Disclaimer – I do not own anything you recognise. The Avengers and the characters therein, belong to Marvel.

Chapter Nineteen

Nadia and Steve had taken a long walk together around the farmstead after their talk. They had both shared their visions, fears and worries that they'd kept buried and felt lighter for it. Ultron had hoped to weaken them and tear them apart by having the witch mess with their minds and while he had succeeded in knocking them down, they were ready to get back up, stronger than ever.

When Nick Fury had shown up, Steve was filled with mixed feelings. While he admired and respected the man, he had a knack of showing up at the most unexpected of times. Laura and Clint hadn't been surprised by his arrival, so perhaps this wasn't his first visit to the Barton home.

Dinner had been a peaceful affair. Nadia had helped Laura prepare the food while the children had set the table. Steve and Clint had brought in extra chairs from the basement and they'd all sat down together to eat. The last time Steve had been in at a sit-down family meal had been Thanksgiving, 1941 at the Barnes household. Bucky's mother had cooked up a small feast, his sisters had bickered over the potatoes and Bucky had given him a large helping of everything.

This meal was similar but different in the same ways. Natasha let Lila talk her ear off about the new bike she'd gotten while Tony and Fury had argued over who got the last dinner roll. Clint and Laura had bent close to each other, talking in whispers while Bruce merely ate his dinner in silence. Clint's son, Cooper, kept staring at Steve with a mixture of trepidation and awe, never saying a word.

After they had eaten, Clint collected and washed the dishes while his children were sent into the living room to amuse themselves under Laura's watchful eye. Fury didn't waste time getting down to business as he made himself a sandwich at the counter.

'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 said grimly.

Steve crossed his arms and leaned against the door, watching as Lila Barton raced around the table to show her Aunty Natasha the picture she had drawn for her. 'What about Ultron himself?'

'Ah. He's easy to track, he's everywhere. Guy's multiplying faster than a Catholic rabbit. Still doesn't help us get an angle on any of his plans though.'

Tony threw his collection of darts at the board on the wall. 'He still going after launch codes?'

'Yes, he is, but he's not making any headway.'

'I cracked the Pentagon's firewall in high school on a dare.' Tony bragged, and Nadia threw Steve an amused look over her shoulder.

'Yeah, well, I contacted our friends at the NEXUS about that.' Fury said, pouring himself a class of iced tea.

Steve frowned, 'NEXUS?'

Bruce piped up from the corner of the room. 'It's the world internet hub in Oslo, every byte of data flows through there. It's the fastest access on earth.'

Clint squinted at the dart in his hand. 'So, what'd they say?'

'He's fixated on the missiles, but the codes are constantly being changed.' Fury replied.

'By whom?' Tony asked and then jerked his head backwards as two darts flew past him and slammed into the bullseye. Steve grinned at the annoyed look on his face, and the smug, lazy shrug that Clint offered in reply.

'Parties unknown.' Fury said.

Natasha looked up. 'We have an ally?'

'Ultron's got an enemy, that's not the same thing.' Fury pointed out. 'Still, I'd pay folding money to know who it is.'

Tony braced his hands on the doorway. 'I might need to visit Oslo, find our "unknown."'

Natasha sighed and shook her head, looking as dismayed as Steve felt. 'Well, this is good times, boss, but I was kind of hoping when I saw you, you'd have more than that.'

Fury gestured to the various Avengers scattered around the room. 'I do, I have you. Back in the day, I had eyes everywhere, ears everywhere else. Here we all are, back on earth, with nothing but our wit, and our will to save the world. So stand. Outwit the platinum bastard.'

'Steve doesn't like that kind of talk.' Natasha replied smartly and Nadia choked on her tea.

Steve grumbled good naturedly. 'You know what, Romanoff?'

Natasha smiled mischievously at him which took the sting out of the jibe.

'So, what does he want?' Fury prodded and there was a beat of silence around the room.

'To become better.' Steve answered eventually. 'Better than us. He keeps building bodies.'

'Person bodies.' Tony added. 'The human form is inefficient, biologically speaking, we're outmoded. But he keeps coming back to it.'

Natasha looked between Bruce and Tony and snarked, 'When you two programmed him to protect the human race, you amazingly failed.'

Bruce looked up from the picture of a butterfly that Lila had drawn and was now staring at Nadia. 'They don't need to be protected, they need to evolve. Ultron's going to evolve.'

'How?' Fury asked.

'Has anyone been in contact with Helen Cho?'

Nadia frowned deeply. 'You think he would use the regeneration cradle to create a new body?'

'The vibranium.' Tony supplied, looking at Fury. 'You said that you think it could be for more than one thing.'

'But the regeneration cradle prints tissue, right?' Steve wondered aloud, recalling what Nadia had told him about the project. 'Could it build a living body?'

'The uses for Vibranium are unknown because the metal is so rare.' Nadia replied. 'The next step of the project was to see if it could build other parts of the body, not just tissue, such as bone and muscle. Theoretically it's possible but we hadn't even begun to work on it.'

'Ultron has access to our notes.' Bruce reminded her. 'If anyone could figure it out, it'd be him.'

'He's been researching you too, Doc.' Fury added. Steve's gaze narrowed on the retired director and Nadia cocked her head. 'It makes sense if he is interested in evolving past the normal human body. Your genes are the next step for humanity and it's all the evidence that Ultron needs to confirm his theory that under the right circumstances, humans can change.'

'That's why he was so interested? Because Nadia represents all his hopes?' Natasha wondered aloud.

Steve felt suddenly protective of his girlfriend, moving forward and putting his hands on the back of her chair, hovering over Nadia as she sat. 'You think he'll come after her?'

'No.' It was Tony who replied. 'He knows that she could take him with one hand tied behind her back. He'll avoid her at all costs probably.'

'Not to mention she embodies his philosophy about humanity needing to evolve. He won't hurt her – he's fascinated by her.' Bruce added.

'Well,' Nadia said, getting to her feet and feeling uncomfortable. 'We should probably get moving. Ultron's probably already in Korea with Doctor Cho and we need to stop him from creating another body.'

'Suit up.' Steve ordered. There was a sudden flurry of activity as they all rushed about. Steve unzipped the hoodie he had donned and redressed in the top part of his suit quickly. Nadia sidled up to him and took his hand in hers, her suit slung over her shoulder.

'I'm going to go with Bruce to the Tower. He's going to need help with dismantling the cradle and we'll have to do it quickly.'

Steve didn't like the idea of being separated from her, not after what Bruce had revealed about Ultron's captivation with her, but he saw the wisdom in her words. 'You be careful, yeah?'

Nadia snorted, eyes sparkling. 'The man with the lowest sense of self-preservation on the planet is telling me to be careful. That's rich.'

He rolled his eyes and pulled her close, wrapping his arms around her. 'Smartass.'

'You love my smart ass.' She retorted.

'I do.' He mumbled into the crown of her head. After too short an embrace, he stepped away from her, straightening his shoulders. 'I'll see you back at the tower soon.'

Nadia rocked up onto her toes and pressed a kiss to his lips, one that was both farewell and a promise. 'Be careful. You still owe me a trip to Paris.'

Before he could say anything witty in reply, she'd slipped from his arms and out of the house. Shaking his head in amusement, he turned towards the couch and picked up his shield. Cooper had been playing with it earlier, and Steve would be the first to admit that seeing the little boy running around the backyard with it on his arm while pretending to fight off aliens was adorable.

Tony stepped into the room, slipping his phone into his breast jacket pocket as he did so. Steve addressed him as he slid his shield onto his back. 'I'll take Natasha and Clint.'

Tony nodded. 'Alright, strictly recon. I'll hit the NEXUS, I'll join you as soon as I can.'

Steve hesitated. 'If Ultron is really building a body...'

'He'll be more powerful than any of us. Maybe all of us. An android designed by a robot.'

Steve sighed. 'You know I really miss the days when the weirdest thing science ever created was me.'

Fury joined them like a ghost emerging from shadow, his footsteps making no sound. 'I'll drop Banner off at the tower. Do you mind if I borrow Ms. Hill?

'She's all yours, apparently.' Tony quipped. Fury shot him a look with a raised eyebrow. 'What are you gonna do?'

'I don't know. Something dramatic, I hope.' He drawled in reply.

'Nadia is going with Bruce to prep things at the tower.' He told Fury, who nodded and strode from the house. Steve then turned to Tony and observed the older man. While he regretted some of the things he had said earlier, he had been speaking the truth. They were in this mess because of Tony and as a result, a crazy robot had a weird as hell crush on his girlfriend and was preparing to wipe human life from the face of the earth.

'Good hunting, Rogers.'

'Take care Stark.'

X

Nadia stood with Bruce and Tony as Clint landed the quinjet in the Tower. Anxiety permeated every nerve in her body at what had transpired, but also the task in front of her. Natasha was missing, taken during the seizure of the regeneration cradle. The Maximoff twins had been spotted at the scene and Steve wasn't responding to her calls. Now she had to figure out a way to dismantle this new body, this new weapon that Ultron had designed before he could recapture it.

Clint powered down the jet and lowered the ramp. Bruce and Tony both hurried aboard, examining the cradle while she barely listened. Clint braced his hands on his hips, looking devasted as he hunched under the weight of his guilt at losing Natasha. Nadia placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, squeezing a little. His own hand came up to cover hers and he sent her a grateful smile that looked more like a grimace. Neither of them said anything but the look that passed between them was enough. They agreed – they would get Natasha back.

The four of them carefully moved the cradle into Tony's laboratory and Nadia rolled up the sleeves of the cardigan the Laura Barton had leant her. Feeling indebted to the woman, before dinner the previous day Nadia had performed a check up on both expectant mother and baby. Laura had explained the due to the secrecy they lived in for their own protection, getting to see an OBGY-N was next to impossible. Nadia had delivered dozens of babies in her time as a doctor and had offered her services and support if the Barton's ever needed her. Laura had squeezed the young woman into her arms in a motherly hug and had accepted Nadia's offer of on-call medical care.

Picking up the nearby tablet, Nadia scanned the cradle and uploaded the information to their new database. Clint perched on top of the cradle and began trying to pry it open, both with his hands and a crowbar.

'Anything on Nat?' Bruce asked as Tony joined them in the lab.

Tony shook his head. 'Haven't heard. But she's alive, or Ultron'd be rubbing our faces in it.'

Clint grunted in annoyance as he dropped down from on top of the cradle. 'This is sealed tight.'

'We're going to need to access the program, break it down from within.' Bruce explained, unsurprised that they couldn't open it.

'I've already started working on a plan for that.' Nadia added, and Bruce nodded, taking up his position behind the computer.

'Hm.' Tony turned to Clint, 'Any chance Natasha might leave you a message, outside the internet, old school spy stuff?'

'There's some nets I can cast.' Clint said, turning towards the staircase. 'Yeah, alright. I'll find her.'

'Clint!' Nadia called, fishing around in her pocket before producing a cell phone. She tossed it to him, and he caught it deftly. 'There's a number in that phone that may be able to help.'

Clint nodded and tapped the phone against his palm, disappearing to the lower levels to get to work. Nadia turned back towards the others.

Bruce turned to the cradle and began tapping on the datapad that was nestled there. 'We can work on tissue degeneration, if you can fry whatever operational system Cho implanted.' He said, addressing Tony.

Tony scratched the back of his head, his face twisting in hesitation. 'Yeah, about that.'

Both Bruce and Nadia looked at Tony in surprise. While Nadia was trying to figure out what Tony intended, it seemed that Bruce was already there.

'No.'

Tony advanced towards Bruce, who spread his hands defensively and backed up. 'You have to trust me.'

'Kinda don't.'

'I'm lost.' Nadia admitted, watching the two of them.

'Our ally? The guy protecting the military's nuclear codes?' Tony said, taking out the small tablet from his pocket and flicking his wrist. 'I found him.'

A 3D holographic image of JARVIS's consciousness appeared in the empty space of the room. Nadia's eyes widened.

'Hello, Doctor Banner, Doctor Paolera.' JARVIS greeted cordially.

'Ultron didn't go after JARVIS cause he was angry.' Tony continued passionately. 'He attacked him because he was scared of what he can do. So JARVIS went underground. Okay? Scattered, dumped his memory. But not his protocols. He didn't even know he was in there, until I pieced him together.'

Bruce exhaled loudly through his nose, shaking his head and looking dubious. 'So, you want me to help you put JARVIS into this thing?' he asked, tapping the top of the cradle.

'Wait, what?!' Nadia cried, horrified at the notion.

Tony ignored her outburst. 'No, of course not! I want to help you put JARVIS in this thing. Bruce shook his head again. 'We're out of my field here. You know bio-organics better than anyone.'

'And you just assume that JARVIS' operational matrix can beat Ultron's?' Bruce asked dubiously.

'JARVIS has been beating him from inside without knowing it. This is the opportunity, we can create Ultron's perfect self, without the homicidal glitches he thinks are his winning personality. We have to.'

Nadia gaped at the two men in front of her, unable to believe that this conversation was actually happening.

'I believe it's worth a go.' JARVIS added.

'No, I'm in a loop! I'm caught in a time loop, this is exactly where it all went wrong.' Bruce cried, looking desperate for Tony to understand him.

Tony nodded placatingly. 'I know, I know. I know what everyone's going to say, but they're already saying it.' Tony clapped a hand onto Bruce's shoulder and squeezed tightly. 'We're mad scientists. We're monsters, buddy. You gotta own it. Make a stand.'

Still, Bruce hesitated, and Tony added in a last-ditch effort to convince him. 'It's not a loop. It's the end of the line.'

Bruce met Tony's serious, earnest gaze and something seemed to pass between the two because after a beat, Bruce nodded with a defeated sigh. Nadia's eyes widened in incredulity at what had just transpired.

'Are you two actually fucking crazy?' She demanded harshly. Both turned towards her, surprised, as if they had forgotten she was there. 'First, you two build a robot designed to protect the world using unknown alien technology, which then goes incredibly badly as that robot decides that the best thing for the planet is widespread destruction of humanity. And now, as we fight to defeat this threat that you two created, you want to make another robot, only this time one that is made from an indestructible material and has the gem from Loki's sceptre plastered to its forehead. Or am I mistaken?'

'Doc…' Tony started towards her, but she held up a hand, literally shaking with rage and disbelief.

'I know that when you created Ultron you were trying to do the right thing, trying to do something good. But this…this is just madness. You're trying to defeat a monster by creating another monster!'

'We would implant JARVIS's protocols to this android.' Tony explained patiently. 'It wouldn't be another Ultron – '

'You hope!' Nadia interrupted. 'You hope it wouldn't be another Ultron!'

'It's worth a try, Nadia.' Bruce said softly. Nadia whipped her gaze between the two men in front of her.

'I won't let you do it.' She declared finally. 'This is a mistake and you know it.'

Tony cocked his head to the side, eyeing her with a calculating look in his eye. 'And how do you plan to stop us?'

'I'll destroy it.' She said firmly, jerking her head towards the cradle. 'Here and now. You know I can.'

Bruce was edging around the cradle, coming up on her other side and Nadia tensed, feeling caged in.

'You're bluffing.' He said finally. 'You wouldn't risk hurting the other innocent people in the building to destroy it.'

Nadia whipped around to pin him with an icy glare. 'That's rich, considering you two have built a robot that is hell bent on wiping out every single person on the planet and as a result dozens of people have already been hurt or killed. You want to lecture me on hurting innocent people?'

Bruce lowered his gaze.

'We're trying to fix this, Nadia.' Tony insisted, coming to stand in front of her. 'You don't have to help, but you can't stop us.'

'Watch me.'

It happened so quickly. In the space of three seconds, Tony whipped up a needle that he'd hidden in his sleeve and jabbed it into Nadia's neck, pushing the plunger down. She yelped in pain, clapping a hand to her neck and shooting a hateful glare at a man she considered her friend before her vision went hazy and she slumped to the floor, unconscious.