A/N: We were so close, guys! 299 Reviews!

One more little thing that I feel I should probably address: I know a lot of you weren't happy with Steve the last two chapters, to the point that a couple of you sounded worried that his reaction was too out of character. That's fair. We all have our own perceptions on him so I totally get that perspective. I wasn't exactly happy with his behaviour myself when it developed. But I feel I should also point out that Steve is not perfect. The man is stubborn and sticks to his convictions once he's settled on them. Especially when he's sure he's got the moral high ground. Civil War is case and point. No one was right in that conflict, Tony or Steve. But Steve was convinced he was right and that conviction did lead to problems that could've been lessened, imho, if he'd been a little more open to other options and perspectives.

Plus, you know, there's also the point that he is not at his most rational when Bucky is thrown in the mix...

But don't worry! I do know what I'm doing! Things will be resolved! And I hope you'll all stick around to see how it does!

Enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 41

Seoul, Korea

Spring 2015

It was all falling apart.

No, it had fallen apart.

What had they done…

Despite her brother's comforting arm around her shoulders and his affected expression of confidence, she knew he was feeling the same thing: they had made a huge mistake.

Ultron was going to destroy everything.

She'd seen it in his dreams, vivid and horrifying and unmistakable.

They never should have helped him.

They never should have trusted him.

This was so much worse than either of them could've dreamed.

And Wanda had no idea what to do next. It wasn't quite helping either that Pietro kept looking to her both in concern and for guidance.

He was the confident one, but he was also brash and reckless and he was well aware of it. She was the rational one, the cautious, circumspect and decisive one even if she wasn't quite so decisive as he was. He almost always deferred to her judgement and her ideas on the truly important things, his confidence giving her confidence. Yet, for all that he quite often joked between them that she was the brains, he was no slouch himself. He just didn't often apply himself to working out real solutions when they found themselves in trouble…which was rather often, if she was being honest. However, he wasn't afraid to challenge her decisions either. Though when he objected to her decisions, it was usually for good reason.

But he hadn't objected to working with Ultron. He had jumped headfirst after the robot's offer just as she had.

And now they were paying the price.

Everyone was going to pay the price.

Unless they did something to stop it.

She did have some ideas there…but she wasn't sure how well they'd be received.

One thought she couldn't shake was that they had to get back to Sokovia. Wanda glanced to Pietro again. That, he would undoubtedly be on board with. They had to return to Novi Grad and retrieve Nina. She knew Pietro would agree to that wholeheartedly, his unacknowledged crush on the pretty blonde nonwithstanding.

It was the next step she wasn't sure he'd be willing to go along with.

They had to make contact with the Avengers.

He was going to hate that idea. She wasn't too fond of it herself, if she was being completely truthful, but she honestly saw no other viable options. They had no choice. Whether Ultron admitted it or not, the Avengers were his biggest threat. It was why he'd been so eager to get her and Pietro and their animosity for Stark and his companions on his side; she hadn't needed to be able to read his mind to figure that out.

Therefore, the Avengers were their—and the world's—best chance to beat Ultron. They had to find them, to share what they knew and—if the team would let them—help them take the robot down.

And that was also where Nina came in.

Whether Wanda liked it or not.

Because whether she wanted to admit it or not, Wanda had come to realize that the Avengers had been looking for Nina back when they'd taken Strucker's base. She hadn't been sure that day—the fragments of thoughts she'd gleaned from Strucker and the dark-eyed woman had been too random and too disjointed to get a proper context to sort through them—but after Johannesburg?

In her task to mess with their minds, Wanda had also inevitably gotten a glimpse into the thoughts of the Avengers.

But it had only been after Johannesburg, after her migraine had faded and she had recovered from what Hawkeye's fancy electrified arrow had done to her, that she'd finally had a chance to put the few pieces she had together.

Rykova? The woman Strucker and the woman had been talking about? The one the Avengers had brought with them?

She was The Ghost, the one Ultron had been so amused to see was still working with the Avengers. Looking into Black Widow and Captain America's minds had only solidified that conclusion.

And had left her with another wrenching realization.

If Rykova was The Ghost…that meant she was Nina's mother.

It was a realization that left Wanda feeling cold whenever she came back to it. In trying to help Nina, they'd kept her from her mom, a woman desperate to find her child.

A child who had been stolen from her by a man with dangerous plans.

What sort of monsters were they?

She hadn't told Pietro yet. He was so protective of the blonde girl. The idea that in their determination to help her they'd inadvertently been doing the complete opposite? She could hardly bear the thought of putting that weight on his shoulders right now.

Not when Nina was currently little more than Ultron's hostage; she didn't think he quite realized that, yet either.

He would only blame himself.

But she knew she had to. She couldn't keep it from him, much as she would like to. Especially when she had a feeling it might be the only thing that would convince him to throw in with the Avengers.

Because he very much wasn't going to like the idea.

For one thing, her twin was proud. Very proud. It was going to chafe for him to admit to anyone but her that they'd been wrong about Ultron. And asking to join the Avengers to bring the robot down would be tantamount to admitting just that.

Not to mention he still very much viewed Stark as their enemy. To admit their mistake to an enemy?

He was still so angry at Stark. Oh, she was too, but she was also more pragmatic than her brother. She knew that their grudge against the billionaire was going to have to be set aside if they were to have any hope of stopping Ultron…

Their vengeance could wait.

Or perhaps surrendering their vengeance was the price they'd have to pay in order to fix their mistake.

Because they would have to pay a price. She was no fool. She knew that. And if that price was letting go of their desire to make Stark pay for what they'd suffered? If the alternative was letting Ultron destroy the world?

It was a price she'd pay gladly.

She didn't want to be a monster.

But first they either needed to find a way out of Seoul or a way to contact the Avengers. She needed to have that figured out before she broke her realization to her twin. She needed the support a well-thought out plan would provide.

And therein lay her main problem.

They were in Korea—half-a-world away from where they needed to be—with no resources, no friends…nothing save each other and their abilities.

Even if they knew how to reach them, they didn't have a means of contacting the Avengers in the first place, and they certainly didn't have a way to get back to Sokovia.

They were stuck.

She supposed she could use her abilities to get them access to whatever they needed…but she was hesitant to do that now, what with the weight of their actions at Ultron's side pressing down on her. Especially since they had no idea where to go. Sokovia was the logical place; Nina was there, and if they had her—and her inevitable support on their side as a character witness—the Avengers might be more open to dealing with the Twins themselves. But as much as Wanda wanted to get Nina, they didn't know how much time they had.

If they couldn't stop Ultron, after all, what good would there be in going to get Nina.

They'd all die anyway, and the strong-willed blonde still might not be reunited with her mother.

No, as much as she hated the decision, since leaving Nina in Sokovia meant leaving her with Ultron, they had to look to stopping Ultron first.

And that meant going after the Avengers.

She knew they had their fancy Tower in New York City. It was the first place she'd thought of.

But then…if they weren't there? That was a setback they wouldn't be able to afford. The Avengers were sure to be scouring the globe looking for Ultron. They were not going to stop in their mission to take him down. Her mental manipulations would mess with their minds, badly, but it wouldn't keep them down for long. She wasn't cruel enough to damage even their minds permanently. Eventually they would regroup.

They likely already had if she was being honest. The ones she had encountered had clearly had strong minds…and all of them had already been used to living with their demons; she'd just brought those demons to the surface where they couldn't be ignored.

That she had discerned easily enough when she'd gotten into their heads.

No, they'd recover quickly enough. At the time she'd been vaguely disappointed that would be the case but had been satisfied that enough damage would be done regardless.

Now she was rather grateful for it…

"He said there was a Quinjet approaching." Wanda nearly started at her brother's low, grim tone. As she glanced up at him, his expression was far more serious than she'd seen in a long time…and that was saying something. But then what he'd said registered and her eyes widened as the pieces began to fall into place.

"The Avengers are here," she murmured, her head unconsciously tilting as she sank into thought. Pietro's eyes narrowed minutely, but he didn't interrupt. It was then that she realized he had already come to the same conclusion she had been contemplating when he'd interrupted her thoughts. He wasn't stupid. Her eyes focused intently on her twin. She nearly flinched when he tensed.

"Pietro—"

"They'll never want to work with us."

"We have to try!"

"After everything we've done? You got into their minds, knocking them on their asses! You set the Hulk loose in a city!" This time she actually did flinch, causing an expression of apology to appear in her twin's eyes. He hadn't intended to sound accusing; he'd just been trying to point out the facts. And he was right. She had done those things.

But she didn't drop his equally intent gaze.

"They're our best chance to stop Ultron," she countered softly. He scoffed, finally breaking eye contact. She nearly let out a sigh of relief at the tell: he was beginning to cave. Life went on as usual around them in the street market they'd disappeared into, the few people out and about virtually oblivious to the two siblings where they stood in the middle of the street.

"We have things they need. For one, we know where Ultron's base is! We can bargain with them," she pressed, reaching out to grip his sleeve. He stared straight ahead, his thoughts racing behind his conflicted blue-green gaze as he stared without seeing at the people passing around them. But he didn't shrug her off.

"And what about after?" Her eyes burned uncomfortably as the edges of her vision began to blur at the resigned cast to his voice. She sighed.

"If Ultron isn't stopped? There won't be an after, Pietro," she reminded him sadly. He looked down at her, the overwhelmed expression on his face matching the way she was feeling perfectly.

"It's our fault," he said softly, miserably, as he ran a tired hand over his face and through his wind-tousled hair. Wanda nodded.

"And we need to fix it."

"And for that we need the Avengers," he said bitterly, echoing her earlier thoughts and the point he hadn't let her make directly moments before. She nodded again. He shot her a skeptical look.

"We need to find them first, you know. If they're even here—"

"They are," Wanda interrupted confidently. Ultron had been too concerned about the Quinjet for it not to be them. Pietro grimaced faintly but continued as though she hadn't interrupted.

"This is a big city, Wanda. I'm fast, but that's a lot of ground to cover…and they have a Quinjet! We don't even know if we'd be able to find them—they could be anywhere by now—" But a flash of movement and a bold white and blue headline she couldn't read had appeared on the screen of the TV one of the market vendors had set up in the corner of his food stall. Her grip tightened, tugging on her twin's arm to get his attention. Immediately he was following her wide-eyed gaze to see what had caught her sudden attention.

Captain America was fighting Ultron atop a U-Gen truck right there on the grainy screen.

Well, they now knew where to find the Avengers…

Wanda's eyes snapped to her twin.

"You can—" she didn't even need to finish her question before Pietro nodded sharply and swept her up.

She'd barely even registered he'd started running before he was setting her down in the middle of a train car.

And then he was crashing into Ultron faster than she could blink, throwing the robot bodily off Captain Rogers. But he was immediately out of anywhere to go, forcing him to a sudden stop in the front corner of the train car as he spun awkwardly to face Ultron almost before Wanda could process that their former ally was there.

Before she could even think to react she was reacting. As Ultron turned to advance on Pietro she was using her own powers to wrench the car's racking down into a crimson-swathed barrier that glowed between her brother and the robot.

Not that she had any illusions that Ultron wouldn't be capable of tearing through it like paper if he wanted to.

The robot turned, his decidedly wretched red eyes fixing on her.

"Please," he said softly, nearly sounding like he was pleading, "don't do this."

"What choice do we have," Wanda countered bitterly, unable to keep her true feelings to herself; her regret, her anger, her feelings of betrayal.

Evidently the feeling was mutual and, with a dark look Ultron spun, the searing streaks of his concussive beams shooting from his fingers toward the front of the train, narrowly missing Pietro, who only managed to duck out of the way thanks to his enhanced reflexes.

The train lurched and as Wanda struggled to keep her balance, Ultron blasted the sliding doors next to him clean away and launched himself free from the train.

Leaving them on a train that was quickly careening out of control. As Captain Rogers bolted for the control cab, Pietro had zipped to Wanda's side, reaching anxiously out for her with a questioning expression creasing his features. Nodding that she was alright, Wanda reached for him too.

Only for the train to lurch violently again as it crashed through the barrier at the end of the tracks. As the Twins regained their feet they couldn't help the panicked look that passed between them as the train shuddered and screeched, throwing its screaming passengers bodily around the cars as it hurtled on with no sign of slowing down.

Wanda couldn't even think as she clutched Pietro's arm. Dread burrowed through her chest, clawing up her throat as it paralysed her next to her rattled twin. But before either of them could manage to snap out of their shock, Captain Rogers had reappeared, levelling them both with measuring looks before indisputably taking charge, barking out instructions.

"Civilians in our path," he said with a pointed glance to Pietro. Pietro didn't argue or even hesitate, merely nodding sharply in understanding before dashing away with a final reassuring squeeze of her fingers. Already the Captain was turning to Wanda.

"Can you stop this thing?" Wanda looked to the Captain with a start; her heart started thundering in her chest as she registered what he'd said.

Could she?

She'd never manipulated anything that big before.

The Captain didn't wait for an answer either way as at that moment the train lurched viciously again as it crashed through carts and vehicles in its path. Even as he steadied a woman next to him as she was nearly thrown from her feet, he caught sight of a quickly approaching building.

Wanda's heart jumped to her throat in terror as the Captain leapt into action, rushing into the cab just in time to use his shield as a barrier as the train smashed through the brick-clad building front. Debris flew through the gaping hole Ultron had punched through the front of the train, the Captain's shield barely managing to protect the interior of the car and its passengers from the worst of it.

But Wanda nearly cried out as a huge chunk of metal and concrete crashed into him, the force of the impact sending the Captain flying back into the main car where he fell still.

Just barely keeping her balance, the train heaving and screaming as it surged through the building, she gathered her nerve and marshalled her powers. She had to do this. She had to stop the train.

She would stop it, she declared to herself as her body began to tingle with pent-up energy as she called on everything she had, a scarlet nimbus forming around her as she unleashed her power, seizing hold of the train's wheels with every ounce of willpower she had, as though she could drag it to a stop with her bare hands.

She would stop it.

She had to.

A/N: Thanks for reading!

We were so close, my lovelies! You almost got us there last chapter. Well, we'll definitely make it this time! Lol! Now it's just a matter of deciding how to celebrate… What do you think? Sneak peaks for my wonderful reviewers?

So be sure to favourite, follow and, of course, REVIEW! Reviews bring doses of happiness and sunshine to my life! And Celebrations! ;)

See you all next time! I know you're going to like it!

Guest Reviews:

Jag: Yeah. I was always a little iffy on her running too. I could understand the logic, though. But I could never see her leaving the team high and dry. And I still firmly believe that even if she had decided to go through with it, she never would've done so before Ultron was defeated. No where does she or Banner suggest otherwise. I was okay with Bruce and Nat, for the reasons she herself mentioned during the party (a peaceful soul, to heavily paraphrase) but yeah, I couldn't see it ultimately working out either. And we're getting there! Thanks again!

LaCatrna: Hahaha! Well, I'm glad you're enjoying the pain! :P And hope is always a good thing! I'm glad you enjoyed seeing Nat's perspective on everything. As for whether or not it's going to work out, you'll just have to keep tuning in! lol! I will direct your attention to the pairing for this story, though ;) Hahaha! Thanks for reviewing!

Jo: Drama, drama! Wouldn't you say it arguably has spilled over already? Hahaha! I'm so glad you're loving it! Thanks for reviewing!

Guest: That's so lovely of you to say! I'm so glad you're enjoying it so much! And I'll admit, I wish it did get more, but I absolutely love the ones I do get, that's for sure! Thanks for reviewing!

Jenny: Well, it does make a certain amount of sense…they have to have a good handle on their emotions and, in Nadine and Nat's case, were trained to keep their personal feelings under tight control. But really? Everyone should just listen to Natasha…All. The. Time. Haha! Thanks for reviewing!

Guest: I'm so glad you're enjoying so much! And I hope you'll keep enjoying! And we're getting there! Thanks for reviewing!