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stretched for miles. In the middle of the field was a small house, adjacent to a smaller shed. There were trees surrounding the entire area.

Clint held Nat as they walked up toward the house, and the rest of the gang followed in confusion. Tony squeezed Alex's shoulder, who just nodded.

"I was thinking; I need to name myself." She spoke.

"Better get working on it," Tony said.

"It'll come to you." Steve added.

"What is this place?" Thor asked.

"Safe house," Tony shrugged.

"Let's hope," Clint opened the front door. "Honey? I'm home,"

Alex's eyes widened as a woman--a very pregnant woman--came out of another room. She had long brown hair, and a worried look on her face.

"Hi, sorry about the company, didn't call ahead," Clint kissed the woman. "Gentlemen and Alex, this is Laura."

"I know all of your names," She smiled, then looked at Alex.. "Except for yours, but I've heard a lot about you,"

"See?" Alex rose her eyebrows. Tony just rolled his eyes.

Then, they heard the patter of small footsteps. Two children--a small girl and an older boy-- came running into their dad's arms. Steve and Alex looked at each other, exchanging the same expression.

"Sorry for barging in on you," Steve spoke up.

"Yeah, we would've called ahead but we were too busy having no idea you existed."

Clint laughed, explaining how he had Fury set up a safe house for his family to grow. Thor stepped on a set of Legos, and Alex looked at him expectantly. He shook his head, pushing the Legos under a chair with his foot. The small girl looked up at Thor, who wavered, but then walked outside without a word.

Alex followed him, however. "Thor?"

He looked at her. "I saw something in that dream. I need answers, and I won't find them here."

He swung his hammer, and shot up into the sky. Alex sighed, turning back to enter the house.

"I've grown hopeless without you,"

The words from her vision echoed in her head. Steve stopped when he saw her standing blank-faced in the doorway, and walked over to her.

"You okay?"

"Yeah."

They walked down into the yard. Steve began to chop some firewood at Clint's request, while Alex just watched. She said nothing when Tony joined him, not even when they began to exchange some harsh words.

"Mr. Stark, sorry, Clint said you wouldn't mind." Laura came over. "Our tractor won't seem to start, could you--"

"I'll start her up. Don't take from my pile," Tony said to Steve before walking off. Steve continued to chop wood, before eventually just breaking them apart with his bare hands.

"What did you see?" Alex spoke up. He looked at her once, before continuing his work.

"A party. For the end of the war." He replied. "Peggy was there."

"Peggy?"

"The most amazing thing I ever saw?" He jogged her memory.

"Oh, your girlfriend, Peggy." She teased. "What did she say?"

"That we could finally go home."

Alex was silent for a moment, processing his dream. That must've been his biggest desire, right? To finally get to go home to his love after a long war?

"How about you?" He asked.

"Take three guesses." She laughed humorlessly. "I was back in Asgard, with Loki."

"Then why don't you seem happy about it?"

"I told you, I have nothing but animosity toward that asshole," She spoke. "But he...tried to kill me,"

"I see."

"What do you think they mean? The visions,"

Steve stopped chopping and came to sit down next to her. She was shocked to see he had finished an enormous pile of firewood, and Clint would likely never be cold again.

"I don't know. Maybe what you want most?"

"That wouldn't make sense for mine, then."

"I think you should look deeper in your heart, and see if you're being honest with yourself about what you want."

"I want him to kill me." She deadpanned. "Makes sense."

"I think he's threatened to kill you before, so that wouldn't shake you as bad as this. No, something else happened in your vision that you're not telling me," Steve smiled.

"When did you get so perceptive? Being an icicle for 70 years?"

"Something like that."

She rested her head on his shoulder as they watched Clint play with his children. The more she was with them, the more the Avengers seemed like a family. This was all she had hoped for, honestly. Sure, the fighting and the honor was cool, but belonging somewhere was her true reward.

They all, with the exception of Thor who had left, were in the kitchen for dinner. Fury had come, which was why Tony went to the shed for so long.

"Ultron took you folks out of play to buy himself time," Fury wasn't sitting at the table. "My contacts say he's building something. The amount of Vibranium he made off with tells me he isn't making just one thing."

"What about Ultron himself?" Steve asked from his spot against the wall.

"He's easy to track. He's everywhere. The guy is multiplying faster than a Catholic rabbit. It still doesn't help us get an angle on any of his plans, though."

"He still going after launch codes?" Tony asked.

"Yes, he is. Not making any headway, though."

"I cracked the Pentagon's firewall in high school on a dare."

"Well I contacted our friends at Nexus," Fury spoke.

"Nexus?" Alex asked.

"It's the world internet hub in Oslo. Every byte of data flows through there. Fastest access on Earth."

"So what'd he say?"

"He's fixated on the missiles, but the codes are constantly being changed."

"By whom?"

"Parties unknown." Fury said, confused.

"Do we have an ally?" Nat asked hopefully.

"Ultron's got an enemy. Not the same thing."

Alex spoke up. "The enemy of my enemy is my friend,"

"Well, I'd pay money to know who it is."

"May need to visit Oslo, find that unknown." Tony was throwing darts at a dart board.

"Well, boss, I was hoping when you visited us you'd have more than that."

"I do. I have you. Back in the day, I had eyes everywhere, and ears everywhere else. You kids had all the tech you could dream of. Here we all are, back on Earth, with nothing but our wit, and our wills." Fury said, looking at every member in the room. "Ultron says the Avengers are the only thing between him and his mission. Whether or not he admits it, his mission is global destruction."

They all looked at each other, the fire beginning to re-ignite in them. They had taken a hit, yes, but that won't get in their way.

"So, stand. Outwit the platinum bastard."

"So, what does he want?" Alex asked.

"To become better." Steve replied.

"Ultron's going to evolve," Bruce finally said something.

"How?"

"Has anyone talked to Helen Cho?"

They all stood up, getting ready to split up.

"Nat, Alex, and Clint with me," Steve said.

"Alright, strictly recon. I'll hit the Nexus and join you as soon as I can," Tony spoke.

"If Ultron's really building a body, he'll be more powerful than any of us."

"An android designed by a robot." Tony marveled.

"You know, I really miss the days when the weirdest thing science every created was me."

"Don't get sentimental, grandpa." Alex was fully suited.

The jet took off, leaving the safe house location. They were set for Seoul, where they knew they'd find Helen Cho. Once they settled on her lab, Steve gave himself two minutes to find her. He did, but was shocked to see her on the floor covered in blood.

"The real power is in the Cradle," She spoke hurriedly. "You have to get the Cradle to Stark."

"Did you all copy that?" Steve spoke.

"We did."

"I got a private jet taking off across town, no manifest. That could be him," Natasha spoke from her pod, where Alex sat with her.

"There, it's a truck. Right above you, Cap. Alex, check for frequencies."

Alex read the energy of inside the truck like a book. "I see thermals of three people, the Cradle is there too."

"I can take out the driver." Clint followed.

"Negative, that truck crashes, the gem could level the city." Steve climbed up toward the truck. "We need to draw out Ultron."

"You're not a match for him, Steve."

"Thanks, Alex."

"What do you guys think about Surge?" Alex thought aloud.

"I think it sounds like a boy's name." Nat replied.

"Alright, I'll cross that one out."

Steve tried viciously to anger Ultron, fighting with him on top of a truck. Clint opened the window of the jet, allowing Natasha to be released on motorcycles. She raced in between cars, swerving left and right. Natasha swung right, suddenly. She followed Cap and Ultron, handing Steve the shield he had dropped.

Clint tried desperately to get a shot on Ultron, and Alex was preoccupied with freezing the bots that latched onto the jet. Steve was now on a bus with Ultron, fighting amongst civilians.

"Let me out, I'm going to help him."

Clint lowered the jet, allowing Alex to parachute out. The second she hit the ground, she began running. Natasha finally made it to the lab truck, where the Cradle was held. She pressed random buttons, trying to power it on. The bots latched onto the truck, lifting it up into the sky.

"Package is airborne, I have a clean shot."

"Natasha is inside it," Alex read the truck's thermal energy from afar. "Nat, what are you doing?!"

"Just be ready. I'm sending the package to you."

"Roger," Clint spoke.

"What?" Steve replied.

"No, Roger, not Rogers, idiot." Alex sighed. "Steve, where are you? I'm down low."

"The train," Steve yelled; smashes and blows were heard over the intercom system.

"I can't get to it quickly enough," She stopped running, watching the train from hundreds of yards away.

Steve was getting absolutely obliterated by Ultron, but took every punch that was sent. He used his shield, but it didn't seem to be working.

Alex frantically looked for a way to reach the train, but there was nothing but stopped cars around her. Then, suddenly, a familiar blur appeared. She held her hands up, ready to fight.

"Need a lift?" He asked, nodding toward the train.

"What?"

"No time for question." He picked her up, running at his full speed to the train. She held on tightly, and they were there in the blink of an eye.

He set her down once they were on the train, then ran toward Ultron. She was shocked to see that he pulled Ultron off of Steve, who was obviously struggling. Pietro slowed down, and Ultron was trapped on his other side by Wanda. Alex's eyes darted between the twins, who seemed to be helping them.

"Please don't do this," Ultron spoke.

"What choice do we have?" Wanda spoke with disgust.

Ultron jumped out of the train after knocking out the conductor. The train was now running on its own. Steve looked out the window to try and spot Ultron, but he was gone.

"Cap, you got eyes on Nat?"

"If you have the package, bring it to Stark, now." Steve ordered.

"There are civilians in our path," Alex told Steve.

Pietro didn't waste a second to jump out of the train, moving citizens out of its trajectory at lightning speed.

"Can you stop this thing?" Steve asked Wanda.

The train plowed through walls and everything in its path. Wanda unleashed her power, halting the train to a stop. They assisted all the citizens out of the train before jumping out themselves.

Wanda was worriedly looking at her brother.

"I just need to take a minute," He sighed.

"I'm very tempted not to give you one." Steve and Alex walked over to them.

"Steve," She tried.

"The Cradle, did you get it?" Wanda asked.

"Stark will take care of it."

"No, he won't. Ultron doesn't know the difference between saving the world and destroying it. Where do you think he gets that?"

Alex looked at the twins, and saw only fear in their eyes.

"Let's get them back the Tower, Steve."

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𝚏𝚞𝚗 𝚏𝚞𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚞𝚙