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Chapter Seventeen

With their combined contacts, it didn't take the team long to find Ulysses Klaue. He still operated off the African coast, just like Tony said, and apparently Klaue was using out-of-commission cargo ships as a base of operations. They had each suited up within ten minutes and were aboard the quinjet, hopefully on their way to confront Ultron before he got his hands on any vibranium.

Nadia sat next to Natasha, both meticulously preparing their weapons for a fight. Nadia was sharpening her knives and Natasha was cleaning her guns, the two women working in silence. In fact, the entire quinjet was quiet. Usually before missions, the team was bantering with one another, arguing over the music choice that Tony had made for the trip, or even playing cards. They'd always been so calm before a fight, but now there was only tension.

'They'll be there, you know,' Natasha murmured low enough that only Nadia could hear. 'The Maximoff twins.'

'I know.'

Natasha didn't say anything else. They were all uneasy about this fight, unsure what to expect. They'd briefly seen what the twins could do, they knew what their powers were, but to know something was one thing. To see it, to experience it, to believe it was another. The truth was they were walking in to face those kids blind, and the question remained - could they take out these kids if they are an actual threat?

Nadia slid the knife she was working on into her boot and stood, stretching. Spotting Tony tinkering with his armour in the corner, a screwdriver behind his ear and a frown on his face, Nadia made her way over to him. He didn't look up as she approached, his focus on a panel of loose wiring in front of him.

She picked up the correct tool and handed it to him before he could ask or even reach for it himself, and she shot him a small smile. 'You okay?'

'Peachy.'

Her eyebrows went up and she crossed her arms. 'Can I ask you a question?'

'Absolutely not.'

'Well I'm going to anyway.'

'Then why ask permission?'

'Because I'm nice like that.'

Tony rolled his eyes, 'Right.'

Nadia lowered her voice, 'Why did you do it? Build Ultron?'

Tony didn't answer for a few moments, and his silence bothered Nadia more than anything. He was a notoriously loud human being, so when he was quiet, it usually meant there was something going on.

'I saw it,' he said softly, and Nadia had to lean in to hear him. 'I had a dream or a vision…whatever you want to call it. I saw the end of the world and there was nothing I could do to stop it.'

She put her hand on his shoulder. 'We saved the world once, Tony. We can do it again, together.'

He scoffed, 'Now you sound like Spangles.'

Nadia frowned and dropped her hand. 'You don't think we can win again.'

'We barely won last time.' He said, and Nadia hated to admit it, but he was right. Back then they were a group of strangers, thrown together by Fury to save the world against a foe they knew nothing about. They were untested as a team.

'We're stronger now than we were then.'

'We are not enough.' Tony said simply, meeting her eyes. Nadia saw the truth in his eyes, the devastation and fear he held there. He truly believed that for whatever reason, they were doomed, and he had tried to stop that from becoming their fate by creating Ulron.

'Why didn't you tell me?' She wondered, watching as he dropped her gaze and turned back to tinkering.

'Didn't want you to have to lie to Captain Honesty over there.' Tony jerked his head towards where Steve was standing, arms crossed and staring out the window. 'Bruce and I had worked on the concept of Ultron before, but the technology to create something like him doesn't exist.'

'Until,' Nadia caught on, 'You happened to collect Loki's sceptre, which holds a mysterious gem that can take over people's minds.'

'I only had a limited time with the thing before it was shipped back to Asgard. I didn't exactly have time to hold a committee.'

'You also knew what the team would say.' Nadia pursed her lips before adding, 'I know you better than you think, Stark.'

'I won't apologise for trying to make the world a safer place, even if the rest of you don't agree with my methods.' Tony bit out tensely, his hand fisting around the precision tool in his hand. 'I saw my chance and I took it.'

Nadia pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed quietly. 'Your intentions were honourable, Tony, no one is denying that. I just…I wish you'd told me. I wish you'd trusted me enough to tell me how you were feeling, even.'

She was still angry at him and Bruce both for creating their newest enemy, but she was more than a little hurt they had kept this project from her. She had spent ages in the lab with them, working through some impossible task or another, joking to ease the tension, and just talking. Nadia had assumed a close bond existed between herself and Tony, and clearly, she was mistaken.

'This thing you have built, this technology you messed with – it has consequences.' Nadia continued and she hated the way that Tony's shoulders slumped a little. 'We will help you fix this, but you can't keep us in the dark just because you think we'll disagree.'

'Would you have?' Tony lifted his head, jaw set with determination. He pointed the precision tool at her. 'If you'd known, would you have agreed to it? Would you have helped me build Ultron?'

Nadia only hesitated a moment, because she knew the answer. 'No.'

Tony looked disappointed but unsurprised. 'Why?'

'Because…we've been down this path before, Tony. Fury tried to create a global peacekeeping tool, and it got hijacked by a bunch of neo-Nazis intent on wiping out millions of people. Who's to say that Ultron couldn't have been turned against us as well?'

Tony's mouth turned down in dismay. 'I guess we'll never know.'

'Tony…' Nadia sighed. 'Don't be mad just because I don't agree.'

'I'm not mad.'

'You're upset.'

'I'm irritated that none of you are taking this seriously. We are not enough to protect this world.' He snapped. 'I'm doing what needs to be done.'

Nadia frowned. 'You think you know what's best to protect us?'

'Yes.'

'That's dangerously arrogant, Stark, even for you.' She said angrily, shaking her head. 'I understand why you did this, why you built him and even why you didn't tell us. I don't like it and I don't agree with what you've done. But don't make the mistake of thinking that we don't care as much as you.'

Tony studied her face for a long time, brown eyes taking in every blink she made and examining her expression. She hoped he saw the seriousness in her eyes, the disapproval in the set of her mouth, but also the fact that her jaw was not clenched and that her face wasn't flushed in anger. She was angry and hurt, but she was also sympathetic of his fear.

Everything she said had been the truth. She understood the compulsion to protect people and doing things people may not agree with to do it. As a doctor, she had needed to make tough calls to save someone's life, and her decisions and motives had been questioned countless times. However, there had been a team of surgeons and nurses to debate with her, to keep her in check and offer different opinions. Tony had kept them all in the dark because he had known the team wouldn't approve. It spoke to both his desperation to do this and the fact he knew on some level that it was wrong. The fact he'd done it anyway, fuelled the anger she felt towards Tony. She'd always known who he was before becoming Iron Man, but she'd hoped that maybe he'd moved past that and learned. But it seems that he hadn't, that he was still content to make life or death decisions for others – the consequences be damned.

'We're making our final approach.' Clint said from the pilot's seat.

'Okay, everyone. Gather round.' Steve called and Nadia took another long look at Tony before turning away, joining the team. 'This is how it's going to go.'

X

Nadia crept along the corridor, seawater and rust filling her nose with every step she took. The inside of the ship was cold and dim, making is hard to see. She'd changed her eyes briefly, taking on the vision of an eagle to navigate her way towards where Ultron was. It was agreed that Steve, Thor and Tony would engage the hostiles directly, while she and Natasha flanked the boys on either side. Clint was above, ready to cover them.

Nadia adjusted the grip on her long knives and peeked over the walkway. There were missiles and weapons everywhere, sticking out of barrels labelled Oil or Toxic Waste. She saw thousands of loose bullets in a crate, the brassy sheen glinting in the dim light. Sweat gathered on her forehead, anxiety bubbling in her stomach as she spotted the people below. The Maximoff twins stood off to the side, watching the deal go down with sharp eyes. Nadia recognised the hungry expressions, the anger and the sadness that sat deep in their eyes. She could recognise orphans when she saw them, as she had the same look growing up. She felt a pang of sympathy for them, knowing what it was like to be alone in the world, to be different.

Beside them stood the man from the photo that Tony had passed around only hours ago. A tall, muscular black man hovered at Klaue's shoulder, a gun holstered at his hip. But most astonishing of all, was the tall, silver robot that towered over all the humans. He was at least eight feet tall, eyes a terrifying red and his stature so unlike Tony's legionnaire robots that Nadia couldn't help but stare.

'You know, it came at great personal cost. It's worth billions.'

'Now, so are you.' Ultron replied and Nadia took a deep breath at hearing that metallic, menacing voice again. 'It's all under your dummy holdings? Finance is so weird. But I always say, "Keep your friends rich and your enemies rich, and wait to find out which is which."'

There was a long pause before Klaue muttered, 'Stark.'

'What?'

'Tony Stark used to say that...to me. You're one of his.'

'What?! I'm not...!' Ultron grabbed Klaue by the arm in a vicious grip and Nadia tensed. '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 nothing!'

Nadia watched in horror when Ultron brought his huge metal arm down, and it sliced right through the flesh and bone of Klaue's arm. He staggered back, shocked at the sudden pain and loss of his arm, and Ultron hissed in sympathy.

'I'm sorry. I am sor... Ooh, I'm sure that's going to be okay. I'm sorry, it's just I don't understand. Don't compare me with Stark!' Ultron lashed out, kicking Klaue away from him. Nadia glanced to her left, where Natasha was edging along the walkway with her gun in her hand. Suddenly, Ultron cried, 'He's a sickness!'

A mechanical hum filled the air, and Nadia looked back to see Tony in his Iron Man suit land in the middle of the ship, facing off against Ultron.

'Ahh, Junior. You're gonna break your old man's heart.' Tony quipped, his voice altered by his suit. Thor and Steve flanked Tony, both tense and ready.

'If I have to.' Ultron said blandly.

'Nobody has to break anything.' Thor said, his grip tight on Mjolnir.

'Clearly you've never made an omelette.'

'He beat me by one second.' Tony stated. Nadia rolled her eyes.

Pietro Maximoff stepped forwards and Nadia took him in. The twins couldn't be older than seventeen or eighteen, but they looked older in the way children do when the world has worn them down. His hair was a pale blonde on top, but his stubble and roots were brown. Beside him, his sister had dark hair and eyes, wearing a red dress and boots. Power radiated from the both of them, and Nadia rolled her shoulders.

'Ah, this is funny, Mr. Stark.' He said, his accent thick and tone mocking. 'It's what, comfortable? Like old times?'

'This was never my life.' Tony replied sadly.

Steve stepped forwards and addressed the twins, 'You two can still walk away from this.'

'Oh, we will.' Wanda promised.

Steve continued. 'I know you've suffered – '

Ultron interrupted with a derisive groan. 'Ughh. Captain America. God's righteous man, pretending you could live without a war.'

Nadia blinked at the words, her stomach twisting. It was something she herself had wondered many times over; could Steve have a life without fighting?

'I can't physically throw up in my mouth, but...' Ultron mocked.

'If you believe in peace, then let us keep it.' Thor said.

'I think you're confusing peace with quiet.'

'Yuh-huh.' Tony snapped impatiently. 'What's the Vibranium for?'

Nadia swore she saw Ultron smile. 'I'm glad you asked that, because I wanted to take this time to explain my evil plan!'

She watched as a fight broke out below and her heart jumped into her mouth when two of Ultron's robots dropped out of nowhere, engaging with Thor and Steve while Ultron grappled with Tony through the air. Pietro disappeared a blur of movement, and Wanda shot a red beam at Steve, knocking him on his ass.

'Incoming,' Natasha said, just as gunfire echoed through the metal ship. Nadia turned in time to see Klaue's mercenaries baring down on her, guns in their hands. With a swift kick, she send a rush of air towards them, knocking them backwards and back down the corridor. Racing forwards, she hurried to disarm and knock them out before they could get back up.

She turned and raced back towards the walkway, launching herself over the edge and landing on the lower level. Steve and Thor were working like a well-oiled machine to dismember the remaining robots and she saw Clint firing arrows from high above.

Her head tilted to the side as her hair stood up on end. She could sense the movement of Pietro, too fast to see but his footfalls still made an impact on the floor. He was coming towards her and in a blink, she turned and dropped, swinging her leg out so that her heel caught his ankle. She heard him shout in surprise as he tumbled down onto the lower level. Righting herself, Nadia looked around, readying herself for another attack.

Through the comm system, Nadia heard Steve speak. 'Thor! Status?'

Thor replied instantly. 'The girl tried to warp my mind. Take special care, I doubt a human could keep her at bay. Fortunately, I am mighty.'

Nadia rolled her eyes at Thor's boasting, a smile tugging on her lips. She threw one of her knives at one of Ultron's robots, watching as it crashed into the side of the ship with a loud clanging sound as metal met metal. She turned and stopped abruptly, a gasp tearing from her lips as Wanda Maximoff stood before her, a vicious snarl on her face as she moved her hands quickly, and a stream of read light flew directly at Nadia's face.

Nadia recoiled instantly, losing her footing and falling against the wall. Her brain felt fuzzy, her vision blackened and everything went silent around her.

'You're worthless.'

'You're nothing.'

'Freak.'

'Who would want you?'

'You don't belong here.'

The voices of her foster parents, her foster siblings, every teacher and classmate echoed in her head, and she was suddenly six years old again, cowering in the corner of her bedroom, her hands over her ears and tears rolling down her cheeks as her foster siblings beat her with clenched fists.

Then, she was ten, and she stood in the field on the farm she had lived on for two months, the corn field a blazing fire and her foster father clutching his arm as the skin there bubbled with burns and blisters while he screamed at her.

In a blink, she was fifteen and she was huddled at the bus stop, a book on her lap and her lips trembling with cold. She had run away from her last home when she had caught her foster brother climbing into bed with her. The loneliness gripped her heart harder than the hunger in her belly.

Josef appeared and he sneered at her, his handsome face turning dark and ugly. 'You're a monster, Nadia. That's why I never looked for you. Nobody wants you and neither do I.'

Natasha took his place, her beautiful face cold. 'You thought we were friends? That's cute. You're just a weak little girl with no idea how the real world works.'

Steve was next, and Nadia tried to get to him, but however far she ran, he never got any closer. He gave her a pitying look, his blue eyes like ice. 'You will never be enough. You will always be second best…never chosen…alone. I never loved you. You never belonged.'

She watched as beside him, Natasha appeared, then Tony, then Josef, then Bruce and Thor and Clint and Sam. They all turned away from her, disgust on their faces and rejection in their eyes. Fear grabbed her in a vice-like grip, and Nadia felt like she couldn't breathe.

'No don't…' she begged, but they just walked away from her. She tried to run after them, but she couldn't reach them. 'Don't leave me! Come back!'

Gasping, she looked around, and the darkness faded to reveal a blackened battlefield, fires raging and the earth scorched. Buildings stood in ruins, crumbling onto top of the bodies and bones that littered the ground, the entire earth a mass grave, blood flowing like a river around her feet.

'You did this.' The voice whispered. 'You killed them.'

'No.' Nadia shook her head.

'You're a monster. A killer.'

'Stop it.' She cried, covering her ears.

'You destroyed the world. Your powers are too strong.'

'No, no, no! Stop it! Stop it please!'

'Monster. Murderer. You can't save anyone. You can't even save yourself. You are all alone.'

'NO!'

Nadia blinked and vision disappeared. Her whole body was shaking violently, and she was drenched in sweat. Tears rolled down her cheeks and she sat frozen, unable to move, unable to breathe.

Clint's face appeared in her vision and Nadia flinched away from him. 'Hey, hey. It's okay. You're okay. Let's get you out of here.'