𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐍𝐎𝐖, 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑━︎━︎ N. Romanoff (𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑒𝑑)

𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐲-𝐒𝐢𝐱

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX:
EVOLVE

WHEN SHE CAME DOWN THE steps Laila Barton was quick to run over other and jump into her arms. Olivia chuckled, hugging the girl tightly and spinning her around, making her little girl giggle loudly. This grabbed the attention of her older brother, causing for Cooper Barton to turn away from where his Legos sat, standing up and calmly walking over to her and trying to contain his excitement as best as he could. Olivia switched Laila to her left hip, allowing for Cooper to swoop in on her right side, wrapping his arms around her waist as he hugged her tightly. Olivia smiled down at him, ruffling his hair as a pin of sadness entered her body. She missed her daughters.

     When Clint slowly approached her, Olivia kissed Cooper on the head before carefully placing Laila back down, allowing for the two children to run back to the living room where their mother sat, a small smile on her face. Clint stopped in front of her and Olivia looked at him. He didn't have to say anything and neither did she as he engulfed her in a hug. Olivia tightly hugged him back. "Are you alright?" He gently asked her, pulling away to examine her face to make sure there weren't any cuts or bruises.

     Olivia gently pushed his hand away from her face, shaking her head. "I'm okay, Clint. I'm just a little shaken, that's all. Nat and I talked about it, so that made it better." She glanced around the corner and towards the kitchen where the others were patiently waiting. She rose an eyebrow and Clint only gave her a pat on the shoulder, immediately making her groan.

The duo walked into the kitchen. Olivia came to a stop when she saw Nick Fury standing there. Olivia's glanced towards Tony who just rolled his eyes before going back to throwing darts at the dart board. She took a seat at the table beside of Natasha, grabbing the redhead's hand and placing a gentle kiss to it before placing their intertwined fingers in her lap. Steve leaned against the doorway of the kitchen whilst Bruce silently paced behind the two women.

     Finally, after a moment of silence, Fury started. "Ultron took you folks out of play to buy himself some time. My contacts all say he's building something."

     "Oh, you don't say?" Olivia scoffed.

     Fury ignored her comment. "The amount of vibranium he made off with, I don't think it's just one thing."

     "What about Ultron himself?" Steve asked just as Laila ran silently into the room, placing a picture between Olivia and Natasha, causing for the two to grab it. They both smiled at her, watching in amusement as she ran away.

     "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."

     Tony threw another dart before asking, "Is he still going after launch codes?"

     "Yes, he is." Fury answered. "But he's not making any headway."

     "I cracked the Pentagon's firewall in high school on a dare." Olivia rolled her eyes at Tony's comment.

     "Well, I contacted our friends at NEXUS about that."

     Steve looked up. "NEXUS?"

     "It's the world internet hub in Oslo." Bruce mumbled, eyebrows scrunched together as he continue to pace. "Every byte of data flows through there. Fastest access on Earth."

     "So, what'd they say?" Clint asked, standing by the sink as he held a dart in his hands, screwing it together.

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

     "By whom?" Tony asked, jerking his head backwards as a dart flew past his face. He turned his head towards the direction of the dart that had landed on the bullseye before turning to look at Clint, giving him a blank look as the man just shrugged his shoulders, smiling in amusement.

     "Parties unknown."

     "Do we have an ally?" Natasha questioned, concern lacing her voice.

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

     "I might need to visit Oslo." Tony said as he placed his hands on either side of the other doorway that exited the kitchen. "Find our unknown."

     Olivia sighed, leaning back in her chair as she lazily rolled her head to look over at Fury. She gave him a sarcastic smile. "This is good times and all, Nick. But, I thought that when I'd see you, you'd have much better news than this bullshit."

     "I do. I have you." Fury shrugged. Natasha and Olivia exchanged looks. "Back in the day, I had eyes everywhere. Ears, everywhere else. You kids had all of 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." He sat down.

     Olivia smirked as she looked at Steve. "Steve doesn't like that kind of talk."

     "You know what, Olivia?"

     Fury went back to the conversation at hand. "So, what does he want?"

     "To become better. Better than us." Steve answered. "He keeps building bodies."

     "Person bodies." Tony added. "The human form is inefficient. Biologically speaking, we're outmoded. But he keeps coming back to it."

     Natasha turned her head to look between Bruce and Tony. "When you two programmed him to protect the human race, you amazingly failed."

     "They don't need to be protected." Bruce mumbled loud enough for the group to hear. His eyes were focused on the drawing Laila had given the two women. "The need to evolve. Ultron's going to evolve."

     Olivia frowned slightly. "How?"

     Bruce glanced at the group before asking, "Has anyone been in contact with Helen Cho?"