Make You Feel My Love
~Book III~

Disclaimer: I do not own the Avengers nor do I own the plot of Age of Ultron. All rights go to Marvel.
All I do own are my own characters and their stories.

~Chapter 24~
The Flight To Sokovia

Steve had given them all three minutes to get ready for the flight to Sokovia where the last stand against Ultron would take place. It was now well past midnight and although everyone was tired, they couldn't, just like Vision had said, wait any longer. This was it, the time had come for them to take the fight to Ultron and end it once and for all. Either the world was going to end, or the world would be saved.

Not to mention they needed to save Natasha as soon as possible.

Maria found herself getting ready along with her father. It was strange how the possibility of the end of the world changed the way people interacted with each other. Suddenly, Maria was alright with Erik – a Hydra agent and the father she hated - being there. She also felt a certain comfort in having him there; someone on the team that she felt wanted her there. After all, both Bruce and Tony had had different ideas about the cradle and although it turned out they had been right (a little thanks to Thor), there was still a strange tension between them and her. Clint was worried about Nat and didn't seem to want anyone near him. Steve and Maria obviously stayed away from each other. The twins were getting ready together; preparing themselves with some old clothes Tony had found lying about in the tower and didn't seem too interested in talking to Maria. And Thor and Vision were off chatting, apparently not needing to get ready like the others.

"Here," said Erik, interrupting Maria's thoughts. "Take this."

He offered her a pistol. Though she scrunched up her nose to it, shaking her head, instead turning away from him and pulling her hair back up in a ponytail.

"What, are you going to fight an army of metal men with your petit daggers?" asked Erik. "I thought Artur gave you a sword?"

"Yeah, I threw it away after he died," said Maria coldly. "I don't kill people anymore."

"These aren't people," said Erik, shoving the gun into her hand. "Don't be stupid."

She scoffed, looking down at the gun before placing it in her belt.

"You said earlier that I had good reflexes… Why?" asked Maria hastily as Erik was about to turn and leave, not having changed his outfit into something that fitted the situation better.

"'Cause you got good reflexes. Why else?" he replied, furrowing his brow.

"But I didn't do anything."

"You saved your own skin, didn't you? Made that beam fly right past you," he said, tilting his head to the side as he saw her reaction. "You don't know? You don't remember what I taught you?"

"Taught me?"

"We're leaving," said Steve as he walked past them.

"Come on," sighed Erik, beginning to follow Steve. "You hold on tight to that gun. I like it and I want it back."

Maria lay down on a bed so soft it relaxed her entire body just to lay on it. Everything felt warm and fluffy. The room she was in was bright, so bright that she couldn't see the walls or furniture that existed in the room. All she saw when she looked away from the bed or herself, was a bright, white light.

A hand suddenly softly touched her cheek and she looked over to the right. Steve lay there, smiling over at her. He was propped up on one arm and the bright light made it hard to look at him. Though she tried and saw all the features she loved about him. The lovely, soft smile that melted her heart and made everything better; the beautiful blue eyes that made her feel comfortable about her surroundings; and the dirty blonde hair, slightly messy after a long night of kisses and intimacy.

Right where she lay now, next to Steve, was where she wanted to stay the rest of her life. It was comforting, warm and perfect.

The smile suddenly disappeared from Steve's lips and his eyes looked over Maria to something behind her. She frowned and turned around, feeling Steve's hand protectively grasping her waist.

A gasp escaped Maria as she saw Professor Xavier sitting in his wheelchair next to her bed. He looked serious and slightly surprised that she had noticed him. Though the shock of seeing him there next to their bed when Maria realized that neither of them were wearing a lot of clothes; made her wake up.

Her arms flailed slightly as she awoke, startled, from her dream. She soon recovered though, relieved that nobody had seen her awaken. She was still with the team in the Quinjet, on their way to Sokovia to end Ultron once and for all. Erik was seated next to her, cleaning the pistol he was going to use during the battle. He glanced over at her once, one end of his mouth twitching up in a soft smile before he continued to work on his pistol.

Tony and Clint were both seated at the front, talking quietly to each other. Bruce was seated far away from the Maximoff twins who both were seated next to Erik. As Maria caught Bruce's eye, he quickly looked away again. She knew he was annoyed at her for having been against him and Tony earlier, and she knew he was angry about what Wanda had done to him, causing him to hulk out and damage his reputation. Apparently, seeing Maria interact with Wanda's friend, Erik, made Maria the enemy as well.

Thor and Vision were sitting next to each other, not talking. Steve was on his own a bit away from Thor and Vision, on the opposite side of the ship. Her heart hurt as she looked at him though there was a strange force pulling her towards him. Perhaps it was the fact that she missed him or maybe it was the fact that the look on his face, that serious and concerned look he had, made her worried.

Careful not to draw too much attention to herself, which was hard seeing as she was on her way to Steve and everyone knew what had happened between them, she moved over to him and sat down next to him. She had expected a surprised look from him, or even an annoyed one. Though all he did, was turn his head towards her, his eyes slightly wide, before he began to whisper to her.

"Remember when we met up with Zola? Back when we were still trying to figure out what was going on inside of SHIELD?"

"Uh, yeah," answered Maria quietly, quite shocked about his way of suddenly talking to her like normal, his face so close to hers again.

"Remember when we saw Howard Stark's face?" he asked in a whisper. "When Zola was showing us everything Hydra had done in secret?"

Maria furrowed her brow, bringing forth the memories of that scene from the back of her mind. She remembered the giant computer, the strange face of what used to be Zola, a hydra scientist, projected on the screen, and how he had showed to them files of what Hydra had managed to do underneath of their noses. She also still remembered how she had felt her heart sink at the sight of Fury's file back there and, indeed, the face of Howard Stark had also been amongst those things that Zola showed to them. Was there a connection she had missed that Steve just now had come up with?

"Yes…" breathed Maria, nodding her head. "Hydra killed him."

The both of them looked over at the front to where Tony was sitting, his back turned towards them.

"Fury's file was amongst them. And everything they did, almost everything, was with the help of the Winter Soldier," whispered Steve, making Maria nod her head again.

"Yes, with Bucky, I remember," whispered Maria, beginning to feel impatient to what Steve had figured out.

"Don't you get it?"

"What?" asked Maria, suddenly feeling her mind stop working as she once again realized how close Steve's face was to hers.

"Bucky killed him…"

The words resonated in her head a couple of times before her mind was drawn away from Steve's handsome face and back to their conversation. Her heart skipped a beat as she suddenly realized, that Bucky – or the Winter Soldier - indeed could've been the one to kill Howard Stark, Tony's father. Meaning, if Tony ever figured this out, and Bucky would ever be found again, all hell would break loose.

"Oh God," whispered Maria, once again glancing over at the back of Tony. "Have you found him? Have you found Bucky yet?"

"No… But I'm worried," whispered Steve, also glancing over at Tony again. "I'm worried that the truth may come out."

"We're not sure if this is the truth. For all we know, Hydra could've had other ways to kill off their enemies," she replied quietly before her brow was furrowed, another thought striking her. "I think the question should be; why?"

"He was one of the founders of SHIELD," replied Steve. "Maybe they needed a Hydra agent to be on the board."

"I highly doubt they didn't already have one," replied Maria darkly. "No… I think there's something else behind it."

"Sokovia's five minutes away. Get ready, guys," said Tony, turning around in his chair at the front.

"Whatever the reason was," whispered Steve, grabbing his shield and checking the straps on the back of it, making sure they were tight enough. "I have a feeling it's going to come back and bite us."

Maria grabbed her gun, suddenly feeling sad about the fact that this conversation was over and that Steve now would continue to avoid her. Though the fact that he had simply told her without her having to urge him to tell her, was a good thing. Perhaps he was beginning to see the fault in the decision he made and wanted her back as more than just a teammate. Then again, what were the odds for that?

"Whatever'll happen, know I'll be by your side," said Maria. "Whatever relationship we have."

Steve swiftly looked over at her, pausing slightly. It looked almost as though he had, momentarily, forgotten about their break-up. It wasn't until his eyes flickered down to the engagement ring around her neck, which had accidentally fallen out from underneath of her suit, that realization dawned on him again.

"Maria-"

"Maria," interrupted Erik, handing her a couple of extra magazines of ammo. "You'll need it. From what I could tell when I was still buddies with Ultron, he's got a lot of robots on his side."

"How'd he make them all?" asked Steve, earning a shrug from Erik.

"Don't know, but they're a lot," said Erik simply.

"Speaking of Ultron," started Maria. "I never asked why you decided to come with Steve?"

Erik spared a glance with Steve before looking back at her again; "Hydra wants to take over the world, form it according to our way of living. Ultron wants to destroy it and leave nothing for Hydra. I can't exactly have that. Besides, my daughter-"

"Quit the crap about you giving a damn about me," said Maria irritably, anger flaring inside of her. "You're a part of Hydra. And after all this, you'll go to jail. Nothing's changed between us just because of this."

"Whatever you say," said Erik smugly, raising his hands, earning a glare from Maria in return.

The ship jolted, nearly making Erik fall over from where he was standing up in front of Maria. Everyone looked over at Tony, wondering what happened. It wasn't until Tony looked back at them all with a guilty look on his face, that Maria's worry about being thrown into a fight with Ultron vanished.

"Sorry, I really am no good landing this thing without Jarvis," he said innocently.

"Everyone ready?" asked Steve, standing up. "Good. 'Cause we're not getting a second chance after this."

It's a bit short, but I had some problems opening my document where I've got everything saved. I solved it, I think, but it did mean that I didn't have much time to write more. Sorry. The good thing is, next week, the fighting will start! Which I'm pretty hyped about writing, if I may be honest.