Disclaimer: Not mine as usual, except for original characters
A/N: I finally got it out! yay! Please enjoy darlings. I'm going to bed now, I'm heading to Minneapolis to visit friends tomorrow morning.
Chapter Eleven
~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~ Early Morning: Tony & Norah ~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~
It was early morning, it was so early that the sun was a good forty-five minutes to an hour or so from even peaking over the tops of the tree's that Clint's farmhouse was surrounded by. Norah was definitely not a big fan of this whole being up before the sun thing, she used to have to get up this early and even earlier when she had been living in Sweden and going to school and work but now, well now she was not used to doing it anymore but apparently it was needed, so says Steve. He said that they needed to be up and at 'em before the sun came up so that they could be on their way to Seoul before Ultron was able to create a new body for himself with the Vibranium he got from Klaw in South Africa.
The plan was that Tony would be hitching a ride with Fury, or as Norah liked to call him, Patchy. And once Tony got to wherever it was that Fury was going to, he would head on off to Oslo to figure out who it was that is helping them so that Ultron couldn't get the nuke codes, and Norah, Steve, Clint and Natasha would be taking the Quinjet and heading immediately for Seoul.
"You know," Tony said as he sat himself down beside his daughter on the porch swing and gently pushed his legs back and forth. "You don't have to go to Seoul with American Pie if you don't want to." He said as he referred to Steve and then looked intently into Norah's dark brown eyes with his own light brown colored ones. "I..I care about you Norah and I know you want to help, that you are willing to help but I don't want you to go and do something just because we are asking you to do it. You can say no you know." He said to her and gave her a look of understanding if she did descide to not go on this mission and instead go with him or stay on Clint's farm with his family. "You say it to me all the time." He said flatly, she's taken Pepper's side on a few experiments/inventions of his.
When Tony had said that to Norah she responded by sending him a sideways glare at the suggestion, she loved Tony and she appreciated that he worried for her so much that he was trying to subtly get her to say no to the mission but no matter how scared Norah may be, how freaked out over everything that was going on and no matter how exhausted and mentally spent she was she would not be backing down from this. Norah was a stubborn, determined, fierce, loyal and protective sort of person who would do almost anything for her friends and family, and this….going to Seoul to try and make sure that Ultron couldn't evolve as Bruce had called it; well it was something she had to do. She couldn't back out simply because she was afraid or because Tony was worried since this was the first mission Norah would be going on without him being there with her and everyone else.
"Tony," Norah said as she looked at the genius billionaire and whatever else he calls himself. "I'm going to Seoul." She told him in an even tone that didn't show if she was frightened or not or if she was angry over what Ultron has been doing.
Hearing that Tony looked at her and stopped the swinging motion of the porch swing, "I know that we asked you to come and help us and I'm happy that you are willing to drop everything and help us even though I shouldn't be asking you to do that, but we're in deep with this Ultron business. Much more than I was expecting for you to help us with." Tony told her seriously, his face looking very much like the adult he doesn't usually act like. "I don't…I don't want you to get hurt Norah. You are my daughter. If I'm not there-"
Norah interrupted him before he could continue, "I get that you want to protect me, I do and I love that but you can't always protect me Tony. I know me doing this with you, especially with how dangerous Ultron is, terrifies you at times since I am in the middle of the crossfire at times but I won't sit in the sidelines and I won't be afraid of fighting with my friends and family." She told him seriously and then looked away from his face and looked out at the horizon where there was not even a hint of light coming over the trees.
"You sound too much like the Cap." Tony grumbled and then leaned back into the porch swing and crossed his arms across his chest in a childish fashion, there's the child like adult Norah knew. "I don't like it."
"Awwe poor Tony." Norah said and playfully patted his head as if he was a small child pouting about getting his toy taken away to which he just glared at her and leaned away from her.
For a moment both Norah and Tony just say in silence and listened to the sounds around them; the wind blowing lightly on the trees, the noises of the crickets and bugs and the few wild animals, the birds that were flying or nesting in a tree and they could hear the other's inside of the house talking quietly so that they did not wake Clint's children up.
Turning from the early morning view, Norah looked over at Tony. "Dad," Norah said and gave a smile when she saw the silly grin on Tony's face, he did that whenever she called him dad. "I promise to not let the cute Sokovian get to me or let his sister mess with my head again." She said with a shit eating grin on her face.
When Tony heard Norah say 'cute Sokovian' it immediately got his attention, he knew that Norah didn't date much but knew she's been on a few dates and has only met one guy out of those and he wasn't all that great – didn't like Norah's independence or her sarcastic attitude. But he didn't think she was that hard up for a date that she would go for the male Sokovian, Pietro or whatever his name was.
"Norah!" he said and looked at her in a worried/shocked way. "You aren't doing some sort of weird flirting with him are you? I mean I get he's probably attractive to someone like you, not me attractive of course, but attractive. And I get that he's around your age but come on, he's with Ultron. If this is how you are starting to try and find date's it's a real shit way to do it."
Norah knew she shouldn't lie to Tony, lying is bad, very bad and God looked down upon it but Norah wasn't exactly anywhere close to being the religious type and well, sometimes Tony needed to be lied to. Besides, it's not like she was going to admit to making out with Pietro while they were in South Africa when she was supposed to have been fighting Ultron's robot minions, yeah, that so would not end well. Of course, Norah had tried to talk to herself after the whole make out session and after Wanda did her stuff to her mind, she tried to tell her after that that she shouldn't be interested in Pietro, that he wasn't worth it, that he was with Ultron, that he wasn't really all that attractive (he was very attractive), that her family would be disappointed but it didn't really work all that well. She still dreamed about Pietro the night before, all she remembered were lips being pressed against hers, a warm hand pulling her towards him and warm tongue licking her neck.
Shaking herself out of her mind, Norah looked towards Tony who was giving her a desperate look, and then she giggled at him. "Don't worry Tony. Siding with Ultron kind of guys are so not my type, be awkward get-togethers and meet the parent dinners would be hell. Yeah, I'll nope right out of that." Norah said with a shake of her head and knew, knew deep in her heart that she was lying to herself about all of that. "So no worries, okay?"
"All right." Tony said as he looked at Norah suspiciously, but when he saw the playful smile and the sincerity in her eyes he figured that she meant what she said. "Don't get voodooed again kid, be really annoyed with that witch then." He said to her in a serious tone of voice. "I…I love ya kid." He said a bit awkwardly, he didn't get to hear that much growing up from his own father so he had a bit of trouble saying it to anyone else even to Pepper and Norah.
Norah smiled softly and leaned up and kissed Tony on the cheek, "Love you too old man." She said to him and just as she was about to close her eyes and sleep until it was time to go Steve walked out with everyone following after him, yep, life just didn't want to give her a break sometimes.
Looking at the other's she saw that they were all wearing their 'suits' as Steve has taken to calling their outfits that they wear when going out on a mission, and Norah, well Norah was still wearing what she had been wearing in South Africa: a pair of grey jean shorts that ended about mid-thigh, a pair of wide calf black boots that ended a few inches above mid-calf and her loose fitting turquoise tunic shirt that sleeves went to her elbows. Norah thought of getting an official 'suit' for when she did go out on missions with the Avenges but then decided against it, she's seen Natasha's various outfits and some of the former SHIELD female agents 'suits' and she'd prefer to not wear a cat suit that clung to her like a second skin, and the leather looked unbelievably hot and uncomfortable to move in. Thanks, but no thanks.
"It's time." Steve said as he looked down at where Norah and Tony were sitting and looking very much like a father and daughter. "We'll meet you back at the tower." He said as he looked at Tony who gave a nod of affirmation.
Giving a sigh Norah stood up and was about to follow after Steve, Clint and Natasha but Tony held her back and looked her in the eyes for a few moments before pulling her into a tight hug. Confused for a few moments, Norah eventually returned the hug and laid her head in the crook of his neck and breathed in the scent that made her think of home and happiness and family.
"Come back home safe." Tony said to her and kissed her forehead. "I mean it. I'll be very annoyed if you don't."
At that Norah gave a small laugh, "I'll do my best Tony. No promises." She said and then looked over where the Quinjet was and gave a quick smile to Tony and one more hug before she turned away from Tony and ran to catch up with Natasha, Steve and Clint and headed towards the Quinjet so that they could get moving and get to Seoul before Ultron got too far out of hand with his plan.
~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~ Seoul ~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~
After realizing what exactly Ultron plan was for the human race – ultimate destruction – Wanda and Pietro left Ultron in Dr. Cho's lab and headed into the city, when Ultron had approached them he had said that they would get their revenge on Stark for what he did to their parents, he had said that together they would make a better world for humanity but that was not what he intended to do. He wanted to destroy the human race, he said that he would give humans time to evolve but Wanda saw, she saw into that body's mind and could see what Ultron intended to do.
"Pietro," Wanda said as they walked close together through the streets of Seoul, intending on blending in and making certain that Ultron would not be able to find them if he decided to come after them but Wanda doubted he would, he wanted to 'evolve' as he said and transfer his consciousness into the body that Hellen Cho had created with her cradle. "We must find them, the Avengers. They must know what Ultron's plan is. We need to help them Pietro." She told him and looked at him gravely, the things she saw in that body's mind…..in Ultron's mind, there was anger, hate, suffering and lastly, destruction of not just the human race but the world.
When Wanda had said that Pietro looked at his sister seriously, he could not believe that his sister wished to find the Avengers and to tell them of what they had found out from Ultron's mind and that she also wished to help them, to aide them in defeating and getting rid of Ultron. Finding the Avengers meant finding Tony Stark, the man who had caused Wanda and Pietro's parents to lose their lives because he did not care who he dealt weapons to be it legal or illegal as long as he was paid a good sum in the end he did not care for the consequences. Tony Stark was a man who both Pietro and Wanda hated but now was not the time to simmer over that, Ultron intended on killing the human race and the only people who had the ability and resources to do just that was the Avengers.
"Wanda-" Pietro started to say as they turned down the street and walked up the incline the street was situated on.
"No Pietro," Wanda said and turned to look at him in the eyes, her hazel/brown colored eyes looking into his clear blue colored eyes. "I do not wish to do this either but we must, we must if we want to live, if we want the human race to live. They are the only ones who can help. Even Stark." She said grudgingly, a look of disgust on her face as she said this. "He will kill us all Pietro," she said as she looked at him. "You, me…..and that girl you kissed in South Africa." She said with a knowing look in her eyes. "All of us will be dead if we do not do something and we do not have the means to destroy Ultron by ourselves, not to mention he has many of those metal bodies working for him and fighting for him. We would be dead before we even started to fight. We need to help them."
Pietro stopped himself from saying anything and instead looked at his sister and studied her for a moment and saw how serious she was about this, about finding the Avengers and helping them take down Ultron. No matter how much Pietro did not wish to be in the same vicinity as the man who had gotten his parents killed along with many other people in Sokovia because of his greed, Pietro knew in his heart that it was the only way to end this mission of Ultron's.
"I do not like this," Pietro said with a sigh as he and his sister continued walking. "But it is the only way, I know." He said to her with a tone of resignation at the fact that they were going to help the Avengers and were going to be helping Tony Stark.
As far as Pietro was concerned the only silver lining in deciding to help the Avengers with Ultron was the fact that Norah was a part of the Avengers and wherever they were she would be. Perhaps if he could manage to sneak himself and Norah away from prying eyes without anyone noticing he could have another chance at having a bit of alone time with her so that he could taste her lips once again and tangle his fingers into her wild curly blonde hair.
"Pietro," Wanda said gaining his attention, she lifted a brow at her and gave a half amused smile before gesturing towards the sidewalk they were on. "Let's continue. We do not have much time to waste." She spoke as she pulled him by his arm and continued walking.
It was but fifteen minutes later when both Pietro and Wanda had stopped in front of a vendor who was selling all sorts of different vegetables, but it wasn't the produce that they were interested in but rather the small TV that was set up beside it and what was displayed on the TV. There on the small TV that looked to be from the eighties at least was Captain America fighting Ultron along with a few of the metal robots that Ultron had created, and beside the semi that they were fighting on was a train. Before either sibling was able to say someone to one and another there was a sudden presence behind them that grasped both of them by one arm and harshly turned the two around to face whoever it was that had grabbed them. There standing in front of them was the girl, Norah, that Pietro seemed to be utterly fascinated by and she was glaring at the twins and a snarl on her lips.
"Where in the hell is Ultron?" Norah demanded as she looked up at Wanda and Pietro who were both a bit taller than her, Pietro especially who Norah knew was at least close to being six feet tall. "What is he planning? Did he-"
"We have left him." Wanda spoke up, interrupting Norah's interrogation of the two of them. "We have decided to come to the Avengers, to help." She told her simply and to the point.
At that Norah couldn't help but let a scoff escape from her mouth at the thought of Pietro and Wanda wanting to join up with the Avengers and help them in defeating Ultron who, with the help of the twins, have been causing problems since Tony unintentionally created the murder bot. "Oh, really?" she questioned as she crossed her arms under her chest. "And why exactly should I believe that?" she asked as she looked over at Wanda expectantly, waiting for an explanation.
Pietro tried his best to not look and watch as Norah had crossed her arms under her chest which resulted in her very well endowed area to be pushed together that much more and make her breasts look bigger than it actually was, really, he did try but he couldn't seem to pull his eyes away from her chest and remember having her pressed up against him while they had kissed in South Africa. But he was male after all, it was in his blood to stare.
"Hey, Speedy." Norah said catching Pietro's attention who reluctantly tore his gaze away from her breasts and looked at her unabashed at being caught staring. "My eyes are up here." She said and gestured to her dark brown colored eyes and shook her head at him. "Men." She uttered with a heavy sigh and then looked at Wanda instead. "Tell me why I should believe that you and your brother want to help us now instead of being on the crazy pants murder crazy robots side?"
When Wanda heard the skepticism that was in Norah's voice she could not fault her for it, her and Pietro had been fighting against her and her friend's and she had also made Norah remember a horrific time in her life which she should never have had to relieve again.
"He forced the woman, Hellen Cho, to create a body for him with that cradle of hers." Wanda said to Norah as she looked into the blonde haired girls' eyes pleadingly, silently begging for her to understand. "I was able to look into this body they created for Ultron, they were transferring his conscious into the body and I saw what he was intending to do to the human race. I looked into his mind and all I saw was destruction, not of just you and Avengers or the human race but the world. There was fire and explosions, screaming. Everyone is dead when he is done." Wanda said solemnly and hoped the future that she saw in Ultron's mind did not come true.
Norah felt conflicted at the moment, she wasn't sure what to say, what to do or what to believe with this whole new situation with Wanda and Pietro. They are telling her that they want to help the Avengers take down Ultron when just a day or so ago they were fighting against them in South Africa, it's making things complicating for her. If she wanted to Norah could just Blink out of there if she thought that they were lying to her but she didn't feel as if they were lying, as if they were trying to trick her or lure her into a false sense of security. No, Wanda was looking at her intently and hopefully, she wanted to help the Avengers even if Tony was with them.
"Moj mali bik, please let us help your Avengers." Pietro said as he stepped forward and gently caressed the side of her face with the back of his hand, for a moment Norah had to steady her breath and tell herself that she's only known Pietro for a short time and to not do anything rash or stupid, to not pull a Tony.
Stepping back from Pietro, Norah pointed her finger at him and glared. "Bad. Bad Pietro." She said with narrowed eyes which only made Pietro grin at her and give her a look of amusement. "Stop doing that weird flirting thing."
At that Pietro raised a brow at her, "You do same." He said to her as he leaned down a bit and looked into her dark eyes. "You tease and flirt, do not say you don't. I know." He told her.
While her brother and Norah were flirting, because no matter how much Norah tried to she couldn't deny the fact that they were flirting shamelessly, Wanda watched the two interact and couldn't help but give a small amused smile at the two and how they seemed to banter and tease one and another. Seeing and hearing them talk with one another made it quite obvious why her brother seemed to be s attracted and drawn to this American girl – she challenged him and kept him on his toes. When Pietro had first ran back to her back on Sokovia and told her of this girl…of Norah, she had thought that Pietro was just curious and fascinated with Norah because she had powers like they did except hers were not given to her because of a Scepter as both Wanda and Pietro had received theirs, but he seemed to enjoy the teasing and bantering that they did and seemed to be drawn to Norah in general and not just the fact that she had powers. At that realization Wanda could not help but shake her head, only her brother would have something such as this happen while being in a possibly life threatening situation.
"Samo što bi se naći neko privlači , a mi se borimo." Wanda said offhand to her brother who gave her a sarcastic smile.
Hearing Wanda speak in their native tongue Norah directed a slightly annoyed look directed at the twins, she may be a linguist and was fluent in a handful of languages but the language of Sokovia was not in her armory of known languages. "Tudod, ez elég durva, hogy beszéljen más nyelven előtt valaki, aki nem érti meg." She said to them sassily in Hungarian to which both Wanda and Pietro furrowed their brows in confusion at not understanding the language that Norah just spoke.
Norah was about to say something else to Wanda and Pietro when she caught sight of the TV and her eyes widened almost comically when she saw what was playing out on the screen; Steve was on a moving semi while fighting Ultron with all he had but without warning Ultron grabbed Steve and then threw him unceremoniously off of the semi and into the side of a fast moving train that was passing beside them and then he jumped into the train as well to continue fighting the super soldier.
When Wanda and Pietro saw the look on Norah's face they both turned a bit to see what exactly was on the TV that was making her act in such a way, it took them only moments to comprehend what they were seeing. Captain America fighting Ultron, no matter how strong Captain America may be and no matter all that he has been able to endure thus far there was no way that he would be able to survive all that long in a fight with Ultron, at least not by himself. He needed some sort of backup if he wanted to keep himself being killed or seriously injured by Ultron and it seemed that the only ones who were capable of doing so at the moment were Norah, Pietro and Wanda.
"We must leave this place," Wanda said to her two companions quietly as she continued staring at the TV screen where the fight between Captain America and Ultron was being shown. "We need to get to the train, fast." She said as she finally pulled her gaze from the screen and then looked from Norah to Pietro, two of the only people who would be able to get them to that train in a very short amount of time.
Pietro looked at his sister and then the woman who captured his attention from the moment he met her, "I do not know how we get there, I can carry one but I do not know about two people. I've never tried before." He admitted to the two of them, confliction in their eyes.
Looking at Wanda and Pietro for a moment and then turning her attention to the TV Norah made a decision that more than likely would be considered completely stupid and insane by most people. While living at Xavier's for a few short years Norah had learned a thing or two about powers and the science behind them; she learned from Xavier and jean Grey that powers first appeared either during a traumatic event or during puberty, but once that happened and once a person was able to get a good handle on controlling their powers that eventually powers had the ability to grow and evolve from what they already could do. Norah knew that her powers were intense and very powerful and were very useful, it wasn't often that there were Mutant's that had the ability to move from one place to another and the only other Mutant that Norah knew of was Nightcrawler who more so puffed/popped to another place with an audible sound and smell of doing so, every time he did so there would be the smell of sulfur in the air. She had been seven when she first figured out that she could transport herself from one place to another with a bit of concentration but after a few years of practicing Norah had a good hold on how to use her power almost without having to even think about it, but she wondered if like so many other Mutant's powers if hers too had the ability to change and to become something more. What if she concentrated and practiced that she would have the ability to transport herself to places that she's not just seen and been to with her own two eyes but what if she could go somewhere that she has seen on a computer screen or on a cell phone. What if she could look at a picture of Fiji or Bora Bora on the computer screen and then Blink herself there even though she's never been there before in her life.
"Then what-" Wanda began to say but was cut off by Norah.
"There's something I can try." Norah said as she pulled her eyes from the TV and looked at the twins who were giving her a curious look. "It's something that I've never really tried to do or thought of attempting to do before. I've always thought that my power of Blinking from one place to another was limited, that I had to see and be at the place with my own two eyes to be able to Blink myself there but sometimes I forget what I learned at my school – powers evolve. Mutants' powers evolve the older they get, the more skill we gain from practicing with our powers the closer we are to evolving our power into something more." She explained to them a bit nervously at what she was hinting to them, something that she was not completely certain that she'd be able to pull off.
Pietro cocked his head to the side and looked at Norah in confusion, "What are you talking of?" he questioned her.
Norah nodded her head at the TV, "I'm going to try and Blink us from here to inside of that train." She told them and gave what she hoped was a confident smile. "Obviously I've never tried this before so I can't be sure that it will work….hopefully nothing bad happens." She told them which made both Wanda and Pietro give her panic laced looks at that statement, okay so she probably shouldn't have said that last part out loud. Oh well. "Give me your hands." She urged and saw the hesitation in their eyes, hesitant to go through with what Norah was about to try. "Look, we don't really have much of a choice right now. We need to get there as fast as we can and Pietro can't take both of us and well, this is the next best thing. Now, give me your hands and hold on tight." She said as she looked at Wanda who seemed them most hesitant to do as Norah was suggesting.
Seeing the hesitant on Wanda's face Norah took matters into her own hands and clutched Wanda's hand tightly so that there was no way for her to let go and then laced her fingers through Pietro's tightly and shook her head at Wanda who acted as if she was going to accidentally split them in half mid Blink or something. As far as Norah knows that isn't possible to have happen. Taking a calming breath, Norah prayed to all and any gods and goddesses in existence that this would work, that she would be able to Blink herself, Wanda and Pietro from their spot in some random street in Seoul to the train that Ultron had just shoved Steve through. There was no other choice really, this needed to work otherwise Norah wasn't so sure that Steve would come out of the fight on his own two feet. With that thought in mind Norah stared intently at the TV screen that the street vendor had situated next to his stand and it took all her willpower to not blink while staring at it, it only took moments of staring before Norah felt that familiar uncomfortable tugging and pulling sensation in her chest that signaled she was moving from one place to another.
The next thing that the three of them knew was that they were standing inside of the train that they had just seen on the TV, as great of a feat this was and how amazed at herself as Norah was she couldn't help but crumple to the ground the second she had her two feet on solid ground. It had been an exhausting and draining experience to do what she just did and bringing two other people along with her at that.
When Pietro saw that Norah had fallen to the ground he wasted no time in bending down and standing her back on her feet before she had even comprehended what was happening. "Are you all right?" Pietro asked as he looked down into Norah's face and saw the bit of exhausting and pain that were playing in her dark eyes.
"Yeah. I'm fine." Norah said waving his concern away, as much as she appreciated it now was not the time to worry about anything but helping Steve fight against Ultron. "Go. Help Steve. I'll be fine." She told him sounding a bit winded from the feat that she had just preformed.
"Are you-" Pietro began as he looked at her in concern but before he was able to utter more than two words Norah poked him hard in the chest, annoyed that he wasn't doing as she suggested.
Glaring at Pietro, Norah pushed him a bit away from her and gestured towards the other end of the train where they could hear the fight happening at. "Now's not the time Pietro." She told him testily. "Go and help Steve, I've been through worse. Trust me. Now go." She all but yelled at him and forcefully pushed him towards the direction he needed to run and wondered why he was so concerned for her, he hasn't even known her all that long.
Leaning against the seats of the train Norah did her best to try and catch her breath after exerting that much energy and effort to bring herself, Wanda and Pietro to the train where Ultron was. As much as Norah wished she could just sit down in one of cushioned seats of the train and relax for a moment she knew that she couldn't, there wasn't exactly time to do so and Ultron was trying to kill one of her close friends and it would put a pretty big damper on her life if he ended up getting killed. So yeah, no time for resting.
"Come on." Wanda said as she approached Norah and gently grasped her by the elbow and helped her into a standing position and let her lean her weight on her a bit. "We cannot let the men have all the fun." She joked which earned a wry smile from Norah.
So carefully and as fast as they could Norah and Wanda made their way through the train, past the terrified passengers and past the damage that had already been done by the fight between Ultron and Steve. When the girls had finally made it to the train cart that Steve, Ultron and Pietro were fighting in they saw a blur as Pietro ran at Ultron and knocked him into the wall of the train before he had a chance to attack Steve once again who was looking a bit worse for wear. Wanda had gained Ultron's attention by hitting him with her red wisps of energy or voodoo as Tony liked to call it, and pushed him forcefully into the side of the train and glared at him for what he was doing now, for wanting to kill off the human race.
"Please," Ultron said in a softer tone of voice as he looked at Wanda pleadingly, the one who he had thought would be more than willing to join his side, more than even her brother who was blinded by wanting to protect his sister and keep her safe even if it was from Ultron. "Don't do this." He said as he eyed the floating railing that Wanda was using in a protective fashion in case he decided to attack her and Norah who was standing a bit behind Wanda, a tired look covering her face.
Wanda gave Ultron a look of disgust, "What choice do we have?" she questioned him.
Before any of them had a chance to do or say much of anything else Ultron raised his hand towards the end of the train where Pietro had been standing, who, when he noticed what Ultron was doing sped out of the way and slammed himself onto the benches as Ultron blew a hole out of the back and flew out heading toward wherever it was that he and the rest of his metal robot army were holed up at.
Steve quickly ran over to the hole and looked out to see if he had a chance at going after Ultron but there was no way that he would be able to follow after him, he may be a super soldier but he couldn't fly. It was then that Steve noticed that the train wasn't slowing down in the least and he could only assume that either the conductor of the train was knocked unconscious or had been killed by Ultron.
"Cap," Clint said through the ear comms. "You seen Nat?"
"If you have the package get it to Stark. Go." Steve said rather than answering his teammates question, the truth was he had no idea where Natasha was and he knew Clint well enough to know that he would go looking for her if he knew for certain that they didn't know where she was.
"Do you have eyes on Nat?" Clint asked more insistently this time, a tone of panic in his voice that made Norah cringe.
Steve sighed, "Just go Clint!" he said forcefully, commanding Clint to do as he asked.
Once Steve heard an affirmative from Clint that he was heading back to New York to get the cradle to Stark, he turned back to where Wanda, Norah and Pietro were standing and furrowed his brows a bit in confusion when he saw that Norah was standing with them in a non-hostile manner, acting as if she felt as ease being around them even after everything that they had done in South Africa. As much as Steve wanted answers on that development he knew that now was not the time to do so, they were on a speeding train that went off the tracks and was not heading towards innocent civilians who were in danger of being crushed.
"Civilians in our path." Steve said and looked first at Norah and then at Pietro both of whom would be able to get the civilians to safety before the train had a chance to injure and/or kill them.
Norah gave a heavy sight when Steve had looked at her expectantly, waiting for her to Blink herself off of the train and down to the ground where the people were in the way of the train. With an exhausted look thrown at Steve who was waiting for her to do as he was urging her to do with his eyes, Norah Blinked herself off of the train and to the ground to make sure no one got pancaked so to say by the speeding train. Out of the corner of her eye Norah could also see that Pietro was down on the ground with her speeding his way from one side to the other pulling the people that Norah couldn't get to out of the way and to safety.
Norah knew without a doubt that she had overextended herself, she could feel it in her bones and in her very being that she had pushed herself much too far that day and knew that it would only be a matter of time before her body would shut itself down from how much energy it had taken to do what she did that day and would force her into unconsciousness. She hoped against hope that it would at least wait until she was back in New York where she would be able to pass out in her own bed rather than right there in Seoul in front of Steve, Pietro and Wanda.
Once they had finally been able to stop the train Norah ignored the people who were filing out of the train hurriedly, thankful that they had made it off without being killed by the crazy robot. Tiredly, Norah made her way away from the train and leaned up against a wall of some building that was near and closed her eyes for a moment, she was so, so, so, so tired and just wanted to close her eyes for a moment and rest so that she could recover a bit of her energy. Norah felt the air shift around her and suddenly felt a hand grasping her fingers gently for a moment, with a lot of effort on her part Norah opened her eyes and looked beside her and saw that Pietro was sitting on some crate beside her and was leaning forwards from the effort it took to move all of the people out of the way of the train.
"Are…you…all right?" Pietro asked out of breath as he looked over at Norah who he could see was fighting a battle to stay upright and keep her eyes open.
Norah took a few breaths before she released her hand from Pietro's and pushed herself into a more upright position against the wall and nodded to Pietro's question. "I'm fine, promise. Just tired, that was a lot of Blinking and I haven't really used it that many times in a row for a while." She told him as she tried to breathe in evenly.
Yep, Norah so was not going out try and do that whole looking at a TV or a picture from the internet and trying to Blink to wherever it was again, not for a good long while at least. That was moderately painful and draining, not to mention it gave her a hell of a head ache that was leaning more so towards being a migraine and she'd rather not go through this in the future.
"Pietro," Wanda said as she approached where Norah and her brother were and then gently laid her hands on her brother's slumped shoulders in a worried fashion.
Pietro grasped at one of her hands that were on his shoulder and squeezed it in a comforting gesture, "I'm fine. I just need to take a minute." He said to her slowly as he still tried to control his erratic breathing.
"I'm very tempted to not give you one." Steve said as he came up to where the twins and Norah were.
Wanda left her brother's side and approached Steve, "The cradle, did you get it?" asked worriedly, hoping that after all of the trouble that they had just went through that Ultron didn't succeed in taking the cradle to wherever it is that he and his metal army were.
"Stark will take care of it." Steve told her shortly, he didn't trust Wanda or Pietro in any fashion and he was trying to understand why Norah seemed to be at ease with them or why she was with them in the first place when she had appeared on the train…he just didn't understand and he really didn't have time to try and think of the different reasons why Norah would be with them.
Hearing that Wanda's heart dropped and she shook her head at the super soldier that was standing in front of her, "No, no he won't." she said to him in a solemn tone of voice as a dark look came over her face and thought of all of the possibilities of things that Stark would do with the cradle in his possession.
"You don't know what you're talking about, Stark's not crazy." Steve said as he was looking at him as if he had just told her that the apocalypse was on them – which with Ultron could be very true.
Steve looked over at Norah and was about to tell her to tell them that Stark wouldn't do such a thing as Wanda was suggestion but the blonde haired girl looked completely exhausted and out of it, as if she was about to pass out right then and there.
"He will do anything to make it right." Wanda said as she shook her head at Steve and at how much he seems to believe that Stark will do the right thing but it was Tony Stark, he would not do as Steve hoped no matter how good of a heart he had at times.
Giving a heavy sight Norah pushed herself away from the wall she was leaning on for support and walked up next to Wanda and looked Steve in the eye, "Steve, you know that I love Tony like a father, he's the father I wished I would have had when I was younger and I more than appreciate all that he has done for me and love that he treats me like a daughter and accepted me even though I'm a Mutant." She told him and thought of how Tony really didn't give a rat's ass that she had powers, one of which that had the possibility of being dangerous to everyone and everything around her. "But I'm not stupid Steve. I know Tony; I know how he thinks, how he works, I know the sort of person he is and I know how eccentric he is and when he puts his mind to doing something that he thinks is for the good of the world nothing will stop him from making it happen. And if he fucks up bad, like this," she said and gestured to the wreckage of the train that was behind them. "He will try and make it right."
"Norah," Steve said as he looked at her in the eyes. "He wouldn't put-"
Before he could say anything Norah shook her head, "Steve, I love Tony and I know he sees me as the daughter he never knew he wanted and that he would do anything to protect me but this is putting not just me in danger – something he doesn't realize at the moment – but he is putting everyone in danger, he's going to try and put that body that Ultron created for himself to use. He's a Stark Steve, he can't help himself. It's too tempting for him to toy with it."
For a moment Steve looked between Wanda and Norah, both of whom were suggesting the same thing and Steve wanted to believe that they were both wrong, he could believe that Wanda was wrong without any problems but Norah….Norah knew Tony, she's lived with Tony for nearly three years and is Tony's daughter no matter what blood or papers say. She knew Tony just as well as Pepper did and he couldn't deny what she was saying, he couldn't say that it didn't make sense and that Tony wouldn't do something like she was suggesting.
"Stark, come in." Steve said suddenly into his ear comm and waited a few moments for a response but nothing came in. "Stark. Anyone on comms?" he questioned and then sighed when he realized that no one was answering him and that Wanda and Norah were right in what they were saying, Tony was going to do something completely stupid and irrational with the cradle.
Wanda looked Steve in the eye, "Ultron can't tell the difference between saving the world and destroying it. Who do you think he gets that from?" she asked him rhetorically, a brow raised.
Steve gave a sigh at that and hated, hated that they were right and the fact that he was always suspicious if Tony would do something with the cradle but instead of making plans to ensure that nothing like that would happen he believed that Tony would do the right thing, he would make sure that the body that was created for Ultron would be destroyed so that it wouldn't be able to do any sort of damage. Things had gone from bad to worse in a matter of days and from the feel of it they were about to get worse still.
"Norah," Steve said as he turned his attention to her and frowned when he actually saw how truly tired and exhausted and spent she look, she looked like she could barely stand on her two feet but as much as he would rather not ask this of her, they needed to. "Can you get us to the Tower, we don't have much time to spare and I know you're tired and I wouldn't ask if I didn't have to but we need to get there as soon as possible." He said to her with the look of regret on his face for having to ask this of Norah.
For a few moments Norah looked at Steve blearily and tried to comprehend what he was saying to her but damn it, she was too damn tired and exhausted from trying something new with her power which she didn't even think would work. As much as she wanted to tell Steve yes, that she could help him and get them back to the tower before Clint and the cradle arrived she couldn't, she could barely stand up straight at the moment let alone Blink herself, Wanda, Pietro and Steve all the way back to New York from Seoul.
"Norah?" Steve questioned, looking at her in concern as did Pietro and Wanda.
Shaking her head, Norah look at Steve apologetically. "I'm sorry Steve but I…I can't." she said to him saying her words at a much slower pace than was normal for her. "I've used too much energy and I'm..I'm so tired. I can't even keep myself up right now Steve, let alone try and get us back to the tower. Sorry, I'm o-"
Suddenly, Norah stopped midsentence and looked around her in panic and blinked her eyes rapidly a few times and tried to speak and say something but before Steve, Wanda or Pietro were able to ask her what was wrong and if she was okay she suddenly slumped forwards in a fall. The last thing Norah remembered before falling completely unconscious was the sound of Steve yelling at the twins accusing them of doing something to her that made her fall unconscious and feeling Pietro's arms going around her waist before she fell to the hard ground of Seoul and hearing him saying something to her in Sokovian.
~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~ Author's note ~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~~_~_
I was going to write more for this chapter but I thought it would be a good intro for the next chapter instead so ha, deal. Please review and tell me how amazing it is! I love reviews!