"So what's the plan?" Pietro asked as they walked toward the towering Hydra base in the mountains of Sokovia. Katiana swallowed as she looked up at their target, trying to formulate some sort of directions to give her friends. She wasn't sure when she became team leader, but she wasn't a fan of her newfound responsibilities.

"I guess we try to stop Ultron." She mumbled as she fluffed out her thick black hair, "Or at least try to figure out his plan."

Wanda took a few steps toward the base, seeing several of Ultron's robots circling the top. "He's definitely here."

"Good thing I know a back entrance." Katiana replied, grabbing Wanda's wrist and tugging her toward one of the battered bunkers that the Hulk had destroyed last week. She grunted as she attempted to pull aside a slab of rock, finally looking up at Wanda to whine, "A little help?"

Wanda focused and raised her hands, pulling the rock away from the door and into the air. She began to lose control and pulled her hands in the opposite direction, sending the rock flying over their heads into the trees beyond. The three looked up to see the Ultron sentries take notice and go flying after the rock.

"Let's go. Now." Katiana hissed as she pulled open a wooden door, ushering Pietro and then Wanda in before following and closing the door tightly behind her.

The tunnel was damp and cold and dark, an eerie reminder that Strucker and his team were long gone, and only Ultron's metal monsters remained in Katiana's former home. Wanda caused her fingers to glow red, illuminating the path just ahead as Katiana cautiously took the lead. She stepped slowly, careful not to make too much noise and give away their location as she tried to remember where she was going. She brought forth the memories of the secret tunnels and the training and working with the scepter, but her mind wanted to unlock something more.

Katiana wanted to remember Steve.

"Shhh, do you hear that?" Wanda whispered, zapping Katiana's feet to plant them in place. Katiana lifted her head and closed her eyes, forcing her sense of hearing to pick up the slack in the darkness.

"It's Ultron. He's talking." Katiana grumbled and knelt down, as if being closer to the ground would help her creep through the darkness. She listened, vaguely understanding that he was talking so someone, "He has a prisoner."

Pietro took off down the tunnel toward the sound before his sister could stop him, and Katiana held her breath, waiting to see if he was found out. After a moment, he came back and knelt down beside Katiana, pulling Wanda down with him, "He has a massive assembly. He's building more bodies. He has a woman held hostage."

"Shit." Katiana murmured, looking up at the sound of clanging metal. She exhaled slowly, assuming Ultron had captured one of the Avengers, "You guys go back to the city. Try to get a hold of the Avengers, we need them here as soon as possible. The police might be able to send a message-"

"You mean the government we've been protesting against?" Wanda asked dully and Katiana stammered a little, "This is bigger than that."

"She's right. We go help the people. What will you do?" Pietro asked softly as scraping metal alerted them to a shift down the tunnel.

Katiana followed the sound of clattering metal and gulped, "I'm going in. Worst case, he captures me, and it gives you guys more time to get help." She paused when Pietro grabbed her hand, "I'll be okay."

Wanda's eyes glowed sinisterly in the darkness, but her fearful voice didn't match her appearance, "You better."

"See you all on the other side." Katiana sighed as she continued forward, leaving the Maximoff's to save the people. She continued to tip-toe forward, finally reaching the edge of the dark tunnel where Ultron's workshop came into view, and she gasped. She saw towers of robots being built, and a massive hole in the middle of the room that she already wanted to avoid.

She finally caught a glimpse of Ultron as he stormed away. She quietly entered the room, staying low against the wall as she looked for his prisoner. Katiana kept her eyes trained on Ultron as she ducked behind a work table, looking to her right to see a set of closed bars.

"Kayla Ellis."

Katiana turned and fell onto her ass, scrambling backwards toward the bars as Ultron approached. When she backed into the metal prison, she looked over her shoulder and saw it was Natasha on the other side, looking between Katiana and Ultron in terror.

Ultron seemed to smile, and Katiana realized he was much larger than he'd been yesterday when she saw him, "You know me?" She asked, her voice trembling as her American accent came through again.

The robot turned his head, almost curiously, and said, "Do you? I transmitted the phone calls to the brain surgeon, I know all about your lost memories, your president father, it's all... exhausting soap opera slop." The robot stalked toward her and she quivered against the bars, unable to get her feet out from under her, "You were Captain America's girlfriend."

"Yeah, I've been told." Katiana answered as she clenched the bars behind her, "He's not very happy with me right now, so, don't get any ideas. You'll just be disappointed."

"The Avengers will show up regardless of whether or not I have you, but, I'm feeling generous. I'll keep you here so she can have some company." Ultron explained as he nodded up at Natasha and Katiana turned to look at the assassin who just stared at her blankly. Ultron raised his hand and the bars of Natasha's cell buckled, forming a wide hole in their center. He grabbed Katiana's arm and tossed her inside. Ultron curled his fingers together and the bars groaned and flung back to their original position. Katiana landed on her knees, but got up quickly, turning away, clenching her teeth to try and keep from crying in front of the Black Widow and the murderous robot.

"You know, I read about the chip Strucker put inside your brain. It's metal, just like these bars...Something to keep in mind. I know I will." He turned and lumbered away to continue his work.

Katiana looked over her shoulder and then gasped quietly, clenching onto the boxes of Hydra tech in the back of the prison cell. She leaned over and breathed heavily, trying hard not to cry, but she felt hopeless.

The Black Widow didn't seem sorry for her, "What happened with Steve?" She asked casually, almost accusingly, as if she wasn't surprised, and that was so much worse than just being angry.

Katiana's lip quivered as she turned to the redhead, only able to meet her green eyes for a brief moment before she had to turn away, "He found out that I was planning on destroying the Avengers. The plan was for me to kill him." Natasha nodded slowly and Katiana groaned loudly, "What? Did you know?"

"I assumed." Natasha picked up a small clicker and began to click away quietly as she spoke, "You didn't remember him. Why would you leave what little you knew after three days to be with him? You tried to kill him outside the base. When he told us you were with the Maximoffs we had to assume you three were working together. Especially after they went with Ultron."

"Well, not anymore. Ultron wants to destroy more than the Avengers." Katiana mumbled, sitting down and studying the clicks Natasha was sending, "You're sending a message."

"Shhh." Natasha glared up at the woman, "Do you want to die in this cell?"

"No. I want a chance to apologize to Steve."

Natasha kept clicking away, sending out her SOS signal and ignoring Katiana. They sat in silence for several minutes before Katiana spoke again, "You were so kind to me, even though you were suspicious. Why?"

"I knew Kayla. Not well, but I knew her enough. More importantly, I knew what she meant to Steve. She was his confidante and his rock. She was the only person he let his walls down for." Natasha said, setting down the clicker for a while. "Steve spoke very highly of her. He wouldn't talk about himself, but he'd talk about her." Natasha smiled, looking down as a fond memory replayed in her mind, "I'll never forget him coming into SHIELD the morning after you two had sex for the first time. His blush lasted so long, Rumlow asked if he had a sunburn. And he had this coy smirk on his face all day, as if his mind kept wandering back to his evening with you. I know you don't remember it, but whatever you did, you made him feel so loved and adored."

Katiana leaned against the crates, putting her knuckles against her cheek, "Could you tell me more?"

"More?" Natasha chuckled, adjusting to face the woman, "You want me to tell you what you don't remember?"

"Yes." Katiana looked down and drew circles against the rock flooring with her fingertips. Her long hair draped around her like a blanket, and she looked like a sad child who wanted a story, "I asked Wanda to hex me, because I wanted to keep up the illusion. I saw you all dead, and it was my fault." Katiana lifted her head so she could meet Natasha's eyes, but the Black Widow didn't show any sympathy. "Nevermind."

"No, tell me what you saw." Natasha prodded a little more gently, seeming to realize how cold Katiana saw her as.

"The only person alive was Steve, and then he died in my arms." Katiana looked past Natasha at the working robots behind her, "I was overcome with devastation that I've never felt before. I felt like my heart was absolutely shattered, and my head told me that it was wrong, because I didn't love Steve, but I realized that was it. I couldn't remember loving him, but Wanda's magic broke deeper than what the chip suppressed, and I felt my love for him. For a moment, I was her, I was Kayla." Katiana grabbed her chest, feeling a tension between her ribs. She was having a panic attack. It was one of the things Kayla had medicine for. "The worst part was after he died, these two kids, teenagers I guess, they showed up and he called me Mom. He looked just like Steve, but he had my eyes." Katiana's voice began to shake and she clenched her hand into a tight fist, "The girl asked what had I done, and I woke up. I killed all of you, and then I saw my own children. Two conflicting futures. I chose the second one."

Natasha smiled weakly, "Steve said you weren't so sure about kids."

"Really?" Katiana asked in surprise, "What does he want?"

"He wants a family. He didn't say that, necessarily," Natasha laughed and shrugged, "but he seemed very disappointed when he said you weren't sure. So I can only assume that's what he wants."

Katiana thought about this for a moment, then pulled her hair to the side of her shoulder to play with it nonchalantly, "I never really wanted kids, ya know, in the ten months I can remember. But when I saw them in my vision... they were so real, and they were mine, I could feel it in my soul." Katiana said, pressing her fingers to her chest again, "In that moment, I realized that he is my destiny. I have to find a way back to him."

"He'll never trust Katiana. You being here without him says everything I need to know about his mindset, he won't forgive you so easily."

"Will he forgive Kayla?"

"Yes." Natasha answered quickly, without a second thought, "He hurt Kayla. He made a mistake, and not only will he forgive your actions, but he'll make it up to you. He'll take Kayla with all of your darkness, but he won't love you without Kayla's light."

"But she's so flawed." Katiana braided a small section of her ebony strands, "Does she love him? I saw her medical files in his room, I saw what she tried to do-"

"Kayla Ellis had a very hard life in the public eye." Natasha interrupted, "Before her father became President, being from an influential family was a fun game. The more popular she got, the harder it became for her to keep up appearances. The press were always following her, wanting to know who she dated, what she was doing. She protected Steve fiercely from that world, but the scrutiny was hard. People weren't always nice." Katiana swallowed as Natasha sighed, "People said he was too good, not just to her, but for her. They said Kayla was a whore, and that Steve was just another conquest that would pass. It hurt her feelings, as you can imagine."

"Was he?" Katiana bleat, and when Natasha raised her brow in questioned, Katiana added, "Just another conquest?"

Natasha shook her head, dismissing the idea, "No. You loved Steve Rogers. You and I weren't really friends, but I could tell. You were different with him."

"Why weren't we friends?"

"Because Steve kept you all to himself." Natasha shrugged, looking over her shoulder at the robots as they continued to work, "Like I said, you were the only person he let in. He kept us all at arm's length, which is a shame. I always thought you and I could make good friends. Or bitter rivals, but Steve wasn't willing to share you long enough to find out." Natasha and Katiana chuckled and the redhead added, "He's been better. Since you've been gone. He's finally letting us in, and treating us like a family."

Katiana's face fell at her words, realizing maybe letting Steve go was the best thing she could do for him. "Maybe I shouldn't come back. I mean, maybe Kayla shouldn't come back."

"No. You should. You should let her in and you should come home. Imagine how happy he'd be if he not only had a family, but he had the woman he loved. And you could understand how much you love him too." Natasha argued, reaching out and taking Katiana's hand. "The appointment is made. All you have to do is consent. Steve's gone back and forth about giving you a choice in the matter, because in all matters of the law, you don't have the mental capacity to make this decision. Steve will leave it up to you, though."

"I'm just scared. Because Wanda and Pietro are my family now... I'm scared if I remember everything else, I'll realize just how terrible my actions were. I'll realize how our bond was born on a lie, and I really care about them."

"We'll all help you through it. And if they mean that much to you, Steve will figure something out. You just have to convince them not to destroy us." Natasha chuckled and Katiana sighed.

"They already have. Decided not to destroy the Avengers. We all see the picture clearer now. We've all messed up, and we're just trying to fix it."

Natasha shrugged, looking over her shoulder playfully, "I don't know what you're talking about. I've done nothing wrong in the situation." She looked back to Katiana and winked, "Friends?"

"Friends." Katiana retorted and smiled brightly, "I spent three days holed up in a hotel room with Steve, just talking, but I feel like I don't know him."

"Well, get your memories back, and then you'll know everything there is to know. Nobody knows him like you."

Katiana grinned and leaned back against the crates, "How long before they rescue us?"

"Could be a couple of hours. It's a long flight."

Katiana nodded, imagining all the time Steve would have to dwell on how she betrayed him. She'd had a change of heart, but she knew there were more important things than mending what she'd broken.

"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 or not he's right." Steve told his team as the quinjet landed outside of Sokovia. "Let's move out."

"Banner, are you ready?" Thor asked as he trotted out of the quinjet and toward the former Hydra base. Banner nodded, trying to keep up with Thor in his sweat suit. They looked back at Steve, and the soldier just nodded, giving them the go ahead as Tony suited up.

Before Tony, Clint, and Steve could leave the quinjet, Pietro sped up to them and blocked their exit, "About time you showed up. We've been waiting."

Tony turned to Steve and the soldier stormed forward, grabbing the young man by the shoulder and pinning him against the wall, "Where is she?"

"If you cared that much, why did you leave her behind?" Wanda asked as she entered the jet, her eyes glowed red, seeing the guilt and heartbreak in Steve's mind. "She went to find your friend. We are here to help. It's what she wants us to do."

Steve released Pietro and looked between Tony and Clint, the archer speaking up, "Listen, we need all the help we can get."

"Alright. Clear out the city. Get the civilians as far away as possible. Clint and I are helping you two. Tony's trying to figure out what the vibranium's for. Any questions?"

"You have some new shoes I can wear? These are worn." Pietro shifted uncomfortably and Clint pulled open a drawer, revealing several pairs of sneakers and boots for both men and women. "Oh, this is nice. And a jacket for my sister?"

"Pietro."

Clint pulled open another panel and reached in, grabbing a red jacket and tossing it to Wanda, "That'll work?"

She looked at it tentatively, "Yeah."

"Then let's get moving. We don't know how much time we have, but now that we're here, not much." Steve grumbled as Stark took to the sky, leaving the other four to get the citizens of Sokovia as far away from the city as they could.

Natasha had grown silent after Ultron and his robots disappeared from the cave. She shook, withdrawing in on herself except for occasional glances over at Katiana, who wrapped her arms around herself to stay warm as they waited for help that may never find them. Had Ultron left alone, they wouldn't have been so worried, but since he took all his reinforcements, it meant whatever he was planning was about to come to light.

"What's your biggest regret?" Katiana asked quietly as she leaned her back against the bars. Natasha looked up at her dully, and Katiana sighed, "I regret not leaving Strucker when I woke up without my memories. That I didn't even try to find out for myself, I just took his word for it, like an idiot."

"I regret too much." Natasha replied sadly, rubbing her molars together and sniffling, "I regret what I was, and that I didn't try to defect sooner."

"I guess we were both told who to be. But everyone has a choice, right?" Katiana sighed and looked around their prison. She'd braided her hair tightly, getting it out of her face and away from her fidgeting fingers. Now she just kept smoothing down her long sleeved black shirt down her arms and over her tight jeans half hidden by her knee high boots. "Who do you want to be in the end?"

"An Avenger." Natasha answered quickly with a small smile. She tilted her head toward Katiana, "and you?"

Katiana considered the question for a moment, even though the same answer kept coming back over and over again. "Kayla Ellis." She said quietly and grabbed the end of her braid, playing with the edges, "I just wish I could remember everyone I loved. If Ultron succeeds, they all die too."

Natasha nodded at the woman's statement, but she looked up when she heard someone calling her name. The first time it was a faint echo, but the second time, she sprung to her feet and moved past Katiana to the edge of the cell. "Bruce?"

"Bruce?" Katiana asked as she stood behind Natasha, seeing the man who became the Hulk coming into view. He grabbed the bars, and so did Nat, the two getting close as he asked her if she was alright. Katiana read the room and realized she was a third wheel, quickly looking up at the ceiling and trying not to smirk.

"The team is in the city, it's about to light up." Bruce explained breathlessly, occasionally looking to Katiana, "I see somebody found you."

"Yeah, she's my friend." Natasha said easily and Katiana looked up to give her a strained smile. Nat looked back to Bruce and smiled coyly, "I don't suppose you found a key laying around somewhere?"

"Yeah, I did." Bruce produced a massive weapon and Natasha grabbed Katiana and pushed them flat against the wall as Bruce shot the lock straight off. Nat and Katiana worked to open the door as Bruce put down his weapon.

"So what's our play?" Natasha asked as she ran up to Bruce. Katiana lingered farther back, allowing the two their moment as she casually picked up the weapon Bruce had found.

Bruce had a forlorn expression on his face as he admitted, "I'm here to get you to safety." He noticed Katiana and yelled, "Hey, what do you think you're doing?"

Natasha turned to Katiana to see her holding the weapon toward the air. She looked to Natasha, trying to see if the assassin thought she was betraying them, but she kept her expression neutral, "What? If we're about to light up Novi Grad, I'm going to want weapons." She blasted the crate she'd been leaning against, pulling out two hand guns and a holster to strap to her leg. "You want some?" She asked sincerely, gesturing between Natasha and Bruce.

"We can help with the evacuation, but I can't be in a fight around civilians." Bruce argued to Natasha and she was clearly very unhappy with his plan. "And you've done plenty. Our fight is over." He looked over to Katiana, who now had two guns strapped to each muscular thigh.

Natasha followed his gaze, then asked, "So we just... disappear?"

"Can we disappear somewhere safer? Like, outside? Ya'll can do whatever, but I'm going to find Steve." Katiana said, gesturing toward the direction Bruce had come from. As she started walking, the ground started shaking beneath her and Katiana turned back to Bruce and Natasha, "What's happening?"

"I don't know, but we've gotta move." Bruce said, grabbing Natasha's hand and leading her past Katiana, but the redhead pulled him to a stop.

She looked up as the roof began to collapse, little rocks falling around them as the upper levels of the Hydra base began to give out, "You're not gonna turn green?" She asked seriously as Katiana grabbed her shoulder to steady herself.

"I have a very compelling reason not to lose my cool."

"I adore you." Natasha sighed before leaning in and kissing the scientist. Katiana's eyes widened as she threw her hands out in frustration, but the assassin proceeded to shove Banner into the massive pit. "But I need the other guy."

Katiana jumped to the side, leaning over as the man fell backwards to his death, "What the fuck did you do that for?" Katiana yelped as she backed away nervously, "Do you always murder your boyfriends? You probably do, don't you. The whole, Black Widow thing."

Natasha smirked as a roar was heard from down below and the Hulk leaped up from the pit and landed right in front of Natasha. The monster grunted at Natasha and grinned and she looked to Katiana, "You sure you wanna come?"

Katiana took a tentative step forward and grabbed Nat's outstretched hand, "Against my better judgement, yes."

"Then let's finish the job." She told the Hulk before he grabbed Natasha, still holding Katiana and threw her onto his back, lunging forward and out of the base onto the floating rock that was Sokovia.