Childhood Hero: Redbirds Past and Present (Captain America/Avengers Story)

Chapter Seven- Seoul, Surprise

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Zoey's POV

I sit beside Natasha as Steve goes through our plan again. The quinjet is jumpy as Clint speeds across the skies, covering the Pacific in only a few hours. Its daylight again as we reach land, and the four of us begin to get ready for battle.

"We need to get Dr. Cho and the cradle to safety in the jet." He tells us. Nat nods as I tie up my hair, leaving my fringe to flop over my forehead. "Stopping Ultron today is not our priority, he'll just reboot into another form if we kill his current body."

"He's going to do that anyway." I speak up. "It's like Bruce said, he's going to evolve. Helen's cradle can heal, but with the power of Loki's sceptre it can also create."

"So what does that mean for Ultron?" Steve asks me quickly.

"He's going to create a new form in the cradle, then upload himself into it." I tell them. "If he's doing that when we get there, we need to stop him before it's fully uploaded."

"And if he has fully uploaded?" Natasha asks with concern.

"Then we've already lost." I swallow. I move back to collect my weapons without another word, while the other two do the same. I take a few vibranium knives, as well as two small handguns. Despite my powers, I like to have some extra security, particularly when the enemy is constantly upgrading himself. 

I have to admit, Ultron being the product of my intelligence has put me on edge. He's been in and deleted all my files, leaving him with the upper hand. 

"Here we go, team." Steve says. "Zoey, you and I are going to Dr. Cho's laboratory. Nat, you and Clint wait for the retrieval of the cradle. If Ultron's left the facility already, you'll have a headstart on us."

"Roger that." Nat nods, standing next to the cockpit as Clint flies us over the bustling city of Seoul. I look out the window, watching the thousands of people go about their business, not even aware of how endangered they are. By having her laboratory in her home city, Dr. Cho has unfortunately put millions of innocent Koreans in danger of crossing Ultron's path. 

"We need to do this fast and clean." I say, still watching the window. "No civilian casualties."

"No collateral damage, got it." Clint pipes up.

"Not collateral damage." I glance over at him, my words strong and stormy. I need to make sure he gets my point. "They're not collateral. They're people. No one gets hurt or dies today, no matter how we come out of this."

"Okay." Clint swallows and nods. "I didn't mean anything by it, Zoey."

"I know." I nod and run a hand over my face, moving to the back of the quinjet. Steve joins me, leaving a small gap between us.

"You okay?" He asks me. I nod, chewing the inside of my cheek.

"Yeah." I mumble.

"Why are you so worried about the people today?" Steve asks quietly. "We always save them. We're going to do that today as well."

"We don't always save them." I whisper. "Sometimes we can't."

"We'll stop Ultron before anything happens to these people." He assures me.

"If anything does happen to these people, it'll be my fault." I tell him. "I created the first Ultron program. Regardless of what Tony and Bruce did, this is all because of what I created in the first place."

I don't look at him as I speak, but his closeness makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

"Anyone killed by Ultron is really killed by me." I mutter.