CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

"The universe just fucking knows when souls are wired to wreck the world together."

― Erin Van Vuren

Amelia didn't have anything weighing her down anymore. As she approached Clint's home there was a spring in her step and a carefree smile on her face. Amelia Stark was free of her past, both Pierce and AS09 had gone and she could finally embrace the life she'd been building with Steve. She wasn't sure how she'd explain it to everyone else, to Steve, she knew that it wasn't normal to be haunted by her past in physical forms. Even though she knew it would be a struggle, she knew she'd have to tell Steve at some point because the brunette didn't want to keep stuff from him anymore, she no longer feared it. Amelia was jumping all in.

The Avengers were very confused when they heard a knock at Clint's door. They were all sat around a table eating a lovely meal that Clint had made with the assistance of Laura, they'd been made aware that Amelia had decided to stay outside for the night and Thor had left so when the knock was heard they all looked to one another with eyebrows raised.

Silence fell around the group as they all expected the worst, but Clint tried to defuse the situation by raising a hand. If it was Ultron or someone planning on taking Bruce into custody after what he did, he doubted that they'd be knocking.

Clint was the one to open the door, "Amelia?" He questioned, saying the name out loud so that everyone else would know it was nothing to be scared of.

The girl in front of him was clearly uncomfortable, her eyes were moving all over the place as she couldn't really decide on where she should be looking. Amelia knew that they'd all seen and heard her crying earlier which was rather embarrassing but she was hoping to move past that, "hey," the brunette responded, waving a hand lamely as a greeting.

"Do you want to come in?" Clint easily guessed, trying to make his voice as gentle as he could as to not scare the ex-assassin away, "it's getting awfully cold out, and Laura saved you some food."

At the mention of food her eyebrows automatically rose up and her eyes landed on him, she opened her mouth to accept his invitation when she saw the small child standing behind him. The excitement was wiped off her face and replaced by reluctance. Though she knew that she was fully in control of that part of herself, that she'd never hurt the child, Amelia was scared that Clint might have thought differently.

Clint turned around to see whatever might have caused her change in demeanour, spotting nothing but Lila who calmly approached her father and grabbed onto his leg, wide eyes looking over to the lady in the doorway. Lila liked the ladies freckles, when it was really sunny she'd see her mum's freckles but the ladies freckles were very apparent even in the dark. The archer's hand automatically fell down to his daughter's shoulder whilst he tried to give a reassuring smile to Amelia, "don't be scared to come in, I'm not."

At first, he had been. Clint would have been lying if he said that he wasn't concerned about bringing someone with her track record to his home, to meet his children and wife. Sure, in a lot of ways Amelia was like Natasha, but Clint didn't know the brunette all that well. It wasn't until he saw how she first reacted to his kids that he decided she wasn't going to be a danger to them at all. She'd run away, scared at how fragile they were, so he knew that whilst near them she'd be sure to be careful.

His words had reassured her and she accepted his invitation, though she didn't walk in until Clint had picked up his child.

When she entered the kitchen all eyes moved onto her, including Steve's. Black connected with blue as she tried to get a read on his emotions, he still looked worn out and a little defeated which made her heart hurt. She missed the Steve she'd conversed with during the Avenger's party, he was merry and open. It was her mission to get him back to being like that. She couldn't just tell him everything then and there though, because that would mean sharing her entire past and the hauntings she'd been experiencing with everyone else, including her brother.

Laura was the first one to speak, to try and break through the tension being created by Amelia's arrival, she grabbed a hold of a plate that had been wrapped up in tinfoil and handed it over to the brunette, "I was just about to bring this out to you, it's Clint's lasagna."

"Hawk-eye cooks?" She asked, baffled as she unravelled the tinfoil to reveal a delicious looking concoction.

The man in question chuckled lowly as he dropped his daughter back down on to the floor so she could return to Laura and finish the drawing she'd been in the middle of doing before Amelia knocked on the door. "There's no need to sound so surprised, I'm not just a pretty face you know."

"I don't recall ever saying you had a pretty face," Amelia did nothing to hide her cheeky expression as she moved to sit herself down next to Natasha. For a second she felt quite guilty, her friend had probably been another victim of the Maximoff twin but she'd done nothing to help her, so caught up in her own issues.

All worries were put aside as Nat smirked at Amelia's comment and patted at her knee once the brunette had sat down, they smiled to each other, an 'it'll be okay' kind of smile that showed they understood both of them had experienced something unpleasant. The brunette didn't waste any time before digging into her food, aware that Steve was only a few centimetres away stood against a wall, arms crossed over his chest and lips pressed down into a straight line. Her brother was playing darts whilst Clint was in the kitchen, and though it shouldn't have taken her so long to notice, she eventually realised there was another presence in the room. Looking up with her cheeks puffing out full of food, she finally spotted Nick Fury who was handing some dirty dishes over to Clint to put in the sink.

She swallowed down her food, a gulping sound loudly being made, and then she pointed over to Nick Fury with the hand that held a spoon in it, "pirates here."

He turned back around to face her after Clint took the dishes from his hands, raising an eyebrow at the girls comment though it wasn't like he'd actually expected her to greet him in a normal human way. "I do have a name, you know?"

Amelia nodded her head, "I know, but it's not as cool as 'Pirate'."

"You're acting sassier than usual," Natasha observed, eyes scanning over her friend and noting that she didn't look or seem as broken as she had earlier.

The brunette shrugged her shoulders, chewing on a small mouthful of lasagna before speaking. As she did, her eyes moved over to Steve, a little sign to him that the words were meant for him as well, "yeah, I'm feeling much better than I did this morning, I'm really sorry I ditched you all, I just needed to figure some stuff out." Tony had moved from separate room where the dart board was, wanting to see for himself the state of his sister and she did look a lot brighter than she had that morning, something he felt he played a part towards seen as he had been the one to force Steve to talk to her, it had Tony feeling a tad joyous

"And did you?" Steve asked, the tone of his voice stiff, "figure stuff out?"

"Yeah." The great thing about spending an entire year with someone is that they get to learn your quirks and what you mean when you say certain things in a certain tone, Steve knew she was talking about what they discussed. He accepted her answer with a curt nod, not just pretending like it never happened which was what they used to do, they'd confessed their love for each other so it wasn't really something they could just look past.

Tony observed from his spot in the doorway, happy to see his sister no longer shaking with sobs, but still not pleased with what he was seeing between Mia and Steve. He didn't feel like it was his place to have an opinion on Mia's relationship seen as technically she'd known Steve longer than she had him, but he had known Steve, and it was a little hurtful that one of his closest friends still had yet to tell him about whatever was going on with his sister.

With a sigh he returned to the dart board, using that to extinguish some of his displeasure.

Meanwhile, Amelia was done with having all the attention placed on her, especially after the day she'd had. "So how are things looking with our friendly neighbourhood killerbot?" She asked casually, returning to her food.

All eyes moved over to Nick Fury, the man who had appeared just in time and was helping them whilst they were closed off from the world. "My contacts all say that he's building something and considering the amount of vibranium he made off with, I don't think it's just one thing."

"Which explains why he took us down the way he did," Amelia proposed, beginning to understand why Ultron had chosen to attack them the way he had. It had been something she couldn't figure out at first, it was clear Ultron's plan was to break their spirits with the Maximoff's power, rather than simply taking them down in a more physical way. "So he can buy himself more time whilst we recover." The hardest monsters for people to face, after all, are those inside of themselves.

"Exactly," Fury confirmed as he grabbed a glass from Clint's cupboards, familiar with the layout of his agents home which had everyone wondering how many times Fury went over. It was clear Natasha was over often as well, Laura wouldn't be naming a child after her if she wasn't. So did that mean that Clint, Natasha and Fury often hung around the agents home?

"What about Ultron then, do we have any idea where he is?" Steve asked.

"Oh, he's easy to track, he's everywhere." Fury replied confidently, "guy's multiplying faster than a catholic rabbit. Still doesn't help us get an angle on any of his plans tough."

"He still going after launch codes?" Tony offered, knowing if he was an evil mastermind that's where he'd start.

"Yes, he is," Fury's confirmation had Amelia's eyes widening. She'd only recently learnt about how weaponised the planet was, and she'd been terrified when Steve told her that all it would take was a press of a button and a couple of numbers to set off all those nuclear bombs. Fury noticed the look and he shook his head, waving his hand in a gesture to try and make her calm down, "but he's not making any headway."

"I cracked the Pentagon's firewall in high school on a dare," Tony scoffed, not trying to be cocky, just trying to make everyone realise how easy it was to get their hands on the launch codes.

"Yeah, well, I contacted our friends at the NEXUS about that," the pirate rebutted, beginning to make himself a sandwich which comforted Amelia slightly. She doubted he'd be making a sandwich if the world was about to end.

"NEXUS?" Steve asked, only a second ahead of Amelia who also didn't know. She was beginning to see that whilst she'd been discovering plenty of things during her year with Steve, she'd also missed out on a lot.

Bruce came out of the corner he'd been sat in, offering an explanation for everyone, "it's the world internet hub in Oslo, every byte of data flows through there, fastest access on earth." Steve was grateful that Bruce was the one to give the explanation because the scientist found it much easier to dumb things down than Tony did.

"So what'd they say?" Clint asked.

"He's fixated on the missiles, but the codes are constantly being changed." Nick took a chunk out of his sandwich once he was done speaking, the news surprising everyone.

"By whom?" Tony questioned just as Clint threw three darts at the board, closely missing Tony's nose as he'd chosen to stand directly beside the board. The billionaire sent a look towards Clint but the archer just shrugged his shoulders, smug.

"Parties unknown."

"Do we have an ally?" Natasha asked.

"Ultron's got an enemy, that's not the same thing. Still, I'd pay folding money to know who it is," Nick was just as curious as the rest of them.

Tony stepped back into the dining room, darts still in his hand, "I might need to visit Oslo, find our 'unknown'," he decided, never one to ignore something he was curious about.

Natasha was looking down at the table, shaking her head silently. Amelia noticed and frowned. Her friend had seen something horrible and she wanted payback, obviously the news Fury had brought wasn't as useful as she'd hoped though. The brunette's thoughts were confirmed as Nat began to speak, cutting over Tony, "well, this is good times, boss, but I was kind of hoping when I saw you, you'd have more than that." Natasha Romanoff wasn't just hurt, she was angry, because not only had Ultron gotten to her, he'd gotten to everyone that was close to her.

"I do," Nick argued, opening his arms so that he could gesture towards the rest of the group, "I have you." Everyone blinked at him, clearly not seeing the same kind of picture that the pirate did, so he walked around the kitchen counter and delved into an explanation for them. "Back in the day, I had eyes everywhere, ears everywhere else. You kids had all the tech you could dream up. Here we all are, back on earth, with nothing but our wit, and our will to save the world. Ultron says the Avengers are the only thing between him and his mission. And whether or not he admits it, his mission is global destruction. All this, laid in a grave. So stand. Outwit the platinum bastard."

Fury's words had been just what the group needed to hear, a reminder of why they were there. And though Amelia might not have been a part of the Avengers, she was a part of Steve's life and it had been an unspoken agreement between them that wherever he went, she went, and vice versa.

"Steve doesn't like that kind of talk," Natasha joked, spirits lifted slightly.

Despite himself, Steve smiled, "you know what, Romanoff?" He mocked a threat, earning a mischievous smile back from the Russian.

"So what does Ultron want?" Fury asked the team, going back to the mission at hand as he relaxed himself into one of the chairs at Clint's dining table.

"To become better, better than us." Steve supplied his own guess, looking to everyone else to see if they agreed.

Amelia nodded in agreement as she placed down her spoon and fork onto her emptied plate, bringing up her hands so she could clasp them and rest her head on top of them, "that's why he keeps building loads of bodies," she ended Steve's thoughts with her own, her soldier giving a nod of agreement which she appreciated. Even though they weren't on talking terms that didn't mean they'd reject anything the other had to say, they were both better than that.

"Person bodies," Tony added, a thought occurring in his mind as he straightened up, "the human form is inefficient, biologically speaking, we're outmoded. But he keeps coming back to it."

Natasha looked over to Bruce who had approached the table, noticing the painting of a butterfly that Lila had done for Nat, "when you two programmed him to protect the human race," Nat began, turning back to face Tony, "you amazingly failed."

"They don't need to be protected," Bruce interrupted, hand reaching out to the painting of the butterfly, "they need to evolve. Ultron's going to evolve."

"How?"

"Has anyone been in contact with Helen Cho?" Bruce asked, answering Fury's question with his own.

The Avengers had a new destination, Seoul, Korea. It was where Helen Cho was and it was where Bruce believed Ultron would be, because there he'd be able to create a proper body with the use of Dr Cho's advanced technology. Steve had already gotten back into his suit whilst Natasha was still getting ready, Bruce waiting on the quinjet for Nick who stood in the hallway of Barton's home with Tony, discussing their next plans. Amelia was stood close by, peeking out from behind a wall and watching them all make their plans, wondering where she'd come into play.

"I'll take Natasha and Clint," Steve decided as he attached his shield to the magnets at the back of his suit. Amelia didn't have to get ready because her suit wasn't finished yet, she simply stuck with her vest and jeans.

"Alright," Tony agreed, eyes flashing over to his sister for a moment, wondering just as much as she was where she'd be placed in all of this, "I'll hit the NEXUS, I'll join you as soon as I can."

"If Ultron's really building a body…"

"He'll be more powerful than any of us. Maybe all of us. An android designed by a robot." Stark finished for the captain, Nick nodding his head with a concerned expression on his face. They needed to eliminate the threat as soon as possible.

Steve tried to act like he wasn't scared. He learnt after world war two that showing fear in front of the people he was meant to lead wouldn't help anyone, it would only assure their own fears. "You know, I really miss the days when the weirdest thing science ever created was me."

He received a short laugh in response from his peers, the kind of laugh people only have when they were trying to pretend like they weren't worried about something. Nick patted Cap's arm supportively, "I'll drop Banner off at the tower." He then turned to face Tony, "do you mind if I borrow Ms Hill?"

"She's all yours, apparently. What are you going to do?"

Nick shrugged his shoulders but a mischievous smile still managed it's way onto his lips, "I don't know. Something dramatic, I hope."

"And what about me?" Amelia finally asked, she'd heard all their plans and not one of them mentioned her.

Steve's eyes fell on her for only a moment when she first spoke, then he just looked at the floor, "you can go back to the tower with Bruce."

Even Tony raised his eyebrows at Steve's decision, meanwhile Amelia scoffed, stepping fully into the hallway and walking towards him, "no I'm not," she refuted. His jaw tightened but Steve said no further words so she looked towards her brother and Nick, hoping that they'd argue in her defence. She hadn't expected him to sideline her, even if they were arguing, she could still be made useful.

Tony held up his hands, "I'm not a part of your little domestic here," he commented, quickly making his escape and though Nick didn't say anything, he took the opportunity to follow Tony's footsteps.

"Look at me, Steve," Amelia demanded, tone cold as the soldier continued to defy her orders. He looked to the left instead, at the yellow-cream wall of Clint's home, anywhere but her. She huffed, nostril flaring, "you don't get to sideline me, Steve, not unless you give me a good reason"

"I don't want you to go through the Maximoff's mind tricks again," he revealed to her, making Amelia realise the hours he must have spent with her in his arms, sobbing and shaking and begging for something all inside her head. She might have been the one experiencing it, but he had to experience the effects of it, and seeing someone he loved in that sort of pain had been like multiple gunshot wounds to the heart.

That wasn't such a terrible reason, she supposed. She'd expected his reason to be that he thought their argument would get in the way or something as trivial as that, but no, his reasoning was actually quite sweet and it made her heart swell despite the anger she felt towards him. Her shoulders fell a little, becoming less rigid as she began to understand his reason. "Well, don't worry. I'm not even gonna let that little witch come near me this time around." She waited for him to respond but he remained quiet, "Steve," Amelia pushed again, growing tired of his reluctance to let her fight, "I'm not really giving you a choice here."

His shoulders dropped too, not because he was relaxing though, it was because Steve felt defeated. Amelia was right, they were better as a team than they were apart and he'd been stupid for wanting her to just return to the Avenger's tower, though she'd have been safer there it wouldn't have been respectful to Amelia, who was a trained fighter with powers that could end up being imperative. She wasn't just a basic human. "Fine," he relinquished.

Amelia gave a curt nod, saying 'that's right' with her actions. All that was left after that was tension, normally they'd hug or hold hands or have casual chatter, it hurt her that they weren't comfortable enough to do that. She assured herself that they'd go back to being that way once they sorted out Ultron. The world was going to have to take priority for a second.

They dwelled in an awkward silence for a moment, Steve suddenly turning his body fully to hers, opening his mouth to say something but then shutting it again moments later. He tried again seconds later, actual words coming out of his mouth during the second attempt, "I'm sorry," he threw the words out quickly and bravely, "some of the stuff I said to you wasn't right at all and-"

"It's okay," Amelia interrupted, "it helped me figure stuff out, and if you take back part of it then you'll have to take back all of it. I'm not taking back what I said."

Her words made his eyes fall but he did relinquish, he meant what he said about loving her but he did fear he'd gone a little bit too far with some of the other things. Steve decided he'd figure out a way to make it up and learn from the mistake. Seen as he had nothing left to say, the silence returned again.

Rather than dwelling in the awkward tension any longer she decided to go check on Natasha whilst Steve stuttered out a lame excuse that he was going to discuss the plan with Clint.

A/N: Hello! This chapter is hella rubbish and honestly, I blame AOU for being a not-so-good-movie. I finished all of the AOU chapters today and I'm so happy to be passed this shit, like if you love the movie then yes you do you but this is near the bottom of my list. Writing it is even worse. But yeah, no more complaining. Gonna get to planning part three soon and I have so much planned plot-wise, I doubt any of you will be expecting what I've got!

To .2018, I saw this review and sent my friend about a million different messages with the word 'gopd' instead of good, she didn't find it as funny as I did but honestly I don't care I think good should be spelt gopd from now on okay it's a much better word to say

To BlueBloodsSVUOrder, thank you!

To kuppcake, hard times are sometimes necessary, they help people grow :)

To thenightowl57, it was never really Pierce that she couldn't let go of, it was easier to fight off Pierce than it was to face the fact that she didn't need to be AS09 anymore, she didn't need to fight to survive anymore, not in the same way she used to anyway (there weren't any killer-bots after her back then, just Pierce and his Hydra agents). She needed to say goodbye to her old life and fully move on, before she always thought the way to move on would be to kill Pierce but then he died so all she was left with was her trauma. It was never Pierce she was getting rid of, it was the trauma, the one thing she'd been running from over and over again. I hope this makes sense!

To OfSeashellsandStars, thank you, thank you, thank you!

To JohnnyStormsGirl, I mean probably not but WHO KNOWS

To Sam0728, I know that recovery is different for everyone, some people get one defining moment whereas other people have to work really hard. Amelia is a bit of both. And thank you so much for the compliments!

To BigBangVIP, thank you I'm honestly so pleased that everyone seems to like it!

And a big Hulk-like thank you to everyone that read this chapter, it's not really all that exciting but I promise that the next one is!