The Sokovian Shadow

Chapter 15

I'd been flying almost the entire night. I wasn't bothered by it, it was kind of relaxing. I'd always enjoyed talking with owls. They always had so much to talk about. Eventually, the sun started coming up and they had to get some sleep. I'd kept the Quinjet in sight all night, so I knew where I was going. They didn't stop though, and I kept flying until it was almost midday. They had to have been extremely bored. They eventually slowed down over a lab in Seoul and I landed on a building nearby.

I sent out my soul sense. Thor had disappeared sometime yesterday, Nat and Clint were still on the Quinjet, Cap was inside the lab with someone whose soul was filled with pain. I couldn't feel Stark or Bruce. I kept searching until I found the twins, drew in my soul sense, and flew towards them. They were in the middle of a crowded street and if not for my falcon sight I would have lost them. There was no sign of Ultron, but I still didn't relax.

After a few minutes, footage of Captain America fighting Ultron came up on a nearby screen, and the twins shot off. I started sprinting after them, keeping my eyes on the blue haze left by Pietro whenever he ran full speed. After a few minutes, I arrived at a subway. I was only a couple of seconds behind the twins, who were fighting... against Ultron? When did that happen? I shook myself mentally. Fight now, get answers later.

I dove into the window, coating my feathers with frozen soul fire. I tore through the side of the subway and knocked the robot to the ground. He got to his feet quickly and started towards Pietro, but metal bars surrounded by a red mist soon stopped him. Behind him, Wanda had her hands crossed over in front of her.

'Please.' Ultron sounded hurt, like he'd been betrayed. 'Don't do this.'

'What choice do we have?' The young girl sounded bitter, and I narrowed my eyes as I promised to find out what it was later. Ultron shot a laser out of his hand at Pietro, who quickly dodged it. The robot turned and flew out of the hole I'd made in the side of the train. I joined the twins, one wing wrapped around them gently. Captain America checked the controls and I saw that they'd been destroyed and that the man directing the train was dead.

He turned to us. 'Civilians in our path.' Pietro was gone in an instant. 'Can you stop this thing?' Wanda turned to him and nodded, squinting slightly from the wind blowing in our faces. I nodded as well, the jumped out of the train. I flew ahead and started using my soul fire to melt the pavement in front of the train, trying to slow it down and make it easier for Wanda to stop. I had to land on the top of the train and use my wings to shield myself as we came upon a building.

Once we'd gone through it, I started flying again and continued melting the pavement. I could see Pietro's blue haze as he ran the civilians to safety, as well as Wanda's red mist as she stopped the thing from the inside. Less than ten seconds later, the train slowed to a stop, leaning heavily to the right. I flew down to find the twins among the passengers leaving the vehicle. Wanda quickly found an out of breath Pietro and I landed behind them.

'I'm fine, I'm fine, just need to take a minute.' He gasped.

'I'm very tempted not to give you one. You have a lot of explaining to do young lady.' He claimed, pointing at me.

'You think I don't know that? We have more pressing matters, Captain.' I fired back.

'The Cradle. Did you get it?' Wanda interrupted.

'Stark will take care of it.' His tone was reassuring, but his words had the opposite effect.

'No he won't.' Wanda protested. Pietro wasn't panting as hard, and he was frowning at the idea of Stark with the Cradle. I wasn't to fond of it either.

'You don't know what you're talking about. Stark's not crazy.' I snorted a laugh and even Pietro smiled a little at that.

'He will do anything to make things right.' Wanda claimed. Cap looked at her for a moment before speaking into his comm.

'Stark, come in. Stark? Anyone on comms?'

'Ultron can't tell the difference, between saving the world, and destroying it.' Cap looked at her as she spoke. 'Where do you think he gets that?' I looked at her, confused. What had she seen that had convinced her and her brother to change sides? She must have sensed my gaze because she turned and looked me in the eye. Her eyes glowed red and I opened my mind to her, curious. Meteor strikes flashed through my mind and my eyes widened.

Cap was watching when I closed off my mind. I shook my head slightly and wrapped my wing around the twins. He thought for a moment, then gestured for us to follow him. He started jogging back to the Avengers Tower, and I jumped into the sky to fly ahead. Pietro and Wanda decided to stay behind with Cap. I arrived a few minutes before they did and decided to play around with Stark a bit.

I shifted into my falcon form and landed on one of the important-looking monitors. Stark didn't even notice me, and neither did Bruce. They were both very absorbed in whatever they were doing with the Cradle. I played the curious and very, very, lost wild falcon and cocked my head at the wires between my talons. I flapped my wings a little, tilting my head to the other side as I let out a low warble. They noticed me then. Bruce froze when he saw where I was perched, and Stark tried to shoo me away. He got closer and I let out a low continuous warble, darting forward when he got close enough. He swore and stepped back, staring at the bite as I continued warbling a warning.

I turned my head back to the wires between my talons, picking up a red one with my beak. At that point, Bruce stepped forward. He gently pushed Stark out of the way then held his hand up to me. He was speaking in soothing tones, encouraging me to let go of the wire and step onto his hand. I dropped the wire and tilted my head at him, letting out a confused squawk. He was still murmuring encouragement as I hopped forward a little bit and lowered my head to his hand. I tilted my head and looked back up at him.

He turned and walked away. I hopped from monitor to monitor as I followed him, stopping when he left the room. When re-entered the room and came back over to me, he had some seeds in his hand. He held them too far away for me to reach from the monitor, but he held his hand in a position that would allow me to reach the snacks if I hopped onto it. Clever. He was still murmuring encouragements under his breath as I tentatively hopped onto his hand. He held the seeds closer to me so I could reach them easier.

As I enjoyed the seeds, I had to wonder where he learned how to do this, although part of the reason I was co-operating was because of the look on Stark's face. All too soon they were gone, and I nibbled at his fingers gently. He chuckled as he carried me over to the open window. I held his hand outside and I jumped off, hovering as I turned on the spot to look at him. He closed the window behind me and turned around to continue working on the Cradle. I noticed Cap and the twins at the bottom of the tower and dove, switching into my Wraith form in mid-air. At least I'd delayed them a little. And it was fun.

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I genuinely hope you thought that Aorta messing with Stark and Bruce was funny. It's one of my favourite scenes.