Hey guys! New chapter this week. Thanks for all the follows and favs! I hope you guys like this one!
DISCLAIMER: I don't own any Marvel property ever at all I swear.
"All our work is gone. Ultron cleared out. He used the internet as an escape hatch." I shut my eyes and set my forehead on my knees.
"Ultron." I felt Steve's gaze on me after he said that, but I flinched slightly at Dad's harsh tone as he spoke again.
"He's been in everything. Files, surveillance, schematics, plans, everything. He probably knows more about us than we know about each other."
"He's in your files, he's in the Internet. What if he decides to access something a little more exciting?"
"Nuclear codes." Maria gave an example, and I flinched again, hugging my knees tighter.
"Look, we need to make some calls, assuming we still can."
"Nukes? He said he wanted us dead." Natasha stated, and I bit my lip, fighting the urge to scream, and yell, and smash things. That wouldn't do anything right now.
"He didn't say 'dead,' he said 'extinct.'" Steve stated, and I looked up, meeting his eyes briefly.
"He also said he killed somebody." Clint prompted.
"There wasn't anyone else in the building." Maria pointed out, but Dad spoke up again.
"Yes, there was." My eyes went wide and I sat up, but I didn't look away from Steve. He was frowning at me in concern, but I scrambled to my feet, turning around to see what Dad was pulling up.
"JARVS." I stumbled forward to see JARVIS completely torn apart. There wasn't anything left but his broken pieces. "Oh, buddy...I didn't mean to do this." I bit my lip and approached, trying to piece together what I could, but it wasn't working. He was gone.
"JARVIS was the first line of defense." Steve said, and I bit my lip.
"Ultron would have taken him out first. He could have assimilated him, but this isn't strategy, this...this is rage." I got down on my knees, and stared at the broken pieces.
"I guess that's spreading." Thor stormed in, and I turned to him. I stood, backing up slightly out of fear.
"Thor, I didn't-" He grabbed Dad by the throat and held him up in a chokehold, but I yelled at him. "HEY! HE DIDN'T DO THIS, THAT WAS ME, NOW PUT HIM DOWN!" Thor turned his glare to me, but Dad said something that set him off more.
"Use your words, Goldilocks." Thor glared further, but Steve grabbed his attention.
"Thor. The Legionnaire." Thor paused, but set Dad back down.
"Trail went cold about 100 miles out, but it's headed north. And it has the sceptre." Steve glanced at me, but I stared at Thor's back until he turned to face me. "And now we have to retrieve it. Again."
"I don't understand, you created this, Ellie." Helen spoke up and everyone's gaze turned to me. "You built this program. Why is it trying to kill us?" I glanced at them all, and then looked back at JARVIS.
"I wasn't even close to an interface, I don't...I don't understand this." I paused, and Dad took his chance to ridicule me.
"Well, you did something right, kid. It killed J." He paused, but started to cackle.
"Oh yeah, Dad, that's hilarious. It's a fucking riot that you don't get why I thought the world could use some protection, like the protection JARVIS gave us." I spun to face him, and stormed up to him yelling now. "I've been protected my entire life, but there are people out there who haven't been protected like that at all!" His face dropped, and he stared at me coldly. "Like you! Like you, or you, Steve, or any of you!" I looked around the room and caught everyone's eyes at least once. "I saw Ultron as hope that I could protect the world, this tiny little blue world, from the danger I saw that day, 300 feet above us." I turned back to Dad. "When I built those suits after, yeah, I was losing it. I was depressed, and ridden with anxiety, and post-traumatic stress, but Extremis fixed all that. Now, I'm thinking more clearly than I ever have before." I paused, and turned to glance at Steve as he spoke to me.
"The Avengers was supposed to be different than SHIELD."
"And we are. And we can bust arms dealers, and Hydra bases all day, but that doesn't mean we can save everyone. And up there?" I pointed above us, and his eyes grew softer. "That's the endgame. And I want this world to survive it as much as all of you do, but we might not be enough to protect it."
"We were before." I shook my head, and stepped closer to him.
"But they're going to come back stronger, Steve. That's how war works, isn't it?" He clenched his jaw, and I turned to glance at everyone else before I turned back to him. "So tell me, Captain, how were you planning on beating that?" He searched my eyes, but took another step forward as well, dropping his crossed arms.
"Together." I scoffed a laugh, and shook my head, running a hand through my hair.
"We'll lose!" He grabbed my hand, and squeezed it in what would have seemed like a friendly gesture, but there was more behind that. I knew there was.
"Then we'll do that together, too." I paused, but dropped his hand, walking around him towards the elevator. "Ellie-" I shook my head to cut him off. Then I kept walking.
I took off my heels as soon as I got down to the my floor, and I grabbed a bottle of liquor from the cupboard, drinking straight from it.
I'd heard him calling to me before I left the room, but he followed me down. He'd gotten onto the elevator, and he stormed into my lounge. I set the bottle down, and stared out the window again.
"Ellie, talk to me." I shrugged. He moved forward, and I turned, facing him. "What happened?"
Well, firstly, I'm feeling things for you that I shouldn't be. Secondly, the Maximoff girl messed with my head, and I saw a vision where you and the rest of the team were dead, and with your dying breath, you told me that I could've saved you. And third? I just created a murder-bot. And he plans on world domination, but I'm just assuming this.
I didn't say any of that. Instead, I grabbed his face, and I stood on the tips of my toes, kissing him hard. I tasted the Asgardian liquor on his lips, and with the mix of whiskey, it wasn't so bad. I thought I would get trashed just on that taste, but who am I kidding? I was already drunk off my ass. Steve was shocked for a second, but I inched my hands down to his neck, grabbing his collar, and deepened it. He pulled away when I did, and shot me a look.
"I'm not doing this if you're-"
"Steve, do me a favor." I grabbed his shirt, and ripped it open, running my hands up his chest. "Shut the fuck up." I leaned forward and kissed him again, moving my hands up to his neck, tugging at the end of his hair. He kissed me back this time, just as hard, and grabbed me by my hips using his full strength, holding me tight. I moved his hands down to my ass, and he obliged, lifting me up so that I could wrap my legs around his waist. He started kissing down my chin to my neck, and my chest, and I took the opportunity to revel in the feeling. I pulled my phone out of my pocket, though, and blacked out the windows, as he slammed me into them. I kept the elevator from being able to go to my floor, as well as Steve's, and then tossed my phone aside, as he moved back up to my lips. I kissed him even harder, and shoved his shirt off. He tugged it off, and I grabbed his hands, leading them to my zipper. I decided to nibble at his neck, and his ear, and I felt him shiver as I did.
The times we'd done this before, it hadn't been desperate. We'd never gone this far out of fear, and liquor-fueled hazes. No, it'd only ever been out of tensions getting too high, and need coming into play. But now, this wasn't that. This was me, getting desperate, and scared, and needing to know that he was there, that he wasn't dead, and that he wouldn't be going anywhere anytime soon. I needed to know that his heart was beating, and that it wouldn't stop. At least not now.
When we were finished, we laid there. I stared at the ceiling, and frowned when I spotted the little stickers. They were the glow-in-the-dark stars, the ones I put on Grams' ceiling when I was a kid because I couldn't see the real ones in the city. That's why I didn't like New York as much as my family thought I would when I was a kid.
"Steve?" He hummed, and I pointed to the ceiling. "There are stars on my ceiling." He frowned, and looked up, but then he smiled sheepishly. I frowned. "Wait, did you do this?"
"When we came back here, you said the one thing you were going to miss was seeing the stars." A smile spread on my face, and I covered up my lips, looking at the ceiling in glee. "I know that it's not the same, but-"
"No, no, it's perfect." I reassured him, and rolled on top of him, kissing him chastely. "It's perfect." I murmured, and kissed him again, but this time I did it slowly. He moaned, and I smirked. "You can go another round, right?"
"I'm always up for the challenge." I laughed, and he flipped me over, kissing me deeply. I moaned into the kiss, and gasped as he did that thing with his hands. It always got me. He smiled against my lips, and I ran my nails across his face, ready to dig them deep.
"Tease me again, and I won't hesitate, Rogers."
"Oh, I'm counting on it." I gaped at him, and he burst out laughing. I grinned at his laugh. It was big, and hearty. I was the only one so far to see him really laugh.
"Let's put that to the test, shall we?" I flipped him back over, and pinned him down. He laughed even more, and leaned up to kiss me. And then, he flipped me over. I gaped at him again, but laughed with him. "Oh, it's on now, soldier!"
"On your left!" He yelled back at me. I grinned at him, and he smiled right back at me.
It made my heart melt.
Miss!
JARVIS. JARVIS needed my help. He needed me. I had to stop Ultron. I spun around and spotted the drone that had been put together out of scraps. I tried to blast it, but the heat never left my fingers. I didn't feel it in my chest. It wasn't there. Ultron laughed menacingly, and I backed up slowly, only to ram into something behind me. I froze, and my eyes went wide. I turned slowly, and a robotic figure towered above me. His red eyes glared down at me, and he laughed even more menacingly.
"Where's your Captain now?"
I woke up the next morning lying on my side, with his arm wrapped around me, and his warm breath on my neck. I didn't move, but I listened to him breathe, and to the sound of his heart beating. I grabbed his hand, and kissed his knuckles, holding his arm to me. I slowly brought myself back, and the panic dissipated as our breathing and heartbeats moved in sync. This man had become my rock, and I didn't know how to go about without him, but...
Did he feel the same? I mean, I know he put up stars on my ceiling, but did he feel this...this intensity, this bond, this close? He was the only thing keeping me steady, but was I doing the same thing to him? Would he do the same things that I would do for him?
I wasn't sure. And that scared the shit out of me.
I was looking through the files when he came into the lab. I glanced over my shoulder for a second, and shot him a brief smile, but I kept going at what I was doing.
I'd been at it since the day after the party, which had been a couple weeks now. He was getting more worried by the day, but I didn't have time for it. I'd helped deal with the clean up, and we'd been trying to figure out where Ultron had gone, but there was no way of pinpointing him. It was useless, the guy knew every idea we could possibly come up with. He'd been through everything, he knew every move we'd make. It was starting to break me down.
"You left earlier than me." I shook my head.
"He really did wipe everything. Even the back ups, to my back ups, to my back-ups back-ups." He frowned at me in concern, and I grabbed the tablet Maria had handed me when she came in. "And he killed Strucker. Apparently, he now has a new form."
"Did you sleep at all?" I shook my head again, sitting back. I pulled my knees up, tucking them under my chin as I spun around in the chair to face him.
"Everything on Strucker's been erased, too. Strucker knew something that he didn't want us to know." He continued to frown at me, and I sighed, pressing my face against my thighs. "Steve, now is not the time for you to worry about my health. There's a psychotic robot out there ready to do whatever is necessary to kill all of us."
"Did Maria send a warning to the X-Men? The Baxter Building?" I nodded. "We're not the only ones looking, then. You need some sleep."
"I can sleep when I'm dead." He picked me up, and I shoved against him. "Put me down, you old coot! You're going to throw your hip out again!" He burst out laughing, and I grinned, laughing with him.
"Ah! My leg!" We said it in sync, and grinned, laughing even further.
"What's...okay, I'm not even going to ask. E, I found those files you were looking for." I bit my lip, and Steve set me down finally. Nat raised her eyebrows at us, and looked between us both. "Inside joke?"
"Mhm." I hummed, and I'm sure Steve was nodding vigorously. "Thanks, Nat. I'll go look those over."
"Tony, Bruce and Clint are already at it." I nodded in response, and cleared my throat, following her as she turned to walk away. Steve leaned in and muttered in my ear.
"Art thou feeling it now, Mister Krabs?" I jabbed my elbow into his ribs, and he laughed again, making Nat shoot him a look. "Ellie, uh...she's been showing me-" She cut him off by dropping to the floor, and curled up in a ball, eyes wide as she did crunches on the floor.
"Fuuuuuture. FUUUUUUTURE." I burst out laughing, and I heard Steve snort, which made me laugh even harder.
"Guys, you really need to stop watching Spongebob at four in the morning. Everyone hears it." I turned to Clint, and he grinned. "Get back to work, Nat." Nat got up and followed him. I turned to Steve, and we laughed even harder, grinning at each other, whispering to each other in sync.
"Futuuuuuuuure."
We walked into the other room, and started going through boxes of S.H.I.E.L.D. files. Thor threw them around recklessly, while everyone else paid attention, and set the ones that were useless to us aside.
"Known associates. Baron Strucker had a lot of friends."
"Well, these people are all horrible." Bruce declared, and I smiled at his comment, muttering in agreement.
"Wait, I know that guy." Dad pointed at a file Bruce was holding, gesturing for him to hand it over, which he did. "From back in the day. He operates off the African coast." I frowned, leaning over to look.
"I don't know this one. Why don't I know this one?"
"Because he was one of the worser ones, sweetheart. I didn't want you anywhere near this guy. He dealt with Black Market arms." I gave him a look, and Dad looked over my shoulder and then back at me. "There are conventions, all right? You meet people." Clint had approached from the corner, looking at the file over Dad's shoulder before I took a paper from the file, handing it to Steve. "I didn't sell him anything." Dad paused, as I continued to search. "He was talking about finding something new, a game-changer. It was all very Ahab."
"This?" I looked over at the paper from the file which Thor was holding when he prompted the question. Dad glanced at it quickly before he answered.
"Ah, it's a tattoo, I don't think he had it."
"No, those are tattoos, that's a brand." Steve answered, pointing at the brand on the back of the guy's neck. Bruce was already at the computer in the room, and he'd pulled up the file, looking for what matched the brand.
"Oh, yeah, it's a word in an African dialect meaning 'thief,' in a much less friendly way."
"What dialect?" Dad prompted, and I went over to the computer, looking it over.
"Wakandan." I said, sounding surprised. I stood up, and looked over at Dad and Steve, who were looking at each other. "But I thought Howard had gotten the last of it?"
"There could always be more we don't know about. They keep to themselves." Steve muttered, and Dad nodded.
"One of Charles' X-Men has claws made out of it." He supplied.
"What comes out of Wakanda?" Nat asked, and Steve glanced at his shield.
"Adamantium." I answered, looking back up at Dad. "Where is this creep now?"