—the vision and the stones

all these voices in my head

get loud and I wish that I

could shut them out

Bruce exclaimed throwing his arms sideways, clearly done with this 'build a protector' thing. "I'm caught in a time loop, this is exactly where it all went wrong." To say he was exasperated was an understatement, he was beyond exasperated.

The Starks had gone to the Nexus at Oslo to find out who was their unknown 'ally'. They decrypted the nuclear codes as a magnet to attract their 'ally' and much to their surprise, they found out their unknown was Jarvis, or what was left of him. And now, Tony was trying to persuade Bruce to put Jarvis' consciousness into the body inside the cradle.

Bruce turned to the girl who was sitting in a metal stool beside the cradle. "Do you agree with this, Bella?"

"Jarvis said it was worth a shot." She shrugged almost apologetically. Bruce heavily sighed, taking his glasses off. "I mean, come on. We're not beating Ultron alone. That's so not happening." She humorlessly chuckled. "We might as well bring this guy to life. You know, so it can help us."

Bruce shook his head repeatedly. "I'm definitely on a loop."

"I know, I know. I know what everyone's going to say, but they're already saying it." Tony approached Banner, he grabbed his shoulder and gave it a soft squeeze. "We're mad scientists. We're monsters, buddy. We've gotta own it. Make a stand." Bruce advertised his gaze down with a scoff and shook his head. "It's not a loop. It's the end of the line."

Sighing, Bruce looked at Tony. "Alright."

The three gathered what they needed to start working on 'it'. Bruce worked on the cradle, attaching it tubes and connecting cables. Tony and Arabella were trying to create a framework that was compatible enough to work with 'it', but so far they had failed to find one.

"You know," Bella spun her chair around to face Tony. "This feels like homework, hard homework."

Tony breathed out a laugh and lifted an eyebrow at his daughter. "Yeah, like you have that, Einstein."

The girl humorously scowled, "Hey, don't blame me for being a genius." She cockily remarked, pointing finger at the man. "That's on you, Daddio."

"Technically, that's on your grandfather." He pointed out a finger, raising his brows at the same time. He then focused on his work once more, quickly typing in the keyboard. "And, this framework is not compatible."

"The genetic coding tower is at ninety-seven percent," Bruce announced. "You have got to upload that schematic in the next three minutes."

Arabella glanced up to Bruce, her fingers of her right hand not once stopping to press the keyboard as she gave him a thumbs up with her left hand. "On it."

And then a loud stomping sound came from the room's entrance, followed by a sharp voice. "I'm gonna say this once."

Arabella's head shot up towards the sound of the Captain's firm voice. Her jaw clenched when she saw who were standing behind him.

"How about 'nonce'?" Tony countered Cap, who had the Maximoff twins behind him.

"Shut it down!"

"Nope, not gonna happen."

"You don't know what you're doing," Cap argued.

Arabella scowled, this time furiously. "And you do?" She was quick to retort. "You sure she's not in your head?"

Wanda took a step forward from behind Steve and look at her apologetically. "I know you're angry."

"Oh, we're way past that. I could choke the life out of you and never change a shade." Bruce spat out.

"Banner after everything that's happened . . . " Cap tried to convince him to stop.

"It's nothing compared to what's coming!" Tony was practically yelling at this point.

"You don't know what's in there!"

"This isn't a game—"

"—the creature!"

The argument scaled quickly and soon everyone was yelling at each other, bickering back and forth. That was, of course, until the cradle was disconnected and automatically powered off by Pietro.

"No, no. Go on. You were saying?" As he said so his eyes squinted at what Bella figured was a bullet. The sound of shattering glass pierced the room and the speedster fell to the floor below.

"What? You didn't see that coming?" Clint looked pleased with himself as a sly smirk formed on his lips when he placed a foot on top of the Sokovian.

"I'm rerouting the upload." Bella started typing but was cut short by a shield slamming on the wall, just above her head. She ducked, hands immediately covering her head. "Shit!"

Tony shot Cap with his repulsor to give Bella more time. His chest plate clasped around him just as Bruce took Wanda by the neck and held her still. "Go ahead, piss me off."

Steve got on his feet and threw a punch at Tony, who shot him with the arc reactor. The impact sending both men to the opposite sides of the room, Tony shattering the glass wall and Steve crashing on the floor. Clint came in, gun in hand and aiming around.

On the other side of the room, Wanda freed herself from Bruce and outstretched her hands, red magic curling around her fingers and hurling towards Bruce. The man hissed and stumbled back as the magic hit his body.

Arabella cursed under her breath as her fingers hurriedly pressed against the keyboard. "Oh, jeez, don't turn green." What the hell was going on?

And all of a sudden, Thor appeared on the scene, face full of determination as his eyes locked with the cradle. Bella's eyes widened as the Asgardian jumped on top of it, "Wait! No! No!"

The Norse god lifted his hammer and thunder roared in the distance as lighting went through the craddle. A beeping sound filled the room as the craddle overloaded with power. After that, all went quiet. Everyone stared at the cradle, expecting some kind of reaction from the object.

And as in cue, a green and red humanoid came out of it abruptly. It landed smoothly on the floor and slowly stood up. The creature looked at itself as if examining what it was.

"Jarvis?" Arabella's voice came out just above a whisper.

The humanoid lunged forward to Thor, who shoved him away. It crashed into a glass wall and stopped in front of the window wall, startling everyone. It stared at the city in front of him. The group of heroes cautiously stepped forward, ready to attack. But Thor lifted his hand, telling them to wait.

It slowly flew back to where they were, growing clothes and a cape in the process. "I'm sorry. That was odd." It turned to Thor. "Thank you."

"Thor," The Captain's voice was sharp. "You helped create this?"

"I had a vision. A whirlpool that sucks in all hope of life and at its center is that." Thor pointed at bright, yellow stone in the middle of the vision's forehead.

Bruce looked confused. "What? The gem?"

"It's the Mind Stone. It's one of the six Infinity Stones, the greatest power in the universe, unparalleled in its destructive capabilities." Arabella froze right on the spot.

Infinity stones.

Snap.

Those were the gems from her vision, the gems from the explosion, the gems he had. Out of instinct she cautiously shifted closer toward Tony, settling a hand on his tense shoulder not taking her eyes off the humanoid.

"Then, why would you-"

"Because Stark is right." Thor cut Steve short.

"Oh, it's definitely the end of times," Bruce glanced| side to side.

"The Avengers cannot defeat Ultron." Thor rephrased what Tony had said before.

"Not alone." Thor's vision spoke.

"Why does your vision sound like Jarvis?" Cap asked no one in particular.

"We . . . We reconfigured Jarvis' matrix to create something new." Tony placed hand on top of her daughter's and gave it a gentle squeeze before setting it back to the girl's side. He walked closer to the humanoid with his eyes narrowed. They exchanged a glance with each other for a second. Tony didn't know who to feel about him. He was Jarvis but at the same time, he wasn't. He should've known he had lost Jarvis the minute Ultron came in the picture.

"I think I've had my fill of new," Cap stated, clearly done with the whole situation.

The vision walked forward. "You think I'm a child of Ultron?" He stopped before Steve.

"You're not?"

"I'm not Ultron." He denied. "I'm not Jarvis." Tony frowned. "I am . . . I am."

"I looked in your head and saw annihilation." Wanda moved forward so she could be face to face with the humanoid.

"Look again." The young woman looked shook, she didn't want to look again, afraid of what she'll see.

Clint scoffed in the background. "Yeah, her sail of approval means jack to me."

"Yeah, double that." Bella lifted her chin towards Clint.

"Their powers, the horrors in our heads, Ultron himself, they all came from the Mind Stone, and they're nothing compared to what it can unleash. But with it on our side . . . " Thor proceeded to explain.

The stones. Her vision. Him. A shudder ran down her spine and she felt like throwing up right then and there.

"Is it?" Cap turned to Vision. "Are you? On our side?"

"I don't think it's that simple." Vision frowned.

"Well, it better get real simple real soon," Clint told him.

"I'm on the side of life. Ultron isn't. He will end it all."

"What's he waiting for?" Tony asked Vision.

"You."

"Where?"

"Sokovia," Clint replied instead. "He's got Nat there, too."

Bruce approached Vision fidgeting with his hands. "If we're wrong about you. If you're the monster that Ultron made you to be."

"What would you do?" It wasn't intended to sound like a threat, but it sure sounded like one when he said it. "I don't want to kill Ultron. He's unique, and he's in pain. And his pain will roll over the earth, so he must be destroyed. Every form he's built, every trace of his presence on the net, we have to act now." Vision turned around to face the whole team. "And not one of us can do it without the others."

Vision narrowed his eyes at his hands. "Maybe I am a monster. I don't think I'd know if I were one. I'm not what you are, and not what you intended. So there may be no way to make you trust me." He turned around and casually lifted Thor's hammer, handing it to him. "But we need to go." WIth that, he walked out of the room.

Everyone stood still, clearly shocked. Some of their mouths slightly opened.

"Right." Thor took his hammer and stared at it confused for a moment, but played it cool and patted Tony on his shoulder. "Well done."

Cap looked around and broke the silence. "Three minutes. Get what you need."

"Sleep," Arabella muttered walking out of the room.

Arabella glanced up to meet her father who stood at the door frame. "You ready?"

"Yeah." She wasn't.

No.

She wasn't ready to keep an evil robot and his evil army from killing the entire human race. She didn't know if she was even qualified to do so. Sure, she had been on a couple tough missions the Red Room had given her, and sure, she knew how to fight pretty well. But nobody trained her to fight this. She was just a thirteen-year-old girl for God's sake!

Arabella grabbed her repulsors from the table and put them on, the black and gold metal clasping around her delicate hands. She walked up to him giving him a tight smile when she stopped in front of stop of him. They just started at each other's eyes for what felt like a lifetime before Tony spoke again.

"Look, before we go I want to say," He sighed. "You know, what needs to be said. Just. . . in case something happens."

Bella gulped, nodding her head ever slowly and repeating, "Just in case?" Tony hummed and the girl's heart skipped a beat. "In case what? We don't make it?" Her voice came quivered and she watched as her dad tried his best to stay composed. "Wow, so much for the hope—boosting scene back there."

"Belles," Her name soflty left his lips as his head cocked to the side. "Just hear me out, okay?" He had this pleading look in his eyes that made her heart break.

"Okay," The girl breathed out.

Tony nodded, encouraging himself to speak. "I wasn't a good dad—I'm not a good dad, no matter what you argue, I know I'm not." A frown took over his features and his head lowered to stare at the ground. "They took you away and I did nothing—"

"Don't." The young girl closed her eyes just to open them again and meet his gaze. "That wasn't your fault. There was no way you could've known—"

"But I should have!" Tony raised his voice, not too loud to scare the girl but enough to cut her off. "I should've known because I'm your father." He sighed and dragged a hand over his tense face. "I'm sorry they stole your childhood and I'm sorry I couldn't stop them. God, I'm just so sorry, Belles."

"It's okay,"

"No, it's not!" His eyes seemed to scream, as if they had a language of their own. "That's my point here, it's not okay. It was never okay. You were just a kid—you are just a kid. And I—I dragged you into all of this." He couldn't bring himself to continue, but he knew he had to. It could be the last time he got to talk to her wholeheartedly. "It's just—what if this is it? The end of the line? The end of the book? I'll never get the chance to make it up to you, to make it right."

An almost sad smile took over her lips, "But you already have." Her warm blue eyes reassured him, over and over again. Like her mother's eyes used to whenever he was doubting about something. "Besides, we are going to making it, alright? So let's just . . . drop the bad vibes, okay, Daddio?"

"What's got you so sure, kiddo?" Tony pushed her grown out bangs behind her ears, just like she used to when she was a little girl. A warm smile couldn't help but take over the girls features at the gesture.

"Don't know. I've got a feeling, I guess." She shrugged. "You suck at pep talks by the way." A small, synchronized chuckle left their mouths.

"Gee, thanks, Belles," Tony raised his eyebrows. "That's Cap's job, in my defense."

"Yeah, yeah." She hooked her some around his and pushed them out of the room.

to the Quinjet where Steve and Bruce were already there. She detached herself from her father and walked towards the edge of the Avengers Tower, eyeing every single light that could be seen from up there. They had no idea, not even in the slightest, of what was going to happen. They were just living their lives without knowing Ultron wanted to kill them. Jeez, that sounded awful. Her throat let out a small shaky breath as her armored hands padded her legs anxiously. She had never been to a mission this big, a mission where the world was at stake.

"Bella!" Steve called out for her. Automatically, she turned around to head back to the quinjet. But she no longer found herself on the roof.

Arabella gasped of both shock and pain as a large spear pierced her abdomen, its sharp end sticking out of her back and dripping blood.

Oh, God. Not now.

She felt the all too familiar metallic taste making its way up her throat and soon after blood oozed out of her mouth as she coughed for air. Thick drops of dark red liquid fell to the debris beneath her. Small hands flew to the wound to apply pressure, but it was of no use. Blood covered her repulsors as she desperately tried to stop the bleeding by pressing harder.

Her eyes glanced up to see who had stabbed her, hand outstreatching and ready to shoot.

A small, shocked gasp escaped her lips.

Him. It was him.

"You were born to bleed."

It was then that she realized blood was seeping from her forehead and out of the gash on her left cheek, it dripping from her jaw to her neck. She could feel her nose bleeding too, the crimson liquid running down her cupid's bow and onto her busted lips. The girl could definitely see her bloody, probably broken, knuckles through the broken, black metal that once covered her hands completely.

The rough, large hand of the Titan placed itself above the girl's messy hair, patting her head as if she was a child, his child. As if he remotely, even cared. Her eyes slowly trailed up to meet his dark eyes, her soft features contorting in rage. Her lips scowled and they trembled not in sadness or fear, but in anger.

Furiously gritting her teeth, she prepared to land a blow on the Titan's face. However, before she even got the chance to do so, she was abruptly stopped by a voice. And then the Titan disappeared before her eyes. A familiar voice that was calling her. Her head jerked to the side where the voice was coming from and the tension seemed to leave her body. It was Steve, he was calling her.

Blue eyes met another pair of blue eyes. Good, I'm good, the girl thought.

Her hands immediately flew to her stomach to confirm there was no bleeding hole in it. She sighed and looked up, finding herself in the windy roof again. A concerned-looking Cap stood there, waiting for her to get inside the Quinjet.

"You okay, kid?" Bella jogged toward him and gave him a thumbs-up before entering the jet, finding everyone talking their places.

She sat down and placed her ear comms but took them off as soon as she heard the voice.

"Little One, you were born to die."

She abruptly stood up, a 'done with this' look plastered on her face. A shaky breath left her mouth as she ran a slightly trembling hand over her brunette hair. She tugged on the ends of the black leather jacket that once belonged to her late mother. She had never worn it, not since her father gave it to her almost a year a ago. She deemed this situation just about right to wear it. The jacket was a little big on the girl's frame, but Bella thought it was perfect.

"Um, Arabella." The girl spun around at the sound of her name only to come face to face with the twins.

"That's me." She gave them a tight smile. "Hi,"

"We just... wanted to say we're sorry." It was Pietro who spoke first, looking at the younger girl in the eye for a mere second.

"We shouldn't have done what we did." Wanda wasn't looking at her, her green eyes were glued on the ground.

"Thanks, I guess?" Bella rolled her eyes at herself and shook her head at the answer she gave. "I'm sorry too. I-I shouldn't have, you know, been that harsh."

"A Stark apologizing?" Pietro's eyes widened and his mouth formed the shape of a small 'o'. "Wow! I didn't get a good apology, though."