Goddess of Light

Chapter 41 ~ Catch the Cradle

I was pretty surprised to see Nick Fury stood in Clint and Laura's kitchen later that evening, especially after Dominic had told me he was dead. But I guess he wasn't. I'm seriously going to end up with trust issues from thinking people are dead and then they are actually alive. 

After Steve and I's conversation in the field, we walked back to the house to help out on the farm. Steve and Tony were chopping wood, Clint and his son were working on the decking while Nat and I helped Laura look after Lila, Clint's daughter. We drew pictures with her while Laura made dinner for everyone. Nat seemed a lot better.

Clint had got the children into their pyjamas while we ate. Lila kept bringing us little pictures making my heart practically explode with cuteness, while we all discussed what we needed to do next. 

I want one. Maybe two.

"Ultron took you folks out of play to buy himself time. My contacts all say that he's building something. The amount of vibranium he made off with, I don't think it's just one thing." Nick explained while he prepared a sandwich for himself. 

"What about Ultron himself?" Steve asked as he leaned against the wall, behind me.

"Oh, 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." Nick further explained.

Tony was playing darts, while listening. "Is he going after launch codes?" He chipped in as he collected the darts he had thrown.

"Yes, he is. But he's not making any headway." Nick answered Tony who scoffed a little. 

"I cracked the Pentagon's firewall dare in high school on a dare." He bragged, but not in his usual cocky way. 

"Well, I contacted our friends at the Nexus about that." Nick added. Lila had just brought Nat and I another picture. It had a pretty yellow butterfly surrounded by a blue sky. Nat took it into her hands and gave her a kiss on the cheek while I smiled at her gratefully.  

"Nexus?" Steve asked. He stepped forward and put his hands on the back of my chair. I put my hand over my shoulder and held onto his hand. It was comforting to just touch him.

"It's the world Internet hub in Oslo. Every byte of data flows through there. Fastest access on Earth." Bruce explained from the corner. He hadn't really spoken all day, so, it was good to hear him speak again. 

"So, what did they say?" Clint asked as he adjusted a dart, over near Tony.

"He's fixated on the missiles. But the codes are constantly being changed." Nick answered again.

"By whom?" Tony asked before Clint threw the dart he was holding at the board, missing Tony's face by a centimetre, resulting in Tony sending him a dirty look. 

"Parties unknown." Nick informed us. So, who was helping us?

"Do we have an ally?" Nat inquired. I caught Bruce staring at her longingly. Cute. 

"Ultron's got an enemy. That's not the same thing. Still, I'd pay folding money to know who it is." 

"I might need to visit Oslo. Find our unknown." Tony suggested as he stepped further into the kitchen. 

"Well, this is good times, boss, but I was kind of hoping when I saw you, you'd have more than that." Nat smiled a little sadly at Nick. I was busy looking at Steve's hand that hand shifted onto my shoulder and was tracing over his knuckles with my fingers. 

"I do. I have you. Back in the day, I had eyes everywhere. Ears, everywhere else. You kids had all the tech you could dream up. Here we all are, back on Earth, with nothing but our wit and our will to save the world. Ultron says the Avengers are the only thing between him and his mission. And whether or not he admits it, his mission is global destruction. All this, laid in a grave. So, stand. Outwit the platinum bastard." Nick gave a pretty inspirational speech, but it wasn't as good as Steve's ones, still good though.