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Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel. I own Addison Carter.

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I woke up with a gasp, falling from the seats to the floor. I looked around in panic, gasping for air. I grabbed my neck, still feeling the coolness of the metal fingers.

"Hey, hey Addison, look at me!" I settled a panicked gaze on Clint. "You're on the quinjet with me, you're safe. The cradle's with us."

"Wha..." I started with a hoarse voice. I coughed some more, my throat hurting.

"Ultron strangled you pretty hard for some time, keep the talking to a minimum." I swallowed, this simple action hurting as well, but nodded. I looked around us, noticing there were only us and the cradle.

I pointed at him, then me, then around us.

"The others?" I nodded and he pursed his lips, a worried glint in his eyes. "Cap's behind in Seoul, he ordered me to leave as soon as I had you. Nat...I saw Ultron coming toward us with you, Natasha managed to get the cradle on board. But he dropped you and snatched her God knows where." I sighed, running a hand on my face.

I blinked and frowned. Shouldn't I have died from the impact against the water? I touched the floor and worded my thoughts on the floor.

"You don't remember?" I raised a brow. "He threw you and you made half of a cocoon to protect yourself from the impact. You passed out once on the surface, you must have used telekinesis instinctively when you felt your life was in danger." I nodded weakly. He grabbed my shoulder firmly with a concerned look. "You're gonna be okay?" I nodded more vigorously. "Don't start thinking about 'what if' scenarios, Ultron is physically stronger than Steve, your first reflex was totally normal."

"Nat..." I mumbled weakly, my nails digging in my thighs. My hair was still damped.

"Nat is tough you know, she will handle it until we locate her." I bit my bottom lip.

With one last look, Clint went back to pilot the jet. I didn't need to read his mind to know he wanted to reassure himself as well.

When we landed, Tony was there and he made sure the cradle would reach his lab, sending a look my direction. I followed Doc to the infirmary and let him examine me.

"Does it hurt to talk, swallow?" I nodded. "You have bruises developing already. Clint mentioned you coughed out a little bit of blood, Ultron must have snapped a blood vessel. Well, you have bruises so of course blood vessels popped already. You...he dragged you in the air by the throat?" I nodded again and he furrowed his brows. "On the physical aspect, it's nothing that won't heal on its own. I can give you painkillers but other than that, your body will take care of it. However...it is quite traumatizing what just happened, you might have sequels later. I think you should stay with us a while longer before going home after this whole ordeal is finished. You know, to remind you you're safe." I took a deep breath and nodded once more.

I took a needed shower and put on sweatpants, snickers and an over-sized hoodie, a big 'Tony Stark approved of this choice of clothing' written on it. I slipped the hood on and hugged myself, rubbing my arms to keep me warm as I went to the lab. They seemed to be actively working.

"Hey Addie," Tony greeted me, looking at me up and down. "Feeling a little bit better?" I shrugged and put a hand on the cradle.

There was...something I could read if I wanted to. I could not read Ultron, he was not human, but this...this thing…

"Addie." I looked up at my godfather. "Read my mind."

I did and narrowed my eyes when he explained his plan to me. On one hand, I didn't want another Ultron. However...putting JARVIS in that thing…

There was a powerful thing in that cradle anyway, something similar to what was in London. There was...something in my mind almost screaming at me to let them do what they wanted. That thing needed a guardian.

But again, what if the guardian turned against us? What if we were giving a powerful weapon to an enemy?

"The...team..." I rasped as I could, grimacing at the pain in my throat.

"We don't have the time." I looked at Doc, who was at a loss of words.

"I...I think it's worth a shot." I licked my dry lips, the different scenarios playing in my mind.

"That...thing...the gem..." I coughed and accepted the pen and paper Tony gave me. I wrote down what I wanted to say.

"'The gem is not from this planet, it's the same kind of power there was in London. If your new bot turns against us with that thing, we're all doomed.'" Tony read. "We can't beat Ultron right now though, what choice do we have?" I dropped my shoulders, a lump in my throat.

I sat down on a step of the stairs, settling for watching them.

Of course, after a while, Steve appeared, in all his Captain America glory. He was with the twins.

"I'm gonna say it once."

"How about 'no-once'?"

"Shut it down."

"You don't know what you're doing." I rubbed my forehead as they started to fight.

I lost it when Pietro ran around, unplugging everything and Tony and Steve started to fight. I got up, touching the step and immobilized all of them.

"Addison, let go," Steve ordered me through gritted teeth.

"Thor," I replied weakly. "Thor...knows more...coming..." Indeed, Thor appeared out of nowhere on the cradle. He gathered lightning in his hammer and completed the process.

The cradle blew up and sent him away. I stopped him before he crashed in the window and set him on the floor. The others were released from their restrains. A humanoid came out of the craddle, slowly standing up. I could feel the stone in him, but unlike when it was in the Scepter, when it was untamed, it didn't impact my powers. It looked around…

And attacked Thor. Of course, the God of Thunder grabbed him and threw him in two windows behind him. The...humanoid stopped before he went through the window leading to the city and looked at it. I ran up to Thor and he made a move to stop me, doing the same for Steve. We all gathered in front of the new being, who was materializing a suit out of thin air.

"Sorry, that was...odd." He looked at Thor. "Thank you." Thor sighed. A cape appeared.

"Thor," Steve called him, "you helped create this thing?"

"I've had a vision." Thor pointed a finger at me. "You were completely right about the Scepter Addison." I took in a sharp breath. "But in my vision was a whirlpool that sucks out all life, and at its center is that." He pointed at the stone.

"What, the gem?" Doc wondered, stepping forward.

"It's the Mind Stone, one of the six Infinity Stones, the greatest power in the universe, unparalleled in its destructive capabilities."

"Then why would you..." Steve started, only to be interrupted by Thor.

"Because Stark is right." Wow, that was unexpected.

"Oh, it's definitely the end of times," Doc commented and I smirked.

"The Avengers cannot defeat Ultron."

"Not alone." I looked back at the humanoid.

"Why does your vision sound like JARVIS?"

The moment he picked up Thor's hammer was the moment we saw he was on our side ourselves. In other circumstances, I would have laughed at everybody's faces and thoughts but…

I just wanted to go home and laugh while James tried to understand Keeping Up with the Kardashians.

"Well done," Thor complimented Tony, patting him on the shoulder.

"Three minutes," Steve stated. "Get what you need."

I left to change, got a new suit, this one having the Avengers' 'A' in blue on the right side of my chest. I slipped James' knife in my right boot, braided my hair quickly, made sure my katana handles were firmly strapped to my back and left for the quinjet. I'd take a nap on the jet.

"Addison," Tony called me as I was reaching the jet, Doc already inside. I stopped and let him grabbed my shoulders. He gulped, a concerned frown making him look older he actually was. I smiled faintly and grabbed his right hand. "You've always been a tough kid, tougher than you thought." He grazed the marks on my neck. "But if I tell you to run at some point, you..."

"Say...screw you?" He was taken back and ended up chuckling. I tilted my head on the side, gazing softly at him.

"I guess." He took a deep breath. "I don't want to be responsible for your death. Do you know what your family would do to me once I die?" I laughed at that. "Not funny!" We both climbed on the quinjet. Steve was next.

The air grew tense.

"There's no way we all get through this. If there's one tin soldier still standing, we lost," Tony stated as a matter of facts.

Yeah...there was a chance we were not coming back. It was fully dawning on me. I grabbed my hands to stop fiddling them.

"There's gonna be blood on the floor."

"I got no plans tomorrow night," Steve replied. I smiled slightly at the humor.

"I get the first crack at the big guy. Iron Man's the one he's waiting for."

"That's true, he hates you the most," Vision, we called him Vision, commented, just walking by. He sat down opposite to us.

Soon, the last ones arrived.

"Ultron knows we're coming," Steve started in his Captain's voice. "Odds are we'll be riding into heavy fire. And that's what we signed up. But the people of Sokovia, they didn't. So our priority is getting them out. All they want is to live their lives in peace, and that's not gonna happen today. But we can do our best to protect them. And we can get the job done. We find out what Ultron's been building, we find Romanoff, and we clear the field. Keep the fight between us. Ultron thinks we're monsters. That we're what's wrong with the world. This isn't just about beating him. It's about whether he's right.

I took a short nap, too short to my taste, but it was enough to some energy back. However, I woke up Pietro staring at me. He grinned cockily at me and his sister rolled her eyes at his behavior.

"So how old are you Addison?" I pointed my head, looking at Wanda, and replied in my mind.

"Twenty-five in a couple of months. You?" she said in my place.

"Nineteen for a month now," Pietro said.

Still young, but old enough to handle the responsibilities that came with their actions.

"So...why are you on this team?"

"Pietro," Wanda told him in a reprimanding tone.

"What, I'm curious. She's not that different from us."

"I didn't have much of a choice to join the team, it was a part of the mission," Wanda said quietly, her thick accent making it sound a lot more dramatic than it was.

Well, it was. Maybe her accent reminded me of James during a nightmare where he'd mumble things in Russian.

"What mission?" Pietro insisted.

"Enough, focus on the mission," Steve patronized him, coming to my rescue. The Sokovian boy rolled his eyes and turned to talk to his sister. Cap sat down next to me. "Turn toward me." I did and fought the urge to wince when he inspected the marks on my neck. "Sorry, I saw you falling but…" I patted his forearm, silently telling him it was okay.

Captain America was a, the, Super Soldier, the first superhero, a living legend, but he was far from perfect. He couldn't save everyone.

I was alive, it was all that mattered. Even if, maybe, Steve had a flashback of James falling of that train.

Steve remained quiet by my side, a conflicted glint in his blue eyes. I was no better. The chances of all of us coming back in one piece were thin.

Without a word, I leaned my head on Steve's shoulder.

"Addison?" I put my finger on my lips.

"...sleep..." I poked him in the ribs. "...you too..."

"It's..."

"Rogers," I mumbled, annoyed.

"...alright, don't move your head." He leaned his head on mine.

Nova Grad, Sokovia, May 2015

"Wanda, Pietro, you evacuate the city. Clint, Addison and I will overlook the evacuation while checking any outside involvements. Bruce and Thor are looking for Natasha and what Ultron was building. Tony, Vision, you take care of Ultron until the evacuation is over." I nodded and left the jet.

I muffled a laugh at the Captain America tag, a 'fascist' written over it.

"Seriously..." Steve muttered, his helmet in his hands. I smirked at him and he threw it back in the quinjet. "Not a single comment." I raised my hands in surrender.

I climbed on a roof at an extremity of the town. Wanda and Pietro were great at making the civilians leave. I was especially impressed by Wanda's range, she could cover a lot of field. As for me, I had put my listening range to the maximum. I could hear almost everyone in that city and they were all leaving.

I made platform and evacuated the people faster, Wanda's magic making them numb to what was happening.

It was too calm, so of course Ultron's kids had to come out of literally everywhere. I pretty much made cages around civilians and sent them away, careful not to crash them somewhere. Once this was done, I took a deep breath and made a wall of black matter at the exit of the city.

"Addison, is that you?" I heard Clint's voice in my ear asking in disbelief. I blinked at the huge wall I made.

I bent my fingers and turned it in many, many spikes before sending it toward the bots, stabbing them and tearing them apart. The bots in the close area were all destroyed but I felt slightly dizzy.

Shit that was a lot at once.

I grabbed a katana handle, made a titanium blade and stabbed the bot coming my way in the neck, where the wires were exposed. I ripped its head off. However, the rood I was standing on vanished under my feet. I broke my fall like I could but I still went through two floors. I stayed on the floor of the house for a few seconds and looked up when I heard a crack.

The house was breaking in half. I jumped on my feet and ran to the exit, jumping outside before the rest of the building crumbled on me. I rolled forward on my shoulder and landed on a foot and a knee. I looked on my right and widened my eyes. Listening to people around, I got up and walked closer to the edge.

Yeah, the city was taking off. Literally taking off.

I touched the foam sample on my sleeve and made a huge cushion at the bottom, where other civilians were staring in shock at what was happening. I turned toward the dozen of people still here in panic and shoved them with my telekinesis. It was rude, pretty brutal and they must have shit their pants in fear because they were free falling. A man screamed what I knew to be insults in Sokovian but they all landed safely. I used the matter to tell them to leave as far as they could before running toward other civilians. Other bots were coming.

By now, I was using my katanas to destroy these freaking bots because that wall really did take a lot of my energy.

"You've got incoming Cap," Tony said through his communicator.

"Incoming already here," Steve replied with a grunt of pain. "You take care of getting this city back down. The rest of us have only one job, tear these things apart." I stabbed one with my two katanas, feeling the blades vanishing already, and slashed them in opposite directions. I was panting heavily, the adrenaline pumping in my veins numbing the pain my whole body was in right now. "You get hurt, hurt them back. You get killed, walk it off."

Easier said than done Rogers.

Bots kept coming, again, again. I torn them to shreds, people running away until I heard desperate thoughts from a half-collapsed house.

"Please...my daughter, please..." I spotted a blond woman, most of her body buried under the rubble of her house. She saw me and pointed a shaking finger in front of her.

There was a little girl, unconscious and with a bleeding wound on her forehead. Near her, a man had been impaled by a big shard of wood. The woman saw me and I used black matter to reinforce the ceiling. With my free hand, I made a platform under the child and brought it closer and closer to me.

I gritted my teeth and used more energy to support the ceiling, feeling the structure crumbling down.

I caught the woman's eyes. She offered me a sad, wavering smile, mouthing 'my daughter' again and again to me. I blinked and gulped painfully, looking at the kid.

She was the priority. Kids always were.

I took a deep breath and nodded firmly at the woman once the girl was next to me, I stopped supporting the building to focus on getting the kid to safety. I grabbed her and jumped outside, landing on my back as the house crumbled for good in a cloud of dust.

I sniffed deeply to control the sob that wanted to leave my lips.

"You okay there?" I looked up at Pietro. He helped me up and I checked on the kid. She needed medical attention but she was breathing.

"Her...parents..." I whispered, showing the rest of the house. He turned around to look at it, but didn't say anything.

"Civilians are all near the bridge," he informed me. I nodded and ran away.

"The next wave's gonna hit any minute. What do you got Stark?"

"Huh? Nothing great. Maybe a way to blow up the city. That'll keep it from impacting the surface, if you guys can get clear."

"I asked for a solution, not an escape plan."

"Impact radius is getting bigger every second. We're gonna have to make a choice." I tightened my hold on the kid.

I barely heard Natasha saying she never said we should leave that rock. I didn't want to die here, yet the cold dread taking over my body was telling me otherwise.

"Glad you like the view Romanoff." Fury? "It's about to get better." I turned around a corner and saw a helicarrier through the clouds. "Not bad right? Pulled her out of mothballs with a couple of old friends. She's dusty but she'll do."

"Fury, you son of a bitch."

"Wow, you kiss your mother with that mouth?"

I jumped when there was a flash of black in front of me and Kurt was there, smiling at me.

"Kurt?"

"The Professor thought you might need a little bit of help." He took the little girl from me. "Jean is ready to take care of the wounded inside." I nodded.

"Thanks." He vanished with the kid and I hurried toward the others, helping people inside the emergency flying boats Fury sent us. I saw War Machine and Iron Man taking care of the bots trying to reach us.

"I just saw something flashing!"

"It is Nightcrawler," Fury told Clint. "Him and Doctor Grey are here as well. He's taking care of people still isolated at the moment."

"They're gathering around the core," Thor announced after Tony told us his plan.

"Okay. Avengers, time to work for a living." I hopped on a platform and quickly made my way to the church.

I landed right behind Steve, in front of a weird device at the center of the church. Natasha arrived shortly after me.

"What's the drill?" she asked Tony. He showed her the device.

"That's the drill. If Ultron gets a hand on the core, we lose." I spotted Hulk not far, smashing his way to us.

Ultron neared the ground in front of us.

"Is that the best you can do!?" Thor yelled at him. Ultron raised a hand and hundreds of his stupid children appeared.

"You had to ask," Steve told him in a reprimanding, annoyed voice.

"This is the best I can do. This is exactly what I wanted. All of you, against all of me. How can you hope to stop me now?"

"Like the old man said. Together." Hulk roared.

I touched the titanium on my sleeve, climbed on a broken pillar and created spikes that destroyed the bots in the distance, leaving the rest of the team dealing with those too close. Eventually, an arrow flew right next to my head and I created a spike of black matter behind me.

Vision grabbed Ultron above us and used the Mind Stone to shoot a beam of energy. It sent Ultron out of the church. Thor and Tony joined Vision. Hulk hit him and sent him flying once they were done with him before running after other bots.

"They're trying to leave the city," Thor stated loudly.

"We can't let them. Rhodey!"

The church cleared, I jumped down from my spot.

"We gotta move out. Even I can tell the air is getting thin." Really?

I seemed to be breathing fine though.

"You guys get to the boats. I'll sweep for stragglers. Be right behind you." Steve shot me a look. "Is there a lot of them?" I pursed my lips.

"...two-kilometer...radius...toward the boats..." He nodded.

"What about the core?" Clint asked.

"I'll protect it," Wanda informed us. She exchanged a glance with Clint. "It's my job."

"Nat, this way." Her and Clint left. Steve as well but I ran after him.

"You go to the boat too Addison," Steve ordered me with a frown. I rolled my eyes. "You can barely stand." I flared my nostrils in frustration and stopped him. I pointed a block of houses on our right, then a building still standing in the distance in front of us. I made him understand there were still fourteen people in need of saving.

"Nightcrawler...east side..." Cap nodded. He grabbed my face.

"You're going to the boat Addison, that's final." I sighed and nodded before heading toward the boats.

Just as I turned around the corner of the building, I saw a plane shooting. Clint was there, ready to take the hit for the kid he was holding. I heard Pietro coming.

I grabbed the knife in my boot and threw it at the gun of the plane. I used it to get in the turbine and it made the gun explode. Before the plane crashed, I sent it away from the city.

I looked toward Clint and ran to them. Pietro was hurt. I checked his pulse.

Alive. Two bullet wounds, it looked pretty bad, but he was still alive.

"Clint...boat..." I rasped, putting one knee of the ground. I slipped Pietro's arm on my shoulder, a platform already under our feet.

I took off, leaving a trail of dust behind me. I slipped the knife back in my boot and sped up. We were barely above the helicarrier that the platform disappeared. I hugged Pietro, determined to take the fall for him when arms embraced me.

In a second we were inside. I was on my back on the floor, Pietro on top of me.

"I thought I'd be too late," Kurt said, his heavy German accent comforting me immediately.

"Addison." I looked up at Jean. "I'm taking care of him." I looked at Pietro, still holding him tight. I let go and she lifted him with her powers.

They both disappeared in the room.

A few minutes later, I located Wanda. I jumped on my feet and ran to her. I found her with Steve, sobbing. I grabbed her wrist harshly and dragged her behind me.

"Let me go!" she shrieked, trying to fight back.

"Pietro!" She widened her eyes, tears still falling down her cheeks.

"He's dead! I felt it, he...he..."

"Not dead." She stared at me, stunned. I shook my head and ran faster toward the infirmary. There were windows so we could see Jean giving orders to keep Pietro alive.

Wanda stepped slowly toward the window and placed her hand on it. Her eyes were brimming with tears, but relieved ones.

I leaned against the wall and slid along it to sit down. I was dizzy and felt nauseous. I decided to lay down on my side, curling up like a ball.

I fell asleep quickly.

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

Bye!