______

Steve stood, grabbing his shield and setting it on his back as he walked through the Barton family home towards the door. "I'll take Natasha and Clint."

Tony nodded, following a few steps behind the blonde, "Alright, strictly recon. I'll hit the NEXUS, I'll join you as soon as I can."

Stopping, Steve glanced back, "If Ultron is really building a body, and if he has Syn's help..."

"He'll be more powerful than any of us. Maybe all of us. An android designed by a robot and the smartest person on the planet."

Letting out a breath, Steve adjusted his shield, "You know I really miss the days when the weirdest thing science ever created was me."

Fury walked toward them. His eye held the same look it always did, an emotionless one that you weren't sure what it meant exactly. "I'll drop Banner off at the tower. Do you mind if I borrow Ms. Hill?"

"She's all yours, apparently."

"What are you gonna do?"

"I don't know. Something dramatic, I hope."

— — —

Scaling the side of the Genetic Research Lab where Cho worked, Steve moved to the roof before jumping over the railing and settling on the ground beneath him. "Two minutes. Stay close," he told the team, tapping his earpiece before walking inside the building.

Running inside, he quickly found the woman, but to his dismay, she was badly injured. Blood covered her shoulder, seeping down towards her stomach as she heaved out unsteady breaths.

"Dr. Cho!"

Grabbing a cloth, he quickly kneeled in front of her and put pressure on her wound.

"He's uploading himself into the body," the woman told him, struggling to speak.

"Where?" Steve glanced around the room, but before he could stand, his arm was grasped by the woman's hand. "The real power is inside the Cradle. 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."

"Did you guys copy that?" Steve asked, holding his finger to his comms.

"We did," Clint spoke.

"I got a private jet taking off across town, no manifest. That could be him," Natasha said, staring at a monitor before her.

Clint glanced at the road below and saw a large transport truck, "There. It's a truck from the lab. Right above you, Cap. On the loop by the bridge. It's them. I got three with the Cradle, one in the cab. I could take out the driver."

"Negative! If that truck crashes, the gem could level the city. We need to draw out Ultron."

Steve climbed up a ladder before taking a running stance on the edge of the highway. As soon as the truck was about to pass below him, he took a leap and landed on the roof of it. The landing was rough, his body rolling back a few feet, sending him to the edge but he quickly grabbed onto the back rails.

He had caught his footing just in time as Ultron had quickly sensed his presence and shot a beam of power at the door, knocking it flying open, sending Steve's body along with the door against the side of the truck.

As the door swung back around, another shot was delivered, this one launching Steve in the air before he fell onto the broken door that was dragging along the highway. "Well, he's definitely unhappy! I'm gonna try and keep him that way."

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

Letting out a sigh, Steve held back an eyeroll, "Thanks, Barton."

As Steve attempted to get into the back of the truck, he was sent flying into a windshield of the car driving behind them after receiving a blast from Ultron's fist.

Standing at the edge of the truck, Ultron stared at the super soldier, "You know what's in that Cradle? The power to make real change, and that terrifies you."

"I wouldn't call it a comfort," Steve told him as he maneuvered himself back toward the truck before landing on the roof of it, only for Ultron to fly up.

Steve grabbed his shield and threw it at the robot, sending him back a few paces as the shield returned to his hand. Their movements stayed the same, Steve throwing his shield, deflecting Ultron, as Ultron gained on him.

Eventually, his shield embedded itself in the robot's chest, however, he simply pulled it out and threw it down against the highway before sending a blast of power at Steve's chest. Falling from the power, Steve was knocked to the front of the truck, holding onto the side-view mirror.

As Steve attempted to fight the robot, an act he was failing miserably at, Natasha was racing through the city, his shield strapped on the front of her bike as she whipped past pedestrians.

Steve was being held over the edge by his neck when Natasha reached them. Glancing down, he quickly grabbed his shield that she had thrown up and smacked it against Ultron's arm, sending him to the floor.

Ultron was fighting dirty at this point. He was sending cars flying and pulling up pieces of the road. But that didn't stop Steve from jumping back onto the truck.

"Clint, can you draw out the guards?" Natasha asked.

"Let's find out... Heading back towards you. So whatever you're gonna do, do it now."

"I'm going in. Cap, can you keep him occupied?"

Steve grunted as he threw Ultron's body against a support beam only for him to fly back toward him, sending them both flying into a train. "What do you think I've been doing?"

"The package is airborne. I have a clean shot," Clint spoke, watching as the truck was lifted off the ground.

"Negative. I am still in the truck," Natasha told him, holding onto anything she could to stop her from falling out the open back.

"What the hell are you...?"

"Just be ready, I'm sending the package to you."

"How do you want me to take it?"

"Uhh, you might wish you hadn't asked that."

Steve let out a grunt as he dodged Ultron's metal fist that had come down just beside his head before dodging another with his shield only to have a punch delivered to his ribs.

Before another hit could appear, Ultron's body was swept away from him and Pietro appeared on the other side of the train cart. On the far side, Wanda stood, her red magic creating a barrier, stopping Ultron from moving, giving Steve enough time to stand.

"Please. Don't do this," Ultron spoke to the twins.

"What choice do we have?" Wanda questioned as Ultron flew away.

"I lost him! He's headed your way!" Steve told Natasha and Clint.

"Nat! Cap, you see Nat?" Clint asked hurriedly as he watched Natasha's body fall from the quinjet, leaving the cradle secure.

"If you have the package, get it to Stark! Go!"

Ignoring him, he repeated his question. "Do you have eyes on Nat?"

"Go!"

Reluctantly, Clint turned the jet the opposite way.

Steve glanced between the twins, before his eyes settled on Pietro, "Civilians in our path." As the boy disappeared, he looked at Wanda, "Can you stop this thing?"

As Pietro picked up civilians and moved them out of the way of the train, Wanda summoned her red mist and surrounded the front of the train, letting it come to a slow halt.

"I'm fine. I just need to take a minute," Peitro told Wanda after she had run toward him.

Steve looked at him, "I'm very tempted not to give you one."

"The Cradle, did you get it?" Wanda asked, ignoring the comment.

"Stark will take care of it."

Wanda shook her head, "No, he won't."

"You don't know what you're talking about, Stark's not crazy."

"He will do anything to make things right."

Steve looked at her for a moment before turning around, "Stark, come in. Stark. Anyone on comms?"

"Ultron can't tell the difference between saving the world and destroying it. Where do you think he gets that?" Wanda asked, not daring to say a word about Emersyn. She knew that if she did, she may as well be dead.

— — —

In Sokovia, Natasha woke up on a cold floor, head pounding with an oncoming headache. Her eyes scoured the room before they landed on the large robot a few meters away.

"I wasn't sure you'd wake up. I hoped you would, I wanted to show you something. I don't have anyone else. Your friend has been boring."

Natasha struggled as she moved to lean on her arm.

"I think a lot about meteors, the purity of them. Boom! The end, start again. The world made clean for the new man to rebuild. I was meant to be new. I was meant to be beautiful."

Natasha backed up as Ultron drew slightly closer. Her lip felt tight. It had been split open, dried blood cracking as she licked over the wound. As she backed away further, she felt something behind her.

No, not something. Someone. It was a booted foot.

Natasha's eyes widened. She recognized that boot. She had bought that boot. That boot had been stolen from her closet.

"The world would've looked to the sky and seen hope, seen mercy. Instead they'll look up in horror because of you. You've wounded me. I give you full marks for that. But, like the man said, 'What doesn't kill me...'"

As his voice trailed off, his body was destroyed, pulled apart into pieces before a larger version of him appeared from behind him. "Just makes me stronger."

Natasha moved back further, not taking her eyes off of Ultron only to watch him pull out a metal door, locking her in the small room.

As Ultron left, it was only then that Natasha looked to her left.

And there, Natasha let out a horrified gasp at the sight.

Laying there, skin pale as snow, dried fallen blood from her lip and eyebrow, was Emersyn.

— — —

In the tower, Tony's fingertips moved rapidly against the keyboard. "This framework is not compatible."

"The genetic coding tower's at ninety-seven percent. You have got to upload that schematic in the next three minutes," Bruce told him as Steve and the twins walked into the lab.

"I'm gonna say this once," the soldier started.

"How about 'nonce'?"

"Shut it down!"

"Nope, not gonna happen."

"You don't know what you're doing."

Bruce looked at him, "And you do? She's not in your head?"

Looking at the man, Wanda took a few steps forward, "I know you're angry."

"Oh, we're way past that. I could choke the life out of you and never change a shade."

"Banner, after everything that's happened—"

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

"You don't know what's in there!" Wanda argued.

"This isn't a game—"

"The creature–"

Before Wanda could finish, Pietro used his speed and ran across the room, destroying equipment as he went. "No, no. Go on. You were saying?"

Suddenly a shot rang through their ears before the sound of broken glass filled their ears as Pietro's body fell from the room, to the floor below them.

"Pietro!"

Clint stood above him, bow in hand, "What? You didn't see that coming?"

An error screen appeared on one of the monitors and Tony turned around, "I'm rerouting the upload."

Before Wanda could move, Bruce grabbed her, "Go ahead, piss me off."

And then the fighting began. Steve threw his shield at Tony only for it to be dodged by his metal hand. As the shield went flying in the opposite direction, more of Tony's suit flew toward him.

Sending a blast of energy, Steve's body was sent flying through a pane of glass into another lab while Wanda sent an energy ball through her chest, knocking Bruce off of her.

Glancing behind her, she saw a new man enter. Thor. He stood tall, his hammer in the air as he summoned lighting.

"Wait!" Bruce yelled but it was pointless, Thor had already smashed his hammer against the cradle.

Only seconds later, a mass of energy appeared, knocking Thor off the cradle as a new entity left the cradle.

Thor stood up while the rest took cover, unsure of what to make out of the new being. His body, half red, half metal, a golden stone placed in his forehead.

He glanced around the room before his eyes landed on Thor and he took off, flying toward the god at superspeed, tackling him only for the god to throw his body out of the building. But, before he could hit the last set of glass panes, he stopped suddenly, his eyes staring out at the New York skyline.

Steve jumped down, but stopped when Thor held out his hand.

Setting down his hammer, they watched as the red being flew toward them, this time much slower than before. "I'm sorry, that was...odd," it told them as it landed on the ground, before his eyes turned to Thor's, "Thank you."

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

"I've had a vision. A whirlpool that sucks in all hope of life and at its center is that," his finger lifted, pointing at the stone that was embedded in the red beings head.

"What, the gem?" Bruce questioned.

"It's the Mind Stone. It's one of the 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."

"Oh, it's definitely the end times," the scientist muttered.

"The Avengers cannot defeat Ultron."

"Not alone," the red being added.

"Why does your 'vision' sound like JARVIS?" Steve asked.

Tony looked toward them, "We... reconfigured JARVIS' matrix to create something new."

"I think I've had my fill of new."

Vision looked at Steve, "You think I'm a child of Ultron?"

"You're not?" he asked.

"I'm not Ultron. I'm not JARVIS. I am... I am," the red being trailed off, unsure of what to call himself.

Wanda took another step forward, "I looked in your head and saw annihilation."

"Look again."

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

"Their powers, 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..." Thor began, though his words soon trailed off.

"Is it? Are you? On our side?"

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

"Well it better get real simple real soon."

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

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

"You."

Bruce looked at him, "Where?"

Clint thought for a moment before speaking up, "Sokovia. He's got Nat and Emersyn there too."

No one noticed the twins flinching at the Starks' name.

"If we're wrong about you, if you're the monster that Ultron made you to be..."

"What will you do? 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."

They all watched with wide eyes as the red being picked up Thor's hammer with ease and handed it to the god. Thor slowly put out his hand and grabbed his weapon. "Right."

"Three minutes. Get what you need," Steve spoke, eyes scouring along the team that they had left.

Now in the quinjet, Steve, Tony and Bruce stood, waiting for the rest of the team to arrive. After loading a new AI, Friday, into his suit, Tony glanced at the pair. "No way we all get through this. If even one tin soldier is left standing, we've lost. There's gonna be blood on the floor."

"I got no plans tomorrow night," Steve told them.

"I get first crack at the big guy. Iron Man's the one he's waiting for."

Walking past them, the red being spoke, "That's true, he hates you the most."

"Ultron knows we're coming. Odds are we'll be riding into heavy fire, and that's what we signed up for. But the people of Sokovia, they didn't. So our priority is getting them out," Steve spoke, his voice strong as he looked at the team that was now securely in the quinjet.

"All they want is to live their lives in peace, and that's not going to happen today. But we can do our best to protect them. And we can get the job done, and find out what Ultron's been building. We find Stark and Romanoff, and we clear the field. Keep the fight between us. Ultron thinks we're monsters and we're what's wrong with the world. This isn't just about beating him. It's about whether he's right."

— — —

Natasha sat, her body still though her hands trembled as her fingers ran through Emersyn's long hair. Tears were gathered in the woman's eyes, the occasional one falling down her face, onto the one placed on her lap.

Her knees were pulled up slightly, not close to her chest, however, as she held Emersyn's body close to her.

"Please," she muttered in Russian as she kissed the girls head. "Wake up, detka."

Her body stayed still however. Emersyn Stark was dead. She had been for a long time now.

It had been two days since Natasha was captured, and seventeen days since Emersyn. Natasha's body shook with rage as a defeated scream left her lips before sobs began to rack through her body.

Hydra had won. They had taken the purest, most incredible and treasured thing away from the Avengers. For that, they would pay.

A click was suddenly heard causing the woman to look up.

"Syn?" a voice soon followed. Heavy footsteps sounded.

"We're here!" Natasha called out, gently moving Emersyn's body to the ground before standing up and pushing against the metal bars.

"Natasha?" the voice asked as it got closer.

"Bucky?" she asked as his face appeared. Of all the people to rescue her, she hadn't been expecting him.

The metal armed man quickly ran toward the barred door before grabbing onto it and pulling it open with ease. "You okay?" he asked, voice hard as he glanced behind him.

Natasha nodded, "I am but we need to get the kid to the jet. She needs a medevac immediately."

It was only then that Bucky looked down. It felt as though his heart had been torn in two.

Pushing his emotions aside, he knelt down and picked up Emersyn's still body. Her skin was cold to the touch, colder than the metal of his arm. "Can you find your way out of here?" he asked.

"Yes. Get her out of here. Now, Barnes!"

Not having to be told twice, the man took off in a sprint towards the jet he had taken. It was a smaller one having been the one they used to travel to Mystic Falls, but it packed quite a bit of speed.

Tapping in his earpiece as he got seated in the jet after laying Emersyn's body down on the line of seats, he started the machine and put it on autopilot before moving back to the teenager.

"I got Emersyn. I'm taking her back to New York," he spoke through the comms as he opened a bag of medical equipment.

He wasn't entirely sure what to do with any of it. The bag was full of high tech objects, nothing like what they would use back in the forties.

"Is she okay?" Tony's voice asked hurriedly.

"Ask me in an hour. Bruce, what does the purple needle do?"

"It's morphine."

"Would morphine bring someone back to life?"

"No, it's morphine."

"Is my kid okay? Barnes, tell me now!"

Bucky's legs went weak as he stumbled to his knees. His hand moved out to hold Emersyn's as a tear fell from the corner of his eye. "She's gone. I'm sorry, Tony." 

a/n

kristoff from frozen is so fucking hot

don't judge me