08. Keep her safe

The flight to Queens was silent and the car ride was even quieter as Happy drove the Audi Tony had sent him with to pick up Mary and Becca on the outskirts of the city. The mother knew this would be hard on both of them, but the relief she also felt was immense. Her daughter would be safe from the looming threat of Ultron and also get to finally experience what life for a normal teenager her age goes through.
"Do you know your cover story, sweetheart?" Mary asks Becca quietly. The daughter was to pose as Steve's adopted daughter from Russia, she could easily pull off the needed accent and language.
"Yes, Mama. I'm Sofia Rogers, adopted daughter of Steven Grant Rogers. I was in captivity until Steve found me on a mission he was on in Russia. I don't know what the outside world is like due to being in captivity for so long." Becca replies, "Do i have to hide my abilities?" She asks.
Mary nods slowly, "Yes, it's to keep you safe. Perhaps someone in your new school is bullying someone, you want to stop it but you can't because if you showed your strength, you'd be assumed to be like Uncle Steve and your Papa. Which would put you in a lot of danger."
"I see." Becca murmurs under her breath, watching the buildings go by as Happy continued to drive to the apartment where the Parker family lived in Queens.
"Thank you for driving us, Happy." Mary says as she looks up from the backseat, looking at the back of his head. She had known the driver and head of Stark Industries security since he was hired by Pepper, the two had become close friends over time since she would often be with him and Tony, seeing as the former CEO would want his Mama Ree protected at all times if she were out.
"Any time, Mary. I'm always to drive you where you need to go. And i'm especially happy to finally meet the famous Becca Barnes."
Becca tilts her head, "You know me?" She ask the driver curiously.
Happy chuckles, "Sure do. Mr. Stark and Mary have been looking for you for decades, i'm glad that they were able to find you. I'm sure that where we're going is in your best interest."
Becca sighs, fidgeting with the edge of her braids as the car rolls to a stop, she looks out the window, seeing a tall brick building, "Is this where they live? It's so big." She whispers.
Happy climbs out, rounding the front of the car to open the door for them, smiling, "It's called an apartment complex, lots of people live in one building." He explains as the mother and daughter duo climb out of the back seat.
"Oh." Becca mumbles quietly, "Do they all know each other?" She asks, receiving a short laugh from the bodyguard and a shake of his head.
"Not usually." Happy replies.
Mary opens the trunk and pulls out a suitcase that Happy had packed full of new clothes for her daughter per Tony's request. She sets it on the sidewalk and looks at her daughter, "Happy will wait here while we go up to their floor." She tells Becca, waving at Happy as Mary presses the buzzer to the Parker's apartment.
"Hello?" A female's voice answers.
"May?" Mary asks, "We're here."
"Liza? Come on up." The woman, May, replies as the door unlocks with a loud buzzing noise. Mary pushes open the door and the two make their way up to the Parker's apartment number.
"Are they nice?" Becca asks, her voice timid as she becomes nervous about meeting new people, along with being left with them for who knows how long.
"The nicest." Mary replies, "And their nephew is super sweet and kind. I think you'll like him a lot." She says, trying to reassure her daughter that this is good for her.
The two soon reach the apartment where the Parker family is living, Mary knocks on the door and the woman who Becca assumes answered the buzzer is May Parker. The woman was slim, long brown hair with brown eyes to match, round glasses perched on her nose, she was wearing sandals and a jumpsuit that fit her well. "Liza! It's so nice to see you again!" May exclaimed with joy as she wrapped her arms around her friend, Mary returning the gesture.
"Hi May, it's nice to see you too, i just wish it was under better circumstances." Mary responds, smiling softly at her friend. May steps aside and guides the two into her apartment, "May, this is Sofia Rogers, Steve's adopted daughter from Russia." She says, the cover story hard to tell but easy to say.
"Hello." Becca says, putting her Russian accent to use for the first time in a few years. She personally loved learning new things and new languages and the culture that belonged to it. But she didn't like why she needed to know them. "It's nice to meet you."
May beams at the teenager, "It's so wonderful to have you staying with me and the boys. It'll be nice to even out the playing field finally." She says, then leans towards Mary, "Her English is really good." She commends the girl.
Mary smiles, nodding, "She's been working hard to learn it since Steve adopted her two years ago." She replies, continuing the cover. Her hazel eyes glancing over at her daughter, watching Becca's eyes scan the living room and the conjoining kitchen and small dining corner.
May smiles at Mary, nodding, "Maybe Ben, Peter and I can learn Russian for her too." She suggests, eager to help ease the teenager in her transition anyway she can., "That'd be a fun bonding time, don't you think, Sofia?"
Becca turns her head, her blue eyes meeting May's chocolate brown, smiling softly, "Yes. Fun." She says, breaking her English up to keep up the lie that she doesn't know much of the language.
"Ben is currently picking Peter up from Midtown, the high school you'll be attending with my nephew. They should be here shortly and then we can start dinner and then Peter can help you unpack in your shared room."
"Shared room?" Becca asks hesitantly. She had shared many rooms in her life, never having one for herself, so she was used to it.
May nods, pushing her hair back from her shoulders, "I'm sorry we can't give you a room of your own, but Peter has a bunk bed, he already moved his things to the top bunk so you could have the bottom for yourself. He's also set up a curtain around the bottom bunk to give you some privacy. He's been looking forward to meeting you."
Becca hesitates, but smiles, appreciating the incentive that Peter has already done for her before they've even met, "I will thank him when we meet then." She says quietly, drawing a smile from the Aunt.

Mary and Becca, along with May, have been unpacking Becca's suitcase into her side of the shared closet and the two top drawers that Peter had previously cleaned out for her arrival when they hear the front door open and a deep male voice call out for the Aunt.
"May? Honey, are you home?" The voice calls out and May walks out of the bedroom with the the mother and daughter following closely behind. Mary smiled when she saw her old friend, Benjamin Parker, Ben for short. The uncle smiled wide as he saw his friend, "Liza!" He greets Mary, hugging her briefly. Ben was not average looking by any means, he had dark brown hair that was slicked back most of the time, and a full beard graced his face, his blue eyes showed his every emotion. He was much taller than Mary was, but not as tall as her brother and husband.
"Ben, it's nice to see you again, how long has it been?" Mary asks her old friend, glancing behind him and seeing a young teenage boy, Peter.
"Too long in my opinion." The charismatic uncle replies. When Ben made friends, he liked to stay in contact with them as much as possible, losing his brother and sister in law when his nephew, Peter, was just five years old changed him to become protective of those her considers friends and family. "Peter, come meet Liza." He says, wrapping his arm around his nephew's shoulders, smiling brightly down at the boy he was so obviously proud of.
"H-Hi." Peter stutters out his greeting, "It's nice to meet you, Liza. Uncle Ben always talks so highly of you. Is it true you work with the Avengers?" He rambles, causing his aunt and uncle to chuckle at his antics.
Mary smiles, nodding, "That is true, though not at the moment i don't." She says, "Your Uncle Ben and Aunt May talk to me about you often as well." She adds, causing the young boy to blush.
"Peter, Ben, meeting Sofia. She'll be with us for a while." May says, her hand resting gently on Becca's shoulder. The young girl waves at the two men, smiling softly.
"Hello. It is nice to meet both of you." Becca says shyly, drawing the attention of the two men she was talking to.
"Hi Sofia." Peter says quietly, taking in the fact that the girl before him is completely out of his league and he could never have a chance with her, "Did.. Did you see that i gave you the bottom bunk? And- And i cleaned out my drawers for your clothes. And some of the closet too!"
Becca giggles, nodding, "I did, thank you very much." She says.
Ben smiles, "Well, i say we go out and get some Delmar's. How does that sound?" He asks his wife, nephew and Becca, then turns to Mary, "You are more than welcome to stay and join us, but if you have to leave then we understand." He tells her.
Mary smiles softly, "As much as i'd love to stay, i can't. I have to get back to the Tower to do some research." She says to Ben, smiling, then looks up at him, guiding him to the hallway so they can talk privately, "Keep her safe." She says to him, watching Becca interact with Peter, "She's precious to us, Captain Rogers, Mr. Stark and I especially." Mary explains, "She's been kept out of the world's view all her life, she'll need help adjusting, i know you can help her and so can Peter and May."
Ben nods, watching the two teenagers as well, his arms crossed, "Is she enhanced? Like her adoptive father?" He asks curiously, his work at Oscorp makes him no stranger to enhanced beings and what they go through in their lives.
Mary nods, "Almost identical. The people that had her captive some how found the serum and gave it to her." She states, "Captain Rogers is counting on me to make sure she'll be kept safe and actually live a normal life like she deserves."
"Don't worry. May, Peter and I will do everything we can to give her that life." Ben replies, smiling at his friend, "Can i call you with questions?"
"Of course. You have my number." Mary responds, "If you aren't sure about something then just text or call me and i'll ask Captain Rogers."
"Will do." Ben states, wrapping his arms around Mary, "You stay safe, you hear me?" He teases, but Mary knows he's also being serious.
"I always am, Ben." Mary replies, wrapping her arms around him in return, "Now i have to say goodbye to Sofia." She says quietly, not wanting to say goodbye to her daughter, but they both know it's necessary.
The mother looks at her daughter, a sad smile playing on her lips as Peter is showing her one of his textbooks for the new school year, "Sofia?" She calls out, the young girl's head looks up and locks eyes with her mother. Becca stands and tells Peter she'll be right back as she walks past Uncle Ben to talk with her Mama.
"I don't want you to leave, Mama." Becca mumbles quietly, the reality of it all hitting her as she says goodbye to her precious Mama, "I want you to stay too." She states, "We still have to catch up, how- how can we catch up if we're apart." She tries to convince her mother to stay, even though she knows it's futile in the long run.
Mary pulls her daughter into her arms, "I know, and i'm sorry we have to be apart again. I don't like it, not one bit." She whispers, "I love you so much, Becca." She mumbles, tears threatening to spill from her hazel eyes, "We'll be together again soon, i know it. But for now i'll be a phone call away, so will Buddy and Uncle Stevie." She reassures her daughter but also herself.
Becca looks up at her Mama, "I never got to ask about Winnie." She mumbles quietly, still grieving the loss of a sister she never had the chance to meet.
Mary sucks in a sharp breath as she hears Winnie's name, "She never got to live the life she deserved. She was so loved before she was even born." She says softly, "I know you would've been the best big sister to her."
Becca smiles softly, tears filling her eyes, "I wish i could've met her."
Mary nods, "I wished for that too." She mumbles, "But she wasn't meant to be with us, and in hind sight.. With Ultron.. It's safer for her to not be here on Earth with us." She mutters.
Becca nods, "Happy's waiting for you, Mama." She says quietly.
Mary hesitates, "Yeah." She mutters, "I need to meet up with your brother, Uncle and the team at the tower." She states, pulling Becca into another hug, "I love you to the ends of the earth, you are my precious girl. Your Pa and I love you so much, Rebecca Sofia Barnes. You were my reason for living when i thought life wasn't worth living." She says with tears falling from her hazel eyes as she kisses Becca's forehead.
Becca smiles brightly, tears also falling from her blue eyes, the same ones of her father's, "I love you too, Mama." She mumbles.

Mary walked into Tony's lab at the tower after being dropped off by Happy, she looked around and saw Clint walk off someplace and Bruce and Tony conversing. She didn't know where her brother was so she walked closer to her godson and friend. When the two men saw her, they both noticed first how her eyes were red and puffy from crying. They knew that she had just come back from dropping Becca off at her new home.
"Mama Ree." Tony says, motioning her to come over to him as he outstretches his arms, wrapping them tightly around his godmother as she leans into his embrace, "She'll be back with us soon enough." He reassures her.
Mary nods, wiping her eyes as she pulls out of Tony's embrace, "You got Cho's cradle." She says, looking it over. She had only seen it two times in person. "What's the plan now?" She asks, her eyes widening as she notices a body in the cradle that she had never seen before.
"Ultron has Natasha, Clint is working on tracking her down while Banner and I are working on the cradle." Tony sums up what happened while Mary was gone.
"Nat's gone?" Mary says, her eyes wide in shock, her mouth slightly agape from the news.
Banner nods solemnly, "I can work on tissue disintegration if you try whatever operational system Cho implanted." The scientist says as he begins to try to disassemble the body in the cradle.
Tony looks at Bruce as he scratches the back of his head, the look on his face worrying his godmother, "Tony.." Mary warns.
"Yeah, about that." Tony starts, the look he gives Bruce saying that he doesn't want to dismantle the body inside the cradle.
Bruce's eyes widen, his face in one of shock, "No." He states firmly.
Tony steps towards Bruce, his hands raised slightly, "You have to trust me."
"Kind of don't." Bruce quips quickly, Mary nodding in agreement.
"T, this is wrong, you can't do this." Mary states.
"Our ally, the one protecting the military's nuclear codes," Tony starts, Bruce shakes his head, not wanting to hear it. Mary watches Tony closely as he pulls out his touch pad, throwing up a holographic image. "I found him." He says, revealing Jarvis.
"Vis?!" Mary exclaims, gasping as her hand comes to cover her mouth in shock, Bruce's eyes wide in disbelief.
"Hello, Mrs Barnes, Dr. Banner." Jarvis greets them in his accent that Mary missed deeply.
"Ultron didn't go after Jarvis because he was angry. He attacked him because he was scared of what he can do." Tony states, Bruce walking around the cradle to where Jarvis's holographic form is floating, "So Jarvis went underground. Scattered, dumped his memory. But not his protocols. He didn't even know he was in there until I pieced him together." Tony says, but Banner scoffs.
Banner shakes his head, looking at Tony in disbelief, "So, you want me to help you put Jarvis into this thing?" He asks.
"Wait what?" Mary questions, "Tony, no. You can't do that." She protests.
"No! Of course not. I wanna help you put Jarvis in this thing." Tony quips, then looks at his godmother, "This thing in the cradle is what we need to defeat Ultron, Mama Ree."
"Oh, like the last time you created something was so beneficial to us." Mary snaps, her arms crossed.
Tony sighs, "We're out of my field here." He says, then looks at Mary, "I need your help too. You know bio-organics better than anyone."
"And you just assume that Jarvis's operational matrix can beat Ultron's?" Bruce pipes in.
"Jarvis has been beating him from the inside without knowing it." Tony says as he begins to walk around the cradle to where Bruce and Mary are standing, "We can create Ultron's perfect self, without the homicidal glitches he thinks are his winning personality. We have to." He snaps.
"I believe it's worth a go." Jarvis speaks up.
Bruce shakes his head, "I'm in a loop!" He exclaims, "I'm caught in a time loop. This is exactly where everything went wrong, just like Mary said."
Tony walks over to Bruce, "I know, i know what everyone's going to say. But they're already saying it." He says as he wraps his arm around his godmother and his other hand onto his friend's shoulder, "We're two mad scientists and a crazy smart doctor. Make a stand." Tony concludes, all Bruce can do is shake his head, he's at a loss for words, "It's not a loop. It's the end of the line."
Mary's eyes widen as her godson says the line she's heard from her husband and brother since her Ma passed and Bucky stayed with her outside Steve and Mary's apartment counting stars. The night her husband fell in love with her.
"The end of the line.." Mary mumbles as she looks down at the cradle, seeing the body as Bruce looks down at it as well.

Mary works along side her godson as he puts Jarvis's matrix into the body int eh cradle, Bruce working under the cradle, attaching cables to it to make it operational again.
"This framework is not compatible." Tony murmurs as he continues typing on his computer.
"The genetic coding tower is at 97%." Mary states, Bruce walks around the cradle as he begins to speak.
"You two have to upload that schematic in the next three minutes." The scientist says quickly and nervously.
Mary is startled when her brother steps into the room with the Maximoff twins behind him, "I'm only gonna say this once." The captain says, his voice indicating that what the three of them were doing was not what he expected, and his was pissed.
"How 'bout none-ce?" Tony quips, not really caring what Steve thinks at the moment.
Steve locks eyes with his sister briefly, his heart hurting as she has been wrapped into this whole mess, "Shut it down!" He commands Tony and Bruce, along with his sister.
"Nope, not gonna happen." Tony states quickly as he walks to where Steve and the twins are.
"You don't know what you're doing." Steve states, his voice slightly softer but still firm.
"And you do?" Bruce asks cockily, "She's not in your head?" He states as he motions his hand to Wanda Maximoff. Mary looks at the twins as she steps away from her computer.
"I know you're angry. All of you." Wanda says to Bruce, but also to Mary at the same time.
"Oh, we're way past that. I could choke the life out of you and never change a shade." Bruce snaps angrily at the female twin.
"Bruce!" Mary scolds, completely walking away from her station and towards her brother, drawing a confused look from her godson.
"Banner, after everything that's happened-"
"It's nothing compared to what's coming!" Tony cuts his godmother's brother off with a sharpness to his voice.
Mary locks eyes with the male twin as Wanda speaks again, "You don't know what's in there!" She exclaims, pleading with Tony to stop what he and Bruce are doing.
"This isn't a game!" Says Steve.
As she blinks, the male Maximoff twin is out of her sight and has ran around the room, unhooking everything from the cradle, he holds a large cable in his hand when he appears beside Mary, "No, no, go on. You were saying?" He quips, having shut everything that Bruce, Tony and Mary were working on previously.
Mary gasps when a bullet flies out from the glass flooring below the twin, causing it to shatter and the boy to fall to the ground below where the Archer is.
"Pietro!" Wanda screams in panic.
"What? You didn't see that coming?" Clint quips to the boy.
The computers begins to go off, sirens and beeping coming from them, "I'm rerouting the upload." Tony says as he goes to work on the computers.
Mary looks at Steve, "Steve-" She starts when she watches him throw his shield at her godson, "NO!" She screams as a piece of Tony's armor flies onto his hand, her godson shooting a repulser blast directly into the chest of her brother, "Tony, NO!" She screams again, racing to her brother, "Steve!" She exclaims as she rushes to his side. The room de-sends into chaos as Bruce wraps his arm tightly around Wanda's throat and more armor flies onto Tony's body.
Steve pushes Mary onto the ground as he stands up and charges Tony, jumping into the air and punching the godson as he also shoots a arc reactor blast, sending both men in opposite directions. Wanda shoots her magic into Bruce to get him off of her, sending him back a bit. Mary gasps when Thor enters the chaotic room from a window. The Norse god jumps onto the cradle, summoning enormous bolts of lighting from Mjolnir.
"Wait!" Bruce shouts in panic.
Steve sees Mary in the corner he shoved her in and rushes to her to protect her from the lighting as Thor launches the lighting into the cradle. All anyone is able to do is stand and watch the god as the top of the cradle explodes, sending the Norse god into the glass behind him.
Mary's eyes widen as a body jumps out from the cradle, slowly rising as everyone goes on the defensive. The body rushes towards Thor, the god quickly counters by sending the being through the glass next to him. What catches Mary's attention even more is that the being floats just behind the outer glass of the tower, overlooking the city.
Steve places Mary into his arms as he and Thor both jump down onto the floor the being is in. The god outstretches his hand to tell Steve to stand down. The brother sets his sister down carefully as the siblings watch the being as well.
As the being floats away from the glass, he materializes an outer layer, almost clothing like, to cover himself. Thor sets his hammer down on the glass table and the rest of the team join them on the same floor.
"I am sorry. That was rather... odd." The being says to the team, looking at Thor, "Thank you." He says, Mary gasps quietly.
"Vis?" She questions, hearing the voice of her friend inside the being.
Thor sighs in relief when the being thanks him and his team, knowing that he's not a threat. The being materializes a cape flowing behind him when Steve finally speaks up.
"Thor. You helped create this?" Steve questions, not believing that his comrade and friend would help create a being formerly created by Ultron.
"I've had a vision. a whirlpool that sucks in all hope of life and at its center is that." Thor replies, pointing at the gem in the being's forehead.
"What, the gem?" Mary asks quietly.
"It's the Mind Stone. It's one of the six Infinity Stones. The greatest power in the universe, unparalleled in its destructive capabilities." Thor answers his friend.
"Then why would you-"
"Because Stark is right." Thor cuts Steve off.
"Oh, it's definitely the end of times." Bruce states in disbelief.
"The Avengers cannot defeat Ultron." Thor concludes.
"Not alone." The voice of Jarvis says from the being.
"Why does your vision sound like Jarvis." Steve asks
"We reconfigured Jarvis's matrix to create something new." Tony answers as he walks towards Thor's 'Vision', looking the being over.
"I think i've had my fill of new." Steve grumbles.
"You think i'm a child of Ultron." Vision states.
"You're not?" Steve asks.
Vision shakes his head briefly, "I'm not Ultron. I'm not Jarvis either."
Wanda steps towards Vision, "I looked in your head and saw annihilation." She states.
"Look again." Vision retorts as Clint scoffs.
"Her seal of approval means jack to me." The archer snarks.
Thor steps forward to defend the twins, "Their powers, the horrors in or heads, Ultron himself, they all came from the Mind Stone. And they're nothing compared to what it can unleash, but with it on our side-"
"Is it?" Mary asks, cutting her friend off, smiling at him softly as an apology.
Steve nods slowly, looking at Vision, "Are you?" He asks, finishing what his sister was asking, "On our side."
"I don't think it's that simple." Vision responds.
"Well, it better get real simple real soon." Clint threatens.
"I am on the side of life. Ultron isn't. He will end it all." Vision defends himself calmly.
"What's he waiting for?" Tony asks cautiously.
"You."
"Where?" Bruce asks.
"Sokovia. He's got Nat there, too." Clint answers.
Bruce walks up to Vision, looking at him sternly, "If we're wrong about you, if you're the monster that Ultron made you to be..." Bruce trails off.
"What will you do?" Vision asks, looking at Bruce in his eyes, nodding slowly as he gets the message, "I don't want to kill Ultron. He's unique and he's in pain."
"So are we." Mary says, the pain she has felt in just a few days escaping with her words, "We're in pain too. Because of him."
Vision nods slowly, "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." He states, as if to rally the divided team together to defeat Ultron with him, "And none of us can do it without the others." He adds.
Mary scoffs, causing the team to look at her, "Mary?" Steve questions.
"I'm sorry, but i can't believe that you need me, i bring nothing to the team." Mary states, walking up to Vision, "So when you say we can't do it unless we have each other, you don't mean me."
"But i do, Mary." Vision says calmly, "I may not be Jarvis but i know what you have accomplished in your life. You are a skilled doctor in your own right. You have been a combat nurse and doctor. Be that again."
Mary's eyes widen, "I haven't been a combat doctor since the late sixties to mid seventies." She says, remembering her time during the Vietnam War as a combat field doctor.
"But you can be that again, you can save lives." Vision says, reassuring her hopefully.
Mary looks at her brother, he nods at her, a small smile playing on his lips. He had been itching to see his sister back in action since he got out of the ice, but she had told him that she was done being in the battle field.
Vision looks around the room, "Maybe i am a monster, i don't think i'd know if i were one." He says, "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 tells the team as he lifts up Mjolnir to hand it to Thor. Mary gasps audibly, stunned to silence as her family is shocked into silence as well.
Thor looks at Vision who holds his hammer, his eyes widen. He takes it awkwardly as Vision simply walks past like nothing had happened. He pats Mjolnir as he looks at the team, "Right. Well done." He says as he walks past Tony, patting his shoulder.
Steve holds his sister close before saying, "Three minutes. Get what you need." He tells the team, then turns to his sister, "Come on, i have something for you." He states, walking up the stairs as Mary trails behind him.


Introducing the Parker family.
Marisa Tomei as May Parker

Tom Holland as Peter Parker

And
Jake Gyllenhaal as Ben Parker

If you want to follow Becca's story, the first book of her trilogy is titled, Fearless. Find it in my works!

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