Chapter 14: Savior
November 20th, 2013
Avengers Tower, New York
The ride back to the tower was a tense one. Steve was seething, Natasha was trying to keep focused on the flying, and the Maximoffs were mostly silent. Steve tried Tony and Bruce a couple more times during the trip and there was still no answer, making Natasha start to push the speed even more.
When they got into New York, Natasha bolted towards the Tower and landed it beautifully on the landing pad. There was no one out to greet them, probably due to everyone being in the lab working on their little experiment.
As soon as the jet touched the ground Steve was out and Natasha was right behind him, the Maximoffs trailing and mostly following because this was the first time they had ever been inside there.
They got to the lab and Natasha could already see Bruce and Tony rushing around the lab, trying to get stuff done.
"I'm going to say this once," Steve said, announcing their presence and getting the two scientists to look up.
"How about nonce?" Tony countered.
"Shut it down," Steve commanded, and Natasha could tell that this wasn't something where Steve was going to back down, and neither was she.
"Nope. Not gonna happen," Tony fired back, ready to fight to the end of the earth on this, and Natasha had enough.
She and Tony still had a very tense relationship, and he probably still hated her. He tolerated a lot, but with his patience thin, this was only going to go one way.
"You don't know what you're doing," Natasha said to both of them, mostly trying to appeal to Bruce who usually had the more level head.
And you do?" Bruce said, gesturing at Wanda with his glasses in one hand, fury boiling under the surface. Yet he was surprisingly calm. "She's not in your head?"
Wanda stepped out from Steve's shadow. "I know you're angry-"
Bruce almost laughed. "Oh, we're way past that. I could choke the life out of you and never change a shade."
Steve stepped in front of Wanda again. "Bruce, after everything that's happened-"
"It's nothing compared to what's coming!" Tony interrupted from the raised level behind the railing.
"You don't know what's in there!" Wanda cried, desperation mounting.
"This isn't a game," Steve bellowed.
Natasha felt a rush of wind at that point, and the next second everything in the lab was unplugged and machines were failing left and right, everyone looked bewildered and on the other side was Pietro, holding a handful of cords. He stopped on the glass floor, tossing the cables in his hand away casually. "No, no," he said. "Go on, you were saying?"
Natasha didn't say anything, planning on taking action just like Pietro did when he beat her to the punch. The look on Tony and Bruce's face was almost priceless, and for once she was glad to have someone like the boy on her side. He was able to do something that needed to be done, or Stark was going to create another murder robot.
Natasha was about to finally say something when she noticed something below Pietro. It was Clint, holding a pistol and shooting straight up through the glass floor.
"Clint don't-," Natasha started before Clint fired anyway, straight up, but not hitting the speedster standing above him.
The bullet shattered the glass and Pietro went toppling down to the ground below where Clint had him trapped.
"Pietro!" Wanda cried and raced to the edge to peer down at him and make sure he was okay.
Meanwhile, all the machines that Pietro had unplugged were beeping and flashing red.
POWER CRITICAL FAILURE. POWER CRITICAL FAILURE
Natasha saw that the machines were failing and she knew that Stark was going to try and save them. She glanced quickly at Steve and nodded, knowing that they needed to make sure this thing wasn't coming to life. She pulled out about four widow bites in each hand and flung them across the room to various screens, causing them to short out.
Tony was taken aback, as he was just about to reroute power from somewhere to somewhere Natasha imagined. Then he was angry. Pulling on the Iron Man glove he kept on him at all times, he did something impulsive: he fired right at Natasha. Steve blocked it with his shield and then - in pure, instinctual retaliation - he launched it at Tony. Tony blasted it off to the side and then fired again, this time at a defenseless Cap, blasting him at least six feet backward.
The back of Tony's suit came flying from his lab and clamped on to him.
Natasha didn't waste any time. After Steve was blasted back, Natasha vaulted over the cradle and grabbed Steve's fallen shield. She had been practicing with it, so she slipped it on her arm. She jumped over to where Tony was and raised the shield to strike on the arc reactor in the chest of the suit.
Tony wasn't fully in his suit, so it gave Natasha the advantage. A duel began that Natasha didn't think she would ever be having, and her bruised chest wasn't making this easier. She was striking out at the armored parts that Tony had on, trying to disable the suit in between blocking shots.
Tony was able to get through her defenses and landed a blast on her shoulder that scorched her suit but protected most of her arm due to the protective capabilities of the suit, but it hurt. She used that momentum to swing around and clocked Tony on the side of the head, sending him to the ground. She hopped on top of him and lifted the shield to bring it down on the arc reactor in his suit.
It wouldn't kill him, but it would put the suit out of commission. The look that was in her eyes was of clear protectiveness of Steve, made her look a little crazy, and Natasha could swear she saw a twinge of fear in Tony's eyes.
They were all interrupted by Thor, who slid into the room, intense look on his face and hammer raised. He looked at the cradle and jumped on top of it, raising his hammer and gathering a bunch of lightning. He took that energy and sent it down into the cradle, knowing that the power overload would bring this vision to life.
"WAIT!" Bruce screamed. The power systems were failing, the computers were sparking, the cables had been yanked apart. There was no saving the thing in the Cradle. But Thor didn't seem to hear him.
After the lightning was gone, there was only silence and everyone seemed frozen in place. Then there was a gigantic explosion and a body hopped out of the cradle. The figure slowly raised its head and surveyed the room, looking untrustingly at everyone as it took in its surroundings. It stopped at Thor and lunged for him. Thor seemed to be expecting this however and flug the figure out of the room and into the main area of the tower overlooking the city.
Natasha was distracted and Tony seemed to recover quicker than her and easily pushed her smaller frame off his body as he went out to check things out. Natasha was still clutching the shield as Steve already left. She made her way out slowly with Clint, on the far side of the room and everyone kind of surrounded the figure. It materialized clothes for itself and floated back down to speak to everyone
"I'm sorry, that was... odd," it, Natasha supposed he, finally spoke and turned to Thor. "Thank you."
It sounded like JARVIS. But that didn't make sense, JARVIS was supposed to be destroyed. Natasha looked warily at everyone and then back at the figure, who after a second added a cape to its outfit after looking at Thor's.
"Thor. You helped create this?" Steve asked, a bit of disbelief in his voice.
"I had a vision," Thor started to explain. "A whirlpool that sucks in all hope of life and at the center is that."
Thor pointed to the gem in the Vision's head, as it was glowing brightly.
"What, the gem?" Bruce asked, more curious than afraid it seemed.
"It's the Mind Stone," Thor said. "It's one of the six Infinity Stones, the greatest power in the universe, unparalleled in its destructive capabilities."
"Then why would you bring it here?" Steve asked, paralleling Natasha's thoughts of something that destructive being brought to life.
"Because Stark is right," Thor said, looking right at Steve.
Natasha could say that her mouth almost hit the ground at that. After all of this, everything Thor got pissed about earlier, and he came to this conclusion. But Thor said it with such conviction, that Natasha would at least hear him out.
"Ohhhh it's definitely the end of times." Bruce said, voicing what pretty much everyone was thinking.
"The Avengers cannot defeat Ultron," Thor started to explain.
"Not alone," the figure added to Thor's statement.
"Why does your "vision" sound like JARVIS?" Steve asked Tony and Bruce.
Tony stepped forward, "We reconfigured JARVIS' matrix. To create something new."
"I think I've had my fill of new," Steve expressed and Natasha shared that sentiment. All of the new stuff that had come out of that lab recently, Natasha hadn't been overly fond of.
"You think I'm a child of Ultron?" the figure asked Steve
"You're not?" Steve asked, mistrust evident in his voice.
"I'm not Ultron," the figure said. "I'm not Jarvis. I am… I am."
"I looked in your head," Wanda said, stepping forward to get a closer look. "And saw annihilation."
"Look again," the figure told her gently.
"Yeah her approval means jack shit to me," Clint spat, earning him a glare from Natasha who was standing right behind him.
Wanda was just a kid after all. A confused kid, not unlike herself when she was brought to Shield. Not the kid part, but the confused woman, fighting for the cause she thought was right, and it turned out to be wrong.
"Their powers," Thor said, gesturing to the twins. "The horrors in our heads, Ultron himself. They all came from the Mind Stone, and they're nothing compared to what it can unleash. But on our side..."
"Is it?" Steve interrupted, getting to the meat of the matter. He turned to the Vision, looking him dead in his artificial eyes. "Are you?"
"I don't think it's that simple," the figure said honestly.
"Well it better get real simple quick," Clint said and Natasha nodded. He wasn't wrong there, this was a time sensitive situation.
"I am on the side of life," the android said. "Ultron isn't, he will end it all."
"What's he waiting for?" Tony asked, seemingly all for this, though his voice still wavered a bit that Natasha could tell.
"You," the figure replied plainly and it made sense.
"Where," Bruce asked.
"Sokovia," Clint announced, having made contact with Terra earlier. "He has Terra there too."
"If we're wrong about you, if you're the monster Ultron made you to be..." Bruce started, threat evident in his voice.
"What will you do?" the figure asked carefully, and paced away. "I don't want to destroy Ultron. He's unique, and he's in pain. But that pain will roll over the earth, so he must be destroyed."
"Every form he's built, every trace of his presence on the net, we have to act now. And not one of us can do it without the others."
The figure looked down at his hands. "Maybe I am a monster. I don't think I'd know if I were one. I'm not what you are, and not what you intended. So there may be no way to make you trust me." He walked over to the side table where Mjolnir lay.
"But we need to go," he urged as he picked up the hammer, And offered it to Thor for him to take.
The room went dead silent at that, as everyone stared at the figure holding the hammer with ease. Thor looked at the figure with a very confused look on his face as he took the hammer. That was the second person, or whatever he was, to lift his hammer in the past week.
Natasha and Clint looked wide eyed at Vision as he easily picked up the hammer. This thing had proved the worthiness equal to Captain America and Thor. That was something quite spectacular.
"Right," Thor said, breaking the silence as everyone was still pretty shocked.
He started walking after Vision, patting Stark on the shoulder along the way and offering a "well done" to him.
Steve recovered first out of the rest of them. "Three minutes," he said, turning to the others. "Get what you need. We're going to Sokovia."
Tony took off immediately, anxious to be out of there. Bruce left as well, probably to pack some extra clothes for what was an inevitable Code Green.
Steve turned to the twins, who looked unsure of what came next. So Steve prompted them. "Are you coming?"
Wanda glanced at her brother to check that they were on the same page and replied, "We're coming."
Steve nodded approvingly. "What do you need?"
"New clothes," Wanda answered. "And maybe some food."
"Natasha?" Steve beckoned his girlfriend. "Could you show them where they can get what they need? I'll meet you on the jet."
"Yeah," Natasha said, coming over to Steve and handing him his Shield.
She pressed a quick kiss to his cheek before turning to the Maximoffs.
"C'mon kids," Natasha said, turning around to lead them to where they could gear up. "I've got a jacket that I think will suit you Wanda."
Natasha led them to a supply room where she offered for the twins to take whatever they needed. Pietro went to grab some new shoes and a shirt, while Wanda paced around, looking at things but not really grabbing anything.
"Maximoff," Natasha called out, getting the girl's attention.
She tossed her a red jacket that Natasha had in her closet. She didn't wear it anymore, and it looked like it would fit Wanda well. She gave her a small smile and headed to get herself ready.
She got a new suit, same type of design, and hooked up her wrist gauntlets with it. She made sure that she was stocked up on Widow bites, and that her grappling line was locked and loaded. She then added a new piece of tech she had been working on in her spare time. They were like stun batons, that channeled the energy that went into her wrist gauntlets to help stab better. She figured it would help penetrate the metal casing of an Ultron bot better than just her bites. The last piece of gear she added were Steve's dog tags and the silver arrow necklace that Clint gave her. To make sure she had something to hold on too in case the worst happened.
She wouldn't go alone.
After the allotted time, she found herself on the jet with Clint in the co-pilot's seat and everyone aboard. They were taking off and Steve was in the middle with everyone.
"Ultron knows we're coming," Steve said, looking at all of them. "Odds are we'll be walking into heavy fire. That's what we signed up for. But the people of Sokovia, they didn't. So our priority is getting them out. All they want is to live their lives in peace. And that's not gonna happen today. But we can do our best to protect them. And we can get the job done. We find out what Ultron's been building, we find Terra, we clear the field. Keep the fight between us." He paused here, contemplating his next words and whether the team was ready to hear them. "Ultron thinks we're monsters. That we're what's wrong with the world. This isn't just about beating him. It's about whether he's right."
November 21st, 2013
Novi Grad, Sokovia
When they arrived in Sokovia, it was the early hours of the morning. Steve gave out orders, and Natasha had a specific section to watch. They were working on evacuating the entire city, and that was easier said than done. Wanda was using her powers to try and get as many people to leave as possible.
Natasha had her own section of the city to watch, and helped as best as she could. She made sure that children stayed with their parents, got people to leave heavy stuff that wasn't necessary to their survival, including a very confused man that was carrying a television, and overall just made sure people were getting out safely.
This was the first real humanitarian effort she had ever done, as an Agent or otherwise. It was always some mission or battle she was thrust into, but never something like this. If the impending battle wasn't weighing that heavy on her mind, then she might have actually smiled at what she was doing.
This went on for about another fifteen minutes, before it started. Natasha felt something was wrong a second before a car exploded behind her. She managed to roll away, feeling the dull pain from the bruise that covered most of her chest that she convent didn't let anyone see before coming here. It was a nice shade of purple by this point.
Natasha looked up and saw the swarm of bots entering the city and knew they were out of evacuation mode and into protection mode.
She drew her pistols and started picking off bots when she could, making sure that she got people out of the way of all of the chaos that was upon them.
The fighting was a blur, it was a mix of firing at the bots that were coming around, getting civilians to safety and from cover, and sliding away from incoming fire. The battle was quickly turning the city of Novi Grad into a warzone.
Natasha and Clint had found their way back to each other and cleared a street when they felt a jolt in the ground below them. It wasn't long before they looked to the end of the street to see it fracturing as a citizen jumped off the edge that seemed to be rising. It seemed as if their part of the city was rising in the air.
And they were on the island.
Natasha and Clint were over by Wanda when Ultron began his message that he was broadcasting throughout the city. Buildings were still crumbling when Natasha noticed that Wanda was standing in the way of a falling street pole. She seemed more scared than before, more distracted. Natasha didn't know what it was, but she wasn't focusing. Natasha ran forward and pushed Wanda away behind a car, and the pole fell on her instead.
"Do you see," Ultron said, using his bots to echo his message across the city. "The beauty of it, the inevitability. You rise, only to fall."
"Nat," Clint yelled, running over to her.
It wasn't that bad, all things considered. She just had a leg pinned underneath the pole. She was still conscious, but grimacing in pain.
"Is everyone okay," Steve called through comms from his position, not knowing about their current situation, but very well timed.
"Get this thing off of me," Natasha gritted, not answering Steve's call because she knew it would be trouble.
Clint however wasn't as nice.
"Widow is hit," Clint called.
"You, Avengers, you are my meteor, my swift and terrible sword and the earth will crack with the weight of your failure. Purge me from your computers, turn my own flesh against me. It means nothing," Ultron continued.
"Wanda," Clint said, looking over at her.
He had tried lifting it, but he couldn't make it budge. It was a full size wooden pole, much too heavy for him or Natasha to lift, especially with the position that Nat was in. Perhaps with Steve, Thor, or Stark, they could have managed. But they weren't here, and Wanda was.
"You've got to help her," Clint said, shooting one of the Ultron bots that was taunting them. It was replaced by another one almost immediately, but it still felt a little better.
"When the dust settles. The only thing left living on this earth, will be metal." Ultron continued, bringing his message to a close.
"What," Steve blasted, worry evident in his voice. "Nat? How bad is it?"
Wanda peeled her hands off of the car, one by one, and slowly turned. It was hard to stand on a world unearthed, a world balanced by flying robots. Her knees wobbled but she somehow remained upright, facing Natasha. Throwing out her hands, she grabbed the pole with her magic and lifted it. With a cry, she flung the pole off the edge of the city and sent it tumbling down below.
Clint didn't waste any time, making Natasha stay down while he checked her leg. Nat sat up a little bit and fired at an Ultron bot that was getting a little too close.
"Nothing broken," Clint said, leaning away. "But-."
Natasha beat him to the punch, springing up and ignoring the sharp pain that radiated in her leg.
"I'm good Cap," Natasha yelled. "I'm making my way to you, Clint and Wanda will take the next street over, this one is clear."
Natasha looked back to Clint and then nodded in thanks to Wanda.
"She's not looking good Clint," Nat whispered. "Keep an eye on her."
"You be careful," Clint said. "You've got a bum leg and a bruised up chest."
"Staring at my boobs again Barton," Natasha said, flashing him a smirk and taking off towards Cap. "Thought you were better than that!"
Natasha arrived at the main square area just about the time that she saw Steve jump off a bridge. She almost cried out to him, but then when she saw he was okay, it changed to almost chewing him out over comms for everyone to hear. She was quickly confronted by a couple of bots though, and decided it could wait until later. She grabbed her stun batons and activated them, snapping them out to her sides.
She attacked a few, taking them out easily, and standing on the steps of a statue. She noticed a couple bots on her right taking aim, and she jumped in the air into a roll, dodging both of the blasts. She came up from the roll next to another bot, slashing one of the batons across the calf of the bot and standing up to jab it quick in the chest, before spinning and stabbing it through the neck, killing the bot.
"Natasha!" she heard and already knew who it was and what was coming. The symbolic red, white, and blue of Steve's shield whizzed through the air and slammed into the torso of a bot that was fast approaching Natasha.
Natasha ducked the shield that came right by her head, already knowing where it was going thanks to their chemistry. She threw one of her stun batons at a bot, embedding it in the bot's chest and effectively knocking it out.
"Thanks," she managed to call out.
She picked up the shield and used it to block an incoming shot from another one that just landed. She was so glad that she had drilled with Steve's shield or she would be toast right now. The bot came at her and she knocked away one of its strikes fluidly, like it was her shield and not Steve's. She slammed the shield down on its foot and then countered with another shot to its jaw, before switching and giving her an opening to stab its chest with her other baton, immobilizing it. She knew that Steve was coming and tossed it in the direction that he was before grabbing the arm of the strike that was coming at her, leaving it completely exposed.
Just as Steve reached Natasha, he jumped, caught the shield midair, and slammed it into the bot's face. It was down for the count and Steve was back on solid ground.
"Nice work. Let's circle back, I saw Terra over there." They picked their way over to Terra and Steve pulled her into a brief hug. "It's good to see you." He held out his shield with one hand. "Here. I have a feeling the worst isn't behind us yet."
"It never is," Terra sighed but gratefully ran her fingers along the edge of his shield, her body shifting in a lighter metallic gray than the steel she had previously worn. It was undeniable that vibranium was the most effective material she's ever absorbed, being light and unbreakable.
Terra caught sight of those siblings they had previously fought, tearing apart robots. "Oh, that's new. I'm gonna take a quick look around and make sure no one's stuck. Won't go far," she said, knowing the next wave is coming soon, and jogged off.
Steve nodded and turned his eyes to the sky, no doubt searching the tell-tale red and gold. There was only blue as far as the eye could see. Steve switched focus to the civilian stronghold behind them and made his way over to help them.
They needed a bigger game plan, and Natasha started to get a nasty feeling in the pit of her stomach, starting to not see an out.
"The next wave's gonna hit any minute," Steve said into his comm. "What do you got, Stark?"
When he answered, Tony's voice was quiet, careful. "Well, nothing great." A beat. "Maybe a way to blow up the city. That'll keep it from impacting the surface if you guys can get clear."
"I asked for a solution, not an escape plan," Steve said.
"Impact radius is getting bigger every second." The words seemed to be dragged from Tony's throat unwillingly. "We're gonna have to make a choice."
"Steve," Natasha said, coming to his side and looking at him. "These people are going nowhere."
As much as she didn't want to admit it, they did have to make a choice. Either a very large sacrifice, or global extinction. The math was clear to her, even when she would stay in the city as it blew up, but she knew Steve, and she knew that the math wouldn't add up in his head. That's one of the reasons she was drawn to him so much, one of the reasons she loved him.
There would be a time to tell him that soon, but for now, she had to convince him of something else.
"If Stark finds a way to blow this rock," Natasha continued.
"Not til everyone is safe," Steve declared stubbornly.
She sighed as she knew this was coming.
"Everyone up here versus everyone down there," Natasha said, trying to get him to see the larger picture. "There's no math there."
"I'm not leaving this rock with one civilian on it," Steve responded, refusing to leave.
"I didn't say we should leave," Natasha said, a small smile on her face.
When he looked back over, she nodded a little bit.
"There's worse ways to go," Natasha said. "But instead I get to stay with the man I love, finally have peace in my life, and hey."
Natasha gestured out to the skyline that was above the clouds at that point, "Where else am I gonna get a view like this."
A rumbling interrupted them as a giant ship started to come up out of the clouds.
"Glad you like the view, Romanoff," Director Nick Fury's voice came through the comms. "It's about to get better."
A SHIELD helicarrier elevated to hover beside the flying city. Inside, a flurry of retired and loyal SHIELD agents were buzzing around inside, getting ready for the civilians that would help board the aircraft. Maria Hill stood at a control panel in front of Fury, standing at the center of it all.
"Nice, right?" Nick commented casually, hands behind his back. "I pulled her out of mothballs with a couple of old friends. She's dusty, but she'll do."
"Fury, you son of a bitch," Steve commented and Natasha fought off the urge to laugh at that, mostly due to the insane relief she felt at seeing her old boss back to save them.
"Ooh! You kiss your mother with that mouth?" Fury ribbed, obviously hearing about the whole language incident in their first battle outside of Sokovia.
Pietro had made it beside Natasha and Steve, looking at the lifeboats with joyous awe as they departed the Helicarrier. "This is SHIELD?" He asked Steve.
"This is what SHIELD is supposed to be," Steve said, and Natasha could even sense a little pride in his voice.
"This is not so bad," Pietro said, a smile on his own face.
"Let's load 'em up!" Steve said, almost excitedly, as he turned to escort the civilians to safety.
That's when the next wave arrived. A swarm of bots, their underbellies cast in shadow while the tops of their metal heads glinted in the sunlight came roaring around the corner. They zoomed right over the Sokovians and the Avengers and headed straight for the helicarrier and each of the pods it was controlling.
Natasha readied herself for the fight when she heard explosions from above and saw the silver and black of Rhodey flying around and destroying the bots and smiled. The cavalry truly had arrived.
The authorities and emergency service employees started taking charge, helping herd the survivors and the injured onto the hovercrafts. They had to leave the dead behind and it wasn't easy to convince everyone to abandon them.
Natasha headed over to the lifeboat that was on the bridge and started helping people onto it. She kept a constant eye out, just to make sure there weren't any bots that would come to attack the mass of people that were currently flooding into the boat. Natasha was also trying to keep a mental count and get ready to hold up the line so the full boat could return back to the helicarrier and drop off the survivors.
"Thor," Tony said through comms after a fair bit of loading. "I got a plan."
"We're out of time," Thor responded. "They're coming for the core."
Natasha heard this over the comms and knew she was probably the furthest away from the center of the city where the core was. She looked around and saw a large truck, and smirked when an idea popped in her head. She motioned for the couple of Shield soldiers that were there to continue to guard and help the people and ran over to the truck. She quickly hopped in and hot-wired it, shifting it in gear and driving off.
Natasha was hearing all of the other Avengers call in and make their way there and knew she was probably gonna be last.
"Romanoff, where are you? You seen Banner?" Tony called, surprising her that Tony was checking on her specifically and not Steve.
"I didn't know you cared so much Stark," Natasha said in a teasing voice, no malice in it because she knew she probably was gonna die and she didn't want to die in spite. "And it's all good, not all of us can fly."
Natasha barreled her way through a bunch of robots, making sure she hit as many as possible. She heard a roar in the distance and figured Banner wasn't far behind. Natasha arrived by the church and hopped out, joining the rest of the group.
"Banner is not far behind," she announced. "What's the drill?"
"This is the drill." Tony said, and pointed behind him at the vibranium core, a key literally drilled so deep into the ground that it popped out the other side of the floating city. "If Ultron gets a hand on the core, we lose."
At that moment, Hulk dropped out of the sky and landed just outside the church. He swung himself inside, shaking the city with every step.
The small wave that they had been fighting was over and Ultron appeared just outside of the church. Thor spun his hammer and yelled out at him.
"Is that the best you can do?" he shouted, ready for more action.
Ultron basically smirked and raised his hand, summoning the rest of his army. Almost immediately, hundreds of robots came tearing around the corner and through buildings, ready to take on the Avengers.
"You had to ask." Steve said sarcastically as he shot Thor a half-menacing glare.
Natasha couldn't help but widen her eyes at the mass of robots that came around the corner. She knew at this point she wasn't making it out of this, or by some miracle she would. It would take that, because her serum wouldn't be able to outlast this. She was more worried for Clint, who had nothing to power him but his will, and he had a family to get back to. If it came down to her life or his, she knew her choice already.
"This is the best I can do," Ultron said, holding his arms out. "This is exactly what I wanted. All of you against all of me. How can you possibly hope to stop me?"
"Like the old man said," Tony said and Steve turned his head towards him. "Together."
As if in agreement, the Hulk roared and it echoed throughout all of Novi Grad, shaking the entire city.
And so it began.
As the robots swarmed, a few choice words came into Natasha's mind, but she didn't have time to say them before the horde was upon them. She started firing in all directions, using every little lesson of marksmanship she had ever learned in her life to make sure that one shot took down a bot, because if it didn't, she would be dead in a second. A few got too close and she short circuited one out with her widow's bite. She saw Stark take off and start picking them off in the air and she found herself by Steve, decently comforting. She managed to swing around another bot, wrapping her legs around its neck and twisting like she had done so many times before.
Natasha heard Ultron charge in as she was still focusing on fighting off the bots and Vision went up to meet him in the air and clashed with him. After a bit, Ultron was tossed outside and Thor and Tony followed, continuing the fight.
Natasha heard a faint, "You'll never win," before a large roar from the Hulk. Then all of the bots started taking off away from the church.
"They'll try to leave the city," Thor said, watching them scamper off and start to fly off the island.
Natasha and Clint came closer out of the church then, the last of the bots for now being destroyed. Both were breathing heavily, and slowly catching their breath, and it was getting harder to do, due to the altitude.
"We can't let them. Not even one," said Iron Man through the mask. "Rhodey?"
"On it," came the reply on comms.
Steve trudged closer to the others, shoulders still pushed back. "We gotta move out. Even I can tell the air is getting thin. You guys get to the boats," he said to Clint and Natasha. "I'll sweep for stragglers. I'll be right behind you."
"What about the core," Clint said.
Natasha was thinking about the same thing. There were bound to still be bots left on the island, Ultron wouldn't give up that easily. She was also protesting in her mind Steve going off by himself, but she knew he could handle himself, she just didn't want to admit it at this point.
"I'll protect it," Wanda volunteered, and then locked eyes with Clint. "It's my job."
Well Clint and Wanda must have had a moment that Natasha would have to ask about later. For now, they needed to get off this island.
"Terra, you get on the boats too," Steve said to his friend. "Make sure any stragglers I send your way get on safely. I'll be back as soon as I can."
Clint nodded to Wanda and looked back at Cap to convey his trust.
"Nat," Clint called, already heading out.
Natasha quickly went over to Steve and pressed a chaste kiss to his lips before uttering a "Be careful," before heading off after Clint to get to the lifeboats to help the remaining civilians.
"You too," Steve called after Natasha, already backing out of the church.
Clint and Natasha had found their way to a decently nice sports car, somehow not damaged in the battle, and the keys were still inside. They both jumped in and were enjoying a decently peaceful drive, not being attacked by any bots at all. They were currently in a conversation that really didn't have anything to do with the task at hand.
"I know what I need to do," Clint said, navigating the debris. "The dining room. If I knock out that east wall, it'll make a nice work space for Laura, huh? Put up some baffling, she can't hear the kids running around, what do you think?"
"You guys always eat in the kitchen anyway," Natasha said, not exactly green-lighting the new project for Clint but acknowledging the logic.
"Nobody eats in a dining room," Clint said, like it was obvious.
They finally made their way to where the lifeboats were and saw the last of the civilians were loading up.
"You know Laura had this crazy notion that you were pregnant," Clint said, getting out of the car. "Something you're not telling me?"
"What?" Natasha said, getting out. "Come on Clint, you know better than that."
"I'm just sharing what Laura said," Clint defended, shutting the car door.
"Just get your ass on a boat," Natasha said, shutting another car door, and heading to another boat a bit further away.
Natasha had made her way over to Thor, after helping the rest of the people and was clearly waiting for Steve. He wasn't there yet, but Thor did look at her curiously.
"Before at the party," Thor said. "When the others were trying to lift my hammer, and the Captain succeeded. I felt something strange come from it at one point, and it directed me towards you."
"I don't think this is the proper time Thor," Natasha said, still looking for Steve.
"Worthiness doesn't mean your entire history Lady Natasha," Thor just said, smiling because he knew she felt it too. "It's what your life's mission has become that the hammer senses."
Natasha was searching for a response when she saw Steve coming back, glad for the distraction. Thor glanced up and addressed the current problem at hand.
"Is that the last of them?" Thor asked, making sure that everyone was off the rock before they blew it up.
Steve nodded but he turned back to give the city another scan anyway. "Yeah, everyone else is on the carrier."
"You know," Tony interjected over comms, "this works? ... we maybe don't walk away."
"Maybe not," Thor said, looking around at the remaining Avengers.
Natasha heard the jet a split second before the gunfire started. All she could think of was this being the end. She wasn't very bulletproof like Thor, or she didn't have a shield like Steve. She just ducked and kind of dived out of the way, hoping that she would somehow avoid the onslaught of bullets that came through. A searing pain in her side proved that it wasn't the case. She glanced back and saw it was only a graze though, but it still hurt like hell.
"Nat." Steve said, recovering before anyone else. He saw the worry in his eyes and knew he noticed the shot she took, but there just wasn't time. "We gotta go."
Natasha nodded and took his hand, accepting the help. She winced at the pain but managed through. Thor spun his hammer and took off towards the center of the city. Natasha looked over and saw that the path of bullets had led to where Clint was kneeling with a child in his arms and Pietro was on the far side of them, breathing heavily and clearly just pushing him out of the way and saving Clint's life.
Steve slung an arm around Natasha's shoulders and together they hobbled to the closest boat, the last one. Terra was already there. Steve helped Natasha lean against the wall - there were no seats left - and did a quick Avengers headcount. "Where's Bruce? And the twins?" Steve stepped off the boat, ready to go back and look for them.
Clint got to the boat and handed the kid back to his mother. Clint went over to Natasha to help bandage up her side and looked over at Steve.
"Last I saw Banner was jumping up into the jet to get that bastard out of the sky," Clint said. "And Pietro went to get Wanda, so I assume they're back at the church."
"Pietro's taking quite a bit of time for a guy with super speed," Terra stated worriedly, looking at the children and innocents on the boat. This city could collapse at any moment. Terra pressed on her comm. "Vision, can you get eyes on the twins?"
"Yes. I can carry them both out if needed," Vision responded.
Terra sighed in relief. "Great." She turned to Steve. "We should leave now, Vision will get them out."
"Someone needs to go after Bruce," Steve said, still staring off into the distance, waiting.
Rhodey's voice crackled on the comms, "I'm on it."
Natasha heard the rumble and looked over at Steve, still on the pavement. He noticed it too because he turned to jump. Natasha looked over at the distance between him and the boat.
He wasn't going to make it.
She threw herself towards the edge of the boat just as the city dropped. She reached out her hand and just before Steve fell she felt her hand wrap around his. She lodged herself along a part of the boat and steadied herself. She screamed in agony as her bruised chest pressed into the ground and her wounded side felt as it was ripping apart, but she held on with everything she had. The love of her life had his life in her hand at that moment, and nothing short of her arm being cut off would make her let go. She felt her shoulder pop out of the socket and let out another yell as she clung desperately.
Luckily, the screams drew the attention of a couple of Shield agents, who were over by her side not a second later and helped Steve into the lifeboat.
Terra ran over a second later to help pull Steve up with the other agents. "Jesus Christ," she gasped, and then pressed in on her comm. "We need a med team waiting for us at boat seven's landing port."
Steve was then all over Natasha, holding her, assessing her for injuries. "Nat? Nat. Nat, where does it hurt?"
"Well I am about 99 percent sure that my shoulder is out of my socket," Natasha said, wincing in pain as Steve grabbed her. "The gunshot wound doesn't feel nice, and that really big bruise on my chest from Korea isn't helping stuff either, but otherwise I'm good."
Natasha watched as the city blew up in a giant explosion and couldn't help a small smile that climbed over her features. She knew that there was a lot of destruction and a lot of innocents that had died, but she just helped prevent global extinction, so she let herself have this one moment.
"We won," Natasha said, remembering the stories of the words Steve had said just after the battle of New York.
She figured they were appropriate here.
"Yeah, we did," Steve said with a smile.
A couple of the other SHIELD agents were tending to her bullet wound, obviously the most pressing injury. They tried to get Steve to move away at first but when elbowing Captain America didn't work, they simply worked around him. He did make himself as unobtrusive as possible. However, Nat's arm still needed fixing. He gently grabbed it and put it in position. "I'm gonna pop it back in, okay?"
Natasha nodded and braced herself for the resetting of her arm. It'd been done more times than she could count, but it didn't discount on how much it hurt every time. Steve was about to do it when she felt someone grab her hand. She looked over and saw Clint, a fresh bandage on his side and a smile on his face.
"Just like Budapest," Clint said with a smile.
"You and I remember Budapest very differently," Natasha said, enjoying this more intimate moment with her best friend.
POP! The shoulder snapped back into its socket. The corners of his lips quirked. "Sorry. Didn't mean to ruin the moment."
"Son of a bitch," Natasha cursed loudly as the shoulder moved back into her socket.
A mother shot her a dirty look at cursing in front of her child, and Natasha just shrugged it off. She couldn't quite believe that, after all that happened, that drew a dirty look. But she didn't press. She simply just laid down and put her head in Steve's lap, decompressing after the battle and feeling Steve exhale and relax as well.
"How do you feel," Natasha asked. "And you better tell me the truth. I know when you lie Rogers."
Clint chuckled at the antics of his best friend and just leaned back against the wall across from the couple, shutting his eyes.
"Like I've been playing the worst game of football with a thousand heavy robots piled on top of me," he said. "And I thought that last moment there was gonna give me a heart attack but here I am."
"Sounds like we both need a vacation," Natasha said with a chuckle. "I'm thinking somewhere warm, private island, where we can just sit and do nothing all day. Hell we wouldn't even need to put on clothes and I have a few specific activities I would like to continue with you Rogers. We only got a taste of what those activities were like a couple weeks ago."
Natasha smirked up at him and was glad this was all over. She didn't know what her fate held with the Avengers now seeing as the battle was over, if she was even going to be allowed to stay. If Tony was done Avenging then it would be up to Terra and Steve to lead the team, seeing as she had only been a part of it for a couple months. But, one thing she did know was that she was staying with Steve for a long time.
"Sounds good to me," Steve said, leaning down to press a kiss to her lips and sealing the deal.
December 15th, 2013
Avengers Compound, Upstate New York
Natasha was resting on a medical cot in the medical wing of the Avengers compound. It had been a couple weeks since they arrived and already the area was bustling with everyone that Natasha could imagine. She was given a room right next to Steve's, and allowed a spot on the team. Steve and Terra were leading, but Terra didn't know it yet. Natasha would help train since she had experience, but she wouldn't exactly be called a leader. Everything was going so well, and she was finally getting a follow up on the numerous injuries she had gotten in the Battle of Sokovia.
"Well Miss Romanoff," Helen Cho said, looking at the results. "There are a couple different things."
Helen Cho had been asked to come aboard to the facility, offered a lot to continue her research and she readily accepted. She had also kinda become the team doctor, it just seemed like they trusted her a bit more than to bring in an outside doctor. When Natasha had finally come to see her, pretty much handing her a slip from Captain Rogers demanding a full body scan, she had to oblige.
"Lay it on me Doc," Natasha said, glancing over at her.
"Your serum seems to have fixed up the bullet wound pretty easily," Helen said. "You shouldn't need the Cradle. The bruising in your chest has gone down a lot, also probably thanks to your serum. Your shoulder might be a little tender for a couple more days, which is why you shouldn't train heavily for about a week. Just some cardio would be all I will allow, and I will send this report to Captain Rogers to make sure of that."
"Well at least I'm not on bed rest," Natasha said with a chuckle. "Is that it?"
"There is one more thing we must discuss," Helen said, looking apprehensively at Natasha.
"Okay," Natasha said, looking over to her. "You're getting me a little worried Helen."
"Miss Romanoff I've read your file that you've provided me on your health conditions," Helen said. "So I want you to take this news as real because I know what to look for."
"Helen," Natasha said, wanting her to get to the point.
"You're pregnant Natasha," Helen said.
Natasha was in shock, and it showed on her face. She went slack jawed and her eyes opened wide. It was a good couple of minutes before Natasha could even form words.
"It's not possible," Natasha said. "The Red Room, they made sure."
"I do have a theory," Helen said. "I'm guessing Captain Rogers is the father."
"Yeah," Natasha said. "I mean he's the only one I've been with in the past year. But we've only had sex a few times."
"Normally I'd say it only takes one," Helen said. "Which is true, but with your situation, it's a little different. I feel that Captain Rogers' serum, being the pure Erskine serum that it is, injected itself in all parts of his anatomy. And when you two have engaged in your activities…"
"His serum healed my reproductive system," Natasha said, putting the pieces together. "And we never used a condom because of that."
"Your first couple of times must have healed the system enough for a sperm to fertilize an egg in you," Helen said. "It's improbable, obviously never even considered in anybody else's mind, and overall a miracle."
Natasha just leaned back and stared off into space. She honestly couldn't believe it, and she was going to have a hard time moving forward.
"I need to talk to Steve," Natasha said.
"I understand," Helen said. "I'd like to do an ultrasound soon to see what the exact makeup of your system is and how the fetus is processing. I'm going to prescribe you some prenatal vitamins that you need to take daily, and I would heavily suggest continuing to have sex with Captain Rogers to keep your reproductive system healthy. We don't know if this will reverse, or how quickly it will if it does."
Natasha just nodded and got up from the cot and texted Steve to meet her just outside the training area and said she had something very important to tell him. She got there and waited for about 10 minutes before Steve arrived.
"Hey. What's this important thing you need to tell me?" Steve asked, obviously a little rushed since their first Avengers team training was today and he was probably a little preoccupied.
"I just got out of that checkup with Helena that you and Clint pressured me into," Natasha said, though there was no joking tone on her face. "And she found something that shouldn't be there."
Natasha took a deep breath, having rehearsed the next speech in her head a couple of times already.
"I'm pregnant Steve," Natasha said it. "And I know our relationship is still very new and I completely understand if you don't want a part of it. You didn't ask for this and I assured you it wouldn't be an issue due to what the Red Room did to me, but I'm gonna keep the baby. I'll move in with Clint and Laura if need be, I don't want to take you away from your role here."
Steve blinked. "What?"
The silence was almost unbearable as he processed everything. Natasha tried to read him, but for some reason she just couldn't. She was doing everything in her power to and it wasn't happening.
He half-stepped half-stumbled forward and pulled Natasha into the tightest hug. "You're wrong," he whispered, so quietly that he could barely hear himself. "I did ask for this. Years and years and years ago. I never thought I'd-" He cut himself off before his voice could crack and held her even closer.
Natasha closed her eyes as he wrapped her in a hug. He was staying and not leaving. Many men would leave her to the wind to raise the kid on her own, but not Steve Rogers. If that didn't solidify the love she had for him, she didn't know what would. She fought the tears that came to her eyes and chuckled.
"Well I'm glad I could deliver," Natasha said. "But don't you dare think you're keeping me out of training or missions until the doctor says no."
Natasha pulled back a bit to look at him but still stayed wrapped in his arms.
"You hear me Steve Rogers?" Natasha asked, utter devotion in her eyes.
He swallowed hard, trying to form words. "How? How is this possible?"
"We can discuss it in length tonight when you take me to dinner," Natasha said with a smile. "Just know that we both have yet another reason to thank Abraham Erskine."
Natasha owed Erskine just about everything in practice. The serum allowed Steve to survive the crash, where he would later become her boyfriend and now father to her child. She would have never had that if not for him. She owed him her life because Steve rescued her out of Stalingrad when she was a young girl, even though he didn't know it. And now, his serum had even managed to heal her enough to where she could give Steve a family.
"Now," Natasha said. "The rest of your new team is waiting on the other side of those doors. I'll go join them while you tell Terra that she's a co-leader with you."
Natasha stood on her tiptoes to press a kiss to his lips.
"I love you," she added.
"Love you too." Steve said and Natasha noticed a giant happiness in his gait as he headed off to where Terra was waiting.
Natasha walked into the main training area and headed into the locker room quick. She changed into her new suit, all black this time with the red hourglass on her belt and an Avengers patch on the right shoulder. Terra had insisted and Steve really didn't leave any room for discussion either. She pulled the suit on, made sure her weapons were locked, loaded, and ready to go, and then stepped out.
There was already a small crowd inside. Rhodes and Sam were chatting to each other, both geared up in their suits. Vision was talking to Pietro with Wanda kinda on the outskirts listening in. Natasha's lips quirked as she saw that Wanda was still wearing the red jacket. She walked over to her and punched her lightly on the arm.
"I see you're still enjoying my jacket," Natasha said with a grin.
Wanda turned to face her and gave her a half-smile. "I really like it," she admitted, rubbing the leather between her thumb and index finger. "I promise I'll return it today."
"You can keep the jacket," Natasha said with a smile. "It looks better on you anyway. It clashes with my hair too much."
Natasha already was taking a liking to Wanda. She saw a lot of herself in Wanda and wanted to make sure that the right parts of Wanda came out. She was going to personally take on training this girl, she'd make that clear to Steve and overall was going to protect her from this world that might start to bash her for her past actions.
She was the best teacher for that after all.
"Oh." She looked down at the jacket again, as if it might have changed since the last time she'd looked in a mirror. "Thank you. Are you going to lead the meeting today?"
"Oh no," Natasha said with a chuckle. "I might take the lead on some training, but Cap and Terra are the leaders of the Avengers. I'm not fit enough to lead."
Natasha smirked at the body language and saw the bit of confusion in her eyes. It was new for Wanda making friends like this she supposed, but Natasha was willing to try if she was.
"They should be here soon, so I would get ready," Natasha said. "Steve's a military man, so prepare for the training to be intense."
"And what kind of training will that be? We each have different powers, abilities, suits. How is this going to work?" Wanda asked.
"Different people will take different types of training I suppose," Natasha said. "We'll have to see what Cap has planned. I'm sure it will all work out though."
"I need to go shopping," she mused, more to herself than Romanoff. "So I can stop borrowing your clothes." Her half-smile returned.
"I'm sure we can arrange a breakout," Natasha said, a devious smile coming to her face. "Security isn't that tight, a quick trip to New York to get some clothes wouldn't be an issue."
Natasha already had figured out how to bypass the security system and where the blind spots were in the cameras. She wasn't the best spy in the world for nothing.
Wanda's half-smile turned into a real one, with both sides of her mouth uplifted. "Really?" Wanda asked. "Shouldn't we wait until Fury gives the okay?"
"Fury?" Natasha scoffed. "Please, I have him wrapped around my finger. As long as you're with me, you don't need to worry about anything."
Natasha smirked a bit at that and glanced towards the clock on the wall. Top of the hour, which meant training time. And Steve was never late, army training and all of that.
"We'll talk after training," Natasha said, gently punching Wanda in the arm and heading over to prepare for the entrance of their leaders
The double doors opened and Steve and Terra came through. She glanced up and smiled at the two leaders, Terra looking very comfortable in her role as a leader and Steve looking handsome as ever. She charged up her gauntlets, blue lines starting to run through her suit as she showed she was ready for training, as the rest of the team got ready around them.
Steve smiled proudly at them all. "Avengers... Assemble!"
A/N
Whew, what a giant chapter huh?
Lots of magical things happening for Nat as we've finished up Age of Ultron and I have a bunch of fun events planned between now and Civil War including a very special addition you've learned about here, the baby of Nat and Steve. I've always thought that this was possible, but let me know what you guys think.
As always reviews are always appreciated.
Chapter contributions to A Velvet Rose and SarahCon
