Captain's Hart and Soul

Chapter 8 Seoul

Very early hours April 12, 2015

The whole team was back in their battle gear, and Steve said to Tony firmly as he placed his shield on his back: "I'll take Ria, Natasha and Clint."

"Alright, strictly recon." Tony agreed. "I'll hit the NEXUS, I'll join you as soon as I can."

"If Ultron is really building a body..." Steve began slowly, and Tony glanced at him.

The pair stopped by the doors to leading out of the living room and he said to Steve seriously: "He'll be more powerful than any of us. Maybe all of us. An android designed by a robot."

Steve nodded, and he added somewhat sarcastically: "You know I really miss the days when the weirdest thing science ever created was me."

"Bet you don't miss it enough to give up Ria to go back to it though." Tony quipped, making Steve grin lightly.

It faded, becoming grim once more as Fury walked over, saying as he shrugged on his coat: "I'll drop Banner off at the tower."

He turned his eye to Tony pointedly as he asked: "Do you mind if I borrow Ms. Hill?"

"She's all yours, apparently." Tony shot back.

Fury looked faintly amused, especially when Tony tacked on curiously: "What are you gonna do?"

"I don't know." Fury answered before he looked between the pair with a hint of a smile. "Something dramatic, I hope."

He walked out, leaving Tony to roll his eyes good-naturedly and Steve grinned. His smile widened although a hint of worry also entered his expression as Arianna walked down the steps to join them, dressed in her full black, agent body suit. She was strapping in her last knife and a pistol to her thigh holster as she stopped beside Steve, and Tony rolled his eyes again as Steve reached over and kissed Arianna's head when she finished.

At the back entrance, another couple were having a quiet moment, and Clint murmured to Laura as he strapped on the last of his gear: "I'm gonna finish re-flooring that sunroom as soon as I get back."

"Yeah," Laura challenged, "and then you'll find another part of the house to tear apart."

"No." Clint answered firmly. "It's the last project. I promise." He told her quietly, making Laura smile at his analogy.

But her face was still lined with worry, and as Clint leaned down to kiss her, she lifted her hands to cup his face gently, caressing him one last time.

Arianna and Nat also said their quiet goodbyes to Laura, wishing her the best of luck with her newborn as it was unlikely they would come by again before he was born. And Laura watched sadly from her porch as the quinjet took off, taking her two friends and her husband into danger once more.

********

Clint dropped Steve off onto a roof just off of Helen's U-Gin Genetic Research Lab roof, and Arianna watched anxiously as the super-soldier jumped up and pulled himself onto the highest balcony. Clint took off again, flying away as Steve called over the comms: "Two minutes. Stay close."

Steve made his way quickly over to the lab, dashing inside a little too easily. His senses heightened, as did his worry when he ran into the largest lab to find several of the attendants lying dead, killed by Iron Legion laser blasts. He hurried into the inner lab, seeing a large gaping hole in the wall where Ultron most likely either left or entered.

His attention was diverted as he spotted a familiar figure lying on the ground on the side of the lab, and Steve called urgently: "Dr. Cho!"

He hurried over to the wounded woman, her blood seeping all over her blue uniform. She was breathing heavily as he knelt beside her, and Steve quickly grabbed a clean towel, pressing it to her wound.