chapter fifty-three
frenemie banter

"𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐃𝐎 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐌𝐄𝐀𝐍 you're with Fury?" Adelaide asked on the phone while she, Steve, and the Maximoff twins made their way back to Avengers Tower. "Why are you with him?" Steve glanced at her while she sighed. "Well, yes, I do know that you've known him for years, but that doesn't—" She pressed her lips together. "Yeah, okay, hold on."

She looked up and Steve raised his eyebrows. "Well?"

"Grace said that you need to learn how to answer your phone," Adelaide replied and Steve frowned. "I believe her exact words were 'if he sees my contact appear on the phone, he needs to answer'."

"Well, what if I was in the middle of a fight?" he asked and she shrugged. "Ask her that. If I was in the middle of a fight, am I supposed to pause and answer the phone?"

"I'm not getting in the middle of you two!" Adelaide exclaimed, covering the receiver of her phone. "Because if I had to take a side, I'm taking hers."

Steve nodded. "Yeah, I already knew that..."

"Do the two of you always bicker with each other like this?" Pietro asked making the two blondes look at him. "It doesn't seem to be a good plan, does it?"

Adelaide frowned and turned back to her phone. "I gotta go, Gracie. A speedy man is pissing me off." She crossed her arms and looked at the Maximoff. "Listen here, speedy, you're in no position to judge, okay? Your sister did some weird magic to us and I can guarantee that most, if not all, of the people inside that building are gonna be pretty freaking pissed to see the two of you. So, if I were you, I'd keep your mouth shut and sit quietly."

She turned on her heel and walked into the building. Steve watched her go before looking at Pietro. "Somehow you've managed to make her angry. I don't think I've ever seen her angry before."

"So...?"

"So I think you better do what she said," Steve replied, following Adelaide into the building with the twins behind him. When they arrived, it was to find Tony and Bruce experimenting on the cradle that Clint had brought back. Unfortunately, Natasha had been taken by Ultron. "I'm gonna say this once."

Tony tilted his head. "How about 'nonce'?"

"Shut it down!" Steve snapped and Tony shook his head.

"Nope, not gonna happen."

Adelaide rolled her eyes. "Why are you doing this, Tony? Haven't you messed things up enough with making Ultron?" she asked, crossing her arms.

"You don't know what you're doing," Steve added and Bruce raised his eyebrows.

"And you do?" he questioned before gesturing at Wanda. "She's not in your head?"

Adelaide shrugged. "Told you..." she muttered under her breath.

"I know you're angry—"

"Oh, we're way past that," Bruce said, cutting off Wanda in anger. "I could choke the life out of you and never change a shade."

Steve let out a breath. "Banner, after everything that's happened—"

"That's nothing compared to what's coming!" Tony exclaimed.

Wanda shook her head. "You don't know what's in there!"

"This isn't a game—" Steve began.

"The creature—"

Before Adelaide could process what was happening, Pietro used his speed to destroy the lab equipment. "No, no," he said, standing next to his sister once more. "Go on. You were saying?"

Adelaide jumped when the glass beneath the speedster shattered and he fell through. "Pietro!" Wanda exclaimed, shouting for her brother.

"What?" Clint questioned with a shrug. "You didn't see that coming?"

The blonde pinched the bridge of her nose before looking up at Steve. "If this was your plan to get him to stop, it's not working." She looked to her right and saw Bruce grab Wanda and she hurried over to them.

"Go ahead," he threatened. "Piss me off." Just then, Thor walked in and he hit the cradle with a bolt of lightning making them cover their eyes. Adelaide blinked from the sudden brightness and watched as the body that was inside the cradle came to life. It launched itself at Thor who threw it at a window before it caught itself.

"I'm sorry," it said in JARVIS' voice and Adelaide furrowed her brow. "That was... odd." It looked at Thor. "Thank you."

"Thor, you helped create this?" Steve asked.

The God nodded. "I've had a vision," he replied while the entity looked at Thor and gave itself a cape of its own. "A whirlpool that sucks in all hope of life and at its center is that."

He pointed at the yellow gem inside of the entity's head. "What, the gem?" Adelaide asked.

"It's the Mind Stone," Thor said to her. "It's one of six Infinity Stones, the greatest power in the universe, unparalleled in its destructive capabilities."

"Then why would you bring it to—"

"Because Stark is right," Thor said, interrupting Steve making Bruce and Adelaide look at each other in surprise.

She shook her head. "Oh, the world is definitely ending..."

"The Avengers cannot defeat Ultron," Thor told them.

"Not alone," the entity added.

Adelaide furrowed her brows and stood next to Steve. "Why does your 'vision' thing sound like JARVIS?"

Tony cleared his throat. "We... reconfigured JARVIS' matrix to create something new," he replied and she rolled her eyes.

"Of course you did..." she muttered. "You know, I think I've had enough 'new' to last me a lifetime."

The entity looked at her. "You think I'm a child of Ultron?"

She shrugged. "I think you're a robot just like he is, created by the same man who made Ultron," she said, glancing at Tony. "How do we know you aren't?"

"I'm not Ultron," it said. "I'm not JARVIS. I am... I am..."

"For now, I'll call you Vision," Adelaide commented. "It's better than 'it'."

"I looked in your head and saw annihilation," Wanda said and Adelaide looked at her.

"Lovely..."

"Look again," Vision said to Wanda.

Clint scoffed. "Yeah. Her seal of approval means jack to me."

"Their powers," Thor said, gesturing to the twins. "The horrors in our 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?" Steve asked, looking at Vision. "Are you? On our side?"

"I don't think it's that simple."

Clint crossed his arms. "Well, it better get real simple real soon."

"I am on the side of life," Vision said. "Ultron isn't. He will end it all."

"What's he waiting for?" Tony asked.

"You."

"Where?" Adelaide piped up.

"Sokovia," Clint said. "He's got Nat there, too."

"If we're wrong about you," Bruce warned, looking at Vision. "If you're the monster that Ultron made you to be..."

"What will you do?" Vision questioned. "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 held up Thor's hammer and everyone stared at it. Vision left as Thor took and he cleared his throat. "Right." He patted Tony on the back. "Well done."

"Three minutes," Steve said to the group. "Get what you need."

⸻ ~~~ ⸻

𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐄𝐃 𝐀𝐓 𝐍𝐈𝐂𝐊. "You do know how big of an ask that is, right?" she said, crossing her arms. "Steve and everyone destroyed SHIELD. It's not as though we have many resources left."

"Yes." Nick nodded. "But you're you." She frowned. "I need that woman back. If we have any chance to help the man you love and the woman you think of as a daughter, we need this, Grace."

She pressed her lips together. "Using Steve and Addy..." she said, starting to walk away. "Well played, Fury."

"So...?"

Grace sighed and looked at him. "Let me make a few calls..."

Meanwhile, the Avengers, the Maximoff twins, and Adelaide arrived in Sokovia. Steve sent Adelaide off with Pietro, making her roll her eyes at the boy as he sped away from her and she glanced back at Steve. He nodded and she huffed, following him at a run that was much slower than the Maximoff.

"Oh, she's gonna end up killing him..." Steve muttered, watching the blonde chase Pietro to the police station.

Once Adelaide had arrived at the station, Pietro was firing a gun at the ceiling. "Get off your asses!"

"Really?" she questioned, putting her hands on her hips. "That's your solution?"

Pietro shrugged. "It worked, didn't it?"

"That's not the point," she said.

"It most definitely is the point," he retorted and she rolled her eyes. "We're evacuating them. He never said how we had to do that."

"Usually guns are not the solution."

"Hey, could you two argue later?" Steve's voice came through their comms. "I don't care how you get them out, just get them out."

Adelaide frowned. "Hey, you're supposed to be on my side!"

"Addy, please..."

She huffed. "Fine. But you owe me." She looked to her left and saw that Pietro had vanished and she groaned. "He needs to stop doing that!" She ran out of the police station and onto the street, directing people toward the center of the city. "Get away from the bridge!" she told them, picking up a stray little boy. "Just stay together!" Pietro suddenly appeared and she looked at them. "Well, thank you for joining."

"Who's the boy?" he asked.

She shrugged. "He probably got separated from his parents," she replied. "How's it looking out there?"

"Wanda and Steve are getting people off the bridge," he told her and she nodded. "So, what now?"

"Now?" she asked, looking at him. "Now we keep getting people away from the edge of this country. And... I'm sorry. I know you and your sister grew up here. It must be hard." Pietro shrugged and took off at a run in the other direction, moving people out of the way. "Well, never mind, then." She looked down as the ground began to shake. "What the...?"

She took off in the direction of the center of the city and crashed into a building as the ground began to shake even more. She saw that a robot was flying at Steve, who was looking the other way, and she threw her knife, killing its power core and he looked over at her.

"You're welcome," she said, running over to him.

"Cap, you got incoming," Tony informed the soldier.

He sighed, glancing at Adelaide for a moment. "Well, it sort of already came. Stark, you worry about bringing the city back down safely. The rest of us have one job: tear these things apart. You get hurt, hurt 'em back. You get killed, walk it off."

Adelaide quirked an eyebrow upward. "After this, you'll need to explain to me how exactly one walks off being killed." She looked over and saw Thor jumping after a car that fell off the bridge and she hurried over just as Thor threw a woman out of the car toward the two blondes. Adelaide caught her hand. "A little help here?" Steve took her hand and helped pull the woman up.

"You can't save them all." Steve and Adelaide looked over at Ultron. "You'll never—"

Steve threw him over the bridge and looked down. "You'll never what? You didn't finish!" Thor landed on top of another car that he saved. "What, were you napping?"

"Alright, we're all clear here," Clint said as Adelaide ducked at a laser being shot at her.

"We are not clear!" Steve replied, fighting a robot. "We are very not clear!"

Adelaide let out a breath as the robots disappeared for a moment. "You know, I've seen a lot of things, but never a flying city."

"The next wave's gonna hit any minute," Steve said. "What have you got, Stark?"

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

Steve shook his head. "I asked for a solution, not an escape plan."

"Impact radius is getting bigger every second," Tony said. "We're going to have to make a choice."

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

"Not 'til everyone's safe."

"Everyone up here versus everyone down there?" Natasha asked. "There's no math there."

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

"I didn't say we should leave," Natasha said and Steve looked at her. She shrugged. "There's worse ways to go. Where else am I gonna get a view like this?"

"Well, I certainly hope you guys weren't planning your deaths."

Steve furrowed his brows at the voice coming through his comms. "Gracie?"

Suddenly, a large Helicarrier appeared in front of them. "Surprise, Rogers," she said with a smile, looking down at the city. "I've still got a few tricks up my sleeve. It's dusty and old, but it does the job."

"God, I love you."

Grace smiled and looked back at Maria. "Altitude is eighteen thousand and climbing," she said, looking at the computer.

"Lifeboats secure to deploy," the SHIELD agent, Cameron, informed them. "Disengage in three, two... take 'em out."

Pietro looked up at the Helicarrier and saw the lifeboats flying toward them. "This is SHIELD?" he asked and Adelaide nodded with a smile.

"This is what it's supposed to be."

Pietro nodded. "This is not so bad."

"Let's load 'em up," Steve said, patting Adelaide on the back and she followed him.

"Grace, we have multiple bogies converging on our starboard flank," Maria told her and the brunette looked at the computer.

She nodded. "Alright, then. Rhodey! You're up." She turned to Nick. "You keep sending lifeboats. I'm going down there to get everyone on."

"You got it. Here." He handed her a gun. "In case."

Once she was on the ground, she looked to her left and saw Steve standing on the edge. "Hey, Rogers!" He looked over at her. "No more planning deaths, you hear me?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Costel?" Grace looked at a woman who was looking around desperately for her son. "We were in the market. "Costel?!"

She saw Clint run in the direction of the market followed by Ultron. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Pietro run after them and she looked down at the gun in her hand. "Rhodey!" He looked down at her and he landed next to her. "Get me up there."

"But—"

"Nobody is dying today," she said forcefully and he nodded, lifting her into the air. She pointed at Ultron. "There!" Steve looked up and saw Grace and Rhodey flying toward Ultron. Grace adjusted the gun in her hand just as Ultron was about to fire shots at Clint and pulled the trigger. A hole went through Ultron's power core and he fell limp to the ground.

"Nice shot," Rhodey said, setting her gently on the ground, and Clint and Pietro looked over at her. "You killed him."

Grace kneeled next to the little boy and checked him over for injuries before turning to face Pietro. "So... you must be Pietro." The ground began to shake more and she looked at him. "Take the boy. Get him back to his mother."

Pietro nodded and took hold of the little boy. Grace looked at Clint. "Is there anybody else?"

"I don't think so."

"Then let's get off this flying city," she said and the two of them ran back to the lifeboats. Once she was back on the Helicarrier, she felt a pair of arms wrap around her. She looked down and saw Adelaide was hugging her tightly.

"You're okay," she said quietly and Grace stroked her blonde hair. "Don't do that. I don't want to know what it's like to lose a mom." She paused and looked up at Grace sheepishly.

She smiled tearfully and pulled her closer. "I love you, too." She looked around. "Did he make it off? Where's Steve?"

"Over there," Adelaide replied, pointing at the front of the helicarrier. "I'll go make sure Speedy is okay after everything."

Grace nodded and walked over to the blonde whose back was turned to her. She wrapped her arms around his upper body. "You did it. They're all safe."

"Thanks to you," he said, pulling her close. "Where did you find a Helicarrier on short notice?"

She shrugged, watching the city get destroyed by Tony and Thor. "I have my ways."

⸻ ~~~ ⸻

𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐎𝐃 𝐎𝐔𝐓𝐒𝐈𝐃𝐄 𝐎𝐅 the new Avengers facility, watching Thor fly away from the building and leaving a mark on the grass. "Dinner soon?" She looked over and saw Tony walking toward her. "It's been a while."

She nodded, hugging him tightly. "Yeah. I'd like that. You did good, Tony."

"Is something wrong, Aunt Gracie?" he asked and she shrugged. "Something's wrong. I know when it is."

"I hate that you know me too well," she said, shaking her head. "I'll be fine. Just... grown-up stuff. I love you, little penguin."

"I love you more."

She kissed his forehead and watched as he got in his car and drove away. She felt a pair of arms wrap around her waist. "What're you thinking about?" Steve asked her softly.

"I want to buy a house," she said, looking at him. "Buy a house, live a life..." She looked back out at the empty landscape. "Live a life that's actually mine. Keep my promise to Peggy."

Steve nodded, kissing her cheek. "Me, too."

"Really?"

"I love you, Gracie," he said and she smiled softly. "A life with you is all I've ever wanted. A family, a house... I want it all."

⸻ ~~~ ⸻

an: and thus marks the
end of age of ultron!

civil war is next and...
i don't think y'all are
ready (because i'm
not)