Chapter 27

[Emily's POV]

There was a gentle humming noise; so soft and pleasant that I couldn't help but sway along. A distant voice laughed. It was beautiful, like bells ringing from a nearby church.

"Does she always act this way?" a voice asked. It was a woman's, and I could already tell that she was beautiful. Not just the earthly kind, but also emotionally and spiritually.

"I told you she's special," a new voice chuckled. This one was a man, and I recognized it. Someone who acted like a father to me. Clint. "I think she's coming to."

I blinked my eyes and was happy to find the room was dark for a change. I was still dressed in my clothes from the compound, but a nice, homemade quilt was thrown over me. My bad ankle was wrapped protectively in a cast and propped up on two plush pillows. There were two people sitting on either side of my bed.

"Clint?" I breathed and he squeezed my hand.

"Hey, kid," he whispered back. "Welcome back to the land of the living."

"I never left," I responded and I turned to look at the woman on the other side of the bed. "Your wife?"

"Observant," she laughed. "I'm Laura. Clint's told me a lot about you." There was a hint of pity in her voice.

"The good and the bad, it would seem," I commented, glancing at Clint. He gave a sheepish shrug before I continued, "Where's the others?"

"Loki said he needed to do something, which I suspect will involve digging those 'seeds' out of his skin," Clint began. "Steve's out in the barn making a secure location for your mot...for Discord to stay."

"Discord...nice way of dehumanizing this grisly situation," I snorted, and Laura shot a glare to Clint. "What's the situation with the other teams?"

"I'm going to grab you some breakfast," Laura said suddenly, standing up. She walked out of the room quickly and I turned to look at Clint, a puzzled expression on my face.

"Cap issued a 'radio-silence' before we left," Clint explained tentatively. "We haven't been able to get in touch with the other teams. We were too concerned with making sure whoever is after you can't find you." I nodded slowly, absorbing the information. "But hey, right now, we focus on recovering, okay?"

"Okay," I whispered, smiling. "Your wife is amazing. How did you two meet?"

"I was an international spy for Shield who was issued to track this drug boss down in LA," Clint explained. "Found a reporter who was trying to bring the boss down, we worked together, and bingo-bongo-boomba, we hit it off."

"Yeah right," Laura interrupted, snorting. She flicked on the lights and I shook my head, my eyes rapidly adjusting. "I was a waitress at this New York diner. Clint came to get a sandwich and kept on coming back."

"That's more believable," I said, pointing towards Laura.

"Traitor," he grumbled to himself.

"Daddy..." a small voice interrupted. Clint turned around and I strained around him to see a small girl, maybe ten years old, clutching onto the sleeve of a fourteen year old boy. They both looked at me with wide, innocent eyes. The little girl continued, "We weren't sure if we could come say hi or not."

"What about Nate?" Laura asked, hands on her hips. The fourteen year old boy turned around to reveal a small toddler clinging to his leg. "Oh alright. I suppose you three rascals can say hello." The little girl clapped her hands excitedly before racing over to Clint, giving him a giant bear hug.

"I'm Lila!" the little girl said happily.

"I'm Cooper, ma'am," said the fourteen year old, and I couldn't help but snort a little. No one had ever called me 'ma'am' before. "The leech attached to my leg is Nathaniel, but we call him Nate."

"These are your kids?" I muttered, looking at Clint. He nodded proudly and I took a moment to take it all in. "Wow...they're beautiful." When he beamed with joy, I quickly added, "They must take after you, Laura."

Laura burst out laughing and Clint frowned, reaching forward and ruffling up my hair a bit. I giggled and I took a deep breath, ready to address the masses (of three Barton children).

"My name is Emily Salgado," I said, looking at each of the kids. "I'm a friend of your father. He's been acting like my dad for a while."

"Did your dad die?" Lila asked, and Laura hissed, "Lila!"

"It's fine," I dismissed her, waving her off. To Lila, I said, "Yeah, my dad died. You know how your daddy is a hero?" Lila nodded furiously. "My daddy was a cop. He was really brave. He fought alongside your dad to protect New York when those big aliens came down to hurt us."

"Really?" gasped Lila, her eyes wide with disbelief. "Daddy! Were you two friends?" Clint licked his lips and gulped, suddenly looking very awkward. I narrowed my eyes. Clint never was that awkward.

"Best friends," he finally managed to say, and Lila clapped her hands happily.

"Since she doesn't have a daddy, can you be her new daddy?" Lila demanded. "I want a sister!" I laughed and Cooper rolled his eyes at the antics of his little sister. Little did I realize that a small visitor had curled up beside me. "What is Nate doing?" I turned to look at the toddler and found him snuggled up to my side, his head on my lap.

"Nate's only done that to Nat and Wanda," Laura whispered, smiling at her little boy. "He's very shy around people. Those two girls were the only ones who could get him out of his shell."

"Wait..." I said, looking at Clint, my eyes wide. "Telepathy!"

"What?"

"Wanda and I," I said quickly as Laura ushered her kids out of the room. "We have a telepathic connection. It happened when she invaded my mind at the tower." Clint nodded for me to continue. "I can try and reach her! No one should be able to pick up on my location or my conversation."

"Give it a go," Clint encouraged me. I nodded and closed my eyes, taking a deep breath.

Wanda?

There was silence, and I felt the faintest brush against my mind.

Wanda, it's Emily. Are you alright?

D-Don't...come...

Wanda! Are you alright? Where are you?

Ultron...he's alive...STAY AWAY!

I screamed as my head filled with mind-numbing pain. My hands flashed up to my skull and I began to rock myself, forcing myself to take deep breaths.

"Emily, are you alright?" demanded Clint, rubbing my forehead with the palm of his hand. "Emily?"

"Wanda," I gulped, licking my suddenly dry lips. "Something's wrong...I don't understand her message." I looked at him in the eyes. "Ultron's alive..."

:/:\:

[Clint's POV]

My blood ran cold.

Ultron.

Sokovia.

Pietro.

All the old memories flooded back in a storm and I clapped a hand over my mouth in order to keep from crying out.

How was he still alive? Wanda killed him. She told all of us when she rejoined us at the compound. She had yanked out that murderous thief's heart out, and Vision assured us that he killed the last of the Ultron bots. I brought my hand back down and clenched my hands. There was no way I was going to keep radio silent. I had to warn everyone.

"Are you listening to me?"

I turned back to Emily, who looked seriously annoyed. "I'll take that as a no, then."

"Give me the exact words that Wanda said," I ordered her, and she flinched a little.

"Don't come," she recited. "Ultron...he's alive...stay away." She rubbed her wrists awkwardly and added, "That's when I started to scream. She rushed me with all her powers, trying to overwhelm our connection so it would fizzle out."

"Stay here," I told her, standing up. I walked through the doorway, then paused, before looking back in, "I mean it, Emily."

"Yeah, yeah," she said, leaning back. "Can I at least get a book or something?"

I ignored her and went down the steps two at a time, ducking outside. Steve was walking back from the barn when I intercepted him.

"Ultron's alive."

Steve got a deer-in-the-headlights look, and he gripped his shield tighter.

"Are you sure?"

"Wanda's been compromised," I explained. "Emily and her apparently have a telepathic connection. She reached out to her, but the girl basically told Emily to butt out and that Ultron was alive."

"That must mean he also has Vision," Steve breathed, and I gulped, a sinking feeling my gut.

"What do you think his gameplan is?" I asked hesitantly. As much as I wanted to know, I was dreading the answer.

"Emily," Steve finished. "He knows what she can do."

"He's going to try and create Ragnarok."

I turned over my shoulder to see Loki finishing bandaging his hands. He had switched from his tux into a pair of sturdy boots, a red plaid shirt, and dark jeans.

"Ragnarok?" asked Steve, cocking his head.

"The end of all ends," Loki explained. "It has been tried once before by the Goddess of Death, Hela. If this 'Ultron' of yours is trying to use my daughter to create a Midgardian Ragnarok, he could end all the Nine Realms."

"Why are you suddenly on our side?" I accused him, suspicious. "You've never been helpful before."

"His wife and daughter weren't with us before," Steve gently reminded me. "He has an incentive to help us."

"Just the daughter part," Loki stated. He gave a forlorn glance at the barn. "She's no wife of mine now."

"Anyways," I interjected, rolling my eyes. "We have to keep Emily away from Ultron."

"Ultron has the Scarlet Witch though," Loki argued. "Emily won't stay away for long now that she knows."

"Then we need to make sure she's ready," Steve confirmed. "As soon as her ankle heals, we begin training her like nobody's business. We can't stop her from coming. So we might as well make sure she won't die as badly as she would have."

A/N: Hey y'all! Three chapters in one day. Man, I am doing great!

FanGirlForever19: BWAHAHAHAHA! I literally burst out laughing when I read your comment. Oh my gosh, it was hilariously (I showed it to everyone who was around me at the time).

So, Ultron's back, Wanda's captured, Loki's helpful! Anything else y'all like to see?

Please leave a comment, question, concern, or conspiracy theory on anything you liked, would like to see, or even disliked :) Have a fantastic night!