Chapter 57

The Finest Royal Jewels

Emily eyed the project that Bruce was helping her with. For a bit of spare copper wire, it was damn gorgeous. Thanks to Bruce. He had a real talent for teasing the fragile metal into the necessary shape, all braided beautifully, with care and flair. She grinned at her silent rhyming.

Blinking, Bruce pulled his gaze from the magnifying glass he was using for the fine details. He yawned and stretched away the last hour of meticulous work.

By helping, she meant that Bruce had done all the real work. All she'd managed was finding the wire and coming up with the idea. "You are a fucking genius, Bruce!"

He blushed. "Thanks, Em."

Carefully, so carefully, she picked up the delicate piece of art. Braided and looped, with a pretty little knot on one edge, the ring was actually kinda sturdy. Still felt like she could destroy it with an angry fist though. She'd have to replace it with a stronger ring soon. But for now, it was perfect. "I hope Nat likes it as much as I do." She smiled up at him.

"I think Nat would love it if it was a plastic toy ring from a cereal box."

She would. She had this secret little hoard of treasures hidden in the bedroom. Drawings and art from the hawkbabies. Little things from Clint and Laura. Gifts from Emily. Nothing of economical value, not really, but Natalia loved and guarded them like the finest royal jewels.

"Yea. But she wouldn't wear it." Emily laughed.

Bruce shrugged, already retreating into himself. They'd all seen the news. A lot of people had been hurt when the Hulk rampaged. Two people had died. There were calls for vengeance and arrest, nothing official, but Bruce could barely look anyone in the eye. He needed time. Time and patience.

Emily gave him a bruising hug and went in search of her little fox. Along the way, she found an empty Tylenol bottle in the recycle bin that would work nicely as a ring box. Nat wasn't in the living room with its crackling fire and yawning Laura. She wasn't out under the full moon or in the barn where the boys had cots in little tents, or in the kitchen with the teapot.

She was in the bedroom. At eleven at night. Who could have guessed? Nat looked up from whatever she was reading on her tablet. "Hey."

Emily sucked in a breath. "I made you something."

Nat studied her for a moment before setting the tablet aside.

"Okay, Bruce made it, but I commissioned him to do it." She thrust the pill bottle at Nat.

An eyebrow arched. "Tylenol?"

Rolling her eyes, "Just open it." She sat on the bed.

The bottle was accepted, examined. Disbelief eyed Emily.

"Open it."

A thumb flicked the top off, and the contents were dumped into an open palm. Nat went rigid.

"In case you forgot that I said yes, Natalia." Emily smiled.

Bright green eyes flicked up to her. At whatever they saw, they darted back down, and Nat reverently tested the ring on her finger.

It fit.

Emily let loose the breath she was holding.

"Emilishka," was all velvet adoration. "Did you lock the door?"

Um. No? She looked over her shoulder. Before she could shrug, Nat was off the bed and crossing the room. There came the faint schlick of the bolt turning. The light was extinguished next. Nat didn't want interruption? Oh. Oh!

Emily swallowed. She hadn't been aiming for seduction, but she certainly wasn't going to complain about the results.

"Emilishka," purred at her. "Future spouse." Hands were on her jaw. Heat and desire pulsed through the connection. "Other parent of my children." There was a single, purposeful kiss placed on her forehead before the lips went to her ear, teased it with hot breath and whispered words. "I'm going to ravage you. Try not to wake the hawkbabies."

"Yea. Okay," was all she managed to squeak.

"Why couldn't we have gone to Kenya?" Natasha lamented to Laura after lunch. They were sitting on the couch, sipping tea. "There's great shopping in Nairobi. And good food." And Sam probably wouldn't have had to hike for two days to meet up with a SHIELD agent who could get him to an extraction site. He should be back in New York in a couple days.

Laura's hand pat hers. "Are you more upset about what the girl did to you and Em or the fact that Ultron got away with the vibranium?"

Innate spy-sense and superb analytical skills. This was why Laura's spy novels were beautifully intriguing. And why having her as a friend made Natasha comfortable.

"Or that Emily is still planning on trying to bring the twins home with her?"

Her eyes practically rolled to the back of her skull. "Damn her."

Laura laughed. "She can't help herself and neither can my husband." A sobering sigh, "Which is why I've done my best to work with him instead of wasting my breath every time he brings a stray home."

And Clint had passed it on to the kids. Hagrid the cat was still around. He wasn't allowed in the house, but he was given food and water, had up to date vaccinations, and a snug place in the barn. He'd also taken a liking to Tony and slept in his tent. On his chest.

Bucky came in the front door, and both women stared at him until he frowned. "Something wrong?"

"Yes." Natasha growled.

He flinched, made a motion to open the door again.

"I'm going to need your help when Em tries to help the Maximoffs."

His hand dropped, and he fully faced her. A smile tweaked his lips. "She does have a bad habit of rushing to help others, doesn't she?"

Natasha pinched her nose against the headache threatening at the thought of Emily's propensity for leaping into danger. Ohio, Bulgaria, D.C., Norway, India, Egypt...

"I'll stick by her side, Nat." Bucky looked at his metal hand. "But..."

Oh no. The headache leered.

He met her gaze with a level one of his own. "I've trusted her instincts from the beginning. She's right to try and help these kids."

Ugh! Anger flared at her helplessness. "She..." Unable to finish her argument, she glared at him.

The door opened, and Tony walked into Bucky. "What's going on? Someone call a team meeting and forget to invite me?" He looked around, found half the team missing. "Or is this about one of us?"

"We have to protect Em from herself." Natasha growled.

"Oh." Tony shut the door. "Yea, that's a bit of a conundrum, isn't it? We all love and respect her because of her nature, and we all want to keep her locked up safe and sound because of her nature."

Surprised at the words he'd spoken out loud, Natasha couldn't immediately respond.

"Why, Stark, did you just admit that you actually respect another human being?" Bucky prodded.

Tony looked him up and down. "I did. In fact, I admitted to having a deep well of love and affection for this woman who treats me like a little brother. What, aren't you man enough to say those types of things out loud?"

Warm delight chuckled from Laura.

Bucky stared.

Natasha allowed her smile of approval to twitch.

"So what's the plan?" Tony asked. "Do we have one yet?"

"We should go after the twins first. It will solve our Emily problem, and we could get intel from them about Ultron." Bucky suggested.

"If we think of it as 'going after them' we aren't going to do ourselves any favors." Natasha said.

"We have to think like Emily." Tony said. "Okay. Rescue the kids, subdue Ultron."

Soft steps preceded Clint, who was patting a burping Nate. "Did someone say rescue?"

"Who needs rescue?" Steve exited the bathroom with a puff of steam.

"Rescue?" chirped down the stairs with Emily.

From the kitchen, Bruce appeared, headphones on, bowl of popcorn in hand. He stopped, looked around, slowly pulled the headphones off. "Team meeting?"

Eyes darted at Emily, gazes slowly followed, until everyone was looking at her.

"What?" squawked at them.

"We were discussing how to make sure you don't get yourself strung up by your toes when you try to help those kids." Laura said.

Emily crossed her arms. "They deser-"

"Em," Natasha stalled the argument. "We aren't trying to stop you."

"We're talking about helping." Bucky added. "Keeping you safe while you help those kids."

"Oh," Bruce drew out the 'O'. "I get it. You've finally figured out that it's easier to go along with her impulsive need to help others instead of trying to fight it. I assume the Maximoff twins are our current topic? It'll be best to approach them without Tony. They really hate Tony." A handful of popcorn was tossed in his mouth.

"They did seem particularly keen on that." Steve said.

"Won't they be expecting an ambush if Tony isn't there?" Bucky asked.

"Will they?" Emily countered.

Natasha's headache howled its amusement as the discussion went nowhere. She wondered if she should go get Fury. He might be able to wrangle the team into a working plan.

"That's all well and good, but the twins will be wherever Ultron is, and he isn't planning a tea party for his stuffed bunnies." Fury called into the room.

The barn door opened. Tony didn't walk out. Nick Fury did. He wore casual clothes, looking haggard and worn, instead of his usual imposing blacks and trench coat. Correction. He still wore black. Black pants, shoes, and jacket. His shirt was a humanizing light grey, and she suspected his socks had blue argyle.

Clint didn't look surprised, neither did Laura or Cooper. How long had Fury been here? Not long enough for Laura to insist he wash his clothes. A day, tops.

Fury swept them in his one-eyed gaze. "I hear that Mauritania didn't go so well."

Tony stepped into the sunlight. "You also sat in there listening to us argue."

"I did. I also heard you people acting like a team." Fury looked at Emily.

"Fuck you and your Avenger glue." Emily flipped him the bird.

Fury chuckled. "I never imagined you would be this successful." He shrugged. "But then, I also didn't foresee Romanoff pregnant with your baby either."

At the mention, her hand went to her belly. Emily and her need to help people. Idiot.

Natasha smiled despite herself.

"First objective, get the twins away from Ultron." Steve said.

"We could use Tony as bait." Bucky suggested.

"I hate that I can't disagree." Tony frowned. "That's probably the best plan."

Steve nodded. "Ultron will know it's a trap. How do we keep him away long enough for Emily to do her thing? Or can we use this opportunity to catch Ultron as well?"

Murmurs shot through the room.

"Tony, can you see about a few EMP weapons?" Natasha asked.

"I'm a bit limited here, but sure." Tony said.

"Don't worry, I've got internet." Clint grinned, laughed at Tony's groan.

Steve dispersed the team to work on tactics. They would reconvene after dinner and discuss further. Natasha decided that she would think better after a nap. She dragged her favorite Avenger-glue-idiot to their room and happily enjoyed falling asleep in her arms.

A simple dinner of spaghetti and salad fed the team. A simple meal that took six pounds of meat, six pounds of pasta, more than six jars of spaghetti sauce. A few jars of spices -though several were already mostly empty. An entire slab of parmesan cheese. The help of the outdoor grill. Five cooks. Three heads of iceberg lettuce, two more romaine, eight bell peppers, a dozen zucchinis, and a lake's worth of dressing.

Those who had cooked, sat down to relax, or in Tony's case, play darts. Emily and Natasha settled in to watch Bruce, Laura, Clint, and Fury load the dishwasher, wash the pots, wipe down the counters, and bump into each other. Cooper took his siblings to the living room and turned on the TV. Emily's phone buzzed a text.

She checked to see if it was anyone important. Lizzie. But was her text actually important? Or a dumb meme to laugh at? Okay, yea. Either were worthy of her attention. She picked up her phone.

"Lizzie's asking me about our baby shower again." Emily showed Natasha the text. She abruptly went stiff. "Lizzie. Holy shit. I haven't told her about," she flailed. "About the ring yet!" She'd been wrapped up in this Ultron business and then the twins. Those poor kids!

An arm wrapped around her waist. Nat kissed her cheek. "It's okay. She'll forgive you."

She slumped into Nat's comfort. "Okay." Now was a good time. "Nat, hold out your hand."

Another kiss touched her cheek before Nat stretched out her hand with the ring, modeled it against the white, spaghetti sauce-speckled tablecloth. She asked me to be her future spouse! She giddily explained. I got a friend to make a silly ring until I can find her a real one. And a baby shower isn't necessary. I've said that, like, a thousand times!

She thumbed send.

It's about damn time. Lizzie's response was immediate. Where's your ring?

Natasha hummed in her ear. "Tell her the truth. I haven't gotten one from a candy machine yet."

Laughing, Emily did so, laughed harder at Lizzie's stupid GIF response.

I don't care if a shower isn't necessary. We all know you two don't need money or handouts. Your friends want to give you gifts, dumbass. I'm going to plan a baby shower for next month AND a bridal shower when you two decide on a date

"I don't want to have a party until after the little bean is a little person who is ready for the public." Natasha whispered. "But, maybe, we could get the marriage license soon?" Her last words came hesitantly.

Emily glanced at all the eyes and ears in the room. Let's talk tonight, she wrote on her phone.

Natasha nodded.

No more than twenty invitations for this baby shower and we get final say on the guest list. Emily checked with Nat before sending.

"Fine."

ONLY TWENTY?! Lizzie responded. ARE YOU SHITTING ME?

Emily's thumbs twitched as she typed out several responses, deleted them. This isn't a good time. I'll call you in a few days.

I saw the news. I'm glad you two are okay, hope your team is too.

We'll survive ttyl

Okay. Love you! I'M SO EXCITED!

"Going by your expression, that wasn't a contact giving you intel on Ultron." Fury had his back to the sink, towel and pot in hand, expectant expression on his face.

"Nope." Emily shook her head. "Normal life stuff."

Fury passed off the pot for Clint to put in a cupboard, accepted another pot to dry. "What about the rest of you?"

Steve looked around the room, but no one offered anything.

Fury cleared his throat. "Ultron took you folks out of play to buy himself time. My contacts all say he's building something. The amount of vibranium he made off with, I don't think it's just one thing he's building."

"What about Ultron himself?" Steve asked.

"Oh, he's easy to track. He's everywhere." A dish was set aside, another picked up. "The guy is multiplying faster than a Catholic rabbit. It still doesn't help us get an angle on any of his plans, though."

"He still going after launch codes?" Tony pulled darts from the ancient dart board.

"Yes, he is. But he's not making any headway."
Tony paused, considered a dart. The plastic vane was bent funny. "I cracked the Pentagon's firewall in high school on a dare. Ultron could do it on a whim."

"Well, I contacted our friends at the Nexus about that."

"Nexus?"

"It's an Internet hub in Oslo." Bruce supplied. "Massive amounts of data flow through there."

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

"He's fixated on the missiles. But the codes are constantly being changed."

"By whom?" Tony flinched as a dart brushed his ear, hit the bullseye.

Clint shrugged with an easy smirk.

"Parties unknown." Fury responded.

"Do we have an ally?" Natasha asked.

Fury finished toweling the last pot, passed it to Laura. "Ultron's got an enemy. That's not the same thing. Still, I'd pay folding money to know how it is."

Tony dropped the darts on the table. "We might need to visit Oslo. Find our unknown."

"Well this is good times, boss." Natasha quipped "But I was kinda hoping when I saw you, you'd have more than that."

"I do. I have you." He picked up a glass of ice tea. "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." He paused, took a drink. "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." He looked around. "So stand. Outwit the platinum bastard"

"Steve doesn't like that kind of talk." Natasha covered her fear with sass.

It got a smile from Steve. "You know what, Romanoff…"

And his response got a few more grins.

"So, what does he want?" Fury kept them in line.

"To become better." Steve said. "Better than us. He keeps building bodies."

"Person bodies." Tony added. "The human form is inefficient. Biologically speaking, we're outmoded."

That wasn't quite right, Emily's biology training argued.

"But he keeps coming back to it." Tony hummed.

"When you two programmed him to protect the human race, you amazingly failed."

"They don't need to be protected." Bruce shook his head. "They need to evolve. Ultron's going to evolve."

"How?" Fury asked.

Bruce frowned. "Has anyone been in contact with Dr. Cho?"

Dr. Cho? What would Ultron want with the cradle? It dealt with organics, not metal murderbots.

"What would Ultron want with a biologist?" Clint asked.

Bucky lifted his metal arm, flexed the fingers, frowned at Bruce, made Emily frown, the whole team frown.

Bruce took his glasses off to rub at his eyes. "Humans with small goals created Bucky's arm. Imagine what a supercomputer bent on world destruction, with an ultra powerful space gem and a massive narcissist streak could come up with?"

"Banner, get in touch with Dr. Cho. The rest of you, check your gear and pack up, we leave in the morning."

Natasha's arm around her waist tightened.

"And I just bought a ton of groceries." Laura sighed. "Get your gear together, then come back and help me cook. Lord knows you won't have time to stop anywhere for lunch while you're off saving the world." She pointed a finger at Fury. "You don't have gear to check, mister. You can start helping me now."

Fury's brow drew down. "Mrs. Bar-"

Laura already had a knife in hand. She gestured with it. "Get the beans from the pantry. We're doing chili."

"I'd do what she says, boss." Natasha smiled. "This is her house."

He glanced at Nat, Laura. "Yes, ma'am. Beans from the pantry."

A/N - welp, 2019 is almost over. We've been together on this fic for almost 4 years. THAT'S 4 YEARS AND OVER 200K WORDS! Holy shit. Remember when I complained that this fic wasn't supposed to be over 60k, then 100k?

*mumbles incoherently*

There would probably be more than this already, but I, uh, I wrote a book. An original book. I'm taking a break from it to play with fanfics before I go back and edit before agent hunting. I'M SO EXCITED!

Anyway, I was working on another fanfic, but then I got a really nice message about this fic, and I watched the Black Widow trailer, and I was both excited and disappointed that it doesn't fit with my canon... lol Sooo I've got a few chapters of Sekhmet ready. Need editing, but ready and coming soon :)

I hope everyone's holiday season is so mothafuckin epic you smile thinking about it months from now! Or at least very pleasantly calm. Possibly full of pancakes. Or cookies. Pie. Oooo pie