I don't own Avengers or its characters. I only own Riley Stark and other OCs that appear in the story.
Take on the World
Chapter 30: Fury's Visit
The feel of warm soft lips on his own pulled Steve from his dream as he opened his eyes and smiled at Natasha, who had a grey bath robe on and was sitting on the opposite side of the bed.
"Hey."Natasha whispered."Did I wake you?"
"Yeah, but I'm not complaining."Steve replied.
Natasha smirked. "You better not."
Steve wrapped one arm around Natasha's back to bring her closer to him while his other hand began stroking her short red hair before the two of them shared a small yet passionate kiss.
The couple then broke away from their kiss.
"Something is on your mind?"Natasha murmured.
Steve went off the bed to put on his shirt.
"You could say that."Steve declared.
Natasha sat up from the bed, slowly making her way over to Steve to give his hand a gentle squeeze.
"Tell me."Natasha insisted.
Steve glanced at Natasha.
"I was back, but the war would never leave me. I flinched from the photos like they were gunshots and saw the wine as blood."Steve admitted, looking at Natasha in the eyes."I hear Peggy telling me, 'We can go home'."
Natasha looked at Steve silently.
He couldn't return back home.
He couldn't live without a war, peace was a state in which he became useless.
The life he could have lived with Peggy never happened.
"People can start over."Natasha murmured.
"Can someone like me really can after sleeping in ice for 70 years, Natasha?"Steve questioned.
A small smile appeared on Natasha's face.
"Yes, you can."Natasha whispered with a firm look."Not everything is impossible. People can start over."
"Nat, what did you see?"Steve questioned.
Natasha met Steve's eyes.
"I saw fear all over your face."Steve stated."I've never seen you so terrified."
"I dreamed that I was an Avenger."Natasha exclaimed."That I was anything more than the assassin they made me."
"And?"Steve said.
Natasha gazed up at Steve as she carefully placed her hands on his shoulders.
"How many more jobs...How long will it take...I don't know if I can do it..."Natasha stated with a hint of fear."Even if I could forgive myself...This is what I am now. And you'll never know who I was before."
Tears appeared in Natasha's eyes, but she never shed a single one.
Steve then leaned forwards, pressing a gentle kiss to Natasha's lips.
"Being forced to become someone you didn't want to be wasn't your fault, Nat."Steve murmured."You're not a monster."
Natasha stared at Steve for a moment before speaking again.
"I love you, Steve."Natasha admitted.
Steve smiled. "I love you too."
After waking up, Riley got changed into the clothes she wore the previous day before making her way down to join the Bartons to eat breakfast.
While having a bowl of porridge with dried raspberries and oats, the Stark heiress glanced outside to see her father and Steve chopping wood for the house's fireplace.
She learnt that Thor had left to pursue a vision Wanda had shown him back in the salvage yard.
Steve had tried to follow him, but the Asgardian left without much information.
Bruce was in his room since he needed to recover from his rampage while Natasha was doing some drawing with Lila.
A worried expression grew on Riley's face when she noticed her father and her favourite super soldier appeared to be arguing about something.
And that something was Ultron.
Though it was obvious that Steve was still furious that her father and Bruce invented something that ended up being eager to tear the Earth's mightiest heroes apart.
Riley looked as Tony was watching Steve for a beat longer with a sad expression before his eyes flicker off to the side, mirroring an expression that she had seen only a few times before.
It was one of shame, disappointment, loneliness and regret.
Steve always looked at her father, trying to see her Grandfather Howard and her father always looks at Steve as the man that Grandfather Howard always wanted him to be.
And she had seen that very same look herself only a few days ago when she refused to back her father up on creating Ultron and it broke her heart.
No matter how badly her father's inventions might've ended up going wrong, she should've comforted him in order to try and make things better.
Once she helped Laura clear up the dishes, Riley took out her iPhone to play 'Candy Rush', knowing it wouldn't be wise to text Gwen, Peter, Ned, Tristan or MJ due to the situation she was in.
Ultron was a misanthropic mastermind beside being a highly delusional robot that needed to be stopped, so she couldn't let herself get caught in distractions.
The thought of humans being replaced with machines terrified her.
It clearly meant the end of all life on Earth.
Even nature.
A complete doomsday for everyone.
Ultron's plan sickened her from the inside and outside.
She was now beginning to regret to having had thought that robots wouldn't be a problem to people when she was a little kid.
Machines could end up thinking for themselves and then rebel against their own creator.
Riley snapped out of her thoughts when Cooper went over to her while holding a pen and a small notebook.
"Can I have your autograph?"Cooper asked shyly.
Riley smirked. "Sure."
Cooper handed Riley the pen and notebook before the Stark Heiress began writing down her autograph as well as a small message that said 'You have to always remember to be yourself'.
After she finished writing on the notebook, Riley gave it back to Cooper with the pen.
"All done."Riley informed.
"Thanks."Cooper thanked.
Cooper headed off to join Clint outside as Lila went over to Riley.
"My brother likes you."Lila admitted.
Riley gave Lila an awkward smile while Laura covered her mouth to giggle.
"That's nice?"Riley commented, not knowing what to say.
When the night time hour came, Riley sat next to Bruce, Steve, Natasha and the Bartons to eat dinner together.
Though the only person that was missing out was her father.
But before she could head out the door, Tony walked through with Nick Fury behind him.
Riley straightened up at the sight of the director, his clothes ordinary and unlike his S.H.I.E.L.D uniform.
"Agent Stark."Director Fury said.
Riley saluted at Director Fury.
"Good to see you again, Director Fury, sir."Riley remarked and became curious."I bet it was Agent Hill who contacted you, right?"
"That's correct."Director Fury answered with a nod."I take it that your aware of what has occurred?"
"Yep."Riley agreed."But I refuse to give up hope."
Tony smiled and ruffled Riley's hair, making the young brunette go back to her seat.
Nick called for the team to gather in the living room.
With Thor absent, they spread across the sofa and dining table.
Laura ushered the kids upstairs and Clint made sure they were out of earshot before Nick started his debrief.
"Ultron took you folks out of play to buy himself time."Director Fury complemented."My contacts all say he's building something. The amount of Vibranium he made off with, I don't think it's just one thing."
Nick looked to each of them with his one eye.
"What about Ultron himself?"Steve asked.
'Ah. He's easy to track. He's everywhere."Director Fury admitted."Guy's multiplying faster than a Catholic rabbit. Still doesn't help us get an angle on any of his plans though."
Tony throws a dart to a target board that hung on the wall not far from where he was.
"He still going after launch codes?"Tony assumed.
Riley silently ate her plate of macaroni cheese pasta as she listened carefully to the conversations that were happening in front of her.
"Yes, he is, but he's not making any headway."Director Fury said.
"I cracked the Pentagon's firewall in high school on a dare."Tony admitted.
"Yeah, well, I contacted our friends at the NEXUS about that."Director Fury complemented.
"NEXUS?"Steve said in confusion.
"It's the world internet hub in Oslo, every byte of data flows through there, fastest access on earth."Bruce exclaimed.
"So what'd they say?"Clint questioned.
"He's fixated on the missiles, but the codes are constantly being changed."Director Fury declared.
"By whom?"Tony asked.
Tony backed away a bit as Clint throws a dart to the target board.
"Parties unknown."Director Fury replied.
"Do we have an ally?"Natasha questioned.
"Ultron's got an enemy. That's not the same thing."Director Fury stated."Still, I'd pay folding money to know who it is."
"I might need to visit Oslo, find our unknown."Tony suggested.
"Well, this is good times, boss, but I was kind of hoping when I saw you, you'd have more than that."Natasha informed.
"I do, I have you."Director Fury said, gesturing to Riley and the Avengers."Back in the day, I had eyes everywhere, ears everywhere else. Here we all are, back on earth, with nothing but our wit and our will to save the world. So stand. Outwit the platinum bastard."
Riley smiled, knowing the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D was correct.
"Steve doesn't like that kind of talk."Natasha sneered.
Steve smirked. "You know what, Romanoff?"
Natasha smiled mischievously at her boyfriend.
"Ultron says the Avengers are the only thing between him and his mission."Director Fury exclaimed."And whether or not he admits it, his mission is global destruction."
A chill hits the room as Riley and the Avengers realised just how bad the situation was.
As she ate her macaroni cheese pasta, Riley felt a tug on the white cardigan that hung past her waist.
She looked down, seeing Lila, waiting by her side.
The girl's large eyes looked up at her with wonder and admiration, her hero in the flesh.
"Hi, Lila."Riley murmured."You're supposed to be upstairs."
"Mummy told me that I should show you my drawing."Lila admitted.
Lila's little voice reached Riley's ear, Nick's babble fading into the background.
The little girl held the paper against her mouth, shy and nervous around the heroine-in-training.
It was strange for her to see the life-sized version of her countless action figures.
She had every edition, from the first release of brunette Jewel Star, to the most recent blonde ones.
"Your drawing?"Riley chuckled lightly."Let me see."
Riley gently gripped the edge of the paper and pulled it away from Lila's face.
She strained her neck to look at the artwork.
Riley was drawn with her white pink suit and long flowing brown hair.
Her brown eyes were dots on a round face and her mouth was a curved line to show a smile.
Her stick-like hands were above her head to hold a circle outlined in pink .
"A forcefield."Riley thought in amusement."Too bad I am not really a sorceress."
A sun was coloured yellow in the corner of the page and lumpy clouds were dotted through the sky in the background.
Riley looked at Lila.
"It's beautiful, Lila."Riley admitted kindly."Can I keep this?"
Lila nodded vigorously before running off into the hall to climb the stairs.
Riley then brought her attention back to Director Fury and the rest of the Avengers.
"Ultron is trying to evolve."Riley spoke up, making everyone look at her."His probably using the Maximoff twins to simply distract and destroy you guys before he targets the world."
Bruce looked at the drawing of a butterfly that Lila gave him.
"Ultron is going to evolve, Riley."Bruce stated.
This caught the attention of the whole group.
"How?"Director Fury questioned.
"Has anyone been in contact with Dr. Cho?"Bruce asked."She has the advanced technology to create what Ultron wants. If he gets his hands on that..."
Riley paled upon realising what Bruce meant.
"It'll be game over?"Riley assumed.
No one in the room said anything while Bruce gave Riley a small nod which meant what she said was correct.
If Ultron was planning to create another body made of synthetic tissue, using the Regeneration Cradle device developed by Dr. Helen Cho, he would become more destructible than he was now.