Kya's muscles jumped wphen the cold water from the shower head hit her. Since Water Island had more frigid climates than the other islands, she was used and often preferred colder temperatures. Pushing her long silver hair away from her face before sliding to sit in the tub, she let her mind wander.

Tui and Lah why? Why did you bind me to the enemy?

Now that she actually communicated with Pietro through their bond, she found herself knowing certain things about the silver haired speedster that she doubted anyone but himself and his sister would know. Like how he loved when his mother baked a traditional Sokovian treat called knedle on every December twenty-third. Like how he broke his arm jumping off a snow pile a few months before the Bombing.

Like how she's the only thing he's been thinking about from the moment they met.

A thought entered the waterbender's head... If she suddenly knew all these things about Pietro, he probably knew things about her too.

Things that only Clint, Natasha, and herself should know.

Swearing, Kya carefully stood up and turned the shower off before stepping out and using her bending to dry off. Changing into the clothes she brought in with her, she padded over to the small bathroom mirror that sat above the sink. As she stared at her reflection, she saw the same face that has greeted her her entire life whenever she looked in a mirror. The same face that let her surrogate family's psyche be ripped to shreds by an enhanced.

She smiled sadly. Fourteen years later, and so much has changed.

A sudden idea came to her. It was probably childish, but what the hell?

She brushed her hair before using a few small hair-ties to separate two sections of her long hair on both sides of her face. After that was done, she pulled half of her hair up into a bun, but left the other half down. Then she used a few bobby-pins to pin the sections of hair to the bun. As she reached to braid the hair she had left down, her fingers froze. She locked eyes with her reflection, and lowered her hands.

(Author's Note: Just imagine Katara's hairstyle in ATLA Season 3)

No. Not that far. I won't be the same girl who let Senna control her.

With that being thought, she bended the water from her hair, looked at her reflection one last time, she turned and walked out of the bathroom...

...And almost walked straight into Steve.

The super soldier took a few steps back and raised an eyebrow at the silver hair that cascaded down her back. "I think this is the first time I've seen your hair down."

A small smile spread across Kya's lips. "Not true... when we were running from Hydra my hair was down."

Steve chuckled. "It was tucked up in hat Kya."

This time, the silver haired woman laughed dryly. "Touché... I just needed a little change."

He understood right away that she was talking about what happened in Wakanda. Taking a few steps forward he opened his arms for a hug and smiled reassuringly. "Come here."

Kya walked forward and let Steve wrap her in a reassuring hug, the top of her head coming to rest a couple of inches below his collarbone.

"I could have stopped-"

The man out of time cut her off. "What happened in Wakanda wasn't your fault. Maximoff caught you off guard, that's happened to all of us at one point or another."

The waterbender smiled. She knew that she could always count on Steve to be the big brother she could talk to when she couldn't talk to the one she had on the Islands. "I know, I was there when you were accosted by that group of ladies in New York, remember?"

He pulled back with a look of mock-dryness. "Ha ha."

Kya smirked. Keeping her eyes on his face, she could see faint irritation in Steve's eyes. But not at her.

He saw her observing eyes and shook his head. "Later, I promise."

The silver haired woman smiled. "Okay... I didn't use any of the hot water so feel free to use what you need."

Steve smiled and hugged her one more time. "I'm serious Kya, what happened in Wakanda-"

"-Wasn't my fault. I know."

Letting her go, the super soldier patted her shoulder before turning and walking into the bathroom. Smiling, Kya turned to walk out of the room Natasha, who looked at her hair with pleasant surprise.

"It's been a while since I've seen your hair down."

A small smile spread across the younger of the two's face. "I decided it was time for a change."

A small smile spread across the red head's lips as she snorted. Since she knew her so well, the waterbender could see the pain of haunting memories behind the older woman's humorless grin. Not even thinking twice, Kya walked forward and wrapped her arms around her surrogate mother. Natasha didn't hesitate to return the hug as she took a shaky deep breath.

She didn't have to ask what exactly the ex-red room assassin saw, because she already knew.

"Do you-"

Natasha pulled away to look Kya in the eye. "No, what's done is done."

She squeezed her surrogate daughter's shoulders before smiling the same mirthless, empty smile from moments before. "Lila and Cooper were looking for you earlier, they're downstairs."

Taking the que that she wanted to be alone, the silver haired woman hugged Natasha again before turning and leaving the room.

As she walked down the hallway, she thought back to the bond she now had with Pietro. She remembered a story that was told repeatedly among the islands. The story of Katara and Zuko, and how they found love when the islands were at war with each other.

(Author's Note: Zutara FOREVER !!!!)

Thinking back to the many times her grandmother told her that story - she often begged to hear it since it was her favorite story - Kya remembered that Katara and Zuko had a similar bond with each other.

At this, the silver haired woman froze.

There's no way he could... love me, is there?

The completely illogical side of her brain that sounded so much like Tony it was terrifying whispered evilly. But you're the only think he's thought about since you met.

Shaking her head to rid her face of the growing heat, Kya walked down the stairs and saw Lila and Cooper in the living room. The former spotted her and smiled.

"Kya come draw with me!"

-Time Skip-

Voices coming up the path caused Kya's head to snap in the direction on the door. Smiling widely, the waterbender quickly stood up and nearly sprinted out the door before throwing her arms around Nick Fury's neck.

The former director of S.H.I.E.L.D. patted her back affectionately. "Alright alright, get off me."

Kya grinned before pulling back, but stayed close as the two of them plus Tony made their way back up the stairs and into the kitchen, where the rest of the Avengers minus Thor had gathered. The waterbender took a seat next to Natasha, who had her attention on the ex-director of S.H.I.E.L.D just as he started talking.

"Ultron took you folks out of the play to buy himself more time. My contacts all say he's building something. The amount of Vibranium he made off with... I don't think it's just one thing."

Lila had walked over to Kya and Natasha sitting before showing them the picture she made. The ex-red room assasin grinned before cupping the little girl's cheek while the silver haired woman squeezed her surrogate sister's shoulder lovingly.

Meanwhile Steve, who looked better than he did when they arrived, leaned against the wall. "What about Ultron himself?"

Nick snorted. "He's easy to track, he's everywhere. Guy's multiplying faster than a Catholic rabbit. Still doesn't help us get an angle on any of his plans though."

Tony, who had wandered over to the dart board, didn't look at Nick as he threw darts. "He still going after the launch codes?"

"Yes he is. But he's not making any headway."

The billionaire no-longer-a-playboy snorted. "I cracked the Pentagon's firewall in High School on a dare."

Kya raised an eyebrow, remembering when she read about that during her grounding. "That was you?"

Knowing that she was referring to a time when she was grounded, Tony raised an eyebrow. "It made it onto S.H.I.E.L.D files?"

Nick cleared his throat to get the two back on task. "I contacted our friends at the Nexus about that"

Steve's eyebrows furrowed. "Nexus?"

Bruce looked at his teammate. "It's the world Internet hub in Oslo. Every byte of data flows through there. Fastest access on Earth"

Clint fiddled with the dart in his hands. "What'd they say?"

"He's fixated on the missiles, but the codes are constantly being changed."

Tony frowned. "By who?"

The billionaire no-longer-a-playboy quickly jerked his head back to avoid the dart Clint had thrown, who smirked and shrugged cheekily at the genius. Kya unsuccessfully tried to stop the giggles from escaping as Nick started talking again.

"Parties unknown."

Kya perked up. "We have an ally?"

The ex-director of S.H.I.E.L.D shook his head. "Ultron had an enemy, that's not the same thing... Still, I'd pay folding money to know who it is."

Tony wandered back from the dartboard. "I might need to visit Oslo, find our unknown."

From next to her, Natasha sighed. "Well this is good times boss, but I was kind of hoping when I saw you, you'd have more than that."

"I do. I have you. Back in the day, I had eyes everywhere. Ears everywhere else. You kids had all the tech you could dream up. Here we 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. And whether or not he admits it, his mission is global destruction."

Nick indicated to the kitchen around him. "All this, laid in a grave."

Kya's eyes wandered around her summer home, remembering every moment she spent here, and thinking of it all disappearing.

"So stand. Outwit the platinum bastard."

The red head smirked before looking at the doorway. "Steve doesn't like that kind of talk."

Said super soldier shook his head, a tiny grin tugging at his lips. "You know what Romanoff?"

The waterbender really perked up this time. Banter between Steve and Nat wasn't unusual, but something was different this time. The way that they looked at each other was tender, and the grins in their faces were softer than usual.

Something happened between them.

And she wanted to know what.

But, that would have to wait until later.

"So what does he want?"

Steve let his gaze leave the ex-red room assassin. "To become better... better than us. He keeps building bodies."

Tony spoke up. "Person bodies. The human form is inefficient. Biologically speaking, we're outmoded. But he keeps coming back to it."

Kya noticed Bruce had stood a little behind her and her surrogate mother. He reaches between them to get a better look at the picture Lila had drawn them, wheels turning in his head.

Nat smirked humorlessly. ""When you two programmed him to protect the human race, you amazingly failed."

Bruce spoke up. "They don't need to be protected. They need to evolve."

He looked up at the team, revelation dawning on his face. "Ultron's going to evolve."

Nick raised an eyebrow. "How?"

The scientist's face turned grim. "Has anyone heard from Helen Cho?'

This sent them into action. Everyone quickly grabbed their gear and changed into their uniforms. After Kya stepped out of her room wearing hers, she came face-to-face with a somber Lila and Cooper.

"You just got here."

The waterbender smiled sadly as she took her surrogate siblings hands and crouched in front of them. "I know. Once this is all over, I'll come stay longer."

"Promise?"

She smiled again before squeezing their hands. "Promise."

Standing up, Kya made her way downstairs just in time to hear Steve talking.

"I'll take Natasha, Clint, and Kya."

Tony walked from the kitchen. "Alright, strictly recon. I'll hit the Nexus, I'll join you as soon as I can."

Kya walked with them to the door. "If Ultron's really building a body...

The Billionaire no-longer-a-playboy saw where she was going. "He'll be more powerful than any of us, maybe all of us. An android designed by a robot."

Steve sighed irritably. "You know, I miss the days when the weirdest thing science created was me."

Kya snorted in agreement as Nick passed them. "I'll drop Banner off at the tower. You mind if I borrow Miss Hill?"

"She's all yours, apparently. What are you gonna do?"

Kya smirked at the secretive light in the ex-director's eyes. "I don't know. Something dramatic, I hope."

The Avengers began to walk out of the house and head to the jet. On her way out, Kya stopped and let Laura pull her in a hug.

"Be safe River."

The silver haired woman smiled as she pulled back. "I will, and I'll keep Clint safe too, promise."

Laura smiled before squeezed her surrogate sister's shoulder. Kya smiled back before turning and joining her team in the Quin-Jet. For a moment, she considered opening her bond with Pietro to see of she could find any information that would help them. But for some reason, she convinced herself not to because she felt it wad too cruel.

Besides, if he felt it when Wanda and I were using it as a playground, he'll definitely feel it if I'm poking around in there. Either way, ready or not Maximoffs, here I come.