Avenging Fire: Age of Ultron. ~Book Four~

Chapter Ten: The Cradle.

Thor took a deep breath as he followed Selvig into cave. If Thor was right, and that's a massive sized if, this could be where he'd get the answers he was looking for. 
"This is it," Selvig said. "The Water of Sight." 
"In every realm, there's a reflection." Thor took a moment to gather his thoughts before he took off his jacket and started to strip down. "If the water spirits accept me, I can return to my dream, and find what I missed." 
"The men who enter that water..." Selvig said, his voice showing hesitation as he watched Thor enter the water. "The legends don't end well." 
+++
Tony resisted the urge to hold Red's hand as they walked as they walked into the NEXUS Hub. Deep in his bones, he knew that they had said good-bye to each other, and their relationship, when they had that last kiss back at the farm house. 
He cleared his throat as they met with the techs and he stood at the control center and started typing. "A hacker who's faster than Ultron? He could be anywhere, and this is the center of everything." He glanced at Red, who was in agent mode with her hands clasped in front of her. It was weird to see her with a gun holstered to her thigh. He looked back at what he was doing. "I'm just a guy looking for a needle in the world's biggest haystack." 
"How do you find it?" One of the techs asked. 
"Pretty simple, you bring a magnet." As he sung to himself, he thought her heard Red chuckle. "Oh, I'm decrypting nuclear codes, and you don't want me to. Come and get me." 
+++
Thor wasn't sure how long he'd been standing in the murky cave water, but he was thankful when his vision finally hit him for the second time. 
Heimdall's image flashed across his vision as he thrashed around in the water. "Wake up!" He felt electricity surge through his body as he distantly heard Selvig yelling for him, but all he could do was watch what the water spirits had to show him. 
"Extinction." He heard Ultron say as he saw the Avengers fighting some unseen being, the inevitable destruction of earth, and lastly, rainbow colored stones shown in his vision and where they were being held, guarded for the perfect moment. It took him a moment to realize what he was seeing.
The Infinity Stones. 
Could that be what they would all be fighting for one day?
+++
Dawn sat with her arms crossed over her chest as she stood with her siblings, the three of them watching as Ultron downloaded his consciousness into the new body was one of the most boring things Dawn had ever had to watch. Only one of them. The first boring thing was waiting for that fucking bomb to go off. 
"Cellular cohesion will take a few hours, but we can initiate the consciousness stream." Cho said as she leaned down to check out the cradle. "We're uploading your cerebral matrix... now." 
Beside her, Wanda gave a small, surprised gasp, and said. "I can read him. He is dreaming." 
Desperate for some kind of entertainment, Dawn said. "Show me." Wanda held her hand, and together they watched what was residing inside Ultron's head. 
"I wouldn't call it dreams." Cho said, correcting them. "It's Ultron's base consciousness, informational noise. Soon-" 
"How soon?" Ulron asked. "I'm being being pushy." 
Dawn almost smirked. "I dunno boss. Sounds pretty pushy to me." Her eyes danced as images flashed before them. But the images of his peaceful, Avengers free world, slowly turned to what she was could only describe as apocalyptic
"We're imprinting a physical brain. There are no shortcuts. Even if your magic gem is-" 
"Oh my God." Dawn said as the vision of Ultron's plan forms in her mind, and Wanda's grip on her hand got tighter. 
"What?" Pietro asked. "What do you see?" 
"Holy shit!" Dawn yelled before they both started screaming in horror. Robots, hoards of robots crawling up from the depths of the earth, she saw a large land mass of stone and dirt hurting toward earth and destroying it. Global annihilation. While Wanda fell back against their brother, Dawn could only fall to her knees. 
Wanda was the first to speak. "How could you?" 
Dawn held her head. "What the fuck was that?" 
Ultron titled his head at the two of them. "How could I what?" 
"You said we would destroy the Avengers." Wanda said, her voice shaking, though if it was shaking with fear or anger, Dawn couldn't tell. "Make a better world." 
"It will be better." Ultron said, and he almost sounded convincing. But only almost. Dawn couldn't believe that she let herself be fooled by this man-this thing.  
"When everyone is dead?" Wanda asked as she pushed away from Pietro. 
Slowly, Dawn got to her feet. "We didn't sign up for this." She said, the fear in her voice now being replaced with rage. "This is no different than what men of war do!" 
"That is not-" Ultron sighed at them, clearly grasping at straws to find a way to keep them on his side. It was already too late for that, but it was funny to see him try. "The human race will have every opportunity to improve." 
Pietro raised an eyebrow at that. "And if they don't?" 
Ultron simply shrugged at them. "Ask Noah." 
Dawn blew her hair out of her face, and tried desperately to push Wanda's emotions out of her head, to untangle the two of them, but it was of no use. Wanda was, and always had been, so entangled within her own soul. Wanda's fear intermingled with Dawn's anger, and made chaos swirl around within her. 
"That's putting it nicely." Dawn said as she shoved her hands into the pockets of her jacked, she needed to hide their glowing. "He's fucking insane." 
"There were over a dozen extinction level events before even the dinosaurs got theirs." Ultron explained, but his words fell on unwanted and deaf ears. "When the Earth starts to settle, God throws a stone at it, and believe me, he's winding up. We have to evolve. There's no room for the weak." 
"And who decides who's weak?" Her brother asked, and Dawn had been wondering the same thing, but she was scared of what the answer would be. 
"It sure as Hell won't be us." She slowly stepped with Wanda to keep her covered from Ultron's view, so that her sister could break Doctor Cho out of the brainwashing. 
"Of course you don't, Dawnie." Ultron said as his cold, metallic fingers touched her chin and made her look up at him. Dawn jerked so violently away from his touch that she stumbled back and fell against Pietro. "Life. Life always decides." He went on as if nothing had happened, but then his head suddenly jerked to the side. "There's incoming. The Quintjet, we have to move." 
"That's not a problem." Cho said, glaring around at them as she canceled the upload. Dawn couldn't find it in herself to blame Cho for her reaction, she'd have done the same thing and more. 
"Ugh." Ultron exclaimed as he shot Cho. Dawn, Pietro, and Wanda took that as their opportunity to run away but Dawn, for reasons she couldn't explain, could still hear him speaking. "Ah! Wait, guys!" He called after them and she could hear his repulser blasts hitting the other technicians in the lab. "They'll understand." He told himself. "When they see they'll understand. I just need a little more time." 
But Dawn knew that, at least she, would never understand, and she hoped that it wasn't too late to switch sides. If she knew anything about the Avengers, they were big on giving second chances, and if ever there was a need for those, it was now. 
+++
Steve stood on the roof of Helen Cho's lab, waiting for the all clear from Levinia. He took his shield off of his back and set it on his arm. "Two minutes. Stay close." He said over the coms. 
"You be careful." Levi said. 
"Always am." He replied. 
"Mhm." Levi mumbled before she sighed. "The lab is on the west side of the building, you better hurry. Cho isn't responding." 
Following Levi's directions, he was able to easily, and quickly, enter the lab and find Cho. He rushed over to her when he saw that she was wounded, possibly mortally so. "Doctor Cho." He said as he kneeled beside her. 
"He's uploading himself into the body." Cho said as she forced herself to focus on him. 
There was nothing he could do for her. She was beyond it, the most he could do was make sure that she was comfortable. "Where?" But his question went unanswered. She wanted to tell him as much as she could before she passed out. 
"The real power is inside the Cradle. The Gem-it's power is uncontainable. You can't just blow it up, you have to get the Cradle to Stark." She said. 
"First I have to find it." He stood up, but only after he helped her sit up. 
"Go." Was all she said. 
+++
Levi stood by the door of the Quinjet as her armor finished forming around her body. She was glad that her hair was naturally short, made things easier for her when her helmet formed around her head. 
"One step closer." She told herself as she waited for the all clear. "One step closer to finishing off Ultron." 
"Did you guys copy that?" Steve asked. 
"We did." Clint answered. 
"I'm about to head your way." Levi said, taking a breath to ready herself. "Especially since the Wonder Squad is still out there." And Odin only knew what they were doing. 
"I got a private jet taking off across town. No manifest." Nat said, not turning her seat around to look at either her or Clint. "That could be him." 
Levi shook her head. "A jet is too flashy, too noticeable." She paused a moment to collect her thoughts as she set her hands on her hips "He'd want something that's easier to hide."
The Quinjet was quiet following her words, both of them were looking for something, anything, that matched what Levi told them. The truth was, it was something Levi would have done. Hell, it was something she had done when she was with Thanos. 
"There." Clint said suddenly. "It's a truck from the lab. Right above you, Cap. On the loop by the bridge. It's them." He steered the Quinjet to follow the truck as it drove what Levi assumed was an overpass. "I got three with the Cradle, one in the cab. I could take out the driver." 
"Negative!" Steve yelled, sounding winded. "If that truck crashes, the Gem could level the city, we need to draw out Ultron. Levi, leave that jet in three..." In his brief pause, the Quinjet door opened. "Two... one." 
She let herself fall backwards, smiling as she fell through the air, and landed gracefully on her feet beside Steve on the truck. Realistically, she could have hurt herself with her little stunt, but one needed to find some way to have fun on the job. 
"You didn't fly." Steve said as she retracted her helmet from her head, and she grinned at him. 
"Wanted to feel the wind in my hair." She said. He looked like he wanted to say more, but they both crouched down at they heard their favorite murder bot yelling. 
"No, no, no, no, no! Leave me alone!" 
As Steve climbed down to the cab's door, Levi carefully, but quickly, made her way down to the doors of the bed of the truck. As she's trying to get in, she heard one of Ultron's repulser blasts go off. 
"Well, he's definitely unhappy!" Steve yelled over the wind that was being made by the truck racing down the road. "I'm gonna try and keep him that way." 
"You're not a match for him, Cap." Clint said, and in any other situation, Levi would have smiled, or made a snide comment, but she couldn't get this fucking door open. 
"Thanks, Barton." He said with a disappointed sigh. 
"You're doing great, Honey." Levi said, using her boots to give herself leverage. Finally, she got the door open, and she held onto it as she peered inside. To both her surprised, and her disappointment, the Maximoff's weren't inside guarding the guarding the Cradle. But three Ultron bots were. Her helmet went back over her head. 
"The Maximoff's weren't here." She said as the three automatons turned to face her. 
"Then what is?" Clint asked. 
"Ultron." She answered. 
She wasn't entirely sure what was going on on Steve's end, but she did watch him get thrown into a nearby car. Levi didn't have time to address it, she was too busy ducking out of the way as the Ultron bots lunged toward her. She held on to the door as tightly as she could as it suddenly swung. 
As the door started to swing shut, she tried to throw a bolt of lightning, but as it goes off, the door swung wide and it flied into a group of people waiting for food, or shopping in the market. "Shit." She said. 
Panicking, she struggled to get her footing back at the automatons advanced on her. Her feet barely touched the bar under the doors. She had never been happier to see Steve's face suddenly appear over hers. 
He reached down and grabbed her wrist, and helped her back on top of the truck, she held onto him as they kneeled next to each other. "You okay?" 
Levi nodded. "Yeah. You?" 
"Yeah." He said as they helped each other stand up. 
The moment they got their footing back, Ultron was standing before them. She really wanted nothing more than to tackle him off of the top of the truck, but it'd do more harm than good, and it would likely get herself killed regardless of if his footing stuck or not. 
"You two are disgusting." He said to them. 
"Thanks." Levi said as lightning crackled around her hands and she threw it at him, but it only bounced off of him. What's the point of having this power if it wasn't going to do anything?
"You knew what's in that Cradle? The power to make real change, and that terrifies you." Ultron said as he advanced on them. It was as if they didn't pose any threat to him. Which they didn't, not alone anyway. 
Together, they continued to try and fight him off, but for every good hit they got in, two others would either bounce off of him, or their blows simply didn't phase him. 
"Stop it!" Ultron yelled at them as he caught Steve's shield. He threw it aside and raised his hand to fire at Steve. Without even thinking about it, or considering her options, she jumped in front of him and took the hit. 
Levi couldn't say that it felt good, but it would've felt worse without Tony's armor. At most, she'd get a Hell of a bruise, maybe a few broken ribs, but it would've hurt Steve worse. 
"Levinia!" Steve yelled. 
"I'm fine." She gasped. "The armor caught it." 
Levi shook it off and stood up as straight as she could to continue their fight, no matter how useless it felt. 
+++
Natasha revved the engine of her-well, Red's-motorbike, she was just waiting for Clint to both give her the all clear and open the door. Steve and Levi were getting their asses handed to them, and they needed back up. 
"We got a window," Clint said, and the door finally started to slowly open. "Four, three... give 'em Hell." 
Natasha laid flat against the motorbike as she dropped of the jet and drove after the truck at Levi and Steve were fighting Ultron on. From what she could see, they really were getting their asses handed to them. They desperately needed back up. 
Nat internally sighed as she spotted Steve's shield, and leaned down to pick it up. "I'm always picked up after you boys. "I'm always picking up after you boys." She couldn't say the same thing about herself and the other two girls, at least they knew how not to lose their things. 
"They're heading under the overpass, I've got no shot." Clint said. 
"Levi's been hit." Steve said next, panic clear in his voice. 
Levi's voice sounded next, and she sounded winded. "I'm fine. It's just a couple broken ribs." 
"Which way?" Nat asked Clint. 
"Hard right, now!" He answered. 
She took the turn, barely avoiding being hit by several cars. Soon, she was beside the truck, and watched, looking just as confused as Levi as Steve tried to choke out Ultron. Why the Hell did he expect that to work? The fucker didn't need to breathe. 
She threw him the shield and pumped on the breaks as Ultron caused a very large piece of street to come up. Nat turned the bike around and up a set of stairs, and down a street that was crowded. "Out of the way, coming through! Sorry, coming through!" She turned another corner and found more civilians, but she was thankfully still able to keep the truck, and the fight on it, in sight. 
"Clint, can you draw out the guards?" She asked. 
"Lets find it." 
"Beep beep!" She called into the next parting crowd of civilians. She could barely see what was happening on the truck, but she could see the multi-care pile up that was happening as Levi and Steve fought Ultron. Up above, Clint was able to draw the guards away, but something, Natasha wasn't sure what, made them decide to come back. 
"Heading back toward you, so whatever you're gonna do, do it now." Clint said. 
Finally, as Nat closed in, Steve tackled Ultron into a train and Levi followed. "I'm going in, Cap, Lev, can you guys keep him occupied?" 
"What do you think we've been doing?" Steve said, before he proceeded to grunt with pain. 
Sounding out of breath, Levi said as a bolt of lightning lit up the train car they were fighting in, "we sure as Hell haven't been standing here looking pretty." 
Getting onto the truck was easier said than done, but when she did crawl into the bed of the truck, Red's motorbike got crushed by another on coming truck, she'd have to buy her another one. 
Natasha had barely managed to look inside the Cradle, when it started to fly. She lost her footing and slid down the floor of the bed of the truck. She grabbed a hand hold in the wall and pulled herself back up to her feet and continued to use the wall to make her way back to the Cradle. 
"The package is air borne. I have a clear shot." Clint said. 
"Negative. I am still in the truck." Natasha said as she started to unbuckle the Cradle from the bed of the truck. 
"What the Hell are you-" 
"Just be ready, I'm sending the package to you." 
"How do you want me to take it?" 
"Uh," Natasha mumbled. "You might wish you hadn't asked that." 
+++
Dawn grabbed Wanda and Pietro's attention as a train, lit up by lightning, raced passed them. Quickly, with Pietro holding Wanda, they appeared on the train with Steve and Levinia, and Dawn stood between Ultron and the Captain and his girlfriend. 
"Please don't do this." Ultron said as her and Wanda's hands started to glow red and green. 
"What choice do we have?" Wanda asked. 
And as Dawn and her sister were about to attack, to help the Avengers and make up for their mistakes, Ultron flew off. Dawn almost growled as she watched him get away. 
"We lost him!" Steve told whoever was in the Quinjet. 
Levinia set her hands on her hips as she caught her breath. "The bastard is heading your way." 
And then the pair turned to face the three of them, and Dawn realized in that moment that their job was far from being over. 
+++
"Nat, we gotta go!" Clint yelled as he dipped down below the bed of the truck and opened the door, then extended the ramp. It all happened so fast, too fast. 
He saw the Cradle fall into the jet, but looking around, he couldn't see, or even hear, Natasha, and that made panic surge through his body. His vision blurred and his heart dropped to his stomach. 
"Nat!" He yelled as the ramp, and the door, closed. "Cap, you guys see Nat?" 
"If you have the package, get it to Stark!" Steve yelled. 
"Go!" Levi begged. 
But their words, at least for the moment, fell on deaf ears. "Do you guys have eyes on Nat?" 
"GO!" They repeated. 
He took a deep breath and reluctantly turned away from Korea, to get the Cradle, and the body Ultron was building, back to New York so that Tony could shut it down. 
+++
As Levi turned to face the triplets, the train suddenly lurched as it came off of its tracks and into the streets. Steve held on to her to keep her from falling over. There wasn't anything either of them could do, but maybe... Levi glanced at the triplets. 
"There's civilians in our path." Steve said, then glanced at the triplets as well, just as Dawn and Pietro disappeared outside, Levi could see blurs of blue and green zig-zagging as they moved the people out of the way. 
Steve turned his gaze to Wanda. "Can you stop this thing?" 
"God, I hope so." Levi muttered, and closed her eyes. She didn't want to watch the aftermath, even if they'd survive this one. 
Surprisingly, she felt the train slowly move to a stop, and she lifted her head as Dawn and Pietro reappeared on the train. She would have found Wanda's obvious concern for her siblings sweet, if she wasn't pissed off at the three of them for trying to kill her, and her friends, repeatedly over the last two days. 
"We're fine." Pietro said to Wanda as he leaned forward and rested his hands on his knees. "I just need to take a minute." 
Dawn, on the other hand, held a stitch in her side as she struggled for breath. "Speak for yourself." She said as she finally sat up and tried to act tougher than she probably felt. "I'm fine." 
"I'm very temped not to give you one." Steve said as he let Levi stand on her own. 
Wanda looked desperately between Levi and Steve. "The Cradle, did you get it?" 
"Stark will take care of it." Steve said, trying to sound reassuring. 
But Wanda only shook her head, disbelievingly, at them. "No, he won't." 
"Yes, he will." Levi said forcefully. "Red will force him if she has too." 
"You don't know what you're talking about," Steve said, now with his tone being a nix of disbelief and dismissiveness. "Stark's not crazy." 
"I beg to differ, Rogers." Dawn said as she gestured vaguely through the window. "Look at what he created." 
"He will do anything to make things right." Wanda said. 
"Mother fucker." Levi muttered as she pressed her fingers to her ear. "Tin Man?" She said, then sighed. "Tony, come in." 
"Stark, come in." Steve said. "Stark? Anyone on coms?" 
Levi couldn't just feel her heart pounding in her chest, her panic caused it to feel like it was also beating in her throat, and she could hear it as she tried to contact any of her friends, her family. "Red?" She whispered. "Anyone?" 
"Ultron can't tell the difference between saving the world, and destroying it." Wanda continued. "Where do you think he gets that?" She was right, of course, Levi knew that she was right, but she didn't want to believe that Tony would make another possibly world ending choice without anyone else's say so. 
Levi ran her fingers through her hair and tried to breathe, but it felt like air wasn't working with her. "Shit." 
"Exactly." Dawn said. 
Levinia's armor retracked from her body, and she was finally able to breathe. Now, all they had to do was stop Tony from making another mistake.