"How much are you willing to bet that Tony is about to do something stupid right now?"

Dahlia, Pietro, and Wanda had been on the plane for six hours now, and they were nearing the point of total insanity. They were currently sitting on the floor of the plane, leaving Steve to fly the plane, and they were bored out of their wits.

"I thought you and Stark were close?" Wanda asked curiously.

"We were, and technically he's still one of my three legal guardians, but he was being a huge jackass the other day, and we still haven't talked about it." Dahlia shrugged.

Pietro turned his head to look at her, resting his head on his arm. "What happened?"

She swallowed thickly. "It wasn't a big deal. He saw the footage of me helping you guys out and he flipped out. He's being stupid."

Wanda looked down at her hands. She was very aware that she caused major distress between the Avengers, who were practically Dahlia's family. "I don't blame him. We... have caused some issues. Your kindness was amazing but we didn't deserve it."

"Wanda," Dahlia looked at her seriously. "You were going to die. I wasn't going to let that happen. It doesn't matter what you've done wrong in your life, everyone deserves help. I know that you guys aren't bad people, it's obvious. You just got led the wrong way. But no way is completely right or wrong. Ultron meant well, and so do we. The Avengers aren't perfect, but that's what makes them human."

"You're too kind for this world." Pietro breathed.

"Yeah, well, sometimes I threaten to murder Thor for trying to steal my popcorn, so no one's perfect." She laughed.

"Well, you're pretty damn close."

Wanda smirked as she watched the two stare at each other, feeling the sexual tension in the air. Pietro had never been close with anyone but her since they were born, really. All their lives, they could only rely on each other, so anyone else playing an important role in their life? Out of the question. But Dahlia? She was different. Wanda could feel it. She radiated a light, positivity, and playfulness that they hadn't experienced even once. It was so vastly different than anything they knew, and Wanda knew that it was driving Pietro crazy.

"I hate to break up the staring contest, or whatever this is, but we're here." Steve said loudly, causing the two to look away from each other immediately.

Dahlia felt a heat creeping onto her cheeks, so she busied herself with helping Wanda off of the ship, hoping that Pietro wouldn't notice the sudden change of color on her face.

Evidently, it didn't work, seeing as he wore a proud smirk as he exited onto the landing pad, prompting a few questioning looks from Cap, which they both just shrugged off, leaving the old man in the dark, where he usually was when it came to relationships of any sort.

"Now, I don't think they'll be particularly thrilled to see..." Steve hesitated. "Some of us. So, be careful, and when in doubt, stay behind me."

Dahlia grinned to hide her apprehension of bringing Pietro and Wanda into the building. "My dear star-spangled-man-with-a-plan, when have I ever listened to what you told me to do?"

Steve rolled his eyes and led the way into the tower, grumbling something under his breath that sounded awfully like 'You turn ninety and all of a sudden a no-good twenty year old thinks they know everything'.

"Love you too, Steve!" Dahlia called up at his retreating figure, with him only responding by shaking his head tiredly.

"He loves me, really." She whispered to the twins.

They both watched her with amusement, but the ghost of laughter on their face melted away as soon as they caught sight of the sign over the door that read STARK INDUSTRIES.

Simply the name made the Maximoff twins fill with rage, and if they weren't trying so hard to be civil for Dahlia, they probably would've destroyed the place.

The four entered the building and headed to Stark's lab, Wanda and Pietro standing behind Steve timidly. Dahlia, of course, with her aversion to rules of any sort, purposefully stood herself in front of Steve, causing a bit of a traffic jam.

She finally agreed to move herself out of the way when they arrived, leaning on the edge of the door frame.

"I'm gonna say this once." Steve said lowly.

"How about nonce?" Tony retorted, and Dahlia snorted, but quickly covered it up with a cough that fooled no one.

"Shut it down!"

"Nope, not gonna happen."

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

Bruce stepped up, looking as angry as could be. Well, without turning green, that is. "And you do? She's not in your head?"

"I know you're angry." Wanda said cautiously, not knowing how to approach the situation.

"Oh, we're way past that. I could choke the life out of you and never change a shade." Bruce threatened, but Dahlia wasn't having any of it.

"Bruce, I'm only giving you a warning because you're like family to me, but back away from her or else, I swear to god, I'll knock your head off your shoulders."

Bruce looked at Tony desperately. "Tony, how do you know she's not controlling Dahlia too?"

"Banner, after everything that's happened..." Steve tried to reason with him.

"That's nothing compared to what's coming!" Tony was nearing the point of a complete and utter breakdown. Let's just say that Steve was getting on his nerves.

"You don't know what's in there!" Wanda said.

"This isn't a game..."

"The creature-" Wanda was interrupted by Pietro using his super speed to destroy the lab equipment, effectively ending the discussion. Dahlia looked at him with a proud grin.

"No, no. Go on. You were saying?" The ground below him lurched suddenly, and the glass he was standing on shattered beneath his feet.

"Pietro!" Both Dahlia and Wanda called in unison, rushing forward to check on him.

Luckily, he had only fallen down into a second compartment, an area that held Clint, who had shattered the glass.

"What? You didn't see that coming?" Barton smirked at the fallen boy beside him.

Wanda leapt forward to try to help him, but Bruce held her back, his arm around her throat. "Go ahead, piss me off."

Dahlia was about to pry Wanda from his hold, but she was distracted by Thor flying into the room, and slamming his hammer down onto the cradle, sending a bolt of lightning that powered up the machine.

"Thor what the actual fu-" Her voice was drowned out by the sound coming from the cradle. The top of the crate flew off forcefully and a being, one that looked closer to being human, yet not at the same time, flew out gracefully.

"I'm sorry, that was... odd." He turned to Thor. "Thank you."

"Thor, you helped create this?" Steve was completely confused.

"I've had a vision. A whirlpool that sucks in all hope of life and at its center is that." He gestured to the stone on the synthezoid's head.

"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."

Dahlia scooted herself away from the carrier of the stone, gaining the attention of everyone in the room.

"What? If that thing destroys stuff, you better keep it away from me. I'd probably accidentally destroy the universe, so excuse me if I distance myself a few feet away from it." She scoffed.

"If it's so destructive, why did you bring it to..."

"Because Stark is right." Thor said.

"Oh, it's definitely the end times." Bruce shook his head.

"Wait, lemme get this straight. Tony, as in, Tony Stark, was actually correct about something?" Dahlia's eyes widened. "Pietro, you owe me five bucks."

Pietro, who had collected himself out from in the broken glass, shook his head fervently. "Nuh uh, you bet that he'd do something stupid, not right."

"No, not that bet, the other one."

"The one about the fact that the sun will one day explode and kill the Earth?"

"Nope."

"The one about dinosaurs having mullets?"

"Hair can't be fossilized, I make a fabulous point there, but no."

"Oh, the one where you think that Tony would be into drag?"

Dahlia snorted. "Nope, but you're getting closer."

"Um," Pietro scratched the back of his neck in thought. "Oh! The one about Tony maybe doing something right?"

"Ding ding ding! Now hand over the money."

"Too bad I don't have any, then."

"I don't either so ha!"

The weird robot-thing was watching this exchange with fascination, clearly having never experienced playful banter such as this.

Thor laughed heartily at the two before returning to the original subject. "The Avengers cannot defeat Ultron."

"Not alone." The robot chimed in.

"Why does your 'vision' sound like JARVIS?" Steve asked.

"We... we reconfigured JARVIS's matrix to create something new." Tony answered.

"I think I've had my fill of new."

"Oh, he's JARVIS? That makes so much more sense, I only know like two British dudes and one of them's on a TV show so I had no idea why it was familiar." Dahlia smacked herself on the forehead lightly.

"You think I'm a child of Ultron?"

"You're not?"

"I'm not Ultron. I'm not JARVIS. I am... I am."

Wanda stepped forward timidly. "I looked in your head and saw annihilation."

"Look again." Vision replied.

"Yeah. Her seal of approval means jack to me." Clint said, but he was quieted by Dahlia sweetly elbowing him in the stomach.

"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 trailed off.

"Is it? Are you? On our side?" Steve asked.

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

"Well it better get real simple real soon."

"I am on the side of life. Ultron isn't, he will end it all."

"What's he waiting for?"

"You."

"If we're wrong about you, if you're the monster that Ultron made you to be..."

Vision was about to continue, and Pietro and Dahlia, who were far from involved in this conversation, except for comedic relief, obviously, hoisted themselves up onto the counter that was attached to the wall. Dahlia pulled out a bowl of popcorn from seemingly nowhere, and offered it to the boy beside her. So they sat, watching from afar, observing the whole situation as if it was a soap opera on TV.

"What will you do? I don't want to kill Ultron. He's unique, and he's in pain. But that pain will roll over the earth, so he must be destroyed. Every form he's built, ever trace of his presence on the net, we have to act now. And not one of us can do it without the others,"

At those last words, Dahlia dramatically wiped away fake tears, Pietro laughing at her all the while.

"Maybe I am a monster. I don't think I'd know if I were one. I'm not what you are, and I'm not what you intended. So there may be no one way to make you trust me. But we have to be ready for him." Just then, Vision picked up Thor's hammer and offered it to him, leaving the room silent.

"We need attack plans, we need training, and we need some idea of what we're getting ourselves into." Steve said decisively.

"I say we leave for Sokovia in three days. In the meanwhile, we can train these two," He gestured to Wanda and Pietro. "And gather our bearings. This will be one hell of a fight, and we all need to be both physically and emotionally ready for it."

Steve looked over to the kitchen portion of the room, where Dahlia and Pietro were sat. "Anelace?"

"Yeah?" She responded with a mouthful of popcorn.

He shook his head for a moment before he resumed. "Eight AM tomorrow, I expect you to be training these two."

"Alrighty, Captain Dumbass."

"Don't call me that."

"Okay, Dorito Man."

"Wha- Never mind."

Pietro climbed off of the counter, offering a hand to Dahlia which she laughed at. "I can get off a stupid counter by myself."

Evidently, this was a lie, since she fell flat on her face after attempting to do so.

She held up a finger towards Pietro's laughing figure. "Not a word, Maximoff."

"Awww, why not? You got to laugh when I nearly fell off the landing pad."

"That was funny. This is not."

"Ah, but it is."

"You know what, shut up Pietro."

"Never."

•

Dahlia was used to waking up the exact same way every single day. Her alarm would go off, she'd snooze it once, it'd go off again and she'd snooze it once more. Take that and make it snoozed seven times, and you'd have Dahlia's morning routine.

However, today was different, and not by choice.

She was woken by an annoyingly familiar bolt of blue racing around her room, making an awful lot of sound, and ripping her from her pleasant dreams of popcorn factories in the sky.

"What the hell do you want, Maximoff?" Dahlia said as she dug her head into her pillow.

He stopped running and tried to catch his breath. "I was the first to wake up, and I'm so bored! Like almost everyone else is awake now, but you're the only interesting person in this tower."

Pietro flung himself dramatically onto her bed, landing painfully on her legs

"You do realize it's seven? And trainings at eight? If I don't have to be awake, I'm not. Ask anyone."

"I gave you enough time to eat and get dressed and whatever else it is that girls do first. So get your ass up!"

"You have a sister, how do you not know what girls do in the morning?"

"I'm pretty dumb, if you haven't noticed." Pietro laughed.

"Oh, believe me, I have." He fake pouted at Dahlia's response.

She sighed and sat up in her bed, forcing herself to climb out from under the comfortable sheets.

"Fine, you've woken me up, now I'm going to get dressed since that's what you so desperately want me to do." Dahlia stood and waited for him to leave the room, but he made no actions towards doing so, only staying in his seat on her bed.

"Are you going to leave?" She crossed her arms, trying to hide her amusement.

"I'm actually quite comfortable here."

"If you don't leave, I'll throw you out the window, Pietro."

Needless to say, he left, since he was sure she was serious, because she was. She could've easily done so, but even though he was annoying, he was also a source of entertainment in an otherwise dull tower.

Maybe having him around would be good in the long run.

If he learned to shut up, that is.

•

Dahlia had been working the twins for three hours now, and they were completely and 100% drained.

To put it simply, she was a hardass when it came to training. Wanda had finished with her training about an hour ago, and training Pietro was proving to be quite the task.

Wanda was easy to train, she was still a bit timid, so she listened to everything Dahlia said and followed instructions to the best she could. Pietro was very different. He was cocky, smart-mouthed, and too reliant on his powers.

"How many times do I have to tell you? Keep your fists upright in between punches, and uppercut here on the jaw. Do it again."

Pietro regretted waking her up at all today. When Cap had said that Dahlia would be training the two of them, he took it as a relief. Dahlia was their friend, so she'd be more laid back, right?

Wrong.

"You rely way too much on your powers, Pietro. Your super speed can't make up for your lack of form when it comes to fighting." Dahlia sighed.

"Maybe I'm just too distracted by the gorgeous girl in front of me." Pietro winked, hoping she'd loosen up if he flirted with her a bit.

That was the only reason he did so.

Totally.

"I know I'm hot, Maximoff, that's a matter of fact. You don't need to tell me something I already know. One more time, okay?"

Pietro groaned but put his fists up and began to fight.

He aimed a right hook at her jaw, but she dodged it and used her knee to hit his jaw. Pietro grabbed her wrist as she attempted to punch him in the gut and twisted her arm around, knocking them both to the ground. He kneeled over her as she lay flat on the ground, a smirk playing on his face.

"You didn't see that coming?" He chuckled quietly, and Dahlia's heart started racing faster than she had ever felt it.

However, she was Dahlia Anelace. Just because she found this guy extremely attractive and she accidentally found herself daydreaming of them getting married didn't mean that she was going to let him beat her in sparring. No one beat her. Ever.

With this in mind, she wrapped her legs around his torso, shocking him greatly, and flipped him onto his back, leaving her on the top.

"Your form was a little off, but honestly? A lot better." Dahlia teased the still-shocked Pietro who was laying below her.

"You're really something else."

"It's a talent, one of many."

They both laughed quietly, and Pietro couldn't help but try to memorize every detail of her face.

The way that her nose crinkled when she laughed, and how her hair fell into her eyes as her head fell back, mid-chuckle.

But it wasn't just the way she looked. It was the way that she fought ruthlessly and with precision. The way she talked back to the Avengers on behalf of them, even when she barely knew them. How she cared about everyone in her life so unconditionally, and how she managed to turn every situation into a joke.

It was that moment that Pietro knew how completely fucked he was.

"Are you okay?" Dahlia had noticed his gaze on her faltering, and how he looked like his mind was elsewhere.

"O-oh yeah, fine." He smiled sheepishly.

They both noticed that they were still in this close position, but they both also consciously chose not to mention it, hoping the moment might last longer.

"Dahlia-" Pietro started.

"Lady Dahlia! Banner introduced me to a cereal called Cocoa Puffs, and I absolutely love-"

Thor stopped dead in his tracks. He had assumed the training room only held Dahlia, but apparently this wasn't the case.

Luckily, Thor was raised to feel no embarrassment.

"Ah! I'm very happy that my dear friend, Lady Dahlia, is having a sexual relationship with someone who appears to be Pietro Maximoff!"

"Thor!" Both Pietro and Dahlia yelled.

"WHAT?!"

"Nothing, Tony!"