed.

"I'm gonna be sore in the morning," Maggie muttered.

Together, the Avengers and their guests started working to fight with the army. Vision took Ultron to himself, but Thor and Tony quickly helped Vision get Ultron inside while the others used their skills to kill the murder bots.

Maggie felt Wanda grab at her hand and a weird surge of electricity ran through her veins alongside the tingling feeling that Maggie was slowly growing accustomed to.

Wanda's red glow spread out of her outstretched palm and Maggie lifted her own, channeling her energy towards the army of robots surrounding them all.

There was a loud crack as the army of robots were sent reeling into buildings. Those that didn't smash into pieces sheepishly launched themselves off the island.

"Rhodey!" Tony's voice came over comms.

Maggie felt Wanda's hand shift in her own. Maggie pulled her hand free quickly, walking away to stand beside Natasha.

"We gotta move out. Even I can tell the air is getting thin. You guys get to the boats, I'll sweep for stragglers, be right behind you," Steve said.

"What about the core?" Clint said.

"I'll protect it. It's my job," Wanda said.

"Romanoff, little Romanoff," Clint nodded at the two of them to follow him out.

Steve, Maggie, Natasha and Clint left the church quickly.

"You know, maybe Maggie should stay with the Maximoff kid," Tony's voice came over comms.

"No way. The less time I spend with her, the better," Maggie said. She didn't care if Wanda could hear her. All of the handholding, the magic powers and their apparent bonding via Mind stone, none of it meant anything after what Wanda had made Maggie see.

"Your powers combined-" Tony tried.

"No, Tony. Say it again and I'll throw away your hairdryer," Maggie said, stomping towards a car to hotwire it for her, Clint and Natasha to get away from the church.

"What's that about?" Clint said. "You two seemed pretty cozy a minute ago," he said.

"Clint," Natasha said warningly. "Leave her be," she said.

"Yeah, or I'll throw away your stupid finger supports for your bow," Maggie snapped, revving the engine. "Get in, losers. We're going shopping," she said.

"Who the fuck let her watch Mean Girls?" Natasha cried, sliding into the passenger seat beside Maggie.

"Not me," Clint said, jumping into the back.

Maggie looked up as she helped a few kids onto one of the lifeboats Fury had deployed. She could see the Quinjet hovering above them, Ultron in the seat.

He started firing and Maggie felt her heart stop in her chest. Clint had just gone to rescue a trapped little boy.

Maggie turned quickly and started to run towards him through the fire of bullets, but she was shoved back into a seat by a blue blur that darted towards Clint instead.

Clint and the little boy straightened up when the bullets stopped and Maggie raced over, Steve on her heels.

"You didn't see that coming," Pietro croaked, blood already spilling from the many bullet holes in his body.

Maggie's mouth dropped open as he fell to the ground, dead. Maggie dropped to her knees beside the boy, who really couldn't have been even a year older than her. Her fingers found his neck but there was no pulse.

Maggie felt Clint put a hand on her shoulder and she looked up at him.

"I'll take Pietro to the boat. C'mon," he said. He lifted Pietro's body up and Maggie stood alongside him.

Maggie's heart stopped when she saw a small tinge of red around his wrist. He was wearing a red string bracelet, the same shade of red as Wanda's magic. Maggie's hand darted out and she used her magic to untie it, transferring it to her own wrist. She didn't know why she did it, but it felt right.

Her heart leapt in her chest as she felt a horrible pain, one she knew Wanda was experiencing right now, too. Maggie didn't even think about what she was doing, or why she was running back into a destroyed city to find a girl she was terribly angry at. She just let her feet lead the way to find Wanda before she died today, too.

"Maggie!" Steve yelled after her.

"What the hell is she doing now?" Natasha's voice came over comms.

"She's going to find Wanda," Clint said, lying Pietro's body down on the boat.

"Fuck," Natasha cursed loudly.

The streets of the building shook wildly as Maggie raced down towards the train cart where smoke was coming from. She figured that was where Ultron had landed when Hulk had ripped him out of the jet. There was also the fading hue of red mist that said Wanda had been there, or still was.

Maggie climbed onto the train as the earth beneath their feet started to rumble. Wanda was holding Ultron's heart in her hand with Ultron's dead robot body at her feet.

"Come on," Maggie grabbed Wanda's shoulder and tried to pull her to her feet. Wanda didn't move. "Wanda, get the fuck up!" Maggie yelled.

She wrapped an arm around Wanda's waist and yanked the girl out of the train carrier. The earth was shaking even worse now and Maggie knew they were falling even faster than before towards the earth.

"Maggie, get off that island right now!" Natasha yelled through comms, "Or I swear to god, I'll bring you back to life just to kill you again!" she shouted.

"Not the time!" Maggie cried into the comms. "Wanda, work with me," she pleaded, trying to tug the girl down the street.

Wanda was still lumbering behind Maggie, head stuck in a cloud of grief. Maggie groaned and wrapped her arms around Wanda's waist. Wanda's eyes snapped to Maggie, terrified and confused.

"What are you doing?" Wanda said.

"Saving our asses," Maggie muttered. She pushed off her feet and the two of them started flying up in the air shakily. "Hold on, though. I really don't have a good sense of direction," she said.

Wanda's arms wrapped around Maggie's neck and she felt the surge of electricity from before magnify in her chest. They flew up faster in the air as Wanda took control of the steering so that Maggie could focus on just keeping them in the air and out of the way of the now exploding Sokovia hundreds of feet beneath them.

"Magdalena Stefania Romanoff!" Natasha yelled as one of the Quinjets appeared underneath them. Natasha and Steve glared at the two teenage girls floating in the air. "Are you trying to give me a heart attack?!"

"Really not the time to be such a mom," Maggie sighed, lowering the two of them on the ramp of the Quinjet.

She let go of Wanda as soon as it was safe and walked to the front of the plane, sitting on Natasha's lap. She wrapped her arms around her and held on tight, feeling Natasha wrap her arms around Maggie with a sigh.

"Sorry," Maggie said quietly. She knew Natasha would forgive her easier if she just apologised and let Natasha hold her for a few minutes.

"Idiot," Natasha muttered.

"We should get back up there to the boats," Steve said, shooting a look at Wanda behind them. She was sat on one of the benches, staring blankly ahead as she faded into her cloud of grief again.

"Yeah. She should get to say goodbye," Maggie said.

Natasha just kissed Maggie's forehead with another sigh. She could hardly kill Wanda for upsetting Maggie now that she had a dead twin who'd sacrificed himself to save her best friend. And after Maggie had looked over the whole Wanda upsetting her thing to save her life. She wasn't that petty to still do it, but she was slightly frustrated.

Nobody got away with hurting her daughter.

A knock on Maggie's bedroom door two days later made Maggie look up from the email displayed on her computer screen with a gasp of surprise. She knew she wasn't doing anything wrong, technically and/or yet, but she still didn't really want anybody finding out about what the hell she was doing until she knew what the hell she was doing herself.

Maggie got up and walked over, pulling the door open. Wanda was stood there, a sad look on her face.

"I'm sorry I messed with your mind," Wanda said quietly.

Maggie studied her for a minute. She was furious, or had been, but now she just felt pity for the girl. She'd just wanted to do what she thought was right and her brother had died to save Clint and a little boy. He'd also saved Maggie from the bullet fire, too. They'd joined them in the end and, whether Maggie liked it or not, she was connected to Wanda through a stupid stone in a robot's stupid head so she could hardly stay pissed at her for long.

She'd also stolen the red bracelet Pietro wore to honour Wanda and the more she thought about it, the more it felt like a silent promise to protect the girl.

God, she really had changed.

"I'm sorry about Pietro," Maggie said, keeping her voice the same volume as to not startle Wanda. "Losing a sibling isn't easy," Maggie said.

Wanda looked up curiously, but Maggie didn't continue. She didn't know if her siblings were actually dead, but it was the most likely explanation. Their mother had been murdered by their father. What was to say he wouldn't kill them, as well? It was very likely, of course. Dimitri was a monster and he created them, too.

"I, uh, I have some work to do," Maggie said awkwardly, motioning over her shoulder at her laptop.

"Sorry for interrupting," Wanda whispered.

Maggie looked at the girl for a few seconds before shaking her head.

"You didn't. You can interrupt me whenever you want. I just really have to work this out," Maggie said.

"I could help, if you wanted," Wanda trailed off. "Or not. You probably hate me. I wouldn't blame you," Wanda said. "I am sorry about that. Really. I didn't want to hurt you. I was-"

"You were fighting for what you thought was right. It's okay. I just, I really do have to do this. I'm sorry," Maggie said.

She closed the door over and climbed back onto her bed, pulling the laptop onto her knees. She stared down at the email again.

[email protected] :

18/12/2002 4:55am

Maggie stared down at the email. That was the date and time when her mother had filed the missing persons report for Maggie after her father hadn't returned her from a weekend long visit. Maggie had only found the specific time out after doing some serious digging over the years of being with Natasha and having all of Tony's tech at hand.

The only person or people who would know that specific date and time would've been people who were there when the report was made. It had been hard enough for Maggie to find. Her mother was dead. That left Johann and Katerina. Or Dimitri, if Maggie was right in her assumptions that she hadn't successfully managed to kill him for the second time.

Johann. Joanna. Their mother was called Alexandra. Alexander. Joanna Alexander, Johann Alexandra.

"Oh, you have got to be fucking kidding me," Maggie whispered to herself, tugging on the red woolen bracelet around her wrist without noticing.

"Hey, malyshka," Natasha smiled as Maggie walked into the kitchen that evening. Everybody in the Avenger family was there, now including Wanda and Vision.

"Hi," Maggie mumbled, typing rapidly on the laptop she was using her powers to levitate in front of her. She walked to the fridge and nodded the door open with her head.

A glass floated from the cupboard and Maggie used her powers to pour herself some water out of the filter compartment.

"What are you doing?" Tony said.

"Can't tell you," Maggie said, bumping the fridge shut with her shoulder as she walked to sit down at the end of the island.

"Why not?" Tony said.

"Because then you'd be an accessory to my crimes," Maggie said honestly.

The Avengers all chuckled, but it faded when Maggie didn't explain what she was doing.

"Oh, you're actually committing a crime right now?" Steve frowned.

"Well, I'm not playing Tetris or writing fanfiction, Steven," Maggie said.

"That was one time," Steve scowled.

"What did you write about?" Tony smirked. "Was it a ship? Oh, are you into angst or fluff? Or slowburn? I love a good slowburn," Tony said.

"Agreed, on the conditions that they are enemies to lovers and the tension is immaculate," Thor nodded. Maggie snorted at the idea of Thor reading fanfiction.

"Shut up!" Steve groaned.

"What are you doing?" Natasha grabbed the computer from Maggie's hands and pulled it over to her. "Why the hell are you hacking into the Russian intelligence database?" Natasha said.

"For fun," Maggie said.

"Oh, can I help?" Tony said hopefully.

"Sure," Maggie nodded. Tony moved to sit on the chair beside her.

"May I? I think I can figure out a backdoor into it," Tony said.

"Be my guest," Maggie pushed the laptop over to him. He started typing and Maggie sipped her water, looking around the room. "What?" she said at the adult's clueless faces.

"Why are you hacking into Russia?" Clint said.

"Not Russia, their intelligence database," Maggie said.

"Why?" Steve said.

"I wanna find out about my investigation," Maggie said. The room fell silent, everybody looking at Maggie slowly.

"Your investigation?" Wanda whispered to herself, but everybody heard it.

"I'm in," Tony said quietly.

"Thank you," Maggie pulled the laptop back over to herself.

"Mags," Natasha said. Maggie looked up at her. "Are you sure this is a good idea? I mean, I don't want you to find out something and-"

"And have a breakdown that results in me closing myself off from everybody," Maggie finished for her. "It's my life, Natasha. It's my investigation. I have a right to know what happened to me and my family," Maggie said.

"I'm not saying that you don't have a right to know. I'm saying that this may not be a good idea right now-"

"And I'm saying I'm doing what I want. You're not my mom. Stop trying to tell me what to do," Maggie snapped.

She grabbed her laptop and stormed down the hallway to get back to her floor, which she now shared with Wanda, too, until Tony could have Wanda's floor furnished.

Natasha just stared at the doorway Maggie had left through.

"We were going to get those bratty teenage years eventually, Nat," Clint sighed.

"She knows you're just trying to look out for her," Steve said.

"Just shut up," Natasha muttered, storming off to go to her floor, too.

"What investigation?" Wanda whispered to Clint.

Clint sighed before looking around the table. The others just shrugged. They didn't want to be the ones who told the new kid about Maggie's past.

"Maggie's special like you. She got her powers because she was experimented on. In order for that to happen, Maggie was abducted by someone working for HYDRA. She wants to know about the investigation the police launched," Clint said. "But you wanna know anything else, you have to ask her. We don't know much more ourselves. She keeps it quiet," he said.

"Well, it's hardly unexpected that she does that," Tony rolled his eyes, standing up to go and check on Maggie. "After what happened to the kid, her first response to anyone looking out for her is to lock herself away," he said.

"She's been getting better since she joined the Avengers. Nobody can deny that," Thor said.

"Maggie got through the worst times in her life without anyone there for her. She's never going to forget that the only person she can ever fully trust is herself," Steve said.

"Just do me a favour and leave me to talk to her, alright?" Tony said.

"Why you?" Clint frowned.

"Because the kid wants to know the truth and I can't fault her for that. So, I'm going to help her find out. And when the emotions catch up to her like Natasha said they would, she shouldn't have to be alone," Tony said.