The next morning I wake up wrapped into Steve's arms. I smile to myself and cuddle into them. I glance up at him and see that his eyes are closed and small snores are coming out of his mouth. I kiss his cheek and untangle myself from him before getting up and walking to the bathroom. I see a fresh pair of clothes on the sink and smile.

Laura was so sweet. I change into them and brush my teeth. I put a few braids into my hair, and then end up making one big braid in the back. I always keep my hair pulled back in some way Incase I had to fight. I look into the mirror and study myself. There were light blue bags under my eyes. My cheeks were flushed. My eyes were unique. My dad says I got them from my mom. Big green eyes with just a hint of brown around the pupil. I look down at the sink and bite my lip. I once remember myself with my dark brown hair. I didn't have any weird powers, and I didn't have to be afraid of hurting someone with them.

I sigh and walk out of the bathroom straight down the steps. I hear laughter coming from the kitchen. My eyebrows raise in question. I walk into the room and look around seeing the team there, minus Steve and Thor. Natasha notices me first. She smiles brightly and speeds over to me.

She wraps her arms around my neck and pulls me into a hug. "You did it, baby stark." A laugh escapes my mouth as I hug her back. "You always knew it would happen, Aunt Nat." She pulls away from me and nods her head. "I knew before either of you did, but he confirmed it when we were on our mission for the winter soldier." I give her a curious look and she just gives me a smile. "I'll tell you later."

"So, you and Steve?" I look over and see Clint wiggling his eyebrows. I laugh and nod my head. I could feel my face heat up. Everyone started hollering in happiness which just made me laugh and smile harder. I felt a pair of arms wrap around my waist from behind. Natasha let's out a small "awe" and I turn my head slightly to see Steve. I bite my lip to try and stop myself from smiling as I look down trying to hide my face.

"You finally got the girl, Steve." I hear him chuckle. "I did, didn't I?" Someone clears their throat. I look up and notice my dad standing there. His face is set into a cold expression. "Steven, we need to talk." Everyone groans and I move out of Steve's arms to walk over to the counter. I pick the chair beside Clint and sit down.

~Steve's pov~

I follow Tony outside. He walks a good distance from the house before he turns to me. I stay silent, waiting for him to start talking.
"You may be an avenger, and my friend, but that won't stop me from killing you if you hurt her." I nod my head and feel the corner of my mouth threaten to lift up. "I wouldn't dream of it, sir." He stares at me for a good minute before breaking out into a smile and laughing. He pats me on the back and nods his head. "I'm glad you finally told her how you feel. I'm not the happiest about it, because I hate knowing my little girl is finally growing up, but I know that you'll protect her."

"I promise I'll protect her with my life. She means the world to me. I love her." He smiles and nods. "I know." We both walk back to the house laughing and joking around. I stop him right before we head back in though. I look down nervously and move my arm up to rub the back of my neck.

"Tony, I need to ask you something."

~Emilia's pov~

I finish eating the eggs and bacon that Laura cooked for us all. I down the rest of my orange juice before I notice my dad and Steve walking back in. I lift one of my eyebrows up at them both, which they ignore. I let out a big sigh and turn to Clint. "What do you think they talked about?"

"Your dad probably just threatened him. Which, I need to do also." I roll my eyes and shake my head. I get up and put my dishes in the sink. Natasha is already there washing some. "You know, you never did tell me what he said on that mission." She looks over at me and then looks around the room to make sure nobody is listening to us. "Steve thought he was going to die. We actually all thought he was going too. Bucky did a hell of a number on him. He told me to tell you that he loves you, and that he was sorry he never told you sooner." I frown and look down.

I bite the inside of my cheek and rest my elbow on the kitchen counter by the sink. I go to speak but gasp out in pain. "Emilia?" I hear Nats voice. I shake my head and whimper. "Emilia? What's going on!?" "I can't see. I can't see!" I scream out getting panicked. My vision was completely black. My head spins and I feel my body start to tilt. "Emilia!" I feel Steve's arms circle around me. "Natasha, what's going on?!" Dad's voice demands. "It hurts..." I whimper at the sharp pain in my head. I let out a pained scream before I go unconscious.

"Scream, and your entire staff dies." Ultron's voice echos. "I could've killed you, Helen, the night we met. I didn't." She stares at him with fear in her eyes. "Do you expect a thank-you note?" His red eyes glow. "I expect you to know why." She glances down and her eyes widen. "The cradle."

"This is the next thing, Tony." Her voice comes out of him in a recording. "This is the next me." He touches the cradle, gently.
"The Regeneration Cradle prints Tissue. It can't build a living body." She tries to reason. "It can. You can." His voice demands back. "You lack the materials. You're a brilliant woman, Helen." One of his bots comes from behind him holding something. She backs away slowly. Another brings the tesseract towards her. It's blue light glowing brightly.
"But we all have room to improve." The bot touches it to her chest. Her eyes turn completely black, then a brilliant blue.

~3rd person pov~
Everyone sits around Emilia. She's laying on the couch with her head resting on a pillow that Laura brought out. Bruce sighs before standing. "She should come back later. I can't give you a time frame. Whatever is happening to her, is because of her powers."
Tony runs one of his hands through his hair, the other one holding her right hand. "What do you mean?"
"I can't tell for sure without the equipment from the tower, but I think her powers are developing, Tony. She might even be getting new ones." His voice is soft, he knew his words would upset everyone. They all knew how much Emilia already hated her powers. How would she react with new ones?
Steve shakes his head in anger. His whole face turns red. His fist clinch at his sides. Everyone takes notice of it. Tony stands up. He places a gentle kiss on her head before walking past Steve. "Steve, come with me." He follows without argument.

The two stand outside cutting wood.
"Thor didn't say where he was going for answers?" Both guys were angry, their blood was boiling. They were mad about the same thing. Emilia.
"Sometimes my teammates don't tell me things. I was kinda hoping Thor would be the exception." He brings another piece of wood over for Tony. "Yeah, give him time." Tony heaves out. "We don't know what the Maximoff kid showed him." Steve slams the axe down effortlessly, splitting the wood in two. "Earths mightiest heroes. Pulled us apart like cotton candy." He lets out a disappointed sigh. Tony picks his axe up and stares at the super soldier. "Seems like you walked away alright." Steve straightens up and looks at Tony. "Is that a problem?" "I don't trust a guy without a dark side." He slams his axe down on the piece of wood he had balanced. "Call me old fashioned." Steve chuckles. "Well, lets just say you haven't seen it yet." "You know Ultron is trying to tear us apart, right?" Steve couldn't help the next words that came out of his mouth. "Well, I guess you'd know. How you could mess with something like that after what happened to Emilia I will never know." The anger was definitely getting to the two.

"Banner and I were doing research."
"That would affect the team. That would hurt her."
"That would end the team! End her hurt! Isn't that the mission? Isn't that the 'Why We Fight?' So we can end the fight. So we get to go home!" Steve picks up a piece of wood and tears it apart with his bare hands. "Every time someone tries to win a war before it starts, innocent people die. Every time. I won't let it be her." They both stare at each other until Laura walks up behind them.

"I'm sorry. Mr. Stark... Clint said you wouldn't mind, but our tractor doesn't seem to want to start at all. I thought maybe you might.."
"Yeah, I'll give her a kick." He nods at Steve and turns around to walk away. He points to the wood he's already cut. "Don't take from my pile." Steve sighs and sits on the tree stump they were putting the wood on to cut it. He puts his head in his hands. "I need you, Emilia..."

"Emilia, you can be apart of us. I can help you control your powers. I can make you invincible."
"Leave me alone!!"
"You are going to join us, one way or another."
"I'll die before I join you."
"Then so be it."

Tony walks into the old barn and spots the tractor. "Hello, Deere. Tell me everything. What ails you?" He fiddles around with a couple things.

"Do me a favor." Tony heaves out a sigh and looks towards Fury. "Try not to bring it to life." He lets out another sigh. "Why, Mrs. Barton, you little minx. I get it. Maria Hill called you, right? Was she ever not working for you?" Tony starts walking towards him.
"Artificial intelligence.  You never even hesitated."
"Look, it's been a really long day, like Eugene O'Neill long, so how's about we skip to the part where you're useful."
"Look me in the eye and tell me you're going to shut him down."  Tony chuckles at that.
"You're not the director of me."
"I'm not the director of anybody. I'm just an old man who cares very much about you. Shut it down, for her, Tony."

Tony looks around as tears fill his eyes. He tries his best to keep them at bay.
"And I'm the man who killed the Avengers. Who killed my daughters trust. I saw it. I didn't tell them. How could I? I saw them all dead, Nick. I felt it. My daughter laid dead at my feet. She was bleeding everywhere. You know what she said? You could have saved us. All because of me. I wasn't ready. I didn't do all I could."

His mind flashes back to the vision he had. Emilia's once silver hair was tinted red from her own blood. She laid between Steve and Natasha. She was holding Steve's hand. Tony fell down to his knees beside her and screamed out. He let sobs wrack his body and escape his mouth as he mourned his only family left. He felt her move under his hug and he pulled back with a gasp. She was staring up at him with emotionless eyes. "You could have saved us all, Dad. Why didn't you save me? I thought you loved me?" "I do love you, baby girl, so so much! Please don't leave me!" The tears run down his cheeks, falling off his face and onto the suit of the young girl. "It's too late. You're too late." She falls completely emotionless and he feels her pulse stop completely. He lets out a scream of agony. His whole heart just broke.

"Maximoff girl, she's working you, Stark. Playing on your fear."
"I wasn't tricked. I was shown. Wasn't a nightmare, it was a legacy. The end of the path I started us on."
"You've come up with some pretty impressive inventions, Tony." Fury says as he stands up from the hay he was sitting on.
"War isn't one of them."
"I watched my friends die. My daughter. You'd think that'd be as bad as it gets, right?" He scoffs. "Nope. It wasn't the worst part."
"The worst part, is that you didn't."

****

"Ultron took you folks out of play to buy himself time. My contacts all say he's building something. The amount of vibranium he made off with, I don't think it's just one thing."
"What about Ultron himself?" Steve asks Fury as he strokes Emilia's hair. He moved her to where her head is now laying in his lap. She looked peaceful. Her skin was rather pale, but she had a pale complexion to begin with. He tried not to worry much about it. Her lips were still a natural red color. Her eyelashes laid simply just above her cheeks. Her hair sprawled out around her.
"Oh, He's easy to track. He's everywhere. The guy is multiplying faster than a Catholic Rabbit. It still doesn't help us get an angle on any of his plans, though." Tony shoots another dart at the dart board on the wall across from him. "Is he still going after launch codes?" "Yes, he is. But he's not making any headway."
"I cracked the Pentagon's firewall in high school on a dare." He sasses. Fury rolls his eyes and ignores his comment.

"Well, I contacted our friends at the Nexus about that."
"Nexus?"
"It's the world Internet Hub in Oslo. Every byte of data flows through there. Fastest access on earth." Bruce speaks up this time.
"So, what did they say?" Clint asks.
"He's fixated on the missiles. But the codes are constantly being changed."
"By whom?" "Parties unknown."
"Do we have an alley?" Natasha finally speaks up. Her eyes shine with hope.
"Ultron's got an enemy. That's not the same thing. Still, I'd pay folding money to know who it is." Fury replies to her with a stern look.
"I might need to pay a visit to Oslo. Find our unknown." Tony says.
"Well. This is good times, boss, but I was kind of hoping when I saw you, you'd have more than that." Fury looks at her confidently.
"I do. I have you. Back in the day, I had eyes everywhere. Ears, everywhere else. You kids had all the tech you could dream up. Here we all are, back on earth, with nothing but our wit, and our will to save the world. Ultron says the Avengers are the only thing between him and his mission and whether or not he admits it, his mission is global destruction. All this, laid in a grave. So stand. Outwit the platinum bastard."

It's quite for a minute until Natasha starts talking.
"Steve doesn't like that kind of talk."
"You know what, Romanoff?" Steve says back with a little chuckle. Everyone breaks out into a small smile.
"So, what does he want?"
Steve sits up straighter. "To become better. Better than us. He keeps building bodies."
"Person bodies."
"The human form is inefficient. Biologically speaking, we're outmoded. But he keeps coming back to it."
"When you two programmed him to protect the human race, you amazingly failed." Natasha looks at both Tony and Bruce. They both look at each other, they knew she was right. They failed horribly.
"They don't need to be protected. They need to evolve. Ul-"
A voice cuts Bruce off.
"Ultron's going to evolve..." Everyone looks to Emilia. She's sitting up now. Steve's looking at her surprised while he checks her over for injuries. He stops once he realizes she's in fact okay. He wraps his arms around her waist. He couldn't help himself. He was so worried for the girl.
"How?" Fury asks her.
"I saw it. He confronted Helen Cho. She tried to refuse helping him. He used the tesseract on her... He's planning on making a body with the cradle. His body." 

Tony walks to his daughter and stops in front of her. He was relieved that she woke up and was okay but he was worried. How did she know all of this stuff? She was here unconscious the whole time!
"How do you know this, sweetie?"
"I saw it... It was like I was there... when it was done, everything went back to being black for awhile. Then I heard his voice. He was talking to me." Tony looks at her with a mixture of pain and confusion.
"How? I don't understand." Tony asks her. His mind was racing. As was everyone else's.
"Her powers. You got new ones." Bruce speaks up from his place beside Natasha. Emilia looks at him and nods. She keeps her face steady, not letting any emotion show. She knew every single thing that just happened to her, she didn't feel like telling them all about them at the moment. There were bigger things to worry about.
"What did the bastard say to you?" Steve asks angrily. Nobody comments on his language this time.
"He said I was going to join them.. or else.."
Natasha stands up quickly. Her chair goes flying into the cabinets behind her. She stares at the girl who she's helped raise, the girl she thinks as her own niece, and feels rage.
"Or else what?" She snarls out.
"I'll die."