Welcome back! Hope you liked that last chapter, this one is about 3,000 words longer than the first. Uhhhhh don't know what else to say but thank you to those who reviewed, it is much appreciated! Please enjoy!
Tony and Bruce hurried off to their lab leaving the rest of us to follow closely behind. My mind was running at a million miles an hour. What did this mean for us? What was Ultron planning on doing? I sincerely hoped this wasn't going to escalate into another world wide crisis, I think we deal with those often enough as is.
My other team members looked as discontented at I felt. Of course Natasha had a blank expression painted on her features as per usual but most were scowling with worried frowns. That always makes me feel better when the more experienced teammates were worried, it's a good sign. I thought sarcastically.
We were silent as the two scientists typed away on their computers, both faces contorted in concentration. From what they could gather Ultron had violently disabled Jarvis in a fit of uncontrolled rage.
"Woah, it's going around." Clint muttered as Thor rushed across the room and lifted Tony off the ground by his neck.
"Woah! Stop, stop!" I yelled frantically as I uselessly pulled at Thor's arms in an attempt to get him to release Stark. The god easily shook me off him and Steve grabbed arm and pulled me away from the pair. Ok, so I hated Tony at the moment too but lets not get carried away Thor!
"Use your words!" Tony choked out.
"I have more than enough words to describe you Tony Stark." Thor said coolly.
"Thor." Cap shouted. "The Legionnaire?" Reluctantly, the god dropped Stark and pushed the inventor away from himself.
"I lost them somewhere over the mountains, I could not retrieve Loki's scepter." Well this night just kept getting better and better.
"Why is Ultron trying to kill us?" Helen asked, addressing the elephant in the room. The poor doctor didn't look very good, her skin was paler than normal and her eyes were watery.
"He blames us for the world's problems." Steve commented looking quite shaken himself over the ordeal
"But why? Does he believe our efforts to be ineffective?" Thor questioned confusion clear on his features.
"I think a better word would be detrimental. Ultron seems to think we do more bad than good." I corrected the blonde god. I kept a weary eye on him, I half expected for him to lunge for Tony again.
"So he thinks he can do it better than us?" Clint attempted to clarify. I shrugged, that's what it seemed like.
"But why kill us?"
"No, not kill. He wants to exterminate us." Natasha said heavily. I sighed and rubbed my cheeks frustratedly. So what were we supposed to do now that a crazy robot was out to 'exterminate' us? This was like a bad episode of Doctor Who. And at the most inappropriate time possible Tony started giggling. Bruce shook his head vehemently and tried to non-verbally get him to stop.
"Tony, really?" I reprimanded, shocked that he was taking this so lightly.
"You think this is funny?" Thor asked angrily working himself up again.
"No, this is probably not funny." But Tony said it more of a question as if he wasn't sure how he was supposed to answer. "Right? This is very bad? This is—it is…" he broke off in laughter.
"This could have been avoided if you hadn't played with something you don't understand." Thor criticized, exasperated with Tony's meddling. As he should be, I knew I was. Loki's scepter was not something to just play with. If I had my way we would have destroyed that thing or least sent it back to Asgard by now.
"No, I'm sorry." Tony said far from apologetic. "I'm sorry. It is funny, it's a hoot that you don't get why we need this."
"Tony, this may not be the time." Banner cautioned. Stark whipped around giving Bruce an incredulous look.
"Really? That's it? You just roll over, show your belly every time someone snarls." Tony sneered.
"Only when I created a murder bot." Bruce remarked defensively.
"We didn't." Tony insisted, "We weren't even close. Were we close to building an interface?" Bruce pressed his lips into a flat line nodding. Closer than they realized, I thought.
"Well you did something right," Steve interjected stepping over to Stark with his arms crossed over his broad chest, "And you did it right here. The Avengers were supposed to be different than SHIELD."
"Anybody remember when I carried a nuke through a wormhole." I groaned and rubbed my cheeks frustratedly, here we go.
"No, it's never come up." Rhodey sassed.
"Saved New York?"
"Never heard that."
"Recall that? A hostile alien army came charging through a hole in space. We're standing three hundred feet below it. We're the Avengers. We can bust arms dealers all the live long day, but that up there," He pointed upwards with an overwhelmed chuckle, "that's the end game. How were you guys planning on beating them?"
"Together." Cap avowed immediately. Steve was always saying cheesy stuff like that, but for some reason his consistent lameness was a comfort. But not now, not when Loki's scepter was involved.
Tony walked up to Cap looking him straight in the eye and replied honestly,
"We'll lose." Good talk Stark, very uplifting.
"Then we'll do that together, too." Stark scoffed at Cap's response and turned away from the rest of us and hopped back onto his computer. Bruce and I shared an uneasy look before the scientist moved away towards another computer.
I was sitting in a chair in Stark's lab the next day, spinning around restlessly. We literally just got the scepter and now it was gone again. I felt like the hotel maid, I just cleaned this mess and now I'll have to clean it again! Can we not keep it together for more than 24 hours?
"We're getting access denied on all basic information streams." Natasha said sipping on her coffee. She was video chatting with Rhodey who was back at the army base trying to get any info on Ultron. So far, they hadn't had much luck.
"Yeah well you guys are definitely off the Pentagon's Christmas list. Every country with a nuke is fighting a cyber attack, War Machine is being deployed to the Middle East in case certain people start blaming each other instead of you." I grimaced at this revelation, things were not looking good. Also, has no one commented on the fact that Rhodey's name promotes violence, the opposite of peace? I know he's there to help keep things relatively calm between the nations, but they should've given him a friendlier name.
"Ok, well hold that thought," Tony said as he walked up to the computer screen, sticking a drive in front of the camera for Rhodey to see, "let me overnight you a new inscription drive for your suit in case Ultron wants in."
"Gotcha, thanks."
"You hear something, we need to hear it too." Nat reminded the soldier.
"Hey, that goes both ways. Watch your six." Rhodey replied.
"You too." Natasha said signing off. Thor came back into the room, he had been attempting to contact Hiemdall. If we could get some help from the all seer of Asgard that would do us a world of good.
"How'd it go?" I asked hopefully, rising from my seat to meet Thor halfway across the room.
"Hiemdall's either away from his post or he's been ordered not to answer." Thor answered in disappointment. I sighed at the set back and my shoulders sagged. We were getting nowhere very quickly.
"Ultron can't hide forever, we'll find him." Thor assured me, I gave him a tight smile and grabbed my mug off the table to take a sip of tea willing the warm liquid to cool my nerves.
"Well he's not exactly hiding." Steve said handing Thor a tablet. The Asgardian lowered it to a level where I could see it as well. I gasped at the horrific image of Strucker's deceased body with the word 'peace' ironically written in blood on the wall above his corpse.
"What's this?" Tony asked before Thor angrily thrust the handheld at Stark in disgust. The warrior was greatly disgruntled and I knew he blamed Tony for this. Rightfully so, it was his fault. And Bruce's too but at least Banner felt bad about it.
"Ultron killed Strucker." Steve notified. Stark glanced down at the picture contemplatively.
"And he did a banksy at the crime scene. Just for us." Tony commented. Banner leaned around Tony to get a better look, his face contorting with displeasure.
"This is good." Tasha apprised. One more bad guy dead, not ideal but better than nothing.
"No, that's not good." Banner denied shaking his head.
"He's showing us his hand, this isn't his pattern." Natasha explained, "Why send a message if you've just given a speech?"
"Strucker must have known something Ultron wanted us to miss." I stated, there was no other reason that made sense. Nat sat back down in her chair and typed away on the computer. She sighed in frustration.
"Yup, look everything we had on Strucker has been wiped."
"And that's good?" Bruce asked unsurely. I rolled my eyes, and the other just gave him a look.
"No, that's very not good." I told him.
"What about the enhanced kids, do we need to worry about them?"
"Twins Wanda and Pietro Maximoff, they were orphaned in Sokovia when they were ten by a bombing. They got swept up into rebel protesting and that led them to join Strucker." Maria explained quickly passing around an IPad with the Maximoffs' file pulled up.
Bruce and I looked over it together, watching a video of the twins angrily shouting at an unseen enemy. I almost didn't recognize the brunette male as the Speedy Gonzales that I met in the woods. It was hard to connect the silver hair with the dark brown, but he still had the same eyes. Both he and his sister had the same haunting eyes. The girl didn't look like as creepy as Tony had described though, she was actually very pretty.
"So they got their abilities from Loki's scepter, like Sarah?" Bruce asked. I immediately stiffened, I absolutely loathed how I came upon my abilities it was a major sore subject for me. Banner shot me an apologetic glance before guiltily looking away, I knew he had just slipped but it still put a rock in my gut every time it was brought up.
"Yeah, but not exactly. Loki was able to create an instantaneous change in Byrdie's genetic code because of his abilities with magic. But Strucker's methods were cruder and more gradual." Stark informed us as he read over the twin's file.
I stood up abruptly and left briskly for my own room. I couldn't listen anymore about Loki's scepter, I knew enough about it as is. I didn't mean to rudely walk away from them, but Loki was a subject that shouldn't be discussed with me in the room. Maybe I was just too sensitive. Glumly, I made my way to kitchen first to pick up a refill for my tea before heading down to the lower levels where our bedrooms were.
After SHIELD fell, it wasn't safe for me to live in the sanctioned living facility they had me in. So Tony opened up his tower for the team to stay in if we needed it. Which I did, so I've been helping Stark out with translating documents and I joined his company as a linguist. It wasn't much different from what I was doing at SHIELD.
The whole Ultron thing had planted an unsettling pit in my stomach and I had hoped that a couple cups of Earl Grey would make me feel better but I couldn't shake it. Hunkering down in the plush armchair seated next to the window in my room, I pulled a random book into my lap and attempted to busy my mind instead of going to bed. It was the middle of the night, practically morning but I knew I wasn't going to be able to fall asleep easily.
Sure enough, a few hours later the sun started to peak to out over the horizon and I still hadn't found any sleep and I couldn't even recall what I had just read. I changed into simple black leggings and a blue sweater, and slipping on a pair of converse I ventured out of my room back to the kitchen to see if anyone else was up and about.
Natasha and Clint were huddled around the counter speaking in hushed tones, those two were always on their own separate wave length. I wasn't super close with either one of them, back in our SHIELD days I had never even talked to them before. But I knew that they would have my back and on some level I knew that they cared about me and I them, we were a team after all, a family.
I scuffed the ground louder than normal with my shoe so they would notice my appearance into the room. The two spy's turned in my direction and moved away from one another. Tony was always trying to convince me that they were secretly together and I could definitely see it, but with those two you'd never know.
"Hey, Sarah sleep well?" Clint asked, it was then that I noticed the cup of coffee in his hand.
"Not at all, is there more of that?" Natasha tossed me an empty mug and shuffled over so I could pour a cup. I wasn't much of a coffee person, I had to load it with milk and sugar before I could get it down. But I felt like I was going to fall asleep standing so this morning it was a necessity. I didn't need to ask if they had gotten any sleep, it was apparent they didn't.
"What time is it?" Nat asked looking out the window at the sunrise. I pulled my phone out of my pocket.
"About seven." It was a little too early for conversation, we just milled around the kitchen drinking coffee and staring blearily at the rising sun. Some mornings were like this, not that an eminent threat was always hanging over our heads, but sleep was hard to come by some days. And Tony never slept but he just stayed in his lab.
We spent the next couple days searching through all our resources for a chance to catch Ultron, but as of yet we had been too late to do anything. There were reports of metal men raiding factories, something too fast to see, and workers left in a fugue state prattling on about old fears. It wasn't surprising in the least that the Maximoffs paired up with Ultron. They all shared a similar hatred for the Avengers and the enemy of my enemy is my friend or so the saying goes.
It wasn't until we came across the name Ulysses Klaw that we made any real headway. Banner had a photo of the known arms dealer displayed on the screen, but what was interesting was the rectangular brand that was burned into his neck.
"Oh yeah, it's a word in an African dialect meaning 'thief' in a much less friendly way." Bruce informed us when his database search came up positive. That made sense, he was a weapon's smuggler after all.
"What dialect?" Steve asked curiously. The guys and I had been milling around the lab waiting for a bone to be thrown in our direction that could lead us finding Ultron, and this was the closest we'd been in days.
"Wa-wakanada-wak-"
"Wakanda?" I supplied for Bruce who seemed to be struggling over the country's name.
"Yeah, that." He said embarrassingly. I didn't miss the confused look that Steve shared with Tony.
"There's only one real thing of value that he could want out of there." Stark commented.
"I thought your father said he got the last of it?"
"I'm sorry but what's coming out of Wakanda?" Bruce asked standing up from his seat.
"The strongest metal on earth." Steve replied looking solemnly at his shield. Vibranium, I realized. But why would he...?
"Why would Ultron need that?" Thor questioned beating me to the punch.
"To build a better body, Ultron talked about evolving. This would be the way to do it." Bruce filled in nodding to himself. Well crap, that's all we needed a juiced up insane mad man...robot...whatever.
"Where is Klaw now?" Steve asked moving with Bruce back towards the computer. Banner typed at the computer for a few long seconds.
"South Africa."
"Let's suit up then." Finally! Just sitting here waiting has given me cabin fever, I can't stand just doing nothing knowing that, that stupid scepter was waltzing around with a murderer, again!
Cap didn't want to waste any time so he gave us thirty minutes to get ready before we jumped on the quinjet. I ran to the kitchen, which was my favorite spot in the tower, and quickly downed a glass of water before grabbing a couple protein bars then hustling to the locker room on the floor above. Natasha was already pulling on her skin tight cat-suit when I walked in.
I opened up my locker, which was more of a wardrobe, and pulled out a clean pair of uniform pants and matching long sleeve top. Most of my uniforms looked the same, dark grey durable material with minimal dark purple accents that blended with the grey. The clothes were light enough to allow free movement and they were almost bullet proof; the extra weight would've been too restrictive if they were completely bullet proof and I can normally hold my own against guns so there was no need for it.
Silently, I laced up my black boots and pulled my blonde hair into a tight high ponytail before following the older team member out of the locker room. Natasha always wore her hair down and I had no idea how she could stand that! My hair would be attacking my face or blocking my vision if I left it untied.
The second we were all on the jet we were off to South Africa. Cap gave us our objective, stop Ultron from getting the vibranium. Simple enough it seemed, but nothing ever came easy to us. Just once I'd like a free-bee.
Ultron was already on board the ship that Klaw captained when we arrived. As stealthily as three large men and I could be, we snuck down the corridors to confront the metal man. Widow and Hawkeye hung above in the rafters ready to watch our backs should anything go wrong. And with our record, it inevitably would. Bruce stayed with the jet for back up, but also because the ship would be too small of a place for him to Hulk out.
"What? I'm not... I'm not! You think I'm one of Stark's puppets, his hollow men? I mean, look at me, do I look like Iron Man? Stark is not..." There was the sound of metal whirring and then a sickening noise that sounded like tree bark being ripped. I had to restrain myself from gasping as I looked on in horror as Ultron single handedly detached Ulysses Klaw's arm, the appendage oozing with blood.
Well we found them, I thought as my stomach churned at the gruesome sight, I would never get used to seeing stuff like that.
"I'm sorry. I am sor... Ooh! I'm sure that's going to be okay." Ultron apologized placing the severed arm into his victim's still intact hand. "I'm sorry, it's just I don't understand... Don't compare me with Stark! He's a sickness!"
"Aw junior, your gunna break your old man's heart." Stark sassed the metal giant bringing attention to our merry band. I really did not like the ship we were in now, why was it that bad guys always chose the scummiest places to hangout in? I was keeping to breathing in through my nose to try and limit the amount of dust and mold I inhaled. Anxiously, my hand brushed against my inhaler that was neatly stored in my belt. A nervous habit of mine.
Ultron's new body was enormous and impressive, if not intimidating. I can't imagine what it'll look like if he gets the vibranium. He also certainly had a lot of personality for a robot, or was he an android? I didn't really pay much attention to Bruce and Stark when they started talking science. Regardless, he was so human it was disturbing.
The Maximoffs were standing beside him, opposite of us. They looked more relaxed than I felt, so that was comforting, I thought sarcastically. I caught Pietro's eye and he had the audacity to wink at me. I scowled at him, oh sure threaten my life then flirt with me. He was so wishy-washy it was annoying.
"If I have to." Was Ultron's truthful remark.
"We don't have to break anything." Thor said in a weak attempt to stifle the animosity. Ultron scoffed and replied humorously with,
"Clearly you've never made an omelet."
"He beat me by one second." Stark informed us. I rolled my eyes, oh good Lord.
"Oh, this is funny Mr. Stark?" Pietro said walking forwards. "It's what comfortable? Like old times?" I glanced down at the missiles packed away below us that the Maximoff man was referring to, they did remind me of Stark technology.
"This was never my life." Tony replied with a slight shake of his head.
"You two can still walk away from this." Steve told the twins intervening. He was trying to protect them, I knew he saw them as kids who got caught up in the wrong crowd. Honestly, I wasn't sure what to think of them myself.
"Oh, we will." Was the accented reply from the Sokovian witch. She gave a smug, sarcastic smile and I frowned at her statement, that didn't sound good at all.
"I know you've suffered-"
"Bahhhh!" Ultron gagged before laughing, "Captain America, God's righteous man. Pretending you could live without war, I can't physically throw up in my mouth but-"
"If you believe in peace, then let us keep it." Thor said cutting off the robot.
"You're confusing peace, with quiet." Ultron replied talking a threatening step closer. I brought a barrier in front of him defensively to keep him at bay. It got the job done and prevented him from moving closer.
"And you're confusing saving the world, with destroying it." I remarked.
"Ah, the baby Avenger, I almost forgot about you!" Gee thanks, I thought sarcastically. "I'm told you can speak seven different languages. Even a little Sokovian!" He laughed a little at this and nudged Pietro will his metal elbow, prodding him more forcefully than a normal person would causing the silver haired main to stumble slightly.
"I could use a human translator, will ya help me out? It'll sound more genuine coming from a person." The sentient robot sounded so cheerful almost chipper, I wondered if he could actually feel any emotions and if not, where was he getting all of this personality? And did he really just ask me to join him? He tried to kill me a couple nights before! I pushed down the heat that I felt rising to my cheeks when those present glanced at me to see my reaction. I made sure to keep my face as composed as one could when asked by a crazy murder bot to join up with him, but an unbelieving laugh worked its way out of my mouth.
"No thank you, you can always use Google translate." I replied as pleasantly as possible with a tight smile, no need to set off an unstable robot, even if he was off his rocker. I had wanted to repeat his line about throwing up, but decided against the antagonistic remark. Ultron laughed at this and comically slapped his hand over his knee, clearly he had been surfing the web for 'appropriate' human responses.
"Well look at that Stark, at least someone on your team knows how to use their 'please' and 'thank yous'!" Ultron responded brushing off my refusal. I'm glad he found the situation humorous, I thought blandly.
"Oh it's not my team, it's Cap's. I just pay for everything and make everyone look cool." Tony joked, his voice coming out mechanical because of the suit. I shot him a disapproving glare, now was not the time to be bating the bad guy. "What's the vibranium for?"
"I'm glad you asked that because I wanted to take this time to explain my evil plan." Using some magnetic beam, Ultron grabbed hold of Tony's Iron Man suit and yanked him closer before blasting him in the chest. Stark crashed into the doors behind but recovered quickly as flew at Ultron. The two metal men took to the air.
A few other robots jumped down onto the platform we were standing on, scaring the crap out me because I had no idea that they were up there. I blasted one over of the side of the railing and moved to cover Steve and Thor, but instead I found myself suddenly pushed up against the railing.
"Fancy seeing you here." Pietro joked holding both of my hands back with only one of his. I rolled my eyes and gave a huff in frustration. This situation was apparently becoming a common occurrence.
"Oh yeah, you come here often?" I muttered blandly, getting a low chuckle from the enhanced Sokovian. I got a whiff of butterscotch and craned my neck to look back at him. I narrowed my eyes and hissed,
"Are you eating candy?" The Sokovian grinned and pulled a neatly wrapped piece of hard candy from his pant pocket.
"Yes, would you like some?" I just stared at him disbelievingly.
"I don't take candy from strangers."
"Ah but we are not strangers," He insisted, leaning in closer, "not when we are standing here in such a familiar position." If it was possible, my jaw would have dropped to the floor. Did he ever stop flirting? No, of course he did, when he was being all intimidating and demanding.
I went to argue with him but there was a shout overhead and gunshots as men joined in the fight above us. I grimaced as Steve was flipped over the side of the guard rail, but he skillfully landed on his feet. A robot burst through the doors next to us and shoved his weapon in my face. I scowled at him, silently murdering him in my mind. I have this thing where I don't like weapons being pointed at my face.
"You need help?" Was the question that came out of the sentinel's voice box and it creepily sounded just like Ultron. Pietro tightened his grip on my arms and smirked,
"No, I've got this handled." I could hear the cockiness in his voice, I didn't even need to see his face. He was getting on my nerves. The robot nodded and rushed in the opposite direction, presumably to go find someone else to intimidate.
"You know, I don't need my hands to use my abilities." I told him before I pushed a burst of energy at him, effectively throwing him off of me. He was momentarily distracted as I left some residue energy to circle around his eyes, prodding him backwards. I used the opportunity to run to Tony who was currently fighting with Ultron. I felt pretty useless in an offensive manor, but defense was my strong suit.
Ultron deflected Stark easily and threw him to the ground, but before he could get a chance to land a detrimental blow I released a pulse of opaque energy that diverted Ultron's hit. Stark sprung up and upper cutted the robot with a blast from his gauntlet. Natasha moved stealthily around him in an attempt to swing a surprise attack, but the Maximoff girl let loose a bullet of red energy and caught Nat off guard. I cursed myself for being too slow to recognize the danger.
The spy swiftly rebounded and spun around guns ready, but in a blue blur her guns and Wanda had disappeared. Nat looked put off, but she stood readily grabbing her extra weapons. I was really starting to hate that guy.
"You good?" I asked her, receiving a nod in response from the older red head. I coughed a little, trying to expel the debris sticking in my throat. Come it keep it together Byrd.
I saw Thor throw his hammer out of the corner of my eye and watched as Pietro latched onto to it and got himself thrown into a wall. Dumbass, I thought to myself grinning.
"I saw Barton follow some guys down stairs a while ago, can you go check on him? He's an old man, I'm worried he's fallen and can't get up." Natasha asked me, I nodded in agreement and hopped over the platform using my expanded field of energy to soften my fall.
I walked around the corridors trying to catch a glimpse of the elusive archer but Clint wasn't down here like Natasha suggested, I think I went down too far. Glancing up I sighed at the trek I'd have to make back upstairs.
"Lower floors are clear." I said into the radio. When I got nothing in response I tried again, "Nothing on the lower floor, anyone copy?...Guys?" My heart sped up, the silence was not a good sign. Not at all. I made the decision to hurry back up, but was stopped when two men jumped out from behind a wall of crates. They were loaded with heavy weapons and both were pointed at me.
I frowned and drew my energy closer to my body, ready for anything. The two men wore hard expressions and had on grimy clothes, I could tell they had been in this place for a while. It wasn't difficult to block the rain of bullets, it was more annoying than anything. I wondered how I was going to do this, wait for them to run out of ammo or disable them now? It made me nervous using my abilities on normal humans, one wrong flick up my wrist and it could go horribly wrong.
It took almost no time at all for the men to figure out that shooting at me was getting them nowhere so they shifted their aim. One continued his assault on my barrier but the other turned his attention to the fixtures hanging above us. My eyes widened when I realized that it that thing fell it would land on not only me but them as well.
"Stop! Stop, die es vor sich geht, fallen!" I yelled in German to Klaw's men, hoping they would get the message. It was useless though, they couldn't hear me over the gunfire. I charge forward just as the metal fixture came loose and crashed down on us, I had just enough time to push the men safely out of the way and cloak them in energy. But it was more difficult to pay attention to them and shield myself simultaneously.
I was able to bring forth enough energy to not be completely crushed under the weight of the metal beams but my lower half was effectively trapped underneath. Well that was productive, at least the bad guys were able to safely runaway and leave me here.
A cough rose up in my chest and replaced the irritation with panic. The fallen beams had stirred up a bunch of dust and it was causing a painful clenching in my chest and throat. No, no, no, no, no, no this couldn't be happening now! I tried to sit up to alleviate some of the stress on my lungs by the way I was situated I couldn't. I attempted to suck in deeper breathes but I could feel my airway constricting, cutting off my oxygen supply. Frantically I grabbed for the inhaler strapped to my side, only to find my belt had been ripped off and was laying a few feet away.
I raised a hand and tried to gather enough energy to move the beams off my legs but I couldn't concentrate enough. It was getting harder and harder to breath, I put my shirt up around my mouth in an attempt to breath in cleaner air, but it didn't matter. Tears stung the corner of my eyes and I struggled to suck in air, each inhalation sounded high pitched and strangled. My com had been injured in the fall and I couldn't get the distress button to work. No one was coming for me.
This is it, I'm gunna die at the bottom of a disgusting ship. My panic was all consuming, I could barely conjure up a visible wisp of energy in my pathetic attempts to break free.
"You are very clumsy for Avenger." Pietro called out, the ever present smirk in voice. I replied with a sharp inhale and placed a hand to my throat. I couldn't see him, but I could feel him behind me. My breathing was speeding up and the noise I made sounded almost like a whistle.
"What is going on?" He asked in a surprisingly concerned tone. Maybe he would finish me off before I could suffer for long. I just wished he would leave, I didn't want to die in front of the enemy, not like this. But on the other hand, I certainly didn't want to die alone. I wasn't able to answer him, I just stared at him with tears running down my cheeks. My lungs burned with each cough and there were black spots popping up in my vision.
He asked me again in a more frantic voice but all I could do was wave my medical bracelet in his direction, hoping he'd understand. I wasn't even sure if he could read English. I wore a bracelet at all times, I had to. Although the one I wore when doing Avengers' work lacked any color other than the silver material so that it wasn't as noticeable.
He cautiously came closer and gently took hold of my wrist staring at the writing. Please understand, please understand. I begged in my mind. I wouldn't be able to hold on for much longer, I could feel the hypoxia setting in, it felt like a full grown elephant was sitting on my chest. Pietro murmured something under his breath in Sokovian, but I was too tired to attempt to translate.
"Asthma, yes? This is the problem?" I gave a weak nod, "Where is your medicine, you keep it with you?" using what little strength I had left, I gestured to the pack laying a few paces away. Instantly, Pietro had the inhaler uncapped and lifted it towards my mouth, I could barely lift my hand to grab it from him. He had to help me push the top down because my hands were shaking too badly, if I wasn't currently in the process of dying this would be the most embarrassing moment of my life.
I struggled to inhale the mist, the first time though I was only able to get a small amount through my restricted airways. It did the job though, it relieved it enough for the second breath to reach all the way to my bronchioles. I gasped when I was finally able to breathe in deeply, I felt my whole body shaking.
Pietro had a terrified expression plastered onto his face, I had never seen someone so worried about a stranger before. It wasn't until I began coughing again that I realize he had a hand on my back keeping me upright. He frowned when I continued to cough, but there was still dust flying all around us and the medicine helped but it was a quick fix.
"The…dust…" I wheezed out squeezing my eye shut in distress making tears stream down my cheeks. My body shuddering at the strain of coughing so much. I cringed at the sound, it was like I was an old smoker. Pietro looked over at the bars trapping my legs and flashed over to them. I groaned as I was forced to hold myself up now, so I laid back down unable to do so.
I watched as he used his back to push the beam up, giving me enough room to wriggle out from underneath, which was no easy feat at the time being. The second I was clear, the room blurred and I felt a hand holding me head against something solid and then I set down on the grass outside. The world spun for a moment and my weakened body lurched sideways at the vertigo feeling.
"It will take moment for you to get used to that." Pietro informed me, I nodded slowly taking the time to suck in deep, clear breathes. I closed my eyes once more and just focused on breathing. If he was going to kill me, he would have already, that much was obvious. To his credit, he stood next to me and didn't say anything, my guess was that he didn't know what to say. I sure didn't.
When I could work up the courage, I opened my eyes and slowly met his blue ones. They were filled with concern and something else that I couldn't place. He looked like he was expecting me to have another attack or fall dead right there. I wiped away the tears from my face and took a shaky but steading breath.
"Um, thank you…for that." I rasped awkwardly, unsure if it was appropriate to thank the enemy. "You didn't have to do that." I finished quietly. His expression soften as he gazed at me.
"I was not going to let you die." He stated firmly, as if there was no other option. A bad guy with a conscious? That's new. A look of confusion moved over his face. "Why do you fight, it is very dangerous for you." He continued. I scoffed lightly at this.
"Why do you? It's still dangerous. I figure if I have these gifts, why shouldn't I help people if I can?" I managed to get out slowly. It felt weird talking about this with him, especially since he was staring at me so intently. It was unnerving, like he was trying to see my soul through my eyes. It was making me self-conscious. I could only imagine what he was looking at. Grimy skin, frizzy hair, puffy eyes and red cheeks. Nice.
"You should not go back in," He stated, nodding his head as if he was agreeing with himself, "you should sit this one out." Annoyance flared up in me, who was he to tell me what to do!
"If my team needs me, I'm going back in." I rebuked, to my embarrassment my statement was capped off with a residual cough, taking away from the fierceness in my comment. Pietro frowned and shook his head.
"Our goal is not to kill anyone," yet, I added darkly in my head, "you stay out here for now." I opened my mouth to argue but once again I was traveling at an unimaginable speed. Seriously, this manhandling was getting old, really fast. Before I could protest, the Maximoff had me strapped into one of our jets' seats and he had broken the buckle, disabling me from getting out.
"I just saved your life, do not make save you again." He added with a smirk. He was too cute for his own good when he did that. It was distracting and infuriating at the same time. Mostly annoying though. He was gone before I could get any more say in the matter.
I groaned and relaxed back in the chair, the effects of my asthma attack were wearing down on me. I felt so tired, but so useless at not being able to get up and help. Bruce must have heard the commotion because he poked his head back into the quinjet from the loading bay.
"Sarah? What are you doing? How did you get in here?"
"Maximoff." I stated, as if no more of an explanation was needed. Bruce nodded and made his way over to me.
"Need help with that?" He asked gesturing to how I was uselessly trying to break out of the seat belt. I sighed and told him 'yes'. The scientist moved around the jet and secured a pair of industrial scissors and proceeded to cut me out.
"So, why exactly did the Maximoff kid run you out here and strap you down?" I shrugged, hoping to play off the reality of the situation.
"I guess I was getting in his way." Bruce didn't press any further, either not thinking much of it, or just noticing how scratchy my voice was and run down I looked and not wanting to push me.
"Is everyone alright down there, no one's been one the radio for a while?" Banner asked once I had been freed. I reached into one of the cupboard and pulled out an extra belt to stow away my inhaler that I had clutched tightly in my hand.
"Not sure, I didn't get a chance to see anyone on the way out." Pietro had said that their goal wasn't to kill anyone, but that didn't mean accidents couldn't happen. I wanted to go back in and help my team, but there was a seed of fear in my mind that if I did, I would have another episode. My body was still shaking from the strain.
The two of us walked outside to watch the ship and wait for something to happen. Bruce normally hated being brought on missions where he could potentially transform, but we needed him as per usual. I knew he was perfectly content just waiting out here though.
"So…" He started, dragging out the word, "everything alright with you?" He questioned awkwardly, Bruce was never really one for emotions and feelings, but I know he cares about the rest of us. I shot him a small smile to reassure him as I placed a new com in my ear.
"Yeah, I'll be fine. It's just one of those day- Bruce look out!" I cut myself off mid-sentence as Wanda spontaneously appeared right behind Banner. I was really out of it if I didn't notice her coming! I shot my right hand forward to protect Bruce from the red mist that was spiraled around the Maximoff girl's fingers but my arms were quickly wrenched behind my back in an uncomfortable position. I spun around to find Pietro standing behind me, keeping my arms close to his body so I couldn't move away. A look of accusation passed over my features but he passively glanced down at me like nothing had happened.
I turned back towards Bruce, but we had been too late. A red hue had taken over his normally brown eyes and the weird red mist was hanging around him. He clutched his head and stumbled away from the girl.
"Bruce! Fight it! Don't let him take control!" I pleaded, tugging against Pietro's hold vainly. Bruce caught my eye once, his eyes were scared, he was scared. I gasped as he turned away and exploded in a mass of green.
"Bruce!" I yelled fearfully. The Hulk roared angrily and grabbed at his head once more. At this point Pietro had let go of my arm and took a couple wary steps back. I did the opposite and took a step forward and put my hands out in an unintimidating manner.
"Bruce, listen to me you have to-" The Hulk leaned forward towards me and roared dangerously at me. Startled, I sped back a couple feet. And with that, he leaped into the air in the direction of the nearby city.
"Oh my God." I whispered horrified, there were people in that town! And he could destroy them!
"Are you out of your damn mind?" I yelled at Wanda furiously, coughing at the rough use of my voice. She glared at me and extended a glowing red hand.
"No, but you will be soon." Angrily, and with more gumption that I usually do, I threw a wall of energy at her causing her to fly back on impact. She released a surprised shout, but her brother caught her before she landed on the ground. He sent me a pissed off glare that I could have cared less about at the moment.
"This is Byrd to team, anyone copy?" I shouted into my newly acquired com.
"I copy." Tony responded. Thank God!
"The Hulk has been released and is headed east to the town. I'm in pursuit." I informed him before turning away from the twins and running after the path of destruction the Hulk had left.
"What? I'm on my way, do not engage Sarah." I ignored Stark and continued on, only to smack in to the chest of the Maximoff man.
"Ow." I grumbled as I rubbed my sore nose and stepping away from him suspiciously.
"Where are you going?" He asked in a demanding voice.
"To go help." I stated bluntly.
"I am sure your friend will be fine." Wanda said in a disgusted tone, I looked back at her and sent her a withering glare.
"I'm sure he will, but I'm more worried about the people in that city that he's about to destroy." Were they being serious right now? I did not have time or energy for their crap.
"That will be dangerous." Pietro stated. I stared at him unbelievingly, my jaw dropped. This coming from the guy who attacked me in the woods and just sent a giant rage monster to level a town.
"You've got to be kidding me," I sighed in exasperation, "I don't have time for this! If you didn't want a dangerous situation, then you should have thought your dumb ass plan through!" I yelled pushing past the stunned runner and stifling the cough that was working its way up. Those two were unbelievable, truly! It was ridiculous! Maddening even.
They didn't follow me any further as I rushed after Banner. It wasn't difficult at all to locate him, just follow the path of fallen trees and destroyed buildings. I still wasn't recovered from my attack, but I would deal with the consequences later.
There were screaming civilians running around, pushing one another to get out of the Hulk's war path. The green monster was about to destroy a building so I shot a stream of energy at him, careful to avoid any civilians. The globe of energy shattered on the Hulk's back, efficiently shifting his focus on me. He let out an angry growl and charged at me.
"Shit." I muttered under my breath, steeling up the courage to take on the Hulk. Alone. Wow I really should have thought this through better. The green giant launched himself at me and with a battle cry he slammed down on the thick shield that I put up around myself. The force of his landing buried me into the ground a few feet, the earth cracked under my black boots. I grunted at the impact but the shield held up just fine.
Hulk wasn't satisfied with just one hit, he continually smashed his fists into the nearly clear barrier. I strained as I felt the resolve in my shield beginning to break. With a burst of energy I wasn't aware I still had I expanded the dome quickly and forced the Hulk far back enough so that I had the chance to run away. We had to get out of the city and away from all these people.
"Tony where are you?" I yelled tiredly over the radio. Ducking to avoid a car thrown at me, I threw myself to the ground, tucking into a roll before jumping back onto my feet. A couple stray coughs worked its way through my weary lungs and I struggled to bite back my panic.
"Right behind you kid, hold on!" I sighed in relief and continued leading the Hulk away from the populated area. I felt like Shaggy and Scooby acting as the bait for the fake lake monster. A cart smashed down right in front of me, in a hurry to avoid it, I tried to back pedal but ended up tripping and falling on my butt. Shit.
Turning back I saw Hulk was already directly behind me, snarling and looking quit terrifying. On impulse I wrapped a bubble of energy around his head, hoping that I could maintain it long enough to make him pass out. He looked stunned for a moment, like he wasn't sure what to do. Then he started punching his fist onto the bubble hard as he could. I almost laughed at this.
I stood up and kept my hold on the globe around his head, praying that Tony would hurry up and get here. Hulk was stumbling around now, globs of spit were sticking to the energy bubble as he yelled in distress. I had to move back a couple steps as he staggered in my direction.
"Come on Banner, pass out already." I said under my breath. Some of the townspeople were peeking out of windows and doorways, thankfully many of them had taken shelter inside. A woman's scream took my attention away from the Hulk momentarily. Big mistake. He took advantage of my distraction and landed a solid kick in my abdomen.
Pain exploded and burst from my stomach, and I unintentionally dropped the energy around his head, freeing him. I crashed hard into the side of a building, all the air rushed from lungs and my head cracked against the concreted. I was out before I hit the ground.
Thanks for reading! Please review! I will update as soon as possible.