Never Let Your Guard Down
Emerging from the restroom, you noticed Agent Hill walking up the stairs with Steve. “Barton. Might have something.” “I gotta go,” Clint muttered into his phone before hanging up. “Who was that?” “Girlfriend.” Smirking to yourself, you followed the Avengers to where the rest were waiting. Even as one of the world’s best agents, Clint was terrible liar; despite being lost in thought at the time, you distinctly remembered Clint telling Dr. Cho that he didn’t have a girlfriend.
“What’s this?” Tony questioned, as Steve handed Thor a tablet. “A message. Ultron killed Strucker.” “And he did a Banksy at the crime scene, just for us,” Tony mused, eyeing the word ‘peace’ spelled out on the wall in Strucker’s blood. “This is a smoke screen. Why send a message when you’ve just given a speech?” Natasha asked the question everyone was secretly wondering.
“Strucker knew something that Ultron wanted us to miss.” “Yeah, I bet he… Yeah,” she sighed, “Everything we had on Strucker’s been erased.” “Not everything,” Steve grinned.
***
“Who keeps paper copies on every single solitary file nowadays?” “It’s a precaution,” Steve chuckled, “for times like these.” “It’s also a waste of trees,” you shot back, admiring the boxes of files from your spot on the table.
“What are we even looking for? Sure, Ultron wants all of your heads on a platter, but what’s his move? He wants peace but suddenly it’s okay to spell words on walls in other people’s blood. He can’t do this alone, even if the twins are helping him, that’s not enough. He needs an army, but he needs an army that can’t be defeated,” you rambled on, pretty sure no one was listening.
“Known associates. Baron Strucker had a lot of friends,” Steve deducted, shifting through the files. “Well, these people are all horrible,” Bruce commented, grimacing at a few of the details. “Expect anything less Doctor? It is HYDRA you’re looking into,” you sighed, flipping through a nearby file of your own. “Wait. I know that guy. From back in the day. He operates off the African coast. Black market arms,” Tony rambled on. Meeting Steve’s glare he continued, “There are conventions. All right? You meet people. I didn’t sell him anything. He was talking about finding something new, a game-changer. It was all very Ahab.”
“This?” Thor points to a scar on the back of Tony’s black market friend’s neck. “Ah, it’s a tattoo; I don’t think he had it.” “Those are tattoos, this is a brand,” Thor explains. “Oh, yeah. It’s a word in an African dialect meaning “thief”. In a much less friendly way,” Bruce adds from his spot at the computer. “What dialect?” “Wakanada. W-Wakanda?” "If this guy got out of Wakanada with some of their trade goods…”
“I thought your father said he got the last of it.” “I don’t follow,” Bruce voiced, obviously needed a follow-up, “What comes out of Wakanda?” “The strongest metal on Earth.” “That’s what he means by “in the flesh”. Until he can find a better body, he’s going to settle with vibranium, which might be better than an actual body,” you stated, slipping off the table. “If he gets his hands on that, we might not be able to stop him.”
“Where is this guy now?”
***
“Gotta love the smell of a salvage yard in the morning,” you scoffed, following the Avengers into the hull of a ship. “(Y/N) are you sure you don’t need a knife, or even a gun?” Steve asked for the millionth time since leaving the tower. “Don’t worry Cap, I can handle myself,” you laughed, before bumping into the oh-so-famous Iron Man suit. “Are you trying to give away our position?” Tony hissed. “Uh-duh, that’s obviously my plan. Damn, you sure got me Tony,” you said dryly, rolling your eyes.
From your elevated position, you watched as Ultron began yelling, eventually cutting the poor man’s arm off. “Don’t compare me with Stark!” “Stark is… He’s a sickness!” Ultron sneered; unfazed by the fact he just cut some man’s arm off. “Ah, Junior. You’re gonna break your old man’s heart,” Tony tease, landing before him. “If I have to.”
“Nobody has to break anything,” Thor stated, trying his usual naive approach. “Clearly you’ve never made an omelet.” “He beat me by one second,” Tony admits, indicating Ultron got his bad jokes from Stark’s files. “Ah, yes. He’s funny. Mr. Stark. It’s what? Comfortable? Like old times?” Pietro taunts, glancing at the shells below them. “This was never my life.” “You two can still walk away from this,” Steve starts. “Oh, we will,” Wanda confirms, confident that the three of them can pull this off.
“I know you’ve suffered-” “Captain America,” Ultron scoffs, “God’s righteous man. Pretending you could live without a war. I can’t physically throw up in my mouth, but…” “If you believe in peace, then let us keep it.” You managed a small smile despite the situation; Thor just never knew when to stop giving people chances and start throwing punches. “Pretty confident that Ultron conveniently mixed up the definitions of ‘peace’ with ‘world-domination’,” you commented into the earpiece.
“I think you’re confusing “peace” with “quiet”.” “Uh-huh. What’s the vibranium for?” “I’m glad you asked that, because I wanted to take this time to explain my evil plan.” Without a moment’s notice, more iron suits dropped down, taking the attention of Thor and Cap as Ultron rammed Tony into the wall.
Meeting Natasha’s gaze, you both looked to see armed henchmen running your way. Walking towards them, you quickly formed dual pistols, taking out several goons before they could even aim. “You guys realize the vibranium is getting away,” you grunted, as a bullet ripped through your abdomen. Flinching, you continued to focus on the current situation and not the shearing pain.
“Natasha-” Turning around you watched in horror as Wanda began to warp her mind. “I’m getting real tired of your shit,” you yelled, firing several rounds at her, careful not to hit Natasha on accident. As Natasha sat there defenseless, Wanda scrambled to her feet.
“Clint, help Natasha. I’ll handle Wanda,” you called into the earpiece, following the brunette. Pietro may be faster than all of the Avengers, but Wanda was the one who dealt the most damage. Just as you were rounding a corner, Tony came flying through a wall, taking you down with him. “Sorry spitfire,” was the only apology you were going to earn as he took off right after Ultron.
Pulling yourself out of the debris, you felt your stomach drop.