Part 1

Plot: Natasha Romanoff is one of the last people standing against Ultron's mad attempts at eradicating humanity from Earth. Their fight becomes... complicated when Natasha ends up in another universe, the Star Wars universe. Ultron is still a threat, and the only chance of defeating him may lie in the Jedi's Chosen One: Anakin Skywalker.


Author's Note: This was one of the first requests that we ever got by gabeherndon308 on ff. net. I hope that y'all enjoy this story! There will be an epilogue next week to bring some closure. :)

~ Amina Gila


Somehow, even with her world falling apart around her, Natasha Romanoff is still able to keep her focus on the mission. It's something she always had to do in the Red Room, after all, and her ability to still do so has never changed.

"We have to take out the satellite network. He can't launch the nukes without them," Natasha says determinedly. She'll take the time to think about the amount of damage Ultron has already done to Earth later. Clint Barton nods in confirmation.

They streak off through the sky again, the tension hanging almost tangibly in the air. If they don't move quick enough, everyone – everything – she's ever known is going to be completely destroyed. They blast down the first few satellites orbiting Earth, racing on for the next one when it happens. Somehow, she knows something terrible is about to happen, and seconds later, nuclear missiles are raining down from the sky all around the jet.

"We're too late. He did it," Natasha breaths, not wanting to believe her eyes.

"Laura..." Clint utters, his horror and grief written on his face as he watches the nuclear missiles on the scanner.

His family is dead, dying right now as they speak. Laura, and Lila and Cooper, and their still unborn child, Nathaniel. Only days ago, she had been there at the Barton farm with Clint and the rest of the Avengers. And now...

Focus. She needs to focus.

There's too many of them. There's nothing they can do to stop them. The entire planet – except for a tiny area right over Asia – is about to be obliterated. The few they did manage to take down won't really matter, in the end. The radiation will be enough to destroy whatever life is there.

Explosions ripple across the surface, blinding flashes of light leaving nothing but destruction in their wake. The only thing that survives are the buildings here and there across the planet that are far enough from the original sources of the individual explosions. She didn't know you even could feel life until this moment, when everything on the entire planet that was once teeming with activity is suddenly plunged into an eerie stillness. Even up here way in the air above the surface, she can practically feel it almost as much as she can see it.

She needs to act now, think and feel later. Natasha's mind is already whirling with what their next step should be. If they can't protect, they can still avenge, and they are going to destroy Ultron, no matter what it takes. Even if the rest of the Avengers are dead – she won't let the implications of it sink in, of how Steve, and Tony and Bruce and everyone are really gone – her and Clint are still here. They're still Avengers, and they will do their job.

Could Thor or Hulk have survived? Maybe – No, she won't let herself crave for things that are nothing more than a child's dream. They might be far hardier than normal humans, but there's no way that even they could have survived a nuclear bomb going off right nearby.

She already has a few ideas on how they could stop Ultron but that will involve getting down to the surface in Russia.

"I have an idea," Natasha speaks up finally, tearing her gaze away from the desolation covering the surface of the planet, and looking to her last surviving friend.

"For what? It's too late," Clint replies bitterly, hopelessness radiating in his voice.

"We can hide ourselves, and find a way to stop Ultron –"

"We have incoming!" he warns suddenly, tensing.

Natasha's gaze snaps back to the scanner where several objects are suddenly rapidly approaching them.

"Looks like Ultron's found us," she mutters grimly. Exactly what they don't need when he has at least one Infinity Stone with him already.

This was not supposed to happen. They aren't ready to deal with him right now. Because he's a computer, the only thing that will really be able to destroy him is another computer. If they blast apart his body – which is nigh impossible considering that he's made of Vibranium, the strongest known metal on Earth – he'll probably just transfer his mind to one of his million buddies that he seems to keep producing out of thin air. Probably also courtesy of that stupid Infinity Stone.

Clint instantly opens fire from the guns, aiming straight at the red humanoid figure flying near the front of the incoming army. The bright yellow of the Mind Stone shimmers from his forehead, and the others shine brightly in a semi-circle across the robot's chest.

But instead of hitting their targets, the blasts promptly turn around mid-flight, re-directed straight back for them. Great. Definitely not working.

Natasha jerks the jet upwards, speeding out of the way of the blasts barely in time. The army gives chase.

They're everywhere down below. How are they going to get back to the surface now? She'll to have to keep increasing altitude – even if that really isn't safe – until she can come up with a better solution. The Quinjet isn't meant for altitudes of this height, but what else can they do? They'd need a distraction of some sort in order to slip away unnoticed, and they're pretty short on options right now when they're the only living beings left on the planet. And they can't get out of the jet either until they're down in a bunker, or they're going to die instantly from the amount of nuclear radiation down there.

Clint tries shooting at Ultron again only to repeat the exact same scenario.

"I don't know how much further we can go," Natasha warns.

"If we can't destroy him with the guns, what can we do?" Clint yells back.

"I don't know! But we can't leave the atmosphere either!" A blast of reddish energy suddenly bursts from Ultron's head, flying right for the ship. She does the only thing she can even think of on a moment's notice, throwing full power to the engines and racing upwards away from it. The blasts misses them, but only barely. If Ultron will start shooting Infinity-powdered energy blasts at them, they're never going to last. She knows it.

The thought of dying doesn't bother Natasha, not anymore. They're going to die eventually anyway and soon. It's only a matter of time. Still, she refuses to let herself go down until they destroy Ultron. Maybe she's going to die, but not without a fight. It won't be without taking him with her. If they couldn't save Earth, at least they can try to protect the rest of the galaxy.

Another blast of energy tears towards them, and she swerves out of the way barely in time yet again. They're already going full power. They can't go faster now, and there's only so long the Quinjet can keep going like this.

The next red blast of energy flies right past the ship – and what happens next is far too quick for Natasha to react to it in time. The ball of light stops in front of them, shimmering brilliantly for a moment before it transforms into a gaping black hole. The Quinjet is going too fast to slow down, and it hurtles forwards right through it.

The next thing she knows, everything around them changes. They're still flying in space above a planet... but that planet is definitely not Earth. The surface of the planet is mostly greenish and brown, covered with swirls of white indicating cloud cover. She could almost dare to hope that maybe somehow Earth was just restored to how it used to be, but no. That doesn't make any sense, considering that the surface of this planet doesn't look anything like Earth, even if it obviously has life on it.

What just happened?!

Clint is looking equally shocked beside her. "What was that?" he asks warily.

"It looked like that portal Tony went through during the Battle of New York," Natasha observes, throwing a glance out the back windows of the Quinjet. Whatever that portal was – which transported them to who knows where – Ultron and his army is already pouring through after them. Clearly, he just wants a good fight right now, because if he wanted to, she's pretty sure he could easily kill them with nothing more than his mind. At least that's sure how he generates his army, so she's certain he could disintegrate them to. Wonderful.

He fires another blast of energy – right as the portal closes – and she doesn't manage to jerk the Quinjet out of the way in time. It tears right through the wing.

The Quinjet jolts violently, and rapidly spirals out of control, crashing towards the ground. Natasha doesn't get long to actually get a closer look at the planet as the ship hurtles down through the atmosphere, but from the looks of it, it doesn't really seem to be populated at all, at least not by non-primitive life. Where in the galaxy are they?!

For a hysterical moment, she can't help but wonder what if they accidentally went back in time and this is past-Earth, but she banishes the thought just as fast. That's more farfetched than believing that they went through a portal to a different place.

She throws everything she can into slowing down the jet and is suddenly, abruptly reminded of something so many years ago: the first time she flew a jet while her adopted mother, Melina, desperately called out instructions. She banishes the image just as quickly as it comes. She definitely can't let herself think about them right now, about Alexei and Melina and Yelena. They're all dead too. They weren't her family. None of it was real, so the sinking realization shouldn't hurt as much as it does.

The Quinjet finally slams full force into the ground, skidding for a while before finally coming to an abrupt stop right near the edge of a cliff. They crashed onto the side of a mountain.

Ignoring the aching in her body from being thrown around violently in the crash, Natasha clammers to her feet and scrambles for the exit, forcing the door open. Clint follows.

She draws in a deep breath of the cool, mountain air, gaze darting around to take in the scene. It's a good thing the air is breathable, or they wouldn't have had a chance. They're surrounded by mountains and trees on all sides, so there's not a lot of open space to fight. Actually, that will probably make things easier for them since at least they'll have some cover and somewhere to hide.

She'll worry about how they get back to Earth – if they even want to – once this is over. And for now, she'll focus on trying to come up with a realistic plan to take down Ultron when at least two dozen robots from of his army aren't flying straight towards them.

**w**

The times Anakin Skywalker has to spend focused on training his new padawan, Ahsoka Tano, who he took only a few months ago, are few and far between. Most of the time, they both have to focus on battle strategy or actually fighting in a battle, so he has little time to teach her about the Jedi aspect of being a padawan. It doesn't really help that he's hardly sure how to go about teaching her. He doesn't want to do it the same way Obi-Wan trained him, but he doesn't know how to do it differently either. It hardly helps that Ahsoka is... not the easiest child to raise.

While he still isn't sure how she'll turn out right – especially with him as a master – he certainly isn't upset than he took her. He never expected having a padawan to be like this, to be an almost instantly formed protectiveness, demanding that he take care of her almost the way he would his own child, but it's the way it is. And he intends to do his best at it.

It had been hard for him to comprehend that he could be as important to another as Obi-Wan is and always will be to him.

Anakin sits across from Ahsoka with his legs crossed and eyes closed, immersed in the currents of the Force as they meditate together. Their presences intertwine, strengthening their newly formed bond.

The Force always feels chaotic right after a battle, but he instantly notices it when the turmoil suddenly seems to be increasing exponentially, to a level he's never feltbefore. A major disturbance is rippling through it, and while it doesn't feel like there's any immediate danger nearby, something is still obviously very wrong.

Anakin immediately slips out of his meditative state, opening his eyes, instantly on alert. Something just happened. Something very bad.

The Force is humming with danger, and though it doesn't feel extremely close, it feels like something terrible could happen any second. "What is that, Master?" Ahsoka asks, wonders, gaze darting anxiously around the room.

"I don't know," Anakin answers grimly.

Right on cue, his comm beeps. A tiny hologram of Obi-Wan appears, and his grave expression instantly sets Anakin on edge. "What is it, Master?"

"There has been an unusual development near a Republic outpost only a parsec away from here," Obi-Wan explains, "A strange... opening formed in space above the planet and –"

"What do you mean opening?" interrupts Ahsoka, raising an eye-marking.

"We don't understand it," Obi-Wan replies, "The report implied it was almost like... an opening to somewhere else in the galaxy."

"What? That makes no sense!"

"What then, Master?" Anakin prompts. There's obviously more to the story than that.

"A strange ship model we've never seen before flew through, being pursued by a bunch of humanoid droids of some kind. They were identical except the one in front who appeared to be the leader, and the scanners were picking up massive energy readings from it although the source couldn't be identified. They flew down to the planet's surface in pursuit of the other ship."

"Separatist droids, maybe? A new model?" Anakin suggests hesitantly. He doesn't know what else this could be. He'll deal with the whole portal aspect of the problem later because that still makes no sense.

"It's possible," Obi-Wan agrees, "Whatever they are, we need to know, and it's likely more than the clones can handle alone."

"So, we need to go investigate this ourselves?" Anakin deduces.

"Yes," Obi-Wan agrees.

"On my way, Master."

**w**

Natasha spins around, hitting the robot next to her with her widow bite, ducking under a blast from a second one as she lunges for it again. One of Clint's arrows strikes the robot she's trying to fight, and it goes down.

It's a hopeless fight. No matter how many robots they take down, another one – or several more – move in to take their place. Ultron is too far out of reach for them to anything about, either.

Explosions tear through the ground around them, and Natasha rolls out of the way, narrowly missing being hit multiple times over. This is a losing battle, and she knows it, but there's nothing they can do but keep fighting.

They need to find shelter somehow, but there doesn't seem to be any anywhere here, and it's not like she knows a thing about this planet. On Earth, she could have come up with a plan, but out here, she doesn't even know where here is. It doesn't help that she has one of those... inklings right now, that something is about to go terribly wrong.

Another blast strikes the ground around her, and all at once it suddenly starts trembling violently, the rocks beneath her and Clint totally giving way. She leaps for safety, as the ground begins collapsing, falling down the edge of the cliff plummeting to hundreds of feet below.

Clint is closer to the edge than she is, and he doesn't manage to move quite fast enough.

Panic flares through her, and almost entirely on instinct, Natasha lunges forwards, catching Clint's hand with one hand, the sudden weight nearly throwing her off balance, knocking both of them over the edge of the cliff. Ultron's army is circling around again, preparing to fire.

And they're way too exposed to avoid it now, especially since she still needs to pull Clint to safety. Her mind is flying through calculations on automatic and for a moment, she can't help but think that this is the end.

"I got you," she grunts, struggling to him back over the edge. The dirt around her is starting to slip again, threatening to knock both of them off.

"It's okay," he says, giving her a strained smile, "I don't want to fight anymore." He pulls away, firing a final explosive arrow up at the oncoming droids – the last such arrow he had – before he plummets down, out of sight.

"Clint!" Natasha cries, horror and denial crashing over her. He can't have –

The last person from her old life, and the only person she ever truly completely trusted. He saved her, tried to help her back when she was still with the Red Room, and she never truly understood why. They were... she can't put a label on the relationship, but she's never been that close with anyone before.

And now he's dead. Because of Ultron.

She can understand it, why Clint wouldn't want to keep fighting anymore. His family died. For Clint, his family was always everything to him. Of course, he wouldn't want to keep fighting, but she's always been able to pull herself together, to keep fighting because she had nothing else left to do, but now...

No, Ultron must be destroyed. She wants nothing more in this moment, then to follow Clint off the edge of that cliff, but she can't let herself. If nothing else, she'll win this fight by fighting to the end, by refusing to give in.

Natasha rolls back to her feet again, sprinting away from the edge of the cliff, bringing Clint's bow – the last thing she has left of him, and of her entire life – to safety while she does so. Why is Ultron dragging this out? He could easily use the Stones to obliterate the entire area with a mere thought. Maybe he's just enjoying the fight, she thinks bitterly.

Clint is dead. No. She can't let the implications of that sink in right now.

It doesn't matter, though, because she won't last much longer regardless. Numerous burns from the energy blasts already cover her body, and it's starting to slow her down. Several more of the robots swoop in between the trees, ready to open fire. She'll never be able to get out of the way in time.

There's a flash of blue through the trees, and then something, deflects all the incoming shots away from her.

In between her and the advancing droids, she sees three figures standing in front of her holding... lightsabers?

Is she... already dead by any chance, or just hopelessly hallucinating?

And because apparently things can't get crazy enough, she's pretty sure she recognizes two of the figures – thanks to watching movies with Clint and later, his children.

The figures look a little different from what she remembers, but they still unmistakably resemble Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker. The... being standing next to them has red-orange skin and white markings, and strange blue and white... headtails? on her head. It's unmistakably a Star Wars species, even if it isn't one Natasha recognizes.

Half-hysterically, she wonders if that portal did something ridiculous to reality and hurled her right into Star Wars. Stranger things have happened – like Ultron's very existence in the first place.

"What the situation here?" Kenobi is the first to speak, swinging his lightsaber to block the next few blasts as several of the robots swoop towards them.

Natasha throws a brief glance through the trees. "They're trying to wipe out all life of any kind," she explains shortly, "Their leader – Ultron – has the Infinity Stones, and he's made of vibranium."

"Vibranium?" repeats Skywalker.

"Infinity Stones?" echoes the other being, who sounds like a relatively young girl.

"Vibranium is... the strongest known metal on Earth, and Infinity Stones are six immensely powerful objects, claimed to be the foundations of the universe."

She doesn't have the chance to give any more details, before more of the droids come swooping in through the trees.

**w**

When Anakin heard about the droid attack on the planet, he wasn't exactly expecting them to look like... well, this. They all look very humanoid, and the one leading the front could almost be a human, if he didn't know better.

But what stands out the strongest to him is the feel of the Force the moment they came out of hyperspace above the planet. "You sense it too?" Obi-Wan asks with a frown, glancing at him.

"Yes," Anakin concurs. Their devices may have been picking up on massive energy readings, but he didn't actually expect to feel it like this.

The Force itself feels stronger than anything he's ever felt before. And it's all centered right on the figure that directing the entire army. But that doesn't even make sense, because the thing is literally a droid, and there's no way it could be using the Force.

The ship crashed right near the site of the battle is the strangest and most ancient technology he's seen in his life – not that he has much time to look at it before running to join the fight and hearing the woman's brief explanation of what's going on.

Infinity Stones.

He's never heard of such a thing before. But... if they really are what the woman is saying, that would explain why the Force feels so almost intoxicatingly strong here. At least it's not the droid that's this powerful. That would be impossible... hopefully.

Anakin lunges at the first droid, slashing it in half and whirling to cut through a second. Several more streak through the trees, blasts tearing into the ground around him. He hastily deflects a few shots, then onto another, lopping it's head off before flipping to land on the next, stabbing it before leaping back to the ground, bisecting one of the others as he goes.

Still, the numbers that keep pouring through the trees seem unceasing. "Do these things ever end?" Ahsoka yelps, as a blast grazes across her shoulder. He feels her pain through the Force.

"He can keep producing them out of nothing. We need to actually fight him if we're ever going to win!" the woman calls back, as she continues attacking droid after droid as well. She fights much like a trained assassin, Anakin notes briefly, and even if she's not destroying as many as any as they are, she's still doing an amazing job for not having the Force. He can tell that she's tiring, though.

"How can he do that?" Obi-Wan calls back.

"Reality stone!" she yells.

This droid can literally alter reality to produce an army if infinite numbers?! Then why is not just... obliterating them? It's obviously just playing, isn't it.

Well, then, they need to make the most of his arrogance and destroy him while they still have time. The looming danger he felt earlier in the Force makes sense now. If this droid gets past this planet, he could go from one to the next, destroying the entire galaxy. Especially if he has stones that are technically the foundations of the universe, whatever that means. Anakin's never heard of such a thing before, but the Force is intoxicatingly strongly around them. It's far too powerful for them to be anything less.

"He's a computer, right?" Anakin calls, ducking behind a tree for the moment as he waits for the next group of droids to attack them.

"Yeah," the woman pants.

"Does he control them with the Stones or some other way?"

"I'm not sure. I think it's like... a hive mind?" she replies.

Could they try to get a virus into his system through the one of the army members? He doesn't know if that would work, but even if it did, they don't have a way to get connect with one of Ultron's minions right now anyway. There's no way for Artoo to plug into those things.

"Then we need to lure him down here." He doesn't know what else to say.

Anakin runs back into the fight again, catching several of the droids with the Force and throwing them into the trees hard enough to severely damage them, leaving them for the woman to finish off before he charges at the next ones. Obi-Wan and Ahsoka immediately join him, though the padawan is slowed down a little from her injury.

They finally finish knocking down the next wave – this time much faster than the previous – and there's a flash of light in the sky before that red humanoid figure flies into view, a yellow stone shining on his head, along with five others shimmering across his chest.

Now that the stones are so close, he can feel it through every inch of his body. The power is... exhilarating. It's as though he could reach out with it right now, even when he's not touching the Stones, and manipulate them.

Maybe – yes. This is how he has to destroy the droid.

He reaches out with the Force, trying to tap into the power of the Stones. He has absolutely no idea what he's doing, but the moment he touches them, the strength of the energy hits him so hard it nearly takes his breath away. He's hardly sure how to control a power this extreme.

Unfortunately, he doesn't have more than a second to figure out either, because Ultron obviously senses what he's doing.

The Force suddenly screams, and somehow, Anakin knows what's about to happen. "Get to the ship!" he yells to the others and throws up his hands.

The Force around the figure surges, and a blast of energy powered by the Infinity Stones hurtles through the air at him. It slams full intensity into his Force shield, the strength of it nearly breaking right through and throwing him to the ground.

Through sheer willpower alone – and stubbornness and refusal to let all the others die – he forces the shield to hold, pushing against it. The energy is visible currents of the Force that Ultron is throwing at him. It is the Force, so he can manipulate the energy. He struggles against it, throwing everything he can into it, silently hoping the others are listening and getting to the ship.

Then all at once, the surge in the Force suddenly dies, and he nearly faceplants for his efforts.

"How interesting," Ultron murmurs, "A mortal who is capable of withholding the strength of the Infinity Stones."

Looking around, Anakin sees the others are on the ship already, with Ahsoka standing at the edge of the ramp.

"Master!" she yells.

"It is of no concern," the droid decides, "You shall still die along with the rest of the galaxy, and finally, there will be peace."

Anakin runs for the ramp, jumping onto the bottom of it right before Ultron fires another blast from the Infinity Stones. It tears through the ground, in a blinding flash rapidly spreading across the surface of the entire planet. He can only get such a good look it because they're already far enough into the atmosphere while it happens.

The entire planet is rapidly begin consumed, and once the brilliantly glowing light fades, there's nothing left. Even all the plants from what Anakin can see have been destroyed. The surface of the planet is covered in pretty much only brown now. They're too high up for him to see much more.

"How can those things be so powerful?!" Ahsoka asks incredulously as the four watch the damage out the front viewport.

Anakin can still hardly believe what he's seeing himself. The entire planet was just destroyed.

"They are the foundations of the universe itself, from what I've heard," the woman repeats from what she said earlier, "I don't know if it's true or not."

That still doesn't make much sense to him, but frankly, he doesn't know how else they could possibly be so powerful.

"They're leaving the planet already," Obi-Wan calls from the pilot's seat.

"He's just going to move onto the next planet and then the next, unless we can find a way to stop him," the woman warns.

"Fighting his army is pointless. We need to go after him," Anakin replies, eyes narrowed as Ultron himself flies into view again. What he doesn't know is how.

"We need to take the stones from him," Obi-Wan decides.

"He's being fueled by the Mind Stone. If we take that from him, he'll be mindless," the woman points out, before briefly listing off the rest of the stones: Reality, Space, Time, Soul, and Power.

"Then, that's what we need to do. Those Stones are a part of the Force," Anakin declares, "If we're close enough, I might be able to try something." If he can do it fast enough. After deflecting the energy from them earlier, it gave him a better idea how to tap into the power.

"We can lead this fight somewhere we'll have more cover," Obi-Wan decides, "That moon should do nicely."

"It might be populated," Anakin objects.

"There's nowhere else we can go, unless we want to risk having this battle in space," Obi-Wan retorts.

The shuttle speeds down for the surface, and Anakin immediately contacts Rex. "Keep his army occupied," Anakin tells him, "They need to stay distracted while we take care of the leader."

"Yes, sir," comes the immediate reply.

**w**

Explosions fill the sky above them, as the clones shoot at the droids. They need to make this quick, because Ultron can keep regenerating his army, no matter how many the clones destroy.

And the clones obviously aren't the same way. Anakin isn't going to let his men die in a pointless and unending fight like that for no reason except he didn't move quick enough to save them.

Sure enough, the familiar red figure streaks into view, stopping to hover a short distance above the ground in front of them. "You have led me to the next planet," the droid states, as though that weren't already obviously, "Soon your entire galaxy will be destroyed, and there will finally be... peace."

"Peace?" spits Ahsoka incredulously.

"Yes, peace," the droid agrees, "So long as humans cover the galaxy, there will be nothing but chaos. This is the only way." Now is not the time to point out that that was a very speciesist statement.

That's what the droid wants? Well, honesty, it makes a disturbing amount of sense considering how much chaos there is in the galaxy right now, with almost all of it being caused by sapient beings. But killing all of them is not the solution, thank you very much.

Anakin doesn't wait for Ultron to respond again. He throws out a hand, reaching for the Stones. He doesn't know if this is going to work, or if he has to be touching the droid for it to work, but he has to try.

The stone reacts instantly, pulsing brightly in the Force. He can easily touch it, use its power, even if he's not standing next to it.

Ultron instantly figures out what he's up to. The droid flies off the ground again, firing a blast of energy at them. Obi-Wan raises his lightsaber to block it.

The woman raises her gun, firing several shots at the droid, and Ahsoka charges forwards, only for a blast of energy to hit her, throwing her back. The droid then sends a blast of energy at Anakin this time, who barely manages to leap out of the way in time. The ground where he was standing moments before is now smoking, completely burned. He doesn't stop to think about what would have happened if he was still standing there.

"We have to do this together," Anakin calls to the others and charges at it. The only way this will work is if they can keep Ultron distracted long enough for Anakin to use the power of the Stones.

When the droid spins to fire a blast at him again, he throws up a Force shield to block it. Obi-Wan throws his lightsaber at the droid, and it harmlessly bounces off its arm. Right. Because that's the strongest metal in the world, the woman had said.

Ahsoka is already leaping through the air, landing on top of the droid from behind, trying to cut through its head. Ultron instantly ceases his attack on Anakin, spinning and throwing the Togruta off. The unnamed red-head fires at it several more times, and it's about to blast her away when Obi-Wan jumps it this time, throwing it the ground.

Anakin reacts instantly, reaching out with the Force.

The stones respond to his call, though it's hard because right now the Mind stone is currently fueling Ultron itself, so it's listening more to him at the moment.

He can hear Ultron growling something, but he doesn't pay it any mind. As long as the other three can keep him busy –

A shadow falls over him, snapping him out of his concentration. Looking upward, he sees the droid steadily increasing in size, towering over them now. It's trying to make the stones resist him, and this isn't working.

No, this must work. It's his only chance, and he has to destroy Ultron, before he kills all of them, because they're too far from the ship to get there in time if they wanted to flee again.

All his clones are up there fighting off the army. They're going to die too if he doesn't do something to stop this madness.

He reaches out again, silently demanding that the Stones respond to his call. He goes for the Reality Stone first. The droid struggles to resist him, but he forces back against it, using the stone itself to fuel him. From there, he starts to draw on the power of the others.

A blast of energy fires at him, but he uses the strength of the other stones to direct away, deflecting it back at Ultron.

Disintegrate Ultron and his army. He tries to tell the Reality Stone, and he can hope that he knows what he's doing.

Anakin can feel it, the droid struggling to use all the Stones, to obliterate all life in the universe with a single thought, and he pushes back against it, with everything he has.

It resists for a moment, the strength of one Infinity Stone battling against that of the other five, before it abruptly gives way.

He opens his eyes – he didn't remember closing them – to see Ultron turning into dust, the Six Stones falling to the ground. The rest of his army transforms into dust as well.

It's over.

Anakin can hardly believe it.

This was... by the far the strangest mission he's been on, but it's over.

"Just another boring day saving the universe," Obi-Wan quips, looking around.

"We lost an entire planet," Anakin points out.

"Two planets," the woman retorts, and Anakin actually takes the time to look at her for the first time. He never really had much time to pay attention to her throughout the battle.

Her face is mostly impassive, and the look she has on her face is always... calculating, like she's silently reading and sizing up everything and everyone around her. She has shoulder length red hair and looks to be maybe a decade or so older than he is.

But what stands out most to him in the Force is how she feels in the Force. She's unshielded and he can feel a furious blur of barely controlled emotions – anger, despair, pain.

"Two?" Obi-Wan repeats.

"My planet," the woman answers shortly. "Where Ultron first... came from."

Her planet was destroyed. Well, that explains everything.

"I don't believe we've introduced ourselves," Obi-Wan declares. Seriously? When would they have had the time for that?

"Natasha Romanoff," she answers in a clipped tone, "And you are...?"

"Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi," he replies.

"Anakin Skywalker," Anakin adds, "And my padawan, Ahsoka Tano."

Her eyes narrow as she regards them, and he can feel a great deal of confusion and uncertainty swirling around her in the Force.

"Where am I?" she asks, to which Obi-Wan replies.

"How did you get here?" Anakin queries.

"With the Reality Stone, I think he created a portal of some kind," she answers.

"A portal?" Ahsoka repeats incredulously.

"Yes, this is not my universe," Natasha responds.

"Well, this is... definitely unusual," Obi-Wan declares, "If your planet was completely destroyed, I assume you have nowhere to go?"

"That is correct," she replies stiffly.

"You can return with us to Coruscant, if you desire," he offers, "The Council may wish to speak with you, especially regarding what you know about these Stones."

"I don't know much about them other than what I already told you."

"Even so, this is a very unusual development."

"Very well," she agrees finally. Time for them to clear out of here.

**w**

They give her a room on the Cruiser until they get back to Coruscant. It's the first time in... probably days that she actually has the chance to rest, and it's only now that she realizes how exhausted she is. The injuries from Ultron's laser blasts are still hurting, but they've been treated with... something called 'bacta'. She's never heard or seen such a thing in her life.

Then again, that's true about pretty much everything here. Even the bathroom – 'fresher, someone had called it – looks somewhat different. She hasn't made it through the shower yet before she finally starts to think, precisely what she's been trying not to do this entire time.

It's only now that she's all alone that the reality of the situation starts catching up with Natasha. Her planet, her home, everything she ever knew is gone. It still feels unreal, but the crushing depression, worse than anything she's ever felt before – already threatening to smother her – couldn't let her believe anything else.

Now that she's alone, with no mission or anything to focus on, she lets herself break, leaning against the wall and burying her head in her hands. She only doesn't cry because some pain runs far too deep for even tears to express.

All the Avengers are dead. And everyone in SHIELD, and...

Steve and Tony and Bruce and Thor and Fury and Maria and... everyone she's worked with all these years.

And Clint

It sends a fresh wave of agonizing pain through her as she thinks of him.

Maybe... she has no idea what happens after death, but at least she can take a small consolation in the fact that wherever he is, he's happier than he'd be if he was still alive. Perhaps he's been reunited with his family.

(And there's Alexei and Melina and Yelena too... and maybe she hasn't thought of them much in years, but suddenly it hurts knowing that they're dead.)

But, even if everyone she knows is dead, she isn't, and for the not the first time in her life, she has absolutely no idea what she's going to do with herself now.

The last time, after she left the Red Room, the same thing was true, but now, it's much worse. At least she was still on Earth, and had Clint, and some idea of what to do and how to live. Here, she doesn't know anything at all. This isn't a universe she knows anything about, and she has yet to express her true ignorance to everyone else. She never likes letting people who she doesn't trust know how lost she is.

But she's going to have to say something to them, because after they deliver this report to the Jedi Council, she'll be left on her own. Of course, she could figure it out, but from what she's seen so far, the alphabet mainly used isn't even the same, so she can't read either.

This is getting more and more complicated with each passing moment, as if she doesn't have enough to deal with already, with her entire planet gone. She doesn't even have the energy to deal with anything right now.

But life won't stop moving now any more than it ever has. She needs to pull herself back together again, and figure something out.

All her life, Natasha has been a fighter. Truthfully, she doesn't know anything else. After finding out that SHIELD was nothing more than a front for HYDRA, that even after leaving the Red Room she hadn't been using her skills for anything better unlike she thought she had been, all she wanted was to settle down. That's why, she supposes, she had been pursuing things with Bruce, and had been thinking about disappearing with him after the secret about Hulk had gotten out. Maybe she didn't entirely feel that way towards him, but both of them needed somewhere to disappear and settle down in, and it was the best option at the time. But now, he's gone too.

And she can hardly just go settle down in a universe she knows nothing about, not that she can really start fighting all over again in a universe which she doesn't know, much less what she'd be fighting for.

She needs to take things one at a time. First, deal with explaining everything to the... Jedi, and then figure out how to live in this strange galaxy, and after that, she can figure out what she's going to do with herself.

She lets herself stay there on the floor, lost in her emotions, for a while. After everything she's lost, she deserves at least that, and she doesn't even have the strength to move right now.

Reaching out, her fingers close around Clint's bow, the last thing she has from him. The last thing she has from anyone, actually. Every time she moves, she's half-expecting to see someone, Clint at least, at her side, but no. Everyone is dead, gone.

The world blurs in front of her, and for once, she lets the tears fall.

**w**

It isn't until several hours later that Natasha finally leaves the room she was given on the ship. She does have permission to move around here so it shouldn't be a problem. To be fair, she would go to investigate her surroundings whether she had permission or not.

She's never been in a place remotely like this before. Not as if that's a surprise.

She's literally in Star Wars. Maybe under normal circumstances she'd find that a little more unbelievable, but after fighting a robot that destroyed her planet, not to mention dealing with alien invasions through portals only three years ago, it's hardly the strangest thing that's ever happened to her.

At least she's here instead of stuck on Earth to try and survive the next couple years before she dies from nuclear poisoning. Or dies from lack of food hiding in an underground bunker, which would probably happen first.

If she's going to be living here – well, there isn't even an if – then she really needs to get a feel for the universe. If only she had some idea where to start.

Natasha heads out into the hall of the cruiser, eyeing the clones as she passes by them. Most don't spare her more than a glance, just continuing about their duties. She doesn't stumble into one of the Jedi until she walks into the mess hall where Skywalker and his padawan are eating at one of the tables. Numerous other clones are in there as well, mostly at different tables.

"Hi!" Ahsoka calls cheerfully, catching sight of her. Seriously, since when did the future Darth Vader train another Jedi? Apparently, there's a lot she doesn't know about Star Wars.

"You can join us, if you want," Skywalker offers.

She hesitates for a moment. Should she? She doesn't trust these people – though that doesn't mean a whole lot because she never trusts anyone until she gets to know them very well – but it's a good way to start conversations and get information. Besides, she hasn't eaten in a long time, even if she's still too emotionally worn out to care right now.

"Thank you," she replies finally, moving over to the table and taking a seat across from them. She cautiously picks up the offered ration bars – or at least she thinks that's what they're supposed to be – and takes a bite. It's not like anything she's tasted before, but at least it tastes like food. She's had worse when on extended missions in the past.

She observes the two silently, while making it look like she isn't paying them much attention. Skywalker is... just a boy. Frankly, seeing him in person, she has a really hard time imagining how he could become Darth Vader.

But he is the General of his own army division right now, apparently. She knows how much the war affected Steve, and he was only a captain fighting in one small area of a single planet. She can't imagine the amount of stress Skywalker must be under constantly.

Not to mention apparently raising a teenager himself in the middle of that. Who thought this was a good idea?!

Maybe she can see a little better how he would end up as Darth Vader after all.

"So, what's the name of your planet?" Ahsoka inquires, breaking her out of her thoughts. Do they really need to talk about this?

"Earth," Natasha answers.

"Earth?" she repeats, raising an eye-marking – because those are definitely not eyebrows. She doesn't have any hair. "What kind of name is that?" She ignores the look her master shoots her.

"I've never heard of it before," Skywalker comments, obviously trying to break up the awkwardness of the situation.

"Like I said before, it's in a... different universe." How else is she supposed to explain this?

"What do you mean 'different universe'?" asks Skywalker.

"Different galaxy, at least," she decides, considering how to explain such a thing, "I've heard about your galaxy on my planet."

"I don't see how anyone couldn't have heard of the Galactic Republic," chirps Ahsoka.

Probably because there is no Galactic Republic. She decides to leave the topic behind entirely, because she'd prefer not to talk about herself, regardless. "So, you're a general?" Natasha queries, after a moment.

"I am," Skywalker confirms, "...Why?"

"You seem a little... young for that," she replies, "Not that I'm saying you can't handle it."

Skywalker shifts, and she notes that he's actually really good at controlling his expression. "There's a limited number of Jedi, and we need as many as possible on the front lines."

"So, they're taking to sending children to the fronts?" she concludes, feeling no small measure of disgust, because she doesn't remember the movies ever showing this. Maybe she just didn't pay enough attention.

"I'm not a child," Ahsoka grumbles, which in and of itself is a very clear sign that she is.

"Maybe not." She'll indulge her with that, even though it's an absolute lie, "But you're both... young for this."

"It... isn't the best situation," Skywalker replies, throwing a sideways glance at Ahsoka, and Natasha gets the feeling that he agrees she shouldn't be fighting on the front like this, "But the Council believes it is necessary and the only way to win the war."

Sounds like the same way everyone views war on Earth. She's hardly one to preach about morals, but that doesn't mean she's a fan of child soldiers being used anywhere.

She'd be willing to offer the two of them some assistance, but right now, when she hardly knows them, isn't really the time. Besides, she has so much to handle herself right now. "What is this 'Coruscant' like?" she asks after a moment, changing the topic.

"It's the capital of the Republic," Skywalker offers, "And the city covers the entire planet. It's where the Republic Senate and Jedi Temple are."

Probably the place she needs to be, then, if she has any chance of finding some sort of job to fit her skills. She still isn't sure what.

**w**

It's honestly a little disturbing to be here in a place that she last saw in a movie. It feels frankly surreal, although it would probably be even weirder if she actually remembered much about Star Wars. It was a long time ago that she watched it, so she doesn't remember much.

It's still beyond bizarre to see so many different species sitting in a circle around her, and admittedly, the only one she can identify is Yoda.

"What can you tell us about these Infinity Stones?" asks the one who looks like Fury, but without an eye patch. He even sounds exactly like him, just with a less visible sense of humor. That would be more disturbing if it didn't hurt so much.

"They say the Six Stones are the foundations of the universe, in existence before everything else. I don't know anything about them, or if the claim is true."

"They are very powerful objects, as I'm sure you can feel in the Force," Kenobi declares, looking to the others. They brought the stones here, and she can only hope that they'll be safe.

She doesn't remember enough about the Jedi to even be sure what she thinks of them, but she did always think that some of their rules were weird. And the whole training children from childhood to be practically assassins like this – from what's she's been able to observe on Ahsoka – reminds her disturbingly of the Red Room, but she supposes she might be biased. They are trying to help the galaxy, much like the Avengers were the planet, so... Even if there's plenty they could be doing better, it's not really any of her business.

"There's something else you might want to know," Natasha declares, after a moment. They helped her destroy Ultron, and they at least should know what she knows about their universe. What they do with that information is up to them.

They wait expectantly for her to continue.

"On my planet, there were... movies about your galaxy."

"Movies?" echoes one of the others, sounding confused.

"Maybe that is not the term you use for it here," she replies, "Like... videos. Motion pictures."

"Holofilms?" Kenobi guesses.

She supposes, if that's the word. She only nods in response. "But they go into the future on what's supposed to happen here."

"The future?" repeats the Fury-imposter.

"Yes," she responds, "I don't remember much about them, but I can tell you what I do remember."

"Go ahead," urges Kenobi.

"The Republic defeated the Separatists, but then it's transformed into a Galactic Empire by the Chancellor, who is a Sith Lord. Sidious, I believe his name was."

Dead silence meets her words. Everyone looks between each other, seeming unsure how to respond.

"That is a serious allegation," the Fury-look-alike points out.

"It is what the movies say," she replies, "What you do with this knowledge is your choice."

"Thank you for telling us," Kenobi answers finally.

She nods stiffly.

"That will be all," says Fury-look-alike.

Natasha nods, leaving the room without another word and heading back to the halls of the Temple. She remembers the path well enough, so she shouldn't get lost.

On second thought, maybe she should have added the part about Skywalker becoming Vader... but it's not as if that knowledge is going to assist them. Knowing about what things he could do in the future might not be the best idea. She doesn't know, but she doesn't trust them.

She hasn't gotten out of the Temple yet when she crosses paths with Skywalker again. "How'd the Council meeting go?" he asks.

"Well enough," she replies. She can imagine that they're still in shock from what she told them. They're the ones with a ruling position in the galaxy, though. They should know what to do.

"Do you know what you're going to do now?" he asks,

She glances sideways at him. "I don't know much about your galaxy," she admits, but really, she will have to talk to someone about this, and it might as well be someone she already knows, "But I have been considering a job for the Republic military... perhaps for special operations or some undercover work?"

It's what she did in the past, and she thinks maybe it's what she can do again. She can't imagine doing anything other than fighting.

It will take a while to get used to living in this strange galaxy, but she's used to big changes.

Nothing lasts forever, she knows, so it's not surprising that she has to start all over again. (That doesn't make it hurt any less.)

She can do this. It's not as though she has any other choice.

**w**

Darth Sidious paces back and forth in his office, thinking over the newest development. Even though the matter was technically supposed to be classified, it was easy enough to get the full story.

He's never heard of these Infinity Stones before, but he felt their intoxicating power from the moment they were brought to the Jedi Temple.

Whether or not they really are what is claimed they are, he is going to get his hands on them. They weren't part of his plan before, and he's going to keep going through with the rest of it in case this doesn't work out, but now, he has the best backup plan he could get.

He will get those Stones, and then galaxy will be his forever.

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