Now, I know what y'all are going to say. "Three chapters in one weekend!" I know. I got to work on this story a lot this week. I wasn't planning on doing AoU, but I decided to use it to help later on in the story.

Enjoy!

~:~

After I stormed in the house, I ran up to my room and quickly grabbed my things. I ran back down the stairs and Clint blocked my exit.

"Clint, move!"

"I can't do that," he said, calmly. When I tried to walk around him, he grabbed my shoulders and took my stuff from me, throwing it on the couch.

"Clint, let me go!"

"Not gonna happen." I began beating on his chest, struggling to get away. After a while, I stopped and broke down, sobbing into his shirt. "Shh...I got you."

Laura came from the kitchen. "Clint, what's going- Oh." Clint jerked his head for her to go and I heard her footsteps fade off.

He rubbed circles into my back as my sobs faded away. Once I stopped, he squeezed me tight.

"You okay?" I shook my head in reply. "Tony?" I nodded. "I'll deal with it later."

"Don't bother. Tony's just being an ass."

He chuckled. "Sounds about right." Once he let go of me, looked straight into my eyes. "Do I need to tie you up?"

I shook my head. "I would've come back when I cooled off." He quirked a brow in reply. "Really, I would have." When he glared at me, I sighed in defeat. "Maybe not."

"That's what I thought." He leaned down and grabbed my stuff. "I'm gonna go put this back." I nodded my head. "Oh, and Tasha's looking for you. She's outside with the kids."

" 'Kay." I walked back outside to the chicken pen. Hopefully, this won't be the third Avenger to tick off today. I think that's a new record. I walked up and saw LIla chasing the hens back into the coop.

"Come on, Spangles. Get up in there!"

I laughed. Some things never change… Once the last chicken was locked up, I called out to Nat.

SHe looked up and smiled. "Cooper, Lila, why don't y'all go on inside? See if your mama needs any help." The two nodded their heads and took off towards the house.

"Clint said you were looking for me."

"Yeah," she said dusting her hands on her thighs. "How's everything going with you?"

"You got to be more specific, Nat."

"Let's state the obvious: What's with you and Steve? How about you and Tony?"

"Both won't accept the truth," I replied. "And let's leave it at that."

"How's the search?" I shrugged in reply.

"It's the continuing chase of white rabbits. Is that why you told him not to pull on that thread?"

She shook her head. "Not necessarily…"

"You knew him,didn't you?"

"Yes, i did," she whispered.

"You fell in love with him. That's why..." The corner of my mouth quirked up.

"What?"

"I just thought of something," I replied. "You could have been my step-mom." She rolled her eyes in reply.

"Could still happen."

Wait. What?

~:~

"Ultron took you folks out of play to buy himself 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."

"What about Ultron himself?" Steve asked as he leaned against the wall.

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

Tony threw a dart at the target on the wall. "He still going after launch codes?"

"Yes, he is, but he's not making any headway."

"I cracked the Pentagon's firewall in high school on a dare." Tony remarked.

I raised my hand. "Me too."

"Yeah, well, I contacted our friends at the NEXUS about that."

"NEXUS?" Steve asked.

"It's the world internet hub in Oslo," Banner replied. "Every byte of data flows through there, fastest access on earth."

"So what'd they say?" Clint asked.

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

Tony turned from the board to Fury. "By whom?" Clint threw a dart and hit the bullseye, nearly missing Tony's face. Clint gave him a cocky grin and shrugged.

I smacked him on the back of the head, muttering, "Showoff…"

"Parties unknown," Fury said, impressed with Clint's shot.

Natasha asked,"Do we have an ally?"

"Ultron's got an enemy," Fury said shaking his head. "That's not the same thing. Still, I'd pay folding money to know who it is."

Tony leaned through the window."I might need to visit Oslo, find our 'unknown.'"

"Well, this is good times, boss," Tasha drawled. "But I was kind of hoping when I saw you, you'd have more than that.

"I do, I have you. " he replied. "Back in the day, I had eyes everywhere. Ears, everywhere else.
You kids had all the tech you could dream up. 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. And whether or not he admits it, his mission is global destruction. All this, laid in a grave." He pulled a chair back and sat down. "So stand. Outwit the platinum bastard." I clicked my tongue.

"Steve doesn't like that kind of talk.," Tasha added.

Steve glared. "You know what, you two?" We smiled mischievously at him.

"So what does he want?" Fury asked.

"To become better. Better than us. He keeps building bodies."

"Person bodies," Tony added. "The human form is inefficient, 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," Tasha pointed out.

" 'They don't need to be protected, they need to evolve.' " Banner recited.

My eyes widened. "Ultron's going to evolve."

Fury looked at the both of us. "How?"

Banner looked up. "Has anyone been in contact with Helen Cho?"

~:~

"I'm gonna finish re-flooring that sunroom as soon as I get back."

Laura rolled her eyes. "Yeah, and then you'll find another part of the house to tear apart."

Clint shook his head. "No. It's the last project. I promise." They kissed and he walked down the hall to leave.

"Last project, huh?" I called out.

"Yeah, it's time I retired."

"Good. You need it."

Laura and me walked to watch them fly off. I saw the worried expression on her face.

"Don't worry. Everything's going to be alright." I said placing my hand on her shoulder.

"Then, why do I feel like it isn't?" She asked and walked into the house.

My phone rang. "Hello?"

"You okay?"

I plopped on the porch swing. "I...I-I don't know."

"Do you need me to come get you?"

"No. I just-," I sighed. "I just need to hear your voice."

"What happened?"

"Tony's being an ass, and Steve's being….Steve. I can't do this anymore, Sam." I choked. "I know what will happen. They're going to tear this team apart. All because they are afraid."

"Maybe you'll be the one to change that."

I shook my head. "Not if they get their heads out of their butts and listen."

"Then make them. Before it's too late."

"That's the thing, Sam. I think it already is."

There was a small pause between us before Sam broke my trance.

"Hey. You still there?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, um. I'll be by in the morning to get you."

"Sounds good."

"I love you."

"Love you, too, angel."

~:~