New York, USA

Spring 2015

No sooner had Hawkeye's shot rung out from the workroom below than everything descended into chaos.

Even as the sister cried out her brother's name in panic and warnings and alarms from whatever Stark and Banner had been doing began screaming around the Lab, Nadine was instinctively spinning toward the source of the shot.

For the span of half a heartbeat, no one seemed quite sure what to do. But then Stark was reacting, turning to the console behind him.

"I'm rerouting the upload." It was then that Nadine's attention truly snapped to the billionaire as comprehension crashed over her. Upload?! It was then that she finally understood what he and Banner had been doing; why Rogers was so adamant that they stop. Why he was so angry when she had appeared and hijacked the confrontation in the Lab. Current personal conflict or not, on this, it would seem Nadine and Rogers were of the same opinion.

Even as Stark was reaching for the keyboard, Nadine was reacting.

As a shot of her own rang out, perfectly punching a hole in the monitor in front of the billionaire, Rogers' shield was smashing its own path around the room, ricocheting from console to screen to console in a blinding shower of sparks.

But of course, just as Nadine and Rogers had reacted to Stark's declaration, the billionaire was reacting to their response. At once, pieces of his suit were soaring into the Lab, latching onto Stark. In a smooth motion, his face deadly serious, the billionaire had spun to the Captain, catching Rogers square in the chest with a repulsor beam. With a pained grunt Steve was knocked off his feet just as Stark was turning to Nadine.

Warned as she was by his attack on the Captain, the blonde assassin was already moving, just barely missing being hit by an energy pulse herself. But she wasn't quite fast enough, the impact of the pulse crashing into the huge cabinet behind her, sending its contents flying to clip her even as she dove out of the way, sending her sprawling.

Immediately she was rolling back to her feet, just in time to see Rogers leaping toward Stark, his fist slamming into the billionaire's chestplate just as Stark fired a unibeam blast at the Captain, sending both men careening away from the other. But as Nadine was coiling to go after Iron Man herself, the Maximoff girl broke the hold Banner had gotten on her, the scarlet, mist-like tendrils of her Enhancement flashing through her own body before she spun to blast him with another wave, sending the scientist stumbling back with a pained grunt.

Nadine froze, her eyes fixed on the doctor as he staggered, her heart suddenly in her throat in fear that he was about to go green; something she wasn't the only one concerned about, judging by the look on Barton's face across the lab, and the suddenly panicked look on the girl's.

Mercifully, the doctor merely slumped heavily against the equipment to his right, glaring up at the Maximoff girl.

But Nadine had already spun to face the young Sokovian, once again locking her sights on the girl. But Wanda Maximoff's hands were already raised in Nadine's direction, the scarlet nimbus dancing around her fingers as her grim eyes gleamed briefly red.

Only for them both to flinch back as a wave of electricity seemed to cascade through the lab, converging on Thor as he leapt atop the Cradle.

Before anyone could even react to the Asgardian's appearance, before Banner had even managed to bellow out his warning to wait, Thor was channelling a blast of lightning into the Cradle with a deafening, elemental roar as the bolts surged from his Hammer.

As the blinding light faded, the Lab was utterly silent.

And then the Cradle exploded.

Instinctively Nadine was twisting away, ducking behind her raised arms as chunks of metal were blasted throughout the room. And she wasn't the only one. Nearby the Maximoff girl flinched away as others around the room flung up arms against the projectiles. As she spun back to face the Cradle, her eyes blew wide.

It was a man lightly leaping from within the smoldering wreckage to perch on the foot of the Cradle, his body a striking mix of vibrant red skin and dully metallic patches. A glowing yellow point of light shone from the centre of his forehead—the gem Dr. Cho had warned them about. A primal brand of fear was suddenly welling in the pit of Nadine's stomach, her hands threatening to tremble as they tightened on her Glock. She couldn't even react. How was she supposed to react?! Slowly the man—could he even be called that?—stood, surveying first his hands then the room with wary fascination.

Only to leap at Thor.

Even as Nadine jerked in surprise, the Asgardian was deflecting the newborn android's attack, sending him careening toward the other end of the Tower.

The entire room seemed to react too late, no one knowing what to do.

But then everyone did react. Nearly everyone looked to Thor as he straightened, looking grimly satisfied. Rogers, on the other hand, leapt into action, vaulting from the Lab to where the Asgardian stood watching his creation. Only for the Viking-like Avenger to hold up a hand gesturing for the Captain to wait. Nadine's heart hammered in her chest as she and everyone else lingering in the Lab followed the Captain and the Asgardian out of the Lab. All eyes were on the red-skinned android, the trepidation and anxious anticipation shared between them all nearly tangible.

As Nadine came to a stop beside Bruce, barely even noticing as the Maximoff brother came to a blurring stop next to his sister, she couldn't help but stare as the android floated—floated!—back down toward them, his vibrantly-hued body now seemingly clad in a gunmetal grey suit as he landed lightly next to Thor.

This was too much.

Especially as, once he'd thanked the Asgardian, the android seemingly created a cape for himself reminiscent of Thor's own crimson mantle. Rogers was the first to recover his voice, though there was no mistaking the wary cast to it.

"Thor, you helped create this?" Nadine could barely wrap her head around what she was hearing as Thor explained, her eyes still fixed on the android. Impossibly destructive magical gems—Infinity Stones? Didn't they have enough on their plate already with Ultron? Not for the first time she was wondering what the Hell she'd gotten herself into by seeking out the Avengers...

But as Thor and his creation calmly countered his Team's fears, suggesting that the android was their key to beating Ultron, Nadine couldn't help the anxious consideration suddenly growing in her chest. And loath as she was to admit it—bearing in mind her personal objections to the Maximoff Twins at the moment—seeing the sister hesitate and reconsider her staunch objection to trusting the android nevertheless caused Nadine to pause. This thing could be the answer they'd all been looking for; a means to match Ultron. To beat him.

This...this could work.

Though she was just as floored as Banner when the scientist reeled at Thor declaring Stark's misguided idea to save the world hadn't been so misguided after all. And there was no denying the astonished little flutter when it was revealed that J.A.R.V.I.S. had managed to survive Ultron's attack and had evolved to become this...Vision.

Though a small, wary part of her still had doubts—something most of the others seemed to share—in hearing Thor's Vision out, they all had to cede, however reluctantly, that he indeed seemed to be on their side. He was on the side of life, as he stated quite conclusively. One by one, the android looked around the group surrounding him, his gaze jumping thoughtfully—even entreatingly, Nadine noticed with a jolt—from Hawkeye, around to Steve, Thor, Nadine herself, Banner and Stark and finally to the Twins. Nadine unconsciously tensed as his yellow eyes fell briefly on her.

But she had locked eyes with Ultron too, and there was nothing alike between them. Where Ultron's surprisingly emotive gaze had felt threatening and unnatural as he looked to her, there was something else to this new being's gaze that had her ready grip on her Glock loosening, her flinger sliding from the trigger. There was a measure of sincerity to this android's gaze that was far too human and far too natural to be affected. Though part of her was still wary, arguing that all her instincts when it came to reading people and discerning their intentions from subtle physical cues meant nothing when dealing with an artificial being, her instincts seemed to believe otherwise.

But then he was looking away, his gaze passing around to each of them in turn as he spoke, his voice soft and certain in his knowledge that Ultron held no such value on life: "He will end it all."

"What's he waiting for?" Nadine looked over to Rogers as he spoke, not even needing to see the grim acceptance on his face to know that he was reconsidering the android as well. They all were. Thor's Vision glanced to the Captain.

"You."

"Where?" It was obvious that Bruce was still reeling from this most recent development, his voice nearly hoarse with it. Well, it wasn't just him. It wasn't the android who answered, though. Instead Barton stepped forward glancing around to his teammates before landing for a brief, tense moment on the Twins.

"Sokovia. He's got Nat there too," he looked to Nadine, his expression softening. "And Nina. Nat's with her now. She's okay." Nadine visibly sagged in relief, her knees actually feeling weak the feeling was so powerful. Her daughter was alright. Nina was okay. She'd grown so used to the sick tension tightening in her belly out of worry for her little girl's safety that hearing those few words left her feeling lightheaded as it eased even slightly. A heavy hand landed on her back, Thor having stepped closer to steady her as she wavered on her feet. Somehow she managed a grateful smile for the Asgardian as she wrestled herself back under control.

She'd been so overcome by relief that she hadn't even noticed Banner stepping forward to confront the android, nor most of the artificial being's response. She looked up as he began moving, pacing past Rogers and Thor as he spoke.

"We have to act now," he paused for a moment, turning back to face the mingled Avengers and outsiders, "and not one of us can do it without the others. Maybe I am a monster." Nadine's eyes narrowed in consideration as he hesitated again, looking thoughtfully down to his own hands. There was a self-awareness there, a circumspection, that gave her pause in what lingered of her distrust. "I don't think I'd know if I were one." There was a thread of truth there.

But a part of Nadine couldn't help but disagree; sometimes it was entirely possible for someone to realize they were a monster. At the very least, to recognize when one had done something monstrous. She could think of no other more appropriate word for some of the things she'd done. And judging by the varying looks of regret and remorse appearing on the faces around her, she was far from the only one. As her own gaze darted from face to face, recognizing similar feelings to the one trying to claw up her own throat at the android's innocent musing, it paused on Stark as she inadvertently caught his eye. Her heart clenched at the guilt and self-reproach mingling with barely restrained hope in his eyes. But then he looked sharply away, his expression hardening after allowing that small, unintentional glimpse of vulnerability. As it had on the Quinjet what suddenly felt like a lifetime ago, a faint sensation of kinship surfaced in the blonde assassin. A kinship that spread to encompass everyone standing around her.

They really all were broken in some way by things they'd done, weren't they.

Perhaps that was the defining bond that held the team together; they were all looking for some manner of redemption, so they were all seeking to earn it the best way they knew how; by protecting. By Avenging. If anything, she mused bitterly, the only one who hadn't done anything monstrous to earn redemption for was the android currently contemplating just that.

Thor's Vision dropped his hands, turning away from them.

"I'm not what you are, and not what you intended. So there may be no way to make you trust me." The purpose that flooded him then was unmistakable, something in his posture shifting as he turned back to them again, looking up to Thor— "but we need to go," —Mjolnir in his outstretched hand.

The Tower went so quiet Nadine could swear she heard her own heartbeat falter in shock, utterly unable to even react. She just stared at the artificial man. And she wasn't the only one. She had never seen the Avengers look so stunned.

Though, no one looked more startled than Thor as his Vision politely passed of the Hammer to the Asgardian before simply walking off.

He was also the first to recover, shooting them all a chipper little 'right' before following after the android he'd helped create. He paused only to offer a 'well done' and a pat on the shoulder to Stark, the gesture earning the Asgardian an astonished look from the billionaire. A soft, huffing little laugh escaped Nadine at that, her gaze jumping from Avenger to Avenger as she tried to process what had just happened.

She was crazy. She had to be going crazy, losing her mind out of overpowering relief and shock if she was seriously considering trusting the judgement of a magical hammer! And judging by the similarly disbelieving and utterly bewildered looks on her companions' faces, they were just as astonished as she was. Not simply by the android's handling of the Hammer, but by how they were all actually considering it a reasonable sign that they could trust the newborn being.

Maybe they were all crazy...

Naturally, Rogers was the next to recover, his own gaze surveying his team as his mind kicked back into gear, quickly absorbing the new development.

"Five minutes." All at once the atmosphere in the Tower shifted from surreal to sober as Rogers automatically fell into his role as the Captain. "Get what you need."

A/N: Thanks for Reading!

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