A/N: Back again! This story will be one year old on the 7th, so I thought I should probably get chapter twelve out before then, haha. Then I have a chapter a month average! Yaaaay

I suck.

ALSO I SAW CIVIL WAR AND MAN IT WAS SOOO GOOD. This story is soooo AU now though. However, it shall remain spoiler free, good readers! Oh, and if any of you have seen it and wanna talk about it, I'm game if you wanna shoot me a message.

It had been three days since I had woken up feeling fit as a fiddle when I really shouldn't be, and since Ultron and Wanda had had their little 'talk'. I had to admit, it had definitely been less tense with some of the bad blood diluted, and it was nice not feeling like I had to prevent a civil war constantly. Our time, therefore, was being much better used than it had been when everyone was trying to kill each other. Wanda had proven herself very useful in making covert runs, gathering information, guns, and, thank goodness, clothes that weren't bloodstained prison greys. Things were looking marginally better and brighter, now I wasn't wearing my own dried blood, and my brother wasn't wearing that of the late Moskvin.

I had never, ever expected to hold a gun in my life, but universe likes to dunk on you like that sometimes. Now I carried a handgun with me every second of the day, and trained regularly with the bigger guns we had dug up. The ones I still couldn't, and never would, be able to remember the names of. Regardless, I would much rather have one than not while we fought a robot army. Okay, fought was the wrong word. Even with three of us five being highly powerful individuals, we knew all-out assault would be suicide. It was more like a game of 'capture the flag and try not to die', and we were all embracing that concept. Even Aleks, who I was certain would refuse to carry a weapon, even one to use against machines, accepted his readily, and had taken to practicing with us. He, like the others, had been acting oddly. I was still lacking a large part of their respective stories, even though they had stopped being quite so tight-lipped around me, but Aleks, who was naturally the more approachable out of the two of us, would always share what he had gained in conversation with me. Well, that was when he would talk to me at all, anymore.

So far all I really knew was that when Ultron was still newly awakened he had sough out the help of Wanda and her twin brother, Pietro, in his mission to destroy the Avengers. Why they had been so eager to join him in the first place was still a mystery, but I had a sneaking suspicion it had something to do with one Tony Stark.

Now that the robutt and the scary lady had somewhat of a truce, it was obvious to see why they had been such an effective team before the split. They worked like a well oiled machine, pardon the pun, when they weren't at loggerheads. It was almost like they thought the same way, like they shared the same book and always landed on the same page whenever it came to preparing ourselves for the coming catastrophe, and the Vision's return. That isn't to say everything was roses; it was clear that Wanda still loathed everything about the android, and sometimes seemed to disagree with him just because she could, but it did appear that a lot of the murderous intent had been replaced with garden variety distrust and hurt. I could definitely understand where she was coming from with that one, too, because losing Aleks would be a pain I couldn't imagine, especially if it had come at the hands of someone I once trusted. I couldn't imagine it.

Moved by the thought, I came up behind where my brother was standing in the midday sun, deep in thought about something likely far too smart, and wrapped my arms around his thin frame. He must have understood the meaning behind the sudden invasion of his personal space because he didn't question it, just turned around and returned the embrace. "Are you okay, sis?" he asked me softly, bringing a bitter smile out of me.

"And here I came to ask you that question. I'm okay, Aleks. Haven't stopped kicking yet. What about you, though? How have you been coping?"

My tentative questioning was still too much, apparently. He took a step back and shrugged helplessly. "Still kicking," he echoed. The haunted look in his eyes betrayed him. I kept wishing he would tell me what was weighing on his mind, but I hadn't managed to get even a clue out of him since he decided to clam up during my time stuck in a fever dream. This was the man who had confessed a murder to me just a week ago. More than a week? I was losing track of time. Still, what could it possibly be that he thought he couldn't tell me?

I placed a hand on his arm and he looked away, anticipating what was coming next. "Aleks, I'm worried about you. Neither of us can do this alone. Please, talk to me," I stressed, trying in vain to recapture his gaze. I couldn't understand why it felt like I really was losing him, too.

He shook his head, causing his curls to swing, his eyes welling with the tears that came so easily for the both of us, and pulled me back into a tight bear hug. "I can't, sis, I just can't right now. Please, please stop asking." Then, he released me and walked away as fast as he could without running, glancing back at me once before shaking his head again and turning the corner to be hidden on the other side of the barn.

And that was how it had been going since I had woken up; fine, unless I tried to pry into what was upsetting him, and I had no idea what would hurt our relationship more in the long run, continuing to ask more than he wanted to tell, or ignoring his obvious troubles, leaving him to fend for himself like he wanted.

"Men can be such complex creatures," the sudden intrusion of Ultron's drawl made me jump, as it often did. I continued to wonder how he could sneak up on me with his heavy, clanking footsteps, but then again, I was never the most in tune with my surroundings.

I frowned, preoccupied with the widening gap between me and my only remaining family. "He's my brother, I should understand him better than anyone. I thought I did."

The android gave me a sidelong glance. "You probably do, but that doesn't mean you will always know everything, or that you're somehow failing him if you don't."

The simple words hit home, and the burden felt just a little lighter. "Thanks, Metal Head. Guess you can use that big brain of yours for good, sometimes. Still, do you... know what's wrong?"

I turned to look at him as his intricate face plates shifted into an uncomfortable expression. After a moment's pause, he said, "I do have an idea, yes."

My heart hammered in my chest. "What is it? Why won't he tell me?" I demanded immediately, my own face scrunched into a look of desperation.

His vibranium brow furrowed further. "Katja," he trailed off in warning.

I sighed, dropping my eyes to his chest. "I know, I know. It isn't your place to say. I just wish I knew what is was I did wrong, y'know? He was fine, before."

"Hey," he said, waiting until my gaze had locked with his glowing scarlet one again. "It wasn't anything you did, alright? Try not to dwell on it; soon enough this will all be over, and you will both be able to move on." The robot's hand came up to hover over my cheek, and I chose, perhaps foolishly, to lean into the touch, though my ears warmed in embarrassment. I enjoyed the attention, especially with my little brother being distant. It was with increasing frequency that these gestures of familiarity were offered and accepted between us during our normal conversations. I was beginning to understand there was a vulnerability there, a need for casual validation and affection that we both seemed to share, and it made me worry that this- what even was it, an alliance, a buddy-ship, it seemed too rocky to be a legitimate friendship- that this whatever-it-was would become very unhealthy very quickly.

I shook my head, derailing the train of thought. "This isn't a game, Ultron, we don't get to reset if things go south. Even if by some miracle we win this, the things we've lost will stay gone." I stop to blink at the tears that immediately appear with the thought of my Pa. "I don't want to lose my brother, too."

The imposing figure that the seven-foot metal man paints just barely flinches and snatches his hand away. For a moment I'm confused until I realize that he has taken my words the wrong way, like an accusation, surprising me with the amount of pain the guilt of having hurt him brings me. Yet another thing to worry about.

"Ultron, wait, I didn't mean it like that," I say in a rush, catching his arm. Still, I had hit a sore spot, with the venom that had been flying around with the memories of Pietro being dredged up. He pulls his arm away without hesitating, like he's just remembered that we were partners of circumstance, not acquaintances of choice. If it wasn't such a human response, I would have called it cold. "You jackass, don't be like that."

I can't tell if he was pretending he didn't hear me, or if he just didn't have anything to respond with. "I gave you both every opportunity to back out, everything you happen to lose is due to your actions, not mine," he says, and though his tone is no different from usual, there's a bite to the words and a wall trying to be built with them.

I'm flabbergasted. "What the hell? You on your robo-period or something? Jeez, Ultron, if you're gonna become so pissy every time someone accidentally offends you, maybe you should have just stayed dead; you, me, and everyone else would've been much happier that way." It was a low blow traded for a low blow. I'm trying so, so hard not to let the words he said make it into my mind, because I can't handle another voice telling me Pa's death was my fault. It's just easier to turn the hurt into fight, another idea we seemed to share.

He scowls, and the defiant stare-off lasts several long moments, before his broad shoulders drop, and he breaks the lock, turning his glare on the dusty ground, instead. "Fine, you're probably right," he grits out, and his surrender hurts almost as much as his insult. It deflates me. The apology in my mouth is still fighting to push past my pride to leave my lips when instead my feet are moving, and I notice too late that I've stormed off back inside the barn instead of mending what I should have fixed right away.

Ultron doesn't follow me in.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid," I mutter to myself, tapping my forehead to the nearest wooden beam with each word. Just when we had been making so much progress, not only with with stopping the war, but also as a team, I make Ultron upset with me, and hell, I didn't even know what I did to make my brother so distant.

Of the only two allies I hadn't majorly messed up with yet, one was on the other side of the world, and the other was... terrifying and standing right there staring at me. I gulped. "Uh, Wanda, hi," I manage to get out, but getting caught berating yourself is more than a little awkward.

She glances at the entrance, and, seeing it empty, approaches me with determination set on her, honestly, ridiculously gorgeous face. "You and I need to talk."

I swallow again, and fleetingly wonder if she even remembers my name. "Yeah, shoot," I say, though to be frank I'd rather be shot with a real gun again than whatever it was that she was getting ready to accuse me of.

"You cannot trust him."

It's so obvious that I stare at her with a blank expression for what is probably too long to be polite. "Uh, yeah, and what is it that makes you think I need you to inform me of your opinion on this? You hate him, I get it. We all get it, but I make my decisions on my own, thanks. I'm a big girl."

She must be shocked at my response because she has to open and close her mouth a few times before her thoughts can be collected into a reply. "You know what he has done, what he tried to do."

"Yes, I do. I'm not ignorant," I tell her, and I can hear the irritation seeping into my voice. The day had already been long enough, filled with way too much drama for my liking.

"Then how can you possibly justify behaving like you do?" Wanda demands, gesturing pointedly. "People have died because of him, lives have been destroyed!" She searches my face, and her expression becomes one of pity and disappointment at what she finds. A sigh heaves from her chest. "I do understand, you know."

An uncomfortable feeling settles in my gut. "Understand what?" I ask, though I expect I'll regret it.

"How he always knows what to say to get the reaction he wants, how he makes dreams seem possible and revenge seem close." Her eyes flash red, and I want to disagree with her, but I don't think I can. "He manipulated my brother and I, and he is doing it to you, too. Whatever it is he is doing to help us, he is doing it for himself."

Her words leave me feeling cold, and I can feel a peculiar headache building behind my eyes, but it abates so quickly I think I could have imagined it. I close my eyes in an attempt to stop the sensation from returning. "It's not like that this time. And even if it was, I'm not doing this for myself. I'm going to do everything I can to help stop the war because its the right thing to do, and I'm going to support Ultron as long as he isn't hurting anyone because I care about him. It's simple for me. I'm not going to be betrayed, because there isn't any way I can be. I just want to be there so that someone is when no one else wants to."

I reopen my eyes when I feel confident the headache won't return and meet hers, that had begun to hold understanding, though not approval. "I believe you," she breathes, and purses her lips. "You will be hurt," she adds.

I scoff. "Funnily enough, you're not the only one to have said that to me recently."

She frowned and went to retort, when her eyes widened. "Get down!" she yelled, but the sudden change of focus didn't register it's meaning with me until half the old barn collapsed on top of the red energy shield she had thrown up around us not a second before.

I landed heavily on my bum, more from fright than actual force, and my ears rang with the after effects of the explosion. Dust burned my lungs. Wanda still stood above me, grunting with effort as she held the debris. Crap, they finally found us.

"Wanda, hold on!" I told her oh-so helpfully, though it was really more for my benefit than hers as I tried to gather my thoughts in the panic that had set in. Where had Aleks and Ultron been when they fired on the building? I could only hope they were still okay. My hand closed around the small firearm I had shoved into the back of my loose jeans. Step one, hold onto the weapon.

Her breathing was getting heavy and her arms, shaky. I could tell she wouldn't be able to keep it up much longer. "Okay," she grit out, not daring to break her concentration, "I'm going to force it away. Try not to die."

I gulped. "Okay." I didn't even know my voice could sound that squeaky and terrified.

"Three," she said. "Two." I held my breath. "One!" With a roar of exertion she forced her arms and the power channeling through them outwards, sending rafters, planks, and sheet-metal flying back away from us, though some were left teetering at frightening angles, encouraging our hasty climb out over the destruction into the open air and relative safety. Or, actually, nix that last bit. A rush of sub-machine gun fire whistles past our heads, causing us to duck and Wanda to pull up another barrier to reflect the killing rain. I flicked the safety of my gun and bit down on my lip.

"Is it too much to ask," I comment bitterly, firing at one of the metal bodies around Wanda's shield, "that they just leave us alone while we foil their plans?"

Wanda snorts, and I think that under less dire circumstances I would have gotten a laugh out of her for that one. Instead, she removes one hand away from the job of producing the shield, and uses it to telekinetically grab a large portion of the fallen barn and hurl it at the group of robotic drones firing at us, flattening them. The sound of incessant gunfire didn't, well, cease, but at least it wasn't being directed at us for a moment. There wasn't time to catch our breath, though.

"We need to find the others," she said, clearly taking charge of the situation, and hell, I wasn't going to try and take that away from her when she had just moments ago crushed half a dozen robots with a flick of her wrist. I nodded, and followed her as she picked her way out and over the rubble to where the rest of the invading mob of drones were closing in on what could only be my brother and the giant silver pain in the ass.

There was no time for panicking or dawdling, or hoping I wouldn't have to step up and could leave it to the others. Even if there was, these guys were my family and they were getting shot at. It was all guns blazing. At least three dozen of them remained standing and were still targeting the others, and as Wanda and I began to converge on them from behind, I could see flashes of red that could only be from Ultron's lasers. It gave me hope, because I knew at that moment I was confident that as long as the android was alive, he would protect Aleks.

I aimed my gun at where Ultron had told me the weakest points existed, and squeezed the trigger. The bullets tore through the thin steel alloy and jointing of the drone's waist, severing coolant lines and spilling coolant onto the grass as it fell to the ground, useless. A peculiar feeling settled in my gut as I turned the weapon in my hand onto the next and the next, missing almost as many shots as I managed to hit. There was a satisfaction to it, for certain, but also a sickening twist to extinguishing the lights in the eyes of the face that had belonged to Ultron when I had first met him, so many months ago. It felt wrong, even as I told myself it wasn't.

My original clip quickly ran out, and I pulled the spare out of my pocket and replaced it. Wanda used her power to haul one of the metal assailants away from me as it got too close and hurled it back at its brothers. More and more were switching targets, running at us from all directions and all but abandoning the men. Someone at HQ must have decided that Wanda was the priority target, and they probably weren't wrong, with what I had seen her do. However, it meant that things only grew more intense on our end. I still hadn't seen Aleks in the fray, but there was no time to think on that. Aim, shoot, and shoot again. Aim, shoot, shoot again. Sweat ran down my forehead and my spine, and a half second's glance told me what I was afraid of, that she was draining as fast and faster than I was, after having held a building off of us and doing the brunt of the smashing. Neither of us could keep this up forever.

A large chrome body slammed down in front of my and I screamed, shooting a bullet that simply bounced off its chest. Ultron, the owner of the body, took a moment to send an expression that said 'Really?' my way, and I would have stuck my tongue out if we weren't about to die, and if the state of the face giving me that look hadn't made my heart shudder in its place behind my ribs. "Stay behind me," his metallic voice ordered us, though he was looking at me as the words left his mouth. The empty words. I shake my head defiantly, with my mouth pursed, but I know my eyes look as scared as I feel. I open my mouth but nothing comes out. "Don't worry, your brother is safe," he adds, answering one of my unspoken questions, but not all of them as he shoves a too-close droid away and proceeds to melt its face off.

There was no time for my other questions, anyway.

Like what happened to his eye.

I raised my right hand once more, steadying the gun with my left, squeezing the trigger that spelled doom to bot after bot, slowly and steadily, doing what I could to ease the burden off my two vastly more equipped, and hence strained, companions. Wanda was giving everything she had left to keeping us three protected from their returning fire, and forcing them back whenever she could spare the motion. Ultron had switched to full bruiser mode, putting himself in the thick of it, crushing their metal skulls in his superior vibranium hands, rending them in two, swatting them away like flies. Brutal. Powerful. The grace of a natural predator. Until it wasn't. It was while he shot a beam of scarlet energy at one that it first became apparent. There was a hiccup in the flow, a putter, and as I caught the sight in my peripheral vision I was reminded of the night we fled the base, the wavering in his propulsion. Of the night he fought the Infinitus, the decline in his strength. There core I had helped attach, that was better than the previous, but not even close to perfect.

He kept fighting. They kept coming. Wanda's shield began to waver. His movements began to slow.

There was too many of them.

My mind couldn't take in more than the basic details of what was happening around me. It was like a sudden deafness had taken over me, and all that remained was blurred vision. I knew I was moving forward, but I didn't feel myself push past the Scarlet Witch, didn't hear my brother scream my name. All I saw was Ultron's defeated expression as his knee locked and the glowing red that seeped through his detailing flickered. The drones were swarming him now, forcing him onto his back, but what could they do against his vibranium shell? One stepped forward and pushed its gun into the dented and empty socket where his right optic ought to be.

I pulled the trigger. Once. Twice. Three times. The robot holding the gun dropped away, and the others turned to look at me as I pushed through them and fell at his side, waiting for their next orders. One burning red eye stared up at me, the lens within adjusting sluggishly to focus on my face. My mess of a face. "No," I choke, and swallow. "Crap." A gear whirs loudly as my robot jackass tries to move, but nothing is achieved but a fading of the light in his eyes again, and he must decide that his energy is better used staying awake, because he stops and the light returns. I grit my teeth.

I knew I had next to no ammo left, but I released what I did into the nearest drone as Wanda struggled to keep them at bay. It really did seem like the end.

I am so sorry for all the stupid mistakes I've made. Please, look after my little brother, let him escape and never be found. And please, don't let Ultron think I ever truly hated him.

And, through a halo of light, an angel came to avenge us.

A brilliant line of that light broke through the attacking drones, shattering all in its path, until the wielder soared downwards through the machines, physically through them, pulling crucial circuitry out as he went. A croak of relief escaped my throat.

The Vision was back, and we were alive.

He destroyed the remaining numbers with an efficiency that I couldn't display tying my shoes in the morning. Wanda sank to her knees, likely in large part due to exhaustion, but the smile on her face said gratitude.

Me, I was a wreck. When the last attacker fell, my head drooped until my forehead rested on his cold metal chest, feeling the slick touch of hydraulic fluid against my cheek. I knew Vision, Wanda, and now my brother, too, were standing at the edge of the destruction, watching, but I didn't find an ounce of care left in me for anything but the broken friend in front of me. It took several deep, shaking breaths before I could form any sort of words past the lump in my throat. "Hey, buddy," I rasped, trying for lighthearted, running a hand over one of his large shoulders and tracing the crevices in it. "I don't want to ask you, because you probably shouldn't try to talk until we can get you all patched up, but if I don't then I'll feel rude, so are you okay? Again, don't answer." I swallowed the painful lump again as my eyes stung. "You did good. Just hang in there, okay?"

I sat up, to meet his lopsided gaze once more, and my forced smile returned to terror as the red once again dimmed. "Hey, wait, don't you dare go to sleep on me, man. Ultron," my voice raised in desperation as the glow disappeared into greyness. "Ultron!"

No, no, this wasn't happening. This couldn't be happening. I wanted time. I needed time with him.

A hand came to rest on my shoulder, causing me to gasp a breath that I didn't realize I had stopped breathing. Vision's gentle, low voice spoke. "Katja, maybe you should take some rest."

I knew that he meant well. He really did. Now, however, that I had begun breathing again, I couldn't stop, and I could feel myself growing lightheaded from the shallow inhalations. I couldn't rest. I needed more time.

"Katja," he repeated, more sternly, "you must calm down. You'll do yourself harm-"

"It's about bloody time I did, don't you think?" I interrupted him fiercely, shoving against his immovable green chest. "Don't you think it's bloody well my turn to be the one getting hurt?" My eyes roamed wildly to where my brother was standing beside Wanda, a new bruise on his cheek and dust in his hair, but otherwise unharmed. He wouldn't meet my eyes, or come any closer. If my heart didn't already feel completely numb, I'm sure it would have hurt at his rejection.

"Ultron will most likely be totally fine," the Vision chided me. "No need to worry."

I turned my stare back on the battered body of him in front of me, the eyes, one missing, the other deadened, and the hollow feeling in my heart spread to the rest of me. I wasn't sure I dared to believe his words, though it was probably irrational of me. "How can you be so sure?" I ask, my voice a harsh whisper.

"Well, it is one of the larger conveniences of possessing a mechanical body that can be repaired."

I had stalked off into the nearest copse of trees, and pulled myself up as high into it's branches as I could, so that I was no where near the operation that was currently taking place. I just couldn't watch as they took him apart, infused him with pieces of the other bots, and put him back together. It had already been hours, by the way the sun was beginning to set, and every minute I had been getting more anxious. What if the damage was too extensive? What if they repaired his body, but his mind was gone, and he turned on us? The longer I waited, the more outlandish my fears became.

Among them were my fears over just how worried I was for him. The stupid, stupid robot.

It was no news to me that I found him attractive. I had come to terms with that. Hell, he was a tall, broad, suave male that walked around without clothes on. So what if he was made out of metal? I could forgive myself for that. But what if there was more to it now?

No use. There was definitely more to it after all we had been through in our relatively short acquaintance. I needed time to decide whether these feelings were of any value. I buried my head in my hands. I needed him to live.

"Katja?"

I jumped with fright, almost falling out of the tree, and peered down to see my brother, looking tireder and sadder than I had ever seen him, and the remnants of my heart dropped. Was he...?

"He's awake."

I was down that tree faster than a squirrel on steroids. "He is? Is he okay?" I asked frantically, trying to ignore the hammering inside my chest.

Aleks nodded, his mouth a thin line, and his hands covered in grease. "He'll be fine," he answered. My arms were instantly around him, holding him tight and I choked out thank you after thank you, and tried to force myself not to cry again. He rubbed my back soothingly, accidentally smearing the black oil on my shirt just as Pa would have done. "Everything's okay, sis. We're all okay." He pulled back to look at me. "You know, if you would like, you could go see him while Wanda and I hear what the Vision has to say." He gives me a watery smile.

I give him one back. "Thank you," I tell him again.

He wipes away the one tear that had managed to escape. "Any time, dear sister."

I ran the whole way to the last structurally sound part of the barn, where they had been doing the operation. We knew we would have to move on now that we had been discovered, but if the Vision was right in what I had overheard before running off, there may not be any time for hiding left. So, for now, the only robot I cared about the whereabouts of was this one.

He was in a seated position on the ground, slouched against the wall, the light of the setting sun reflecting off the surfaces of him that weren't marred with dirt and oil. As I stepped into his range of notice though, he stood, and faced me, his expression unreadable. "Ultron?"

"Katja," was his simple reply, and the sound of it filled the pieces of me that been hollow.

I had never been one to think before acting, and this was no exception. My feet moved, ran towards him, my arms encircled his neck, and in his shocked uncertainty were able to pull him into a stoop as I pushed my tear stained lips against his warm vibranium ones.

A/N: WHAAAAAAAT? Did I just actually write you guys the dreaded First Kiss Scene and then stop the chapter in the middle of it? Did I really just do that to you?

The answer is yes. Yes I did.

And I can't guarantee a quick continuation unless you leave a hearty review, y'know *nudge nudge*

Hope you guys enjoyed reading this, cuz it was a mongrel to write! Let me know what you thought.

(Also, I would love a beta-reader, so if anyone reading was interested, let me know, kay?)