Author's Note: Okay, last chapter for Age of Ultron. Next chapter will be within the Civil War storyline. I'm so excited! This chapter is also the longest chapter that I think that I've written. I really hope you enjoy it.
I just want to discuss the Rumlow/Wolf scene in the last chapter. I want to clarify for those of you who didn't really understand it but Emma was raped. No one came in to save her. It probably happened a couple of months before the Avengers rescued her from the base in Argentina. The Winter Soldier was frozen at the time so not even he would know about it. The vision Wanda showed Emma of the scene was meant to be frightening or even more so than it had been in real life. I put a wolf in the place of Rumlow because when she was little she knew him as the man with the wolf like smile. He's kind of like the big, bad wolf to her. He's a monster and so in the vision he actually became a real life monster. What you read in the last chapter is as far as I'm taking it. I'm not going to go into specific details. She will tell Steve eventually but not anytime soon. It'll be a long, long time before she tells him. I also wanted to say that Emma definitely hates Wanda for showing her what she did. She's not going to like her and she's going to hold a strong grudge against her even though Wanda will feel guilty. So it will be a complex relationship between them. I don't hate Wanda personally. I honestly love the Scarlet Witch but after what she did to Emma... Emma isn't going to forgive her anytime soon.
Thanks you so much for the swarm of reviews last chapter! I was a bit worried for a second because I didn't get any feedback for several hours but thank you. I'm glad you liked it and just keep reviewing and letting me know what you think. I'm so excited because Peter is right around the corner. Thanks for being so patient with me. I keep saying that but I'm really grateful.
There's also a Parks and Recreation reference towards the end of the chapter. See if you can spot it. I just couldn't help myself when I was writing that bit of dialogue.
Emma exited the Quinjet with the others, not even paying attention to her surroundings because she was still haunted by what the witch had shown her. Steve would glance at her every now and then in concern but she ignored him. She had finally woken up from her deep sleep around a half an hour before they landed. Thankfully her deep sleep was dreamless and she hadn't revisited the things that the witch had shown her. The others had seemed to walk on eggshells around her as soon as she woke up. She briefly wondered if they knew how bad the witch had attacked her. Judging by the scratches on Clint, Steve, and Thor, Emma could guess that they might've had an idea although she didn't think that they knew the details.
A sinking feeling hit Emma as they walked through the grassy land. The witch knew. Emma realized it at that moment and the feeling made her sick. The witch knew everything about her. Not even Steve knew everything about her yet the witch knew what made Emma tick… what terrified her and what she laid awake at night thinking about. She knew the inner turmoil Emma faced whenever she woke up in the morning and she had seen all the lives Emma had taken. Emma felt enraged that the witch had so needlessly violated her like that and took a look inside her mind. Emma swore there was only one life she was ever going take if she had the chance and that was Rumlow but Emma was slowly beginning to reconsider that decision. She might raise that exception up to two lives.
Emma looked up from the ground as they neared what looked to be like someone's property and she felt her thoughts drift away from the witch as her eyes landed on what looked to be a house. Her eyes widened as took in the sight of the house… she felt her heart beating against her chest rapidly and just for a moment she thought she might be back in Oklahoma. It looked so much like the farmhouse she lived in with her parents. If she squinted her eyes enough she could see her parents on the front porch, laughing as they drank a couple of glasses of ice tea. The vision faded from her eyes as she heard Thor speak up from ahead of them. Emma realized that she stopped walking when she saw the house so she quickly caught up to the rest of them.
"What is this?" Thor said to Tony.
"A safe house." Tony responded but Thor just looked at him, not looking convinced.
"Let's hope." Clint told them both as he ushered Natasha into the house. Emma narrowed her eyes, not really sure how to feel about waltzing into a random house even if it was a safe house. Years of mistrust hadn't really helped prepare her for a circumstance like this. Emma and the others slowly followed Clint into the house, deciding to put some trust in their teammate. Emma raised an eyebrow as she glanced around the house, spotting various toys on the floor as well as drawings hanging on the walls that looked as though a child had drawn them. This was taking a cover a little too far, wasn't it? Setting up such a secure looking safehouse that it appeared to be a family home?
"Honey?" Clint called out as he entered the living room, looking around the house for someone. Emma wanted to know what was going on right then. She didn't care too much for guessing games and she felt uneasy enough as it was. "I'm home."
It was then that a very pregnant looking woman appeared around the corner and Emma immediately assessed her appearance as she tried to determine whether or not the stranger was a threat. The woman appeared to be in her late thirties with long brown hair and big brown eyes. She had some pieces of paper and markers in her hand but seemed completely surprised to see Clint and the rest of them. Clint's entire face brightened up when he saw her and Emma suddenly wondered what she was to him.
"Hi." He greeted with a huge grin on his face. "Company. Sorry, I didn't call ahead."
"Hey." The woman said before she embraced him, placing her hands on either side of his face as he wrapped his arms around her. Emma watched in moderate surprise as they kissed. Well… Emma certainly hadn't been expecting that.
"This is an agent of some kind." Tony tried to rationalize but Emma wasn't so sure. The woman looked very pregnant. She didn't know what spy would go to those lengths just so she wouldn't blow her cover. Emma had considered herself very stealthy and committed but she didn't think she would go as far as getting pregnant to ensure that her cover was in tact. But who really knew? If she was desperate and the situation called for it, she joked to herself.
"Gentlemen… Emma, this is Laura." Clint introduced and Emma's eyes honed in on the diamond ring on Laura's finger. She smirked a bit. So Clint was secretly married. She wanted to laugh at the idea. It was kind of like those stories you heard about back in the fifties when men would have two families that he would keep secret from each other… although by the way Laura was looking at them, Emma could see that she wasn't kept in the dark like they were.
"I know all of your names." Laure told them, a kind and motherly smile on her face. Tony awkwardly waved at her while Emma crossed her arms. Before any of them could respond, however, they heard a bunch of footsteps from upstairs as two kids came running down the stairs.
"Ooh. Incoming." Clint said excitedly. Emma watched as a small girl and boy entered the room. The girl looked to be about six or seven, wearing her brown hair in two cute braided little pigtails and Emma could tell that she was a mini me of her mother. The boy, however, looked slightly older probably around ten or so. The boy looked more like Clint than the little girl did, she noticed as the two children embraced their father. Steve still looked shocked at the situation but Emma had seemingly gotten over what surprise she felt. It didn't really make sense to linger on previous feelings if the situation was changing so fast.
"How are you guys doing?" Clint asked his kids, looking very fatherly. Emma should've known that Clint was a father. The man had never seemed annoyed with her in all the time she spent at the tower, causing problems for those around her. He had the patience that only a father could have.
"These are smaller agents." Tony quipped and Emma just shook her head at his silliness. She frowned when she saw the reaction on Bruce's face. The older man looked very troubled by the sight of the kids and she could only imagine why.
"Did you bring Auntie Nat?" The little girl asked. Emma rose an eyebrow at that. So Natasha was involved with this as well. This just kept getting better and better.
"Why don't you hug her and find out?" Natasha said, a genuine smile on her face as she walked over to the kids. Emma was a little surprised to see Natasha looking so… kid friendly she supposed was the name for it. Natasha laughed as she picked up the giggling little girl up in her arms and carried her away.
"Sorry for barging in on you." Steve apologized to Laura. It seemed like spending decades inside a block of ice didn't erase the politeness from his personality.
"Yeah, we would have called ahead but we were busy having no idea you existed." Tony continued.
"Yeah, well, Fury helped me set this up when I joined." Clint explained, seeming a bit apologetic for keeping this away from the team. "He kept it off Shield's files. I'd like to keep it that way. I figure it's a good place to lay low." Thor took a step back, happening to step on one of the children's toys on the floor. He stared at the crushed lego house that one of the kids had built, looking troubled by what he saw. Emma could tell that it wasn't the lego house that had him so worked up. There was something else bothering him. Clint's daughter wandered over to where they were standing, looking up at Thor with a curious expression on her face. Emma didn't blame her. Thor was quite massive and certainly had a bold taste in fashion. He drew attention where ever he went. It was then that the toaster in the kitchen dinged, snapping Thor out of his troubled state and the Asgardian quickly exited the house. Steve followed him but Emma didn't make any move to join them. Whatever problems that Thor was having, it seemed like he wanted to deal with them on his own. Emma respected that.
"Who are you?" A small voice drew Emma away from the disappearing figures of Steve and Thor. Emma glance down and noticed that she had the full attention of Clint's daughter. The others watched Emma's interaction with Clint's daughter in fascination. Emma looked at the little girl like the girl was some sort of alien creature that she had never seen before.
"I'm Emma." Emma told the little girl and the girl smiled at her.
"Hello, Emma. My name's Lila." She told Emma proudly and everyone noticed how terrified Emma looked of Lila. Emma swallowed, her throat feeling incredibly dry, and plastered a smile onto her face. She didn't want to scare Clint's daughter… she didn't see how that could work in her favor especially since Emma had put up quite the fight against him earlier.
"It's nice to meet you, Lila." The little girl held out her hand for Emma to shake and Emma shook her hand reluctantly, trying to be careful with her since the little girl was so fragile. Emma quickly let go of Lila's hand as soon as she could.
"Do you know my daddy?" She asked and Emma nodded.
"Yes, I do." Emma didn't elaborate on that and she could tell that it made Lila even more curious about her.
"Are you an Avenger like Daddy and Auntie Nat?" She continued question and Emma didn't feel as frustrated as she normally would from the constant questioning. Maybe it was because Lila looked so sweet and innocent… maybe she reminded Emma of herself when Emma was much younger than she was now.
"No, I'm not." Lila's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
"But you're wearing a superhero costume like the rest of them?" Lila told her and Emma just smiled.
"I'm just lending a helping hand." Emma replied and Lila nodded, seeming satisfied with Emma's answer.
"Do you want to play with my barbies with me." Lile asked, changing the subject. Emma's eyes widened in horror at what the small girl requested. The rest of the Avengers laughed at the look on Emma's face. It was if Lila had asked Emma to go murder someone or something which actually might not have been an entirely foreign concept to her now that they thought about it. Emma gulped before she gave Lila a sad smile.
"I really wish I could but I don't think your dad would be okay with that." Emma told her as nicely as she could. Lila looked a bit disappointed at that and Emma patted herself on the back for being able to get out of that one.
"I don't care." Clint suddenly said from in back of them. Lila looked absolutely delighted but Emma whipped her head around to give Clint a death glare. He only smirked at her as everyone else laughed. She felt Lila grab onto her wrist and begin to pull her in the opposite direction. Emma could've pulled away from the little girl if she wanted to but somehow she didn't think that she had the heart to do that.
"I hate you." Emma muttered under her breath as they passed Clint but the archer didn't look frightened.
"Have fun, girls!" Clint called out after them and Emma swore that she would make him pay someday for this.
An hour later Emma found herself sitting on the floor next to Lila as the little girl told her the name of all of her dolls and then proceeded to explained their backstories. Emma dutifully listened as Lila paced a barbie in her hand that had red hair. She glanced at the piece of plastic and knew why she had never played with these when she was a girl. It was true that she hadn't play with any toys when she was with Hydra unless you counted guns and explosives as toys. Still… when she lived with her parents she couldn't ever remember playing with barbies. She only remembered playing with horses. Emma had loved horses back then.
"Did you play with barbies when you were my age too?" Lila asked as she put a dress onto her barbie. Emma glanced at her before shaking her head.
"Not really." Lila looked up at Emma curiously.
"Really? Then what did you play with?" Emma didn't think that Clint would appreciate her telling his daughter about Hydra so she told a filtered version of the truth.
"I really loved playing with horses." Emma admitted and Lila gave her a confused look.
"What?" She asked, causing Emma to smile at the memory.
"I used to play with these little plastic toy horses that I used to have." Lila seemed interested in Emma's memory, listening intently to the older girl.
"What were their names?" Emma shrugged.
"I don't really remember anymore…. I think I might've named one of them Buttercup." Emma recalled.
"I like horses too." Lila replied, looking at Emma like she was the most interesting person that Lila had ever met. Emma gave her a small smile.
"Horses are pretty cool." She said. It was then that Emma noticed someone standing in the doorway watching them. The smile fell off her face when she saw Steve looking at her and Lila with an expression that was close to adoration or happiness. Lila happily went back to playing with her barbies, oblivious to Steve and oblivious to the look on Emma's face. She immediately glared at him.
"If you ever speak of this again. You're dead." Emma grumbled under her breath, the volume of her voice so low that Lila didn't even hear her. She knew, however, that Steve definitely could hear her with his enhanced hearing. He only smirked at her one last time before walking away from the doorway, leaving Emma and Lila to their own devices. It warmed Steve's heart to see her interacting with Lila in such a kind manner. This was sort of good for him and he was also happy to see the amount of trust Clint had put in Emma so much that he let her be in the same room with his daughter alone. It was nice to see that his team wasn't completely falling apart. Steve walked back down the hallway, feeling a lot more at ease. One thing he knew for sure was that Emma had lost most of her childhood but she still had a couple years to go before she reached adulthood. Emma might've lost those years of her life to Hydra but she still had a large amount of her life left to live.
"Oh, sorry… I didn't realize anyone was in here." Emma stated as she walked into one of the spare bedrooms. Natasha was sitting on the edge of the bed with a distant look in her eyes. The red head immediately looked up at Emma as she spotted the teenager enter the room. "I was told that there was a shower in here."
"There is… I can just get out of your way." Natasha said as she stood up from the bed. Emma moved more into the room as she passed Natasha. The blonde gave Natasha a curious look as she noticed that the older woman had paused in the doorway.
"What is it? What's wrong?" Emma asked her, feeling a bit concerned for her troubled looking friend. Natasha slowly turned back around to face Emma with a serious look on her face. Natasha's eyebrows were furrowed in confusion and Emma could tell that something was really bothering her.
"That day you saved me all those years ago…" Natasha trailed off and Emma's eyes widened in realization because she knew where this conversation was heading. "Why did you do it?" Emma smiled at her, trying to look nonchalant about the question but truthfully the question was something she had also wondered about for many years.
"I've been with you guys for a year now and you seriously waited this long to ask me that?" Emma asked her rhetorically. Natasha attempted to smile but the smile looked more like a grimace.
"Better late than never." Natasha quipped and Emma's sighed as the smile fell off her face. She started to think of a way on how to tell Natasha something she, herself, had been struggling to understand for a while.
"If you want a definite answer I don't think I can give you one." Emma told her and Natasha listened intently. "I didn't save you from the goodness of my heart… I know that much. You're asking me to explain to you why I saved you but that's something that I've been wondering about for many years myself actually."
"That's a pretty shitty answer." Natasha told her and Emma just smirked.
"Don't let Steve hear you say that." Emma joked and Natasha laughed before the serious expression returned to her face.
"There isn't any other reason why you might've saved me? Any leading theories?" Natasha asked and Emma knew she had to tell her. She had been lying to herself for so long about why she saved Natasha but the truth was sitting right in front of her all this time. Emma bit her lip nervously before she answered.
"You look like my mother." Emma confessed and they fell into an awkward silence. Emma didn't know what else to say to Natasha that would ease the woman's confusion. It took Natasha a couple of minutes before she could respond. She pretended to be amused, plastering on a smirk but Emma knew that game all too well. The fake it until you make it game where you pretended to be one thing until you got the information you need and then you became something else. An assassin couldn't fool another assassin.
"That's what every woman wants to hear." Natasha said in a snarky tone but Emma didn't laugh at her remark.
"No, I just meant that you look very similar to her." She paused briefly before she continued. "When I saw you that day in the desert I didn't really see you… I actually saw my mother instead." The smirk fell off Natasha's face as she realized that Emma was actually being honest and real with her. She had lied enough in her life to be able to detect when someone was actually being genuine. "I saw her in you and she looked so disappointed in me… disappointed in what I've become. I just couldn't pull the trigger because all I saw was her and I started thinking about what she'd think of me if she saw me now. If she saw all the good work Hydra had done...the monster I've turned into."
"You're not a monster." Natasha told her seriously and Emma raised an eyebrow.
"Aren't I?" Emma challenged. "I've killed a lot of people, Natasha. I don't feel as guilty about as I should because I did it to survive. I did it to protect my father."
"That doesn't make you a monster. Trust me I know what a monster is." Natasha countered. "Caring about someone isn't a trait that a monster has. You care about your father and did those things for him… I've killed for a lot less than that."
"I guess." Emma replied as she considered what Natasha had told her.
"Your mother wouldn't be disappointed in you if she saw you now." Natasha told her softly and Emma held her gaze. "She would be proud to see all that you've been through and overcome… all that you've accomplished at such a young age. Your mother would be happy to see that you have someone like Steve watching over you and the fact that you have a family again. I know that we're not all related by blood but I do consider you guys my family."
"Even Stark?" Emma asked as she smirked, causing Natasha to laugh.
"Yes, even Stark." She answered. "If you tell him that I'll kill you."
"I'd like to see you try." Emma teased and they both laughed together. It was rare that Emma had touchy feely moments with anyone other than Steve but Natasha was someone she felt that she could trust not to go overboard. They were a little alike. Emma thought that Natasha might've even felt the same way. They soon calmed down from their laughter, looking more serious than before.
"Well, I guess I'll let you take that shower." Natasha finally said. "I have some clothes in the dresser in case you need anything." Emma smiled at her.
"Thanks." She said and Natasha began to walk away but stopped when Emma spoke up. "Natasha?"
"Yes?" The red head asked, a bit confused as she turned around once more.
"For what it's worth I don't think you're a monster either." Emma told her seriously. Natasha smiled at her before nodding and leaving the room silently. There really wasn't anything left to be said between them. Emma thought that they had said everything they needed to say. Emma might have even started believing what Natasha told her although she still didn't think that she would be able to admit it to herself.
After Emma's warm and soothing shower, which she spent a long time going over everything that had transpired in the past couple of days, she got dressed in some of Natasha's clothes before heading downstairs. It was nightfall now and she could smell food cooking in the kitchen on the first floor. Dinner? Emma's stomach immediately rumbled from the smell and she wondered when was the last time she had eaten. The day before perhaps? Emma wasn't sure. She supposed all the adrenaline had kept her in line but now everything was catching up to her. The teenager made her way down the stairs but widened her eyes when she saw who was in the kitchen.
Leaning against the counter in the kitchen was none other Nick Fury… the former director of Shield and someone who was also presumed dead. Emma knew that he was still alive from everything the others had told her but she still hadn't expected him to look so domestic standing in the kitchen like that. Fury looked at her curiously as he saw her walk into the kitchen, his eye analyzing her appearance. She supposed that he must've known about the Viper Assassin and she didn't look much like the famous ghost story dressed in a pair of black leggings and an old, loose concert t-shirt that was a couple of sizes too big for her. Her wet blonde hair was also dripping all over the place.
"Well, if it isn't the Viper Assassin herself." Fury announced as she walked further into the kitchen. Emma crossed her arms as she stood there, returning his gaze.
"It's Emma actually." She told him with an stoic expression. Fury smirked.
"Well, Emma I hear that you're the newest addition to our team."
"Emma's not an Avenger." Steve quickly interjected, sending a glare in Fury's direction.
"But she's not a Hydra agent anymore either." Fury countered.
"No, I'm not. I left Hydra a year ago." Emma told him before giving Steve a pointed look for thinking he could speak for her.
"So you're retired." Emma raised an eyebrow at him.
"From Hydra."
"No more killing or fighting then?" Fury continued to question her and Emma narrowed her eyes at him, wondering what he was trying to get at.
"I'll kill or fight if I have to. If it comes down to my life or someone else's... I'll pick mine every time. A lot of people call that self-defense." Emma told him seriously.
"Spoken like a true soldier." Fury remarked.
"I'm not a soldier… I'm an assassin." Emma replied.
"I thought you said you didn't work for Hydra anymore?" Emma sighed as she continued to be hounded by Fury's insistent questioning.
"I don't but I'll always be an assassin. It doesn't matter if I hang around the good guys or not… I'm a trained killer so I think like a killer." She told him honestly. "Just because I switch sides it doesn't change who I am deep down. Is that what you wanted to hear?"
"You play a good game, Rogers." Fury told her, looking surprised at how fearlessly she had answered every one of his questions. She didn't even seemed the least bit fazed. It was eerie how much she reminded him of Natasha even though Emma was much younger than Natasha had been when the former Russian spy joined Shield.
"It was what I was trained for." Emma told him without missing a beat. "Do you trust me yet?" Fury smirked at her again.
"I don't think I could trust you to tell me what the weather is." Fury replied although he looked genuinely amused. Emma just shrugged.
"Your loss." She replied.
"Not that we've got that matter settled let's talk about a more pressing issue." Fury stated as he moved to help Laura with dinner. It was weird seeing him do something that was so normal and trivial. "Ultron…"
"Really? I didn't realize that Ultron was a pressing issue." Tony retorted with a sarcastic tone. No one seemed amused by the billionaire at that point in time.
"Ultron took you folks out of play to buy himself time." Fury stated, ignoring Tony's comment. "My contacts all say he's building something." Emma watched as Lila entered into the kitchen, a drawing in her hand, as she walked over to give it to Natasha who sat at the dining table. She smiled at the small girl. Emma loved how naïve and innocent Lila was and she hoped to God that never changed although that was quite impossible in the world they lived in. "The amount of vibranium he went off with, I don't think it's just one thing."
"What about Ultron himself?" Steve asked as he leaned against the doorway.
"Oh, he's easy to track. He's everywhere." Fury replied. "The guy is multiplying faster than a Catholic rabbit." Emma smirked at Fury's remark. She'd have to remember that joke for the future.
"It still doesn't help us get an angle on any of his plans though." Fury continued and Emma had to resist the urge to roll her eyes at Tony who was playing darts. Was he really playing darts right now? He created an evil garbage can of a robot who was causing mayhem out in the world and he was seriously playing darts? Emma just wanted to strangle him sometimes or do something to knock some sense into that thick skull of his.
"Is he still going after launch codes?" Tony asked quietly.
"Yes, he is." Fury answered. "But he's not making any headway."
"I cracked the Pentagon's firewall in high school on a dare." Tony told everyone. Yes, Tony… thank you for telling us that story like we all haven't heard it for the millionth time. Emma sometimes hated how Tony brought out the sarcastic part of her humor. Hydra had spent so many years trying to surpress any sort of humor she had but Stark had managed to bring it out of her.
"Well, I contacted our friends at the Nexus about that." Fury replied.
"Nexus?" Steve asked, a bit unfamiliar with the name. Emma knew a limited amount of information about Nexus which, like always, was a requirement of Hydra.
"It's the world Internet hub in Oslo." Bruce answered him. "Every byte of data flows through there. Fastest access on Earth."
"So, what did they say?" Clint asked, bringing the conversation back to the task at hand.
"He's fixated on the missiles." Fury said. "But the codes are constantly being changed."
"By whom?" Tony asked but flinched when Clint threw a dart at the dartboard from across the room. He smirked when Tony gave him an annoyed look. Emma had to admit that was a pretty neat little trick and she did love anything that brought Tony discomfort.
"Parties unknown." Fury answered.
"Do we have an ally?" Natasha asked, her eyebrows furrowed. Emma had to admit that this piece of information mystified her. Who had the kind of power to be able to help them and why? It didn't make any sense to Emma since it appeared that the Avengers were very much alone in this for the moment.
"Who has that kind of power?" Emma inquired, voicing her thoughts. "And why would they help us? Someone with that kind of power wouldn't be helping us out of the goodness of their heart. Power doesn't come cheap."
"Rogers is right…Ultron's got an enemy." Fury told Natasha, giving Emma a slightly impressed look. Emma just glanced at him, not feeling anything from Fury's silent appraisal. It's like everyone thought that she was helpless. Please. She had been doing this for a pretty extensive amount of time. She wasn't new to any of this. "That's not the same thing."
"Still, I'd pay folding money to know who it is." Fury continued. Emma had to agree with him there.
"I might need to visit Oslo." Tony suddenly stated. "Find our unknown."
"Well, this is good times, boss, but I was kind of hoping when I saw you, you'd have more than that." Natasha told Fury and Emma nodded in agreement.
"I have to agree with Romanoff." Emma said, locking eyes with Fury… or at least with the one eye that the man actually had. "I thought you'd have way more intel than that from all the stories I heard about you. Hydra really hated your guts, you know. I think it was like winning the lottery for them when the hit was finally made on you. It was the first time I ever saw Hydra agents actually smiling." Fury just smirked at Emma's remark.
"Thanks for the compliment, Rogers." He told her before glancing back at all of the Avengers. "I do… have more than that I mean. I have you." He paused before continuing. "Back in the day, I had eyes everywhere. Ears, everywhere else. You kids had all the tech you could dream up." Fury walked away from the counter and moved towards the table. "Here we all are, back on Earth, with nothing but our wit and our will to save the world."
"Ultron says the Avengers are the only thing between him and his mission." Fury told them as he looked at every single one of them in the room. "And whether or not he admits it, his mission is global destruction. All this, laid in a grave." Fury said as he gestured around the kitchen they were currently standing in. Clint shifted uncomfortably as he was reminded why he spent most of his time saving the world from threats… his family. Emma could see it in his eyes. "So stand. Outwit the platinum bastard."
"Steve doesn't like that kind of talk." Natasha said teasingly. Emma snickered as Steve playfully raised his eyebrows at Natasha.
"You know what, Romanoff?" Steve retorted and Natasha just smirked.
"So, what does he want?" Fury asked all of them.
"To become better." Steve replied. "Better than us. He keeps building bodies."
"Person bodies." Tony added.
"He wants to be the best that there is… to be perfect." Emma stated as she thought hard about Ultron's motives. Emma was familiar with the concept of perfection. It was an obsession that Hydra had, especially when they were experimenting on her. They were quite obsessed with ensuring that she would be the best super soldier that there was… that she would better than her father and Steve combined. "He won't stop until he's perfect."
"The human form is inefficient." Tony said, silently agreeing with Emma and Steve. Emma watched as Bruce slowly walked over to the table, standing next to Natasha. She furrowed her eyebrows when she noticed that he started taking special interest in the picture that Lila had given Natasha. What was in the picture? Oh, yes, a butterfly. "Biologically speaking, we're outmoded. But he keeps coming back to it."
"When you two programmed him to protect the human race you amazingly failed." Natasha told Tony and Bruce. Emma agreed with her whole heartedly. If it was any other situation Emma would've laughed at the irony of it all. Tony and Bruce had created Ultron to save the human race but he was actually hell bent on destroying it. She didn't think anyone could fail more than Tony and Bruce had.
"They don't need to be protected." Bruce said quietly as he stared at the picture. "They need to evolve." Everyone stared at Bruce curiously as he began explaining Ultron's real motive. "Ultron's going to evolve."
"How?" Fury questioned. Bruce looked at everyone with a wide eyed look as something suddenly occurred to him.
"Has anyone been in contact with Helen Cho?"
"I'm going with you." Emma told Steve as she followed him outside. It was kind of silly to be arguing with him at this point since he was already suited up and Emma was still wearing her leggings and t-shirt. As soon as the Avengers realized that Ultron was after Dr. Cho and the cradle, they started suiting up and preparing to head out again. It looked like Ultron's next location was Seoul, South Korea. The only difference this time was that Emma wasn't going with them and she was absolutely furious about it when she found out.
"No, you're not, Emma." Steve told her sternly as he continued to walk down the path to the Quinjet.
"You know that I can help you so why don't you just let me?!" Emma said angrily.
"I've said this once and I'll say this again… Emma, you're just a kid." Steve told her firmly. Emma just shook her head.
"I'm tired of you saying that." Emma hissed.
"Well, it's true." Emma just scoffed at Steve's stubbornness.
"When will you just realize that I'm not this naïve stupid little girl?" Emma told him. "I'm not good, Steve. I don't know why you're pretending that I have any virtue left? This world of fighting and killing isn't foreign to me. This is my world… Why won't you just let me be who I am." Emma said, the tone of her voice sounding sad towards the end.
"Because I don't want this kind of life for you, Emma." Steve told her, looking frustrated with her. "I know what Hydra put you through… what they trained you for. I know that you're a killer and I know that there's still things that happened at that base that you won't tell me about." Steve said, sounding less frustrated and more saddened by the thought that Emma didn't trust him enough to tell him things. Emma wanted to tell him that it wasn't what he thought but she couldn't find the right words. "I know that you have secrets that you keep from me. I've accepted that."
"If you know all these things then why won't you let me go with you?" Emma asked, her eyes flooding with tears.
"You don't have to do this anymore, Emma. It's over… it's all over now." Steve said firmly and Emma shook her head furiously, refusing to believe what he was telling her.
"No, it's not. You can't just make those sort of decisions for me." Steve's eyes hardened as he looked down at her.
"Yes, I can. I'm your parent whether you like or not, Emma, and you're a child. I'm more than entitled to make those kinds of decisions." Steve told her, daring her to say anything to counter that statement.
"This is all I know." Emma told him, a tear streaming down her face. "I can't do anything else. There is nothing else for me out there. This is it… the end of the road."
"It doesn't have to be that way." Steve replied. "You're an amazing artist… you've been flying through your online English classes. You can go to college… be anything you want to be." Emma laughed humorlessly as she angrily wiped the tears from her face.
"Are you kidding me?! I can't just go to college and pretend that I'm not this." Emma gestured to herself as she continued. "Why do you keep pushing this all onto me? You keep trying to make me someone I'm not."
"I'm not making you into someone you're not." Steve told her. "I'm trying to give you a life here, Emma. I'm trying to give you a shot at something that's not wrapped up in this whole mess. Look at you…" He said, tears flooding his own blue eyes as he looked at her. "All the terrible things that were done to you… your parents… now you live in a tower with bunch of people who have targets on their backs. You live with your grandfather who looks thirty but who's actually ninety seven." His eyes focused on her face, putting all the details to memory. Her blue eyes that were the same exact shape and color as his. Emma's small nose that was small and cute, wrinkling in disgust whenever Tony made a suggestive comment to members of the female gender. Her naturally rosy pink lips which would always curled up into a smirk when she was teasing someone.
"I want you to grow up… fall in love… have a family… grow old." Steve finally stated, his voice soft. Emma understood where he was coming from but she knew what Steve wanted wasn't what she wanted.
"That's your dream, Steve." Emma told him firmly. "That's what you want. That's what you wanted before you got frozen. It isn't me though. My life isn't about love or being normal. My life is about fighting for my survival."
"I know. You're right... it was my dream before I went into the ice. When I woke up my priorities changed because I just traded one war in for another." Steve solemnly said. "When I found you last year I was happy again because you're one of the last things connecting me from my old life to my new one. Still… I don't see myself getting married with that white picket fence American dream that I used to have. If I can't have something like that then at least you can."
"I get what you're trying to do for me but I don't want that." Emma said quietly.
"How do you know what you want?" Steve questioned and Emma scoffed, exasperated by Steve's question.
"Because it's ridiculous! The whole idea of you wanting me to settle down, go to college, and get a job in the office." Emma told him. "And don't get me started on marriage… Who the hell would be crazy enough to marry me let alone want anything to do with me? I don't even think Loki's that insane."
"Why don't you wait a couple of years?" Steve replied in a soft voice. "Wait until you're eighteen and then see if you still want to try this Avenger thing. See whether or not you want to go to college. By then you'll be eighteen and I can't stop you anyways." Emma sighed. The truth was that she was too tired to argue with him anymore. She didn't want to fight for one more minute.
"Fine." Emma finally relented. "But I'm only letting you win this one because I'm tired." Steve smiled at her.
"Why don't you go back inside and get some rest? It's been a long couple of days." Emma nodded.
"Okay but I'm still mad at you." Emma said, looking as though she was almost pouting. Steve smirked.
"I love you too, Emma." He told her and she rolled her eyes at him. Steve leaned down and pressed a chaste kiss against her forehead. Emma wrinkled her nose in disgust but deep down inside she appreciated the affectionate gesture. "When I get back you are grounded, you know." Steve managed to say after the moment passed. Emma raised her eyebrows in surprise at him.
"What?" Steve began walking away from her, heading towards the Quinjet. Emma was left behind, watching him leave with wide eyes. Wait… was he actually serious?
"We'll talk about it later." Emma just shook her head as Steve disappeared inside Quinjet. She was about to turn around to head back when a hand touched her shoulder. Emma whipped around, surprised by the action, but relaxed when she saw it was Clint.
"Don't sneak up on me." She told him but Clint only smirked at her.
"Oh, like you never sneak up on any of us?" Clint teased. "I'm pretty proud of myself that I've finally been able to do it."
"I bet you are." Emma muttered. The smile on Clint's face then faded as something else came to his mind.
"You're doing a really important job, Emma. I don't know if you know that." Clint told her causing Emma to give him a confused look.
"What are you talking about?" Emma inquired.
"You staying here with my family." Clint continued to say. "I think that's the most important mission that you could go on."
"I don't know." Emma said, sounding unsure.
"It is important. You're going to protect my family while I'm gone." Clint said with a grateful look on his face. "I know what you're capable of doing and I also know that I can depend on you. I trust you even though I know you don't trust yourself sometimes."
"Why would you trust me?" Emma asked him, not having a clue as to why he would.
"Because you're a good kid despite what you might think." Emma didn't have a response to that. Clint just gave her a small smile as he patted her shoulder. "Keep them safe." He told her before he walked away, heading over to the Quinjet much like Steve had. She watched him and wondered when had she become so trustworthy. How had she done from threatening Bruce with a scalpel to being trusted enough for Clint to leave his family with her? Emma might never know.
Emma tried to focus on the television screen in front of her but she just couldn't. The kids were watching some Disney movie but Emma couldn't focus on the colorful animated cartoon. It was now morning and Steve had been gone for hours, leaving Emma alone with the Bartons. She had managed to get quite a bit of sleep the night before. Emma suspected it was because she was completely exhausted from the past couple of days. The kids would try and cheer Emma up, sensing that the blonde was in a mood but Emma didn't feel that much better even though she humored the two. She found it amusing as the two siblings battled for her attention and Emma couldn't help but wonder what it would've been like if she had a sibling. It would've been nice to have a older sibling to look out for her but it wouldn't have lasted long. When Hydra came they probably would've murdered that sibling or kidnapped them like they did with her.
Emma got from the couch and for once she didn't seem to have the two sibling's full attention. They were too occupied by the movie so Emma headed over to the kitchen. She saw Laura Barton hard at work making lunch for the four of them and became curious about the woman that had stolen Clint Barton's heart. It was so strange to her that the famous archer had a whole family that escaped the Avengers' attention.
"Do you need any help?" Emma asked as she leaned against the doorway and Laura jumped. She rested a hand above her heart as she calmed down.
"Did anyone ever tell you not to scare a pregnant woman? I almost peed myself." Laura asked rhetorically but with a warm smile on her face.
"Sorry, I've been told that I need to make my presence known whenever I enter a room." Emma replied as she looked at Laura. "Do you need anything?"
"Could you grab the apple juice from the fridge actually. That would be a huge help." Laura directed and Emma nodded as she went to do what the pregnant woman requested. When she returned she couldn't help but stare at Laura's stomach in curiosity. It didn't take long before Emma was caught even though she wasn't really trying to be secretive about her staring.
"You're staring." Laura told her, flashing her a bright smile.
"Sorry." Emma apologized even though she didn't really sound sorry. Laura gave her a confused look as she noticed how troubled Emma looked.
"What? Have you never seen a pregnant woman before?" Laura's eyes widened in surprise when Emma didn't say anything. "You haven't, have you?"
"Not really." Emma replied, shrugging.
"You don't need me to explain how it happens, do you?" Laura teased as she laughed at the disgusted look on Emma's face.
"I'd rather not know about that part of Barton's life." Emma retorted.
"So what makes you so curious about pregnancy all of the sudden? Steve doesn't need to be worried, right?" Laura asked and Emma just rolled her eyes.
"No, of course not." She told her before a serious look came over her face. "I'm just confused about this life that Barton's managed to hide from the rest of us. I've spent the past year living in that tower and I really had no clue."
"You sound more surprised that you didn't know than the fact that Clint has a family." Laura told her knowingly.
"He did seem more patient than the rest… especially with me. I even broke his bow and he forgave me. I should've known he was the fatherly sort." Laura smiled at Emma's comment about Clint's character.
"Clint's a really good father." Laura said. "Despite what you can do you're still a kid and I think Clint sees that." Emma glared down at her hands as she listened to what Laura told her.
"I'm really tired of people telling me that." Emma muttered. Something occurred to her right then and she looked up at Laura with a raised eyebrow. "How much do you know about me? How much has Clint told you?"
"Well, everything about you is mostly classified." Laura told her honestly and Emma just smirked.
"So naturally you know everything?" Emma retorted and Laura laughed.
"Naturally." She answered.
"You really should've been a spy." Emma told her, shaking her head at the grin on Laura's face. "You would've been really good at it."
"No, I don't think a life of sneaking up on people is really for me. That's more of Clint and Natasha's expertise." Laura replied.
"How does Clint do it? How does he balance all of this?" Emma gestured wildly to the house around them. Laura just looked at her and smiled softly.
"He takes a lot of time off. Did you ever notice that?" Laura said jokingly.
"I thought he was just going on a cruise or something." Emma replied. "How are you completely fine with him going off to save the world? Can you really just sit at home and wait?"
"It's difficult to say the least. I always worry about him but I know he'll come back home to me in the end… he always does." Emma nodded silently as she processed what Laura just told her.
"Your house reminds me of my home in Oklahoma." Emma admitted suddenly, causing Laura to look up at her in surprise. "I used to live in a farmhouse with my parents before Hydra took me… before they killed my parents."
"Do you miss it?" Laura asked and Emma shrugged.
"Sometimes… There's fuzzy little memories that come back to me and I remember small details about a certain creak in the staircase or the coldness of the kitchen floor. I used to have Disney princess wallpaper in my bedroom I think." Emma explained and Laura listened to her intently. "Then there are times when I don't miss it at all because it just reminds me that my parents are dead and whoever I was before Hydra took me... also died with them."
"You sound incredibly cynical for someone you're age." Laura told her honestly and Emma smiled sadly.
"I'm a realist I guess you could say."
"Maybe Steve and you can have something like this." Laura said, steering the conversation back to what they had been talking about before. "A place to call home." Emma scoffed.
"Steve's not one for that kind of life anymore than I am. He might've been once but so much has changed since then." Emma replied. "I might hate to admit this but Steve and I are alike in a lot of ways."
"Still… maybe you don't just have to have a life of war and fighting. Maybe you could have both like Clint, someday. There's no rule that says you have to pick one over the other." Emma watched the pregnant woman intently. She wanted to come up with a clever response but she didn't have one. The teenager sat there in wonder as she thought about what Laura just told her. Could Laura be right? Could she maybe have both someday. The thought had never even occurred to Emma. Maybe she could have both.
Another day went by and Emma was beyond bored. There was no word on what was going on and Laura refused to watch the news. She said something about it doing more harm than good. Emma just knew that she was going out of her mind sitting there and waiting around. She wished that she had some idea as to how the others were doing and whether or not Ultron was blowing the whole planet up yet. The kids were on the couch reading their books but Emma wasn't feeling up to reading anything at the moment. She just sat at the dinning room table, her hand resting against her face as she boredly stared at the wall. It was then that Emma heard the front door open and close. She lifted her head up suddenly, narrowing her eyes as she tried to strain her ears to hear more. Emma quietly padded across the room to where she heard the noise, mentally preparing herself for various situations. She, however, was relieved to see that it was just Clint. Gone was his Hawkeye uniform and he was instead wearing a t-shirt and jeans with a suitcase in his hand. He motioned for her to remain silent. Emma got the hint… he wanted to surprise his wife and children.
"Steve's outside." Clint whispered as she walked by him and she nodded, sending him a small smile as she began to head outside. Emma spotted her grandfather standing a ways away from the house, his back towards her as he looked off into the distance. He was no longer dressed in his Captain America uniform, instead opting for a similar look to Clint except for the fact that he wore a leather jacket. She slowly approached him but she already knew that he was aware that she was there. It was a feeling she had in the pit of her stomach.
"So I take it that we won." Emma spoke up. Steve glanced at her as she went to stand next to him.
"Yes. Ultron's gone." Emma nodded solemnly. She was glad that the whole fiasco was finally over even if she wished that she could've helped in some way.
"That's good." She paused as she noticed the tired expression on Steve's face. "There was a lot of civilian casualties, wasn't there?"
"Unfortunately yes." Steve answered with a grim expression.
"There probably would've been more if Ultron lived." She reasoned and Steve shrugged.
"Probably… that's actually something I told Tony a couple of days ago." Emma raised a brow at her grandfather's odd statement.
"And what is that?"
"That everytime someone tries to stop a war before it happens, innocent people die." He told her, his tone sad.
"I bet Stark loved hearing that." She retorted before pausing. "You're right you know. Hydra tried to do the same thing. Whatever messed up logic Pierce had… well, Stark's not that much different after all."
"Don't say that." Steve suddenly said as his gaze hardened. "Tony's our friend."
"Yes, but it's true." She deadpanned. "I like Tony for what it's worth even though I'll never admit that but his mind is anyone's guess. The guy has a few screws loose not that I can blame him. I imagine going through a wormhole in space is enough to make anyone lose their mind."
"How have things been here?" Steve changed the subject quickly. Emma was slightly suspicious but she decided to drop the subject. "Any trouble in the Barton residence? Any threats?" Emma snorted.
"Unless you count getting a racoon out from under the house a problem… no, things have been boringly mundane." Emma answered and Steve smirked.
"Did you have to take the poor little guy out? Was he a new target?" Steve joked. Emma was surprised that Steve had made a joke like that about her past… it wasn't like she was offended since she had started making jokes like that all the time but usually Steve hated it when she joked about her past. Maybe something really had changed.
"I actually released him into the woods." She replied. "I don't think I have it in me to kill animals. They should be rewarded for not being people… I hate people." Steve just laughed.
"So Emma Rogers has a soft spot?" She just shrugged at Steve's question.
"Apparently but don't tell anyone else. I don't need them thinking that I'm not scary anymore."
"Fair enough." They fell into a comfortable silence for a couple of minutes after that. It almost reminded Emma of the silences she used to share with her father. It was quite odd… Emma realized that she hadn't thought about him in days. She had been so worried about Steve and the others. Was that what it was going to be like? The more time she spent away from him, the further they drifted apart? Emma sincerely hoped not.
"So what happens now? What do we do?" She asked, breaking the comfortable silence.
"We go home." Steve responded and Emma raised an eyebrow at him.
"Do we even still have a home?" Emma said. "I thought Ultron pretty much trashed the place."
"Stark's been building this facility in Upstate New York. The official Avengers' Headquarters." He told her and she looked at him in surprise. Well, that wasn't what she was expecting to hear at all. "It's away from the city and all of the people. There's a lot of land… I think you'll really love it."
"It sounds nice." Emma said quietly. "So that's it. We're just packing up and moving. What about the others? Are they moving as well?" Steve gave her an uncomfortable look.
"Bruce disappeared off to God knows where. Thor is going to go back to Asgard… apparently there's more of a pressing matter that he needs to tend to." Steve explained as Emma listened respectfully. "Clint's retired now and Tony is going to stay at the tower while it goes under reconstruction. It'll just be Natasha and I at the facility."
"So the Avengers are disbanded?" Emma said. She was speaking more to herself than Steve but he just shook his head in response.
"Not disbanded… we're actually getting some new members to add to the team." Emma furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.
"New members? I thought you said you wanted me to wait until I was eighteen?" Steve just chuckled at her confused expression.
"Oh, you are going to wait until you're eighteen. Believe me." Steve told her. "No, I'm talking about some other new recruits."
"Who are you talking about then?" Emma asked, completely bewildered as to what Steve was talking about.
"I'll explain it on the way home. It's a long story." Steve promised before he brought up something completely different. "But until then… we need to talk about your grounding." Emma sighed heavily as she rolled her eyes.
"Are you still on about that?" Steve nodded.
"I was thinking about a month." He told her seriously and Emma just shrugged.
"I'd could live with a month. I've handled a lot worse." She replied earnestly. Steve then smirked at her again and she started to feel uneasy.
"No, no, I know that you would be incredibly comfortable with spending a month alone in your room sketching and reading." Steve retorted. "I was thinking of you being forced to interact with others and actually participate in group discussions. That sounds like a fair punishment, right?" Emma groaned.
"This is going to be a long month." And Emma had a feeling that it was going to be an even longer year. Something told her that the Avengers and her would have a lot more to deal with in the upcoming years. Ultron most definitely wasn't going to be their last problem. If anything Ultron just proved that the Avengers didn't function as well together as they thought they did. She wondered how long the Avengers could last. Hopefully longer than what Ultron had thought. Emma could only hope.