Aftermath [winter soldier//Bucky Barnes AU]

Chapter Fifteen

SARAH'S POV

We walked carefully and quietly. I couldn't see much from where I was, but I could hear repetitive clanging, and long absences of sound made my heart stop because every time it went quiet I was sure they'd found us.

We were just starting to cross a bridge above the main work area when my breath caught, and I yanked Bucky and Steve to a halt. Emerging from the shadows on the other end of the bridge was a huge, hulking mass of metal, sculpted into the shape of a man. The details on the body were astounding. On either side of him, two people stepped forward. I gasped when I realized it was Wanda and Pietro. Ultron took another step forward and then froze, staring at us with an inhuman smirk on his face.

"Ultron," Steve breathed, his eyes quickly scanning him, the twins and our surroundings, sizing them up for a fight. His muscles were already twitching with anticipation. Bucky's reaction was different- he simply appraised all three of them, with a glare that was as cold and calculating as his stance. I stared at Wanda in horror. She stared back with a cold detachment.

"Steve Rogers," Ultron replied, his voice deep and gravelly. "The man out of time."

Steve didn't hesitate to answer.

"I don't know what you're planning to do with our world, but you need to stand down. It is not yours for the taking," Steve said, cutting right to the chase. Ultron rolled his eyes.

"You heroes. Pretending you could live without war. I know you mean well, but you're trying to fix something that is unfixable. I simply seek to better the world in a way that you never could," Ultron growled, seemingly irritated with us already. When he stopped speaking, he pulled the twins forward.

"Meet Wanda and Pietro. I believe you've met them before- or at least some of you have. Regardless, they are the beginning of a new era of change. The world isn't safe, captain, and something must be altered or the Earth will die out. These two will help me usher in the change the universe so desperately needs."

Wanda and Pietro stared at me with knotted eyebrows. I frowned.

"Who's met them before?" Steve murmured to us, scanning our faces for a reaction. I sighed, stepping forward. I wish I had told them about Wanda and Pietro before, but now it was too late.

"I have. They were victims of Hydra last I checked, not teammates of theirs- perhaps Hydra brainwashed them."

"We are not brainwashed," Wanda growled from beside Ultron, an uncharacteristic sneer adorning her face. I was taken aback by her harshness.

"Ultron promises a better world, a world in which we are free and don't have to live in fear anymore. The world we have lived in with you does not eliminate fear- it promotes it."

I didn't know what to say to her. How was this the same person as the one that had let me go in the hospital and warned me of an impending Hydra attack at Stark Tower? The Wanda I knew then was not bitter. She was feeling hopeless, yes, but...

Hopeless. She and Pietro had felt hopeless about their own situation, but they had been more than willing to help me because I had had a fighting chance. If they were so hopeless, they would've been desperate for change...which means they would've been easy prey for Ultron. He had fed them lies and delusional visions of a false future and they had bought it.

I remembered what Pietro had said to Wanda outside, before Steve, Bucky and I had gotten into the ship. What if he's just trying to use us?

Pietro had doubts. Wanda believed that Ultron was her only chance at a life without Hydra. Perhaps there was room to change their minds.