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"Rise and shine," Nat's voice was the first thing to greet me when I woke up.

I groaned, "The sun's not even up yet," I pulled the blanket over my head.

"Tell Steve all about it once you get up," Nat responded, pulling the blankets away from me, "He's the one that says we have to move now. Tony's checking out the Nexus, Banner and Fury are headed for the tower, and the rest of us are paying a visit to Helen Cho."

"Okay," I groaned, pushing myself up, "Happen to have anything I can borrow to wear? I don't think a sundress is the best attire for fighting robots."

"Ah, but I'd very much enjoy the view," a dark voice came from the door.

"Who let you in?" Nat grimaced, striding to shut the bedroom door, "I thought you were spending the evening with the cows."

"There were no cows," Loki's muffled retort came from the other side of the door, "And Rogers delivered a rather rude awakening several minutes past. I figured I could guess the reason for the delay. Alivia's never been very punctual."

"Why are you still talking?" I asked, as Nat handed me a bundle of clothes.

"Because you enjoy the sound of my voice so much so, that you dragged me out of Asgard to hear it," came the swift response.

I took a deep breath, steadying my frustration at him. Nat put a hand on my shoulder, "I'll deal with him." She reopened the door, grabbing Loki by the collar and dragging him down the hall.

I stood, closing the door to get changed. Nat had loaned me one of her skin-tight leather outfits, complete with gun holsters and knife sheaths. Red in the face, I was forced to lower the zipper on the chest to make room. I didn't think Natasha and I were quite the same size in that region.

When I was finished, I tucked my hair behind my ears. It was too short to tie back now. Then, I stepped up to the mirror. Looked myself in the eye. I removed my brown contact, and was shocked by the brightness of the orange that it concealed. I blinked a few times. Tossed the contact in the garbage. And I was out the door.

I passed Clint bidding Laura goodbye. I thanked her, before the two of us made for the quinjet parked in the field outside, where the rest were waiting for us.

We loaded inside, and I took a seat between Natasha and Steve, while Clint slipped behind the wheel. Loki sat down across from us, eyeing me darkly but not saying a word. I was beginning to think Nat scared him.

We took off into the sky, the ground falling away beneath us as we jetted off. Soon, land became ocean, and there was nothing but blue surrounding us. I felt the heat of Loki's eyes on me the whole way, but made a point of avoiding eye contact with him.

"When we get to Cho's lab, I'll drop off and check the place out," Cap said, eyeing the strip of land we were approaching, "The rest of you, stay in the sky until I give the word."

I nodded, balling my hands into fists.

"Try anything, Loki," Nat warned, glaring at him, "You'll wish you could fall on your daddy's mercy."

Loki put his hands up in mock surrender, and I accidently met his gaze. His eyes bored into mine, and a small smirk pulled at the corner of his mouth. I looked away, just as Clint lowered the quinjet and Steve hopped out.

"Two minutes," he said into his earpiece, "Stay close."

There was silence as Steve made his way into the lab. Then, over his earpiece, came a women's strained voice. I realized it must have been Cho. It sounded like she was in a lot of pain.

"He's uploading himself into the body," Cho said.

"Where?" Steve asked her.

"The real power is inside the Cradle," Cho explained, "The gem, its power is uncontainable. you can't just blow it up. You have to get the Cradle to Stark."

"First I have to find it."

"Go," Cho said.

I met Nat's eyes. She stood, making for the wall of computers near Clint.

"Did you guys copy that?" Steve asked into his earpiece.

"We did," Clint answered.

"I got a private jet taking off across town," Nat said, swiping at the screens, "No manifest. That could be him."

"My, this ought to be entertaining," Loki smiled.

"That's what you wanna hear," I said sarcastically, glaring at him.

"There," Clint said suddenly, his gaze angled downwards, "It's a truck from the lab. Right above you, Cap. On the loop by the bridge. It's them," he said, as he pulled up a scan of the truck, "Got three with the Cradle, one in the cab. I could take out the driver."

"Cho said we couldn't blow it up," I reminded him.

"That truck crashes, the gem could level the city," Cap's voice backed me up over the earpieces, "We need to draw out Ultron."

From above, I watched the tiny dot that was Steve travel across the highway, jumping from one bridge to the next, and landing on the truck. There were muffled sounds of fighting over the earpieces, as shots rang out below. I couldn't get a good look at Ultron, even after he blasted the doors of the truck off in an attempt to shake Cap.

"Well," Steve's voice came again, "He's definitely unhappy. I'm gonna try and keep him that way."

"You're not a match for him, Cap," Clint warned.

I looked up at Loki. Then to Clint. "We might be."

Clint looked between us, and the ground. "I'll get you as close as I can, but you'll have to jump."

I nodded stiffly. "Alright," I said, rolling my neck, "Let's do this."

"Would you like to hold my hand?" Loki teased, "Promise I won't drop you."

"I, unfortunately, can't promise I won't purposely shove you into oncoming traffic," I said as the door to the quinjet lowered. Loki and I stepped up to the edge of it, as Clint lowered us almost directly over the truck.

"Back up's on the way, Cap," I said into my earpiece, "Hold tight."

With that, Loki and I leapt from the quinjet. My legs buckled beneath me as they hit the moving surface of the truck, and I rolled to the side. I gasped and let out a string of curses as my legs swung over the side. I grappled as I fell, just managing to catch myself on the edge of the truck.

"Will you take that hand, now?" Loki said, extending his hand to me and winking.

"Oh for God's sake," I grumbled, reaching up and grabbing hold of him. He heaved me back on top of the truck.

"Sounds like it isn't going well up there," Cap said over our earpieces.

I peeked over the edge of the truck, where Cap was currently holding on to the door which was attached by only a hinge. It grinded against the road, and sparks flew up around him.

"Is that what going well is supposed to look like?" I shot back.

"At least I managed to hold on, Byrd," he retorted, pulling himself up.

Suddenly, a blast came from within the truck. Ultron, I realized. I still couldn't see him. Steve went flying back, smashing into the windshield of the car behind us.

"Midgardians are certainly not the most agile," Loki mocked, as Steve pushed back to his feet.

"Are you okay?" I asked Steve through my earpiece.

"Fine, yeah, I'll catch up. You two take Ultron. Be careful, Al," Steve answered.

"I'll be sure to take care as well, Rogers," Loki said into his own earpiece, as he extracted two daggers from sheaths at his thighs.

We made eye contact briefly, before swinging down into the truck. A blast came at us immediately, and Loki shoved me against the wall, the both of us just narrowly avoiding the same fate as Steve.

I pushed off the wall, launching an arc of flame in the direction from which the blast had come. When the fire cleared, I finally saw him. I added it to the list in my head. Medieval princess, comic book superhero, and now android fighter. He seemed like something out of some futuristic dystopian film, his body moving like it was alive, but made of pure metal.

"I would advise you not to do that again," Ultron said, taking a menacing step toward me.

Loki flipped his dagger in his hand, lunging for Ultron. He was caught suddenly and viciously by the throat, and Ultron flew up, breaking through the ceiling of the truck's storage container.

"Loki!" I cried out, using the Cradle to boost myself back up onto the roof, where Loki and Ultron stood face to face. I noticed that Ultron levitated slightly above the ground.

"Are you alright?" I asked, positioning myself beside him.

"Are you concerned for my safety?" he retorted, amusement in his eyes.

"Are you two really stopping to make conversation?" Rogers put in, as he pulled himself on top of the truck behind us. "Duck!" he warned, and Loki and I followed his instruction just fast enough to avoid another blast that came from Ultron.

"You know what's in that Cradle?" Ultron asked, his hand raised to deliver another blast. Steve lifted his shield to block us from it, "The power to make real change," Ultron finished, "And that terrifies you."

"I wouldn't call it a comfort," Steve retorted.

Ultron sneered, letting off another frenzy of blasts at us. Loki pulled me out of the way as Steve exchanged blows with Ultron. I summoned another flame to my palm, and reveled in the rush of power that flowed through my blood. I used my fire to deflect the better part of his shots at Steve. Loki came at him from behind, sinking a dagger into the space where his arm met his shoulder.

Ultron whirled on Loki, just as Steve slammed into him with his shield. The shield protruded from Ultron's chest, and the knife from his shoulder.

"Stop it," Ultron said, swatting the shield free. It fell down to the road and we rolled past it. Next, he removed Loki's dagger, throwing it at me. He was so fast, I hardly had time to react, pulling up my arms to protect my face and taking a backstep. I felt the metal of the blade glide past my arms, cutting flesh. When my foot came down, my stomach dropped. There was no ground below me.

I was falling into oncoming traffic. I tried to ignore the irony.

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