HESTIA⇒S.ROGERS

3.6

{gif by cmarvels}

"I'm gonna say this once," Steve said as he walked in the lab where Bruce and Tony were. "How about "nonce"?" Tony asked him. "Shut it down!" Steve said. "Nope, not gonna happen," Tony said back to him. "You don't know what you're doing." "And you do? She's not in your head?" Bruce asked him and motioned to Wanda. "I know you're angry," she said to him. "Oh, we're way past that. I could choke the life out of you and never change a shade." "Bruce," Lilly said and moved closer.

"Banner, after everything that's happened—" "That's nothing compared to what's coming!" Tony cut off Steve. "You don't know what's in there!" Wanda said to him, "the creature...!" Pietro used his speed to destroy the lab equipment. "No, no. Go on. You were saying?" Pietro said to Bruce and Tony. Out of nowhere Pietro fell one floor lower. "Pietro!" Wanda screamed.

"Go ahead, piss me off," Bruce said, provoking Wanda. Just then Thor entered and pounded the cradle with his hammer, sending a powerful bolt of lightning that brought the body inside the cradle to life. "No!" Lilly said. The body jumped out of the cradle.

It looked at Thor and leaped towards him. "Thor!" Lilly screamed. Steve jumped down, but Thor showed him to stop. Everyone watched the body who was watching the city from the window.

"I'm sorry, that was...odd," the body said, "thank you." He said to Thor. "Thor, you helped create this?" Steve asked him. "I've had a vision. A whirlpool that sucks in all hope of life and at it's center is that," he pointed to the gem in the body's head. "I've also had something else confirmed at the place I visited, so I'd like to say a word with you, Lilly before we go and hunt down Ultron." Thor said.
"What is this gem?" Bruce asked Thor. "It's the Mind Stone. It's one of the six Infinity Stones, the greatest power in the universe, unparalleled in its destructive capabilities." "Then why would you bring it to—" "Because Stark is right," Thor said and cut off Steve.

"Oh, it's definitely the end times," Bruce commented and glanced at Tony. "The Avengers cannot defeat Ultron," Thor said and the body said, "Not alone."

The body started moving across between Steve and the twins. "Why does your "vision" sound like JARVIS?" "We...we reconfigured JARVIS' matrix to create something new," Tony answered Steve. "I think I've had my fill of new."

"You think I'm a child of Ultron?" The body asked Steve. "You're not?" "I'm not Ultron. I'm not JARVIS. I am...I am." "I looked in your head and saw annihilation," Wanda said. "Look again," the body said back to her.

"Their powers, the horrors in our heads, Ultron himself, they all came from the Mind Stone, and they're nothing compared to what it can unleash. But with it on our side—" "Is it? Are you? On our side?" Steve cut off Thor and asked the body. "I don't think it's that simple." "Well it better get real simple real soon," Barton said. "I am on the side of life. Ultron isn't, he will end it all," the body said. "What's he waiting for?" Tony asked him. "You." "Where?" Bruce asked him and Clint answered him, "Sokovia. He's got Nat there too."

"If we're wrong about you, if you're the monster that Ultron made you to be,..." Bruce said and stopped. "What will you do?" The body asked him. Everyone looked at him. "Electrocute you, burn you, stab you,... shut you off." Lilly said. He realised that they'll destroy him. "I don't want to kill Ultron. He's unique, and he's in pain. But that pain will roll over the earth, so he must be destroyed. Every form he's built, every trace of his presence on the net, we have to act now. And not one of us can do it without the others. Maybe I am a monster. I don't think I'd know if I were one. I'm not what you are, and not what you intended. So there may be no way to make you trust me. But we need to go," the body said and held up Thor's hammer. As he handed it to him, everyone stared at them in shock.

"Right," Thor said and pat Stark on the shoulder. "Lilly, can we,... uh,... talk?" Lilly nodded and followed him. "Three minutes. Get what you need," Steve ordered to the rest of the team and looked after Thor and Lilly.

"Lilly, I have to tell you something that even I didn't believe at first." "Sure, go ahead," she said and paused, "wait. Should I be happy or scared or terrified?" "A little bit of each." Lilly quickly rose her eyebrows and sat on a chair. "I had a vision about Asgard," he started, "and you were there." "Okay,..." "Was I in your vision?" "Not really, no." "Well, then I'll just skip it to the very end." Lilly waited for him. He crouched in front of her. "Do you remember your life before you became an agent?" "Sadly, yes." "But how far back?" "I don't know, like I do remember saying that my father picked me up on the street, so I believe I was adopted?" "Well,..." he said and stood up.

Lilly watched him take a deep breath. "Just spit it out already!" She said, becoming impatient. "You're my—" "Are you guys ready?" Steve asked as he passed your room. "Yeah." Lilly said. "Good, let's go then." Lilly walked out of the room. "Wait, Lilly—" "You'll tell me later," she said and walked out. He sighed.

——— on the jet ———

"Ultron knows we're coming. Odds are we'll be riding into heavy fire, and that's what we signed up for. But the people of Sokovia, they didn't. So our priority is getting them out. All they want is to live their lives in peace, and that's not going to happen today. But we can do our best to protect them. And we can get the job done, and find out what Ultron's been building. We find Romanoff, and we clear the field. Keep the fight between us. Ultron thinks we're monsters and we're what's wrong with the world. This isn't just about beating him. It's about whether he's right," Steve said.

——— in Sokovia ———

Lilly went with Wanda and helped people get away from the city. "Move, people, move!"

Later as they got as much people as they could out of the city, Lilly saw robots coming at them. "Save the people, I'll hold them off!" Lilly said to Wanda.

Lilly blasted a fire bomb at the robots, who shut down immediately, but more and more of them were heading their way. "Get off the bridge!" Wanda screamed at people.

Suddenly the ground started shaking and moving around them. "What is happening?" As she said that she felt like she's flying even though she stood on the ground.

"Do you see? The beauty of it, the inevitability. You rise, only to fall. You, Avengers, you are my meteor, my swift and terrible sword and the earth will crack with the weight of your failure. Purge me from your computers, turn my own flesh against me. It means nothing. When the dust settles, the only thing living in this world will be metal." Ultron said.

The buildings around them were falling down and a piece of Sokovia, that was flying was being destroyed as well. "This is bad," Lilly said and flew in the air.

Sokovia was flying in the air, rising not really slowly. Lilly spotted some of the people, falling down from Sokovia. She rushed to them and quickly grabbed one of them. "Grab my hand!" She yelled at the other woman but she refused, falling into her death. "No," she whispered to herself. She flew back to the city and let go off the man that she saved.

She was in shock. Did she just let another person to die, because she couldn't save them? She tried to shake off that thought in her mind and tried to focus on the mission. She spotted Barton saving Wanda.

She blasted a fireball at the robot and flew away. "Focus on the mission."