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Quinjet for Sokovia, April 2015

Loki's scepter had been found in Eastern Europe, in Sokovia. I was not going home for another few days.

"Let's recap one last time." We were all on the quinjet. I was twirling a katana handle in my hand as Steve was standing between all of us, the jet on autopilot. "Stark, your main job is to locate the Scepter. We make our ways through HYDRA and you take off to take care of that as soon as you can while we deal with the troops. Romanoff and Barton will mainly take care of men on foot. Thor, you take care of vehicles and anything your thunder is more suited to deal with. Carter, you're with me. We must find Strucker and give him to NATO. Do we all agree?" I nodded alongside the others.

The rest of the ride was relatively silent and the quinjet landed. Tony had given me an upgrade in my suit. It had been reinforced and was now bulletproof around any vital area. On my left wrist, I had a 'pocket'. I needed to unzip it and lower the fabric to have sample of different material so that I could pick the most appropriate one in battle.

I turned on my earpiece, the others waiting for my signal.

"Guards bored on watch duty straight ahead, approximately a kilometer and a half ahead of us. We've got a lot more company after that, it's all over the place. They have...chitauri weapons?"

"Avengers!" Steve declared loudly. I touched Steve's shield and hopped on the black platform I made before joining Tony above the ground.

In one ear I had my special earpiece. In the other, I had one to communicate with the others.

"They've got cars!" I announced before I saw people in the air. As I had one hand down to focus on my own personal vehicle, I stretched out the other to rip off their jet packs, making them crash on the ground for my teammates to deal with.

I dived down when we slipped between two watch towers to dodge a blast of energy before going up once more.

I turned my head to the left when I spotted two tanks.

"Hulk, I'm going to send you to two lovely gifts." I lifted the green giant, although I still had some difficulty with that, and sent him to the two tanks. The platform now gone because I focused solely on Hulk, he grabbed me on the way and I held onto his neck as he destroyed the two tanks.

I touched the sample of titanium on my sleeve and made myself another platform I jumped on to go back to work.

"Shit!" Tony cursed as I saw a blue force field around the base.

"Language!" Steve scolded him.

I flew toward the base, trying to find Strucker.

"JARVIS, what's the view upstairs?"

"The central building is protected by some kind of energy shield. Strucker's technology is well beyond any other HYDRA base we've taken." I saw HYDRA agents going toward Natasha and Clint. I stole all of their guns and Thor destroyed them with a blast of lightning a second after.

"Loki's scepter must be here! Strucker couldn't mount this defense without it!" Thor told us, certain of what he was saying. "At long last."

"At long last is lasting a little long boys."

"Yeah, I think we lost the element of surprise," Clint added. I flew behind a guy in a tank, ready to shoot Cap from behind. I grabbed a katana handle, made a blade and stabbed him in the chest before turning the canon and making it shoot the car behind us. I flew higher.

"Depends on how we get rid of them," I commented.

"Wait, so no one is going to deal with the fact Cap just said 'Language'?"

"I know." Then, I saw him throw his bike to a car. He sighed as I flew toward him. "It slipped out." He looked up at me.

"Need a ride?"

"You found something?"

"A bunch of people inside the base, toward the east. It's panic inside, but there's one saying he's going to surrender and we can't get our hands on their toys." He nodded and I made the platform disappear.

I landed smoothly in the snow.

"It must be Strucker. Everybody heard that?"

"Go for it you two, we'll handle things here," Thor replied. I frowned and raised a hand on my right ear. Steve noticed it.

"Addison, you have something else?"

"It's...it's very fast. Too fast to understand what they're thinking, probably an Enhanced."

"Just saw that," Clint groaned.

It was coming toward us. I touched the sample of rubber and made a panel in the air. The guy, a blur of blue and silver, moved to the right. I spun around, the black matter following my hand. The guy kept escaping it but I slowed him down.

It was enough for Cap to hit him and send him in a tree. However, before any of us could do anything, he was already far away.

"Clint's hit guys," Natasha told us. I had my two katana handles in my hand, black blades ready.

I threw the first one at one man, who fell dead. I ran to catch my katana and slowed down the blast coming my way, enough to dodge it. I kicked the man in the face. Thor landed near us quickly and Steve and him destroyed a tank.

"You three, secure the Scepter. I'll take Barton to the quinjet," the demi-god told us before flying off.

"And for God's sake watch your language!" I smirked while Steve was almost sulking.

"It's not going away anytime soon, is it?"

"Already making Avengers merch Cap," I teased him. He glared halfheartedly at me and I made myself another platform. Steve climbed up next to me and we were in the air. A few minutes later, we were diving toward an entrance. "He's right there." We jumped down and my platform vanished.

"We're locked down out here," Widow said.

"Good, then it's time for Banner to have a lullaby," Steve ordered her. I took the lead going deeper in the building. I would knock men out against the walls with flicks of my hands.

We reached a lobby and Strucker was there.

"Baron Strucker," Steve greeted him, walking around him on one side as I did the same on the other side. "HYDRA's number one thug."

"Technically I am a thug for SHIELD."

"Then you're unemployed moron," I reminded him sharply, folding my arms.

"Where's Loki's scepter?" I frowned and looked around. Steve noticed it.

"Don't worry, I know when I'm beat. You'll notice how I cooperated I hope."

"I'll put it right under 'illegal human experimentation'." Strucker didn't seem fazed at all. "How many are there?"

I stopped the girl about to send me in a wall. She widened her eyes in shock and I smirked at her.

"Rookie." On this note, I sent her in the hallway we came from, keeping her on the floor, her hands immobilized. Her eyes were glowing red.

However, she disappeared and the door was shut.

"Second Enhanced, female. Do not engage," Steve told the others before looking at Strucker. He opened his mouth but I used the handle of my katana to knock him out, hitting him behind the head.

"We have Strucker down," I added after him. "Tony, where you at?"

"I...have something bigger."

"If you have the Scepter, then we all go to the quinjet." I lifted Strucker from the floor and followed Steve outside.

We met NATO agents not far from where we were. We handed them Strucker and headed to the quinjet. Clint was laying down, his side covered in gauze.

"Strucker is with NATO," Steve informed them. We were waiting on Tony only. I inched closer to Clint.

"Still alive old man?" He grinned through the pain.

"Give me some credit here Addison." I grinned back.

"Doctor Cho fixed me up pretty well, she'll do the same for you. Just hang on until we are at the Tower." Steve moved the IV closer to him as the sound of metal landing caught my attention.

"Mission complete," Tony announced, the Scepter in his hand.

It was a beautiful object but as I took a few steps closer to look at it, I dropped on my knees, my hands on my ears.

"Addison?" Tony called me, crouching in front of me.

"I can hear all of you way too loud!" I almost yelled.

"Loki's scepter can mind control people, it must be messing up with her telepathy," Thor suggested.

Natasha picked up my music player and headphones. She removed what I had in my ears and replaced them with the headphones, blasting music very loud in my ear. I shot her grateful glance and went to sit down on Clint's left, trying to be as far as possible from the Scepter.

The highlight on the journey back to NYC was Thor trying to reassure Doc after saying his victims were screaming in hell or something. JARVIS was landing the plane when I got up, ready to leave the jet. I kicked Steve in the butt to make him look up to me.

"I'm going to stay alone for a few hours to get the telepathy under control," I informed him. He nodded.

I followed Clint as he was being transported to the medical bay and went to my room. I removed the music but could still hear almost everyone in this tower. However, it was a lot quieter, pretty much like when you used TV as a background sound.

I texted James, saying I had not been shot this time. He replied quickly with a 'So you can learn?'.

Bastard.

"Thanks for the invite kid, but it's way bigger than I imagined," Logan told me as we were walking toward the party.

I was wearing an olive loose blouse with a little bit of cleavage and beige high-waisted pants with a knot on the right side. I completed the look with short black heels, my long wavy brown hair in a braid on my right shoulder. I was wearing a little bit of makeup, mascara and a nude lipstick, to finish the attire.

"Well, you did say once Grandma asked you to look after me so might as well show you my workplace you know," I replied. "But we agree, not a word about my roommate."

"You've said it like ten times already, I understand. Where's the booze?"

"Surprisingly, at the bar."

He ordered a whiskey on the rock and I went for a cherry soda. Of course, I was the one making him his drink.

"By the way, recently a new mutant appeared on our radar. He goes by the name of Deadpool and has been going after a lot of folks in New York." I gave him his glass. "Colossus tried to recruit him but he turned him down."

"Deadpool?" I repeated.

It had to be Wade.

"There's still work to do on the suit." He took a sip of his drink. "Did Wilson tell you anything?"

"Not really. I knew he had some unfinished business with some people but...it's Wade, I should have known he'd go to all of them. Did he leave a lot of corpses?"

"Quite a few. He doesn't really care whether or not he's seen either so at some point, he will attract unwanted attention."

"And people can't make the difference between a mutant and a mutate. It's sad."

"Look who's here." Logan and I looked at Tony. "Logan."

"Stark." He showed the room filled with people. "Nice party."

"Thanks. How's the Institute?" He looked at me. "Give me a drink with soda."

"I'm not a...whatever..."

"It's fine. Xavier wanted me to thank you for the donations."

"Donations?" I repeated, dumbfounded as I added coke to the whiskey.

"Stark's been making donations for years kid." I blinked in surprise at my godfather.

"What? It's the one place so far who can teach mutant kids how to use their powers, the regular curriculum and how not to join the dark side. If anything, I'd like more places like this. Only one is not enough."

"True," Logan agreed as he turned around. "I seriously wonder how long it will take Rogers to recognize me."

"War pal?" Tony inquired, which got him a nod. "Cap's busy with Wilson at the pool table." Logan grabbed his drink.

"I'll show them how to play." He left us.

"So, you're done playing with the Scepter?"

"Yes, we didn't get anything really done so it's disappointing," he informed me. I sat down next to him on the other side of the bar. "Nice outfit by the way, very adult."

"I'm twenty-five in August you know." He made a face.

"No need to remind me, it makes me feel old." I chuckled.

We kept talking and Thor ended up joining us, then Rhodey, who slapped me on the back as a form of greeting, and Maria.

"But the suit can take the weight right?" Rhodey asked rhetorically as he grabbed his drink from the bartender, finally here. "So I take the tank, fly it right up to the general's palace, drop it at his feet. I'm like 'Boom, you looking for this?'." Rhodey smiled proud of his story and I chuckled to it behind my drink. Thor and Tony were unfazed. "'Boom, are you looking for...' Why am I even talking to you guys? Everywhere else this story kills. See!" He pointed at me, who was still smiling.

"That was the whole story?" Thor asked him sheepishly.

"Yes, it's a War Machine story."

"Oh it's very good then!" He laughed for good measure before drinking his beer. "It's impressive." I slapped Thor on his shoulder when I left them.

"Nice try," I whispered to him.

I climbed up the stairs to have a good look of the party, my drink in hand. The party was fine but there were too much people to my liking. I spotted Logan with Steve and Thor, drinks in their hands. Sam was back at the pool table and I decided to join him.

"Mind if I join?" He showed me the table with his hand.

"My lady." I smirked and accepted the stick.

A couple of hours later, people started to leave. Only the Avengers, Rhodey, Cho and Hill were still there. They were all talking about Thor's hammer, how the whole 'worthy' aspect of Mjølnir was bullshit. I removed my shoes and crossed my legs on the couch.

Clint tried to lift the hammer and failed.

Tony and Rhodey tried. Failed.

Doc tried. Failed.

I made a black rope and tried to move it to me. I tried telekinesis. Both failures.

Steve then got up to try. I connected to Thor's mind. Steve tried to pull the hammer and Thor freaked out in his mind. I shot him a look as now, there was no Captain America on the couch between us. He seemed slightly scared and I snickered to myself. He heard me, shot me a quick glance and laughed his discomfort off when Steve managed ton only budge but not lift the hammer up.

Cap sat back down between us and all eyes were on Natasha.

"Oh that's not a question I need an answer to," she told us, bringing her beer to her lips.

"All deference to the Man Who Would Not Be King, but it's rigged."

"You bet your ass," Clint added, giving Tony a friendly slap on the shoulder.

"Steve, he said a bad language word," Maria said.

"You told everyone?" an annoyed Steve asked him. Tony ignored him and I snickered, Steve pushing me down the couch with his hand.

Ultimately, Thor said none of us were worthy, to which everyone scoffed until an ultrasound appeared out of nowhere. I plugged my ears.

"Worrrtthhyyy..." a mechanical and sinister voice trailed off at the entrance of the room. We all looked toward it and I got up. There was...an Iron Legion robot, but it was far from being finished. "No, how could you be worthy? You're all killers."

"Stark.

"JARVIS."

"Sorry I was asleep...I had to kill the other guy."

"You killed someone?" Steve asked him and the robot kept talking.

Everything turned into a big ugly mess. Other suits came out of the room downstairs and Steve threw the coffee table to them to stop them. Eventually, the table was sent back to him, and me who was next to him. I groaned in pain and was barely up in time to keep Rhodey from going through a window. I made him slide toward me instead, stopped the suit coming for him and ripped it in four with telekinesis. I climbed up the stairs, making a metal shield in my back to protect me, and once upstairs with a good visual of the scene, I started returning the shots to the bots.

After a couple of minutes, only one remained. The first one. Thor shut it up by throwing his hammer at it. In his defense, a robot saying the solution to peace was the Avengers' extinction was not very nice to the ear.

"The scepter," Doc mumbled. Thor was spinning his hammer in his hand and I yanked Steve's shield from his hand to jump on it.

I followed the God of Thunder, clenching the edge of the shield tightly without looking down. I was very high in the air and going as fast as I could, even if Thor was far in front of me.

The trail went cold dozens of miles away from the tower. I stopped on the top of a building and noticed my feet were covered in blood. I gave them a look and noticed several pieces of glass stuck in my flesh. The fresh night wind made me shiver and Thor landed next to me.

"We lost it. I don't know what he's...it's planning to do with the Scepter but..." Thor was rightfully concerned and slipped an arm around my waist. I put the shield on my arm and Thor was getting us back to the Tower.

He dropped me near the infirmary and I grabbed what I needed and took care of my bleeding feet. I used Steve's shield, I wiped off the blood I left on it, as a vehicle to join the others. The tension was suffocating.

Then, Tony started chuckling. Doc was shaking his head to him but Tony kept chuckling.

"You think this is funny?" Thor asked him, almost daring him to say yes.

"No." He turned around, looking around the room. "It's probably not, right? Is it so...it's terrible, right?"

"This could have been avoided if you had not played with something you do not understand." Point to Thor on this one.

"No, no I'm sorry. I'm sorry. This is funny." Tony walked up to Thor. Boy, I didn't like where this was going. "It's a hoot that you don't get why we need this."

"Tony, maybe this is not the right time."

"Really, that's it?" he replied, turning around to face Doc. "You just roll over and show your belly every time somebody snarls?."

"Only when I created a murder bot," Banner retorted.

"We didn't, we weren't even close. Were we close to an interface?"

"Well you did something right. And you did it right there." Steve inched closer to Tony. "The Avengers were supposed to be different than SHIELD." As Tony started ranting about NYC, I couldn't help a shiver of fright.

On one hand, he was right. We were awfully unprepared for whatever was in space. On the other hand...he shouldn't have acted alone.

"That's the endgame. How were you guys planning on beating that?"

"Together." Tony stared hard at Steve and took a step closer.

"We'll lose," he stated as a matter of fact. After a pause, Steve replied.

"Then we'll do that together, too." I got down the shield as Steve started telling us what we needed to do. He took it and inspected it. "I thought I said it was not a way of transportation."

"It's not going to vanish in a moment of inattention," I shot back with a shrug. He glanced at my feet. "Adrenaline, I realized I was bleeding outside."

"That's why you don't walk around bare foot."

"Sorry, heels aren't the most practical shoes to fight in." The team started to disperse but Tony didn't move, he was just toying with something on the desk.

I slapped Steve on the shoulder.

"Come on Cap, get some rest. If the leader is too tired to make any decision, this Ultron won't have to do much to succeed," I told him, shooting my godfather a glance. He noticed it and nodded.

"Get some rest as well, keeping up with Thor in the air is not the same as walking around the block."

"Yes Captain." He left the room and I folded my arms, leaning against the table. Tony sighed.

"Do you have something to add?"

"When we were not on speaking term, before I left with Aksel, I read your mind. It was brief, it was a reflex, but I heard the name 'Ultron'." He leaned on the desk, his head low. "I should have asked about it after London."

"No offense, but I wouldn't have listened to you."

"I would have listened to you," I replied calmly. He turned around, ready to say something but didn't. I had a soft smile on my lips.

"I told you not to imitate Vicky like that."

"I can't help it, I'm her daughter." I took a step toward him. "More seriously, when we had that meeting about getting the Scepter back, did you think about using it?"

"Not really no, that thing did enough damage the first time," he admitted with a sigh.

"Then something happened in Sokovia." He took in a sharp breath.

"I don't like it when you read my mind, I thought you knew that."

"I don't need to read your thoughts to know something happened. The team may only see Iron Man or the billionaire who decided to protect the world, but I see the man who didn't know how to handle me but did his best." I exhaled slowly. "Point is, whatever it is that happened in Sokovia, it pushed you to think the Scepter was the solution."

"You were all dead," he admitted before falling on the stool. He looked briefly at the ceiling before running his hands on his face. "And there was this wormhole above, and chitauris and...and then Cap said I could have saved them all before he died." I pursed my lips and moved closer to him so that I slipped my arms around his neck.

"We're under-prepared for whatever there is in space we don't know anything about. Thor's the only one who knows about space, so he's the one we need to go to about things like this."

"So that we can lose together?" he replied sarcastically, repeating what Steve had told him. "You've got to be kidding me..."

"Flying solo will only make you distance yourself from the others, I know that." I patted his shoulders. "I'll look through all of the papers there are in that Tower tomorrow."

I left for my room, my feet aching each time they'd touch the floor. The one thing we all had in common in that team was that we didn't really talk about personal stuff. We...I think we were all scared that if we got too personal, we might be put aside even if there was something almost vital drawing us to the Avengers.

I looked up at the team, two boxes in the air.

"Everything on Strucker guys, you're welcome. My personal favorite," I said, getting up and dusting my pants, several other boxes of files opened behind me, "Is about a black market arm dealer named Ulysses Klaue. He tried to kill the king of Wakanda years ago." Tony and Steve exchanged a look and we went to the center of the room.

"The king of Wakanda?" Steve repeated, looking at me when I stopped next to Thor, who was staring at a picture.

"Yeah, if Ultron contacts the guy because of this..."

"There's a mark on his neck," the demi-god noted.

"Why is a third-world country an issue?" Clint asked.

Yeah right, third-world country.

"It means 'thief' in worst terms in Wakanda," Doc said.

"You bet they would brand him like that." They all looked at me, even if Tony and Steve knew the same thing as I did. "It may be a third-world country, but the country produces vibranium."

"Wait, if Ultron uses vibranium to, let's say, make himself a new body..." Natasha trailed off with a grave look on her face.

"Where's this guy now?" Steve wondered out loud.

"Let's check South Africa first, he used to operate there back in the days." Steve shot Tony a reprimanding look. My godfather almost rolled his eyes. "There are conventions, you meet people. I didn't sell him anything."

I was expecting him to ask JARVIS to look for Klaue, and almost asked him myself before remembering there was no JARVIS anymore.

There was a pang at my heart to that. I didn't visit Tony often before, but JARVIS had been here for as long as I could remember. It was like losing a human being. It hurt.

A couple of hours later, we discovered Klaue was in a Salvage Yard on the African Coast, on board of a ship called Churchill. The Maximoff twins were with Ultron apparently.

"Guys, suit up," Cap said with authority.

I was not going home until Ultron was dealt with.

Thank you all for reading! Don't hesitate to leave a review! Thanks to LunarFairyPrincess1989for the review!

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