Sunshine | Pietro Maximoff

CHAPTER 12

"Their powers, the horrors in our heads, Ultron himself," Thor began, stepping forward a few paces, "they all came from the Mind Stone. And they're nothing compared to what it can unleash. But with it on our side-"

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

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

"Well it better get real simple real soon." Said Clint.

Vision was quiet for a moment, as if he was deep in thought. Then, stepping forward, he began to speak.

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

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

"You." Vision replied.

"Where?" Asked Banner.

"Sokovia." Clint said. "He's got Nat there too."

Banner focused his gaze on Vision and began slowly walking towards him.

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

"What will you do?" Vision asked.

Bruce stayed silent.

"I don't want to kill Ultron." Vision spoke up once again.

He walked past Bruce and slowly paced forwards.

"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, every trace of his presence on the net."

By now, Vision had reached the front of where the team and I were standing. He turned around to face us and continued speaking.

"We have to act now. And not one of us can do it without the others."

The android paused and held his hands in front of him, looking down at his open palms.

"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 for you to trust me. But we need to go."

I blinked a few times in disbelief at what I was looking at. At Vision's last words, he had picked up Thor's hammer and held it out to him as if it weighed nothing at all. Everyone froze, clearly all in the same state of awestruck silence. Thor took Mjolnir from Vision and Vision walked past him. After a few more moments of silence, Thor spoke up.

"Right." He said.

He began to walk off and as he passed Tony, he clapped a hand on his shoulder.

"Well done." He said.

"Three minutes." Steve instructed. "Get what you need.

~*~

"You doing okay, kid? You've been pretty quiet since you got back." Clint asked.

We were both in the weapons room; Clint stocked up on high tech arrows while I attempted to clean myself up after the fight in Korea.

"I'd rather not talk about it..." I replied, wincing slightly as I cleaned a cut.

Clint was silent for a moment and I could feel his eyes on me. He walked over to me and placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Listen, I know you're mad at Stark and Banner." He began. "I don't think any of us are too happy with them right now. But, you have to let that go for now and focus on destroying Ultron. And finding Nat."

I let out a sigh, looking down at my feet.

"I know..." I said.

I looked up to meet Clint's eyes and gave him a weak smile.

"That's my girl." He said, placing his hand on the side of my face with a smile. "Why don't you go and tell the twins we're leaving in a minute?"

I nodded and moved to the door when Clint spoke again.

"I know you've taken a particular shine to one of them." He commented.

My face instantly heated up. "Shut up." I called as I left the room.

I pressed my hands against my cheeks. I hoped that the coldness of my hands would help ease the warmth I felt in my face right now. I didn't want the twins to see me red as a tomato. After a few moments, I reached the locker room where the twins were. I knocked on the door before entering.

"Are you guys ready?" I asked, standing in the doorway.

"Hmm?" Wanda said, turning her attention away from the window she had been gazing out of. "Oh, right. You two go on ahead, I will join you in a minute."

I nodded. Pietro joined me at the door and we headed out into the hallway.

"I like the shirt." I said, after a few moments of walking in silence.

"Thank you." Pietro replied with a small smile.

As we walked, I felt my fingertips brush against his. Pietro moved his hand to intertwine his fingers with mine. I felt my cheeks heat up once more. From there, we walked in silence. Once we reached the Quinjet, we noticed the rest of the team already onboard and ready to go. Wanda joined us a moment later.

"Ultron knows we're coming." Steve began. "Odds are we'll be riding into heavy fire. And that's what we signed up for. But the people of Sokovia, they didn't. So our priority is getting them out. All they want is to live their lives in peace. And that's not gonna happen today. But we can do our best to protect them.

"We can get the job done. We find out what Ultron's been building, we find Romanoff, we clear the field. Keep the fight between us."

Steve paused, keeping his eyes down. Everyone sat in silence, waiting for what he would say next.

"Ultron thinks we're monsters." He began, after a moment. "That we're what's wrong with the world. This isn't just about beating him. It's about whether he's right."