A/N: Okay, so there are going to be 10 chapters to this section. Here's chapter two. Yay!

Chapter Two:

Elena's POV

It was about nine at night when the guests started to arrive. I had a cute, black dress on, yet despite dressing the part, this whole thing was beyond me. I didn't know what to do with myself. I just stood next to Natasha and Bruce, looking awkward.

"Where's Tony and Steve?" Bruce asked.

"When I was heading down here, Tony told Steve to meet him in the conference room. Maybe that's where they are at." Natasha replied.

"I'll go find them and bring them down." I say, thankful to leave. I go before they respond.

I head upstairs and to the conference room. I'm about to push the door open when I hear my name coming from Steve. "Elena?"

For a moment, I'm surprised, thinking that he saw me before I even walked in, but I quickly realize that they don't know I'm here.

"Yes. I had Jarvis working on this and another project. Someone in Hydra is looking to get her back."

My heart stops. I'm frozen, listening.

"I- how- why-?" Steve stumbles.

"I'm not sure about any of that. Yet, these are some correspondences between some Hydra higher ups and the handler see mentioned, Nikolai Zamfir. Apparently, he's looking for her."

My blood runs cold at the sound of his name. My chest tightens. I focus on my breathing, but it's coming out shallow and uneven.

Focus on the conversation, I tell myself.

"Let's wait on telling her." Steve says. "Nothing is going to get done by scaring her."

"Are you sure?" Tony questions.

"Let's just get downstairs." He replies.

I rush away from the door and head downstairs before they can see me.

I try to push the thought out of my mind. Nikolai was the worst. He had only been my handler for about a month, but Nikolai was obsessive and cruel. He- no, I push the thoughts further and further away. I wouldn't think of it. What would happen if I got caught and forced back? No, I won't think of it. The Avengers would help me, I think, Steve says that's what they do.

But what if they couldn't?

I made my way downstairs to the party. The party because Hydra is done for, I remind myself. Is that a childish belief?

I walk around, unsure of what to do. I listen to the stories that people are talking about all around the room and it soothes me. Once more of the nervous energy leaves me, I find a spot to sit down and wait for the night to come to a close.

Finally, things start to slow down and only the Avengers left. We're sitting around, most of them at least slightly intoxicated, and we get talking about Thor's hammer.

"It's a trick!" Clint exclaims "Uh, 'whosoever be he worthy shall haveth the power!' Whatever man! It's a trick."

"Well then, be my guest." Thor challenges.

Clint goes first and fails. Tony and Rhodey go next. I'm laughing a lot. It feels good to just hang with the team, it makes me feel better than before. Things are fine. Things are normal.

Steve tries the hammer next. For a split second it looks like it budged, but I must have imagined it.

"Next" Tony says.

They look to me. "No way." I say.

"Widow?" Bruce asks.

"Oh, no, no. That's not a question I need answered." She replies.

"It's rigged." Tony claims.

"You bet your ass." Clint agrees.

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

Steve turns to Tony. "Did you tell everyone about that?"

Everyone laughs.

Thor stands, picking up the hammer. "There's a simple answer. You're not worthy."

Suddenly, there's a loud screeching noise. We all cover are ears. What the hell is that?

"Worthy… No… How could you be worthy? You're all killers." A robot suit starts talking to us.

Steve looks to Stark who is tapping on his watch.

They start talking to the robot. I listen, but don't say anything. He killed someone and he's on a mission.

"What mission?" Natasha asks.

"Peace in our time." He answers.

Suddenly, we are attacked by the Iron legions. I've never fought robots before, but I manage to knock down a few. After a moment, I grab a baseball bat off one of the bookshelves. I think it was signed, but now is not the time to worry about that. I start taking out more.

It doesn't take us too long to take them all out. The machine starts talking again until Thor throws his hammer at it, smashing it to pieces.

This Ultron machine has seen all our files. I wonder if there was more on me that what the Avengers had, did Ultron have access to that. What about nuclear codes. How bad could this get?

"He said he killed somebody." Clint points out.

"No one else was in the building." Maria says.

"There was." Tony says, pulling up JARVIS.

"Oh no." I say, when I see the 3D image.

I'm still looking at the image when Thor grabs Tony by the throat.

Steve and I both yell at the same time. "Thor!"

He lets Tony go. "We lost the scepter. It's gone and now we have to retrieve it, again."

"We need to focus on stopping Ultron." Natasha says.

"Why is this system that you built trying to kill us?" Steve asks.

Tony starts laughing. Banner shakes his head at him, but Tony doesn't stop.

Thor gets angrier, "You think this is funny?"

"Tony…" I say.

Tony stops and looks at me for a moment. Then shakes whatever thought he had out of his head. "No, it's not funny. Except, it is. The fact that you all don't see why we need this."

Banner cuts in, "Tony, maybe now's not the time…"

Tony berates him, "Really? You just roll over, show your belly, every time somebody snarls."

"Only when I've created a murder bot." He shouts.

Tony starts yelling about the necessity of Ultron.

I shake my head. This is not the way.

I do wonder if it is kind of funny, how fast things go from good to bad. Except it's not funny. Not really.

Chapter Two and a half

Third Person POV.

Church in Sokovia.

The twins have shown up to talk with this mysterious man.

"Talk. And if you are wasting our time…" Wanda threatens.

Ultron ignores the threat, instead talking about the church.

Finally, he addresses them, "you're wondering why you can't look inside my head."

"Sometimes it's hard. But sooner or later, every man shows himself." Wanda states.

"Oh, I'm sure they do." Ultron shows himself, but he is no man. "But you needed something more than a man. That's why you let him take the scepter."

"I didn't expect, but I saw Stark's fear." She says. "Are you here to end the Avengers?"

"I've come to save the world. But also, yeah. Stark's already got them turning on each other. And when you get inside the rest of their heads… You just need to see the big picture."

Pietro speaks up. "I don't see the big picture, I have a little picture."

"You lost your parents. I've seen the records."

"The records are not the picture."

Pietro tells the story. The bomb. His parents. Being trapped for days. Stark.

"I wondered why you two survived the experiments with the scepter. Many didn't. Now I don't. We will make it right."

"We were the only ones, we were given purpose." Wanda says.

"The only one of Strucker's, yes."

"What do you mean?" Pietro asks.

"Another enhanced experiment survived. Another whose life was destroyed by Stark. His own blood. His daughter. Even now, she works with him, but doesn't know the truth."

The twins take in the information.

Pietro talks first. "She works for the Avengers and she is the daughter of a monster. She is just as guilty."

"Perhaps." Ultron says, "But her powers will be useful to us."