The Party
There was an uneasy, mechanical voice from the closest door "Worthy... No, how could you be worthy? You're all killers."
Steve was the first to talk, "Stark"
Tony pulled out his phone, holographic projections showing, "Jarvis?"
The robotic voice now had a body, wires, and oil falling from all sides as it talked towards them "I'm sorry, I was asleep. Or... I was a-dream?"
Stark tapped his phone once more, "Reboot, Legionnaire OS, we got a buggy suit."
Maria instinctively reached for Natasha before her left hand ran down the side of her leg and freed the weapon from its holster.
"There was a terrible noise... and I was tangled in... in... strings. I had to kill the other guy. He was a good guy." the robot spoke again, his cadence just off from what it should have been if it was an AI Tony created.
Rogers approached slowly, "You killed someone?"
The robot, paused for a moment, almost as if it was sighing, "Wouldn't have been my first call. But, down in the real world, we're faced with ugly choices."
Thor approached quickly, "who sent you?"
It was slightly muffled, but Tony's voice was instantly recognizable as the robot projected it "I see a suit of armor around the world."
Banner took a step back, concern and astonishment on his face, "Ultron."
The robot, Ultron it seemed faced him "In the flesh. Or, no, not yet. Not this... chrysalis. But I'm ready. I'm on a mission."
Natasha stood along with Maria, "What mission?"
Ultrons gaze narrowed on her in a way that made Maria put her body between the two, "Peace in our time."
His voice was almost cut off as an explosion sounded in the room and the Iron Legion that had been repaired days before came crashing in. The War Machine was the first target it seemed and Maria called out his name.
"Rhodey!" She fired round after round into the robots that had no plans of showing them peace.
Natasha launched her body at the scientist who stood in the middle of the room, unsure of what to do without the other guy showing up. Maria watched as the two toppled over the bar and she grabbed onto Clint as the two dodged out of the way of an Iron Legion robot, Scepter in hand.
There was chaos and snapping metal everywhere she looked as she and the archer went back to back trying to gain control of the situation. She counted each round she fired, keeping note of how many she had left.
Each of the Iron Legions rattled off its preset phrases, the space-filling with promises of safety and the offer of help even though they were the ones causing the most destruction. Maria felt Barton leave her side to grab Steve's shield that rested nearby.
"Cap!" He called out, launching the disc into the man's hands.
In two moves, the blonde had broken the robot's chest plate and caused it to crumple to the ground.
Ultron spoke up once more "That was dramatic! I'm sorry, I know you mean well. You just didn't think it through. You want to protect the world, but you don't want it to change. How is humanity saved if it's not allowed to...evolve?"
He picked up one of the remaining heads of the Iron Legion, "With these? These puppets? There's only one path to peace: The Avengers' extinction."
In the blink of an eye, Thor's hammer was flying across the room and striking home in the center of Ultrons chest. His eyes continued to glow for just a moment as he sang softly to himself.
Each of the members looked each other over through heaving breaths, no one looked seriously hurt.
"Masha," Natasha was at her side, her voice low as she pointed out Maria's feet.
At some point, she had kicked off her heels to gain speed and traction. What had seemed like a good idea at the time was now leaving a trail of blood wherever she went.
"I'm okay," she nodded and looked over at the Russian who nodded that she was physically okay as well.
The Commander winced slightly as she walked, there was no mistaking the sensation of glass embedded in her foot, but that would have to wait. Her fingers were on the home screen of her phone in a matter of seconds.
“They’re both safe, neither of them budged an inch,” Barnes answered the phone call, “Are you all okay up there?”
She stopped from where she stood in front of the elevator, there was no reason to disrupt the sleepover and if they were safe, there was nothing she could do.
“We’re safe up here, Jarvis had some kind of bug I think,” the truth was still up for debate but that was all she was comfortable with sharing for now, “I’m going to call Liam’s mom and see if she wants to pick him up.”
“Okay, if you need me, let me know, I can drop Ellie off with them and head upstairs if you want.”
“I’ll keep you updated,” she walked over to the lab where the rest of the group was now congregating.
They hung up and she sent a quick text off to both Ruizs before taking a seat on one of the chairs. She called a few more people from security, and then Pepper before she looked around and finally found a set of pliers small enough for her to use to pull the glass out of her foot.
“You heard from Buck?” Steve winced as he looked at her foot, offering her his jacket which she pulled on over her outfit.
“He’s fine, and so are the kids,” she tried to pull the glass out, “It was contained to this floor I guess.”
“Here,” Dr. Cho was next to her with medical supplies in an instant.
“Thanks,” Maria took a pair of small blue tweezers and began pulling out piece after piece.
“Ellie okay?” Natasha’s voice floated in next to her.
“Yeah,” she pulled out another piece, “so is Bucky and Liam. Clint?”
“Cho’s looking to make sure the new skin didn't tear.”
Maria went deeper into the tissue and sucked in air through her teeth as she got another one. She paused and looked up to Natasha who was studying her closely.
“You okay?” the brunette scanned her over visually, other than a change in clothes and a few pieces of debris in her hair, the woman looked unscathed.
“Yeah,” Natasha nodded, “other than that, you alright?”
Maria nodded back and watched as the Russian looked through files on an open computer in the lab. Green eyes scared the screen over and over again.
“All our work is gone,” Banner was the first to speak up, “Ultron cleared out and used the internet as an escape hatch.”
“He’s been in everything,” Natasha finally looked away from the monitor, “files, surveillance, probably knows more about us than we know about each other.”
Maria got the hint and glanced over to Clint whose eyes widened for a moment before returning back to a blank slate. He would need to contact Laura, there was no telling what the wrong people would do with the information regarding the Barton family.
“He’s in your files, he’s in the internet. What if he decides to access something a little more exciting?” Rhodes held his arm as he paced.
“Nuclear codes,” Maria paused from where she was pulling glass out as she thought about exactly what Ultron would now have access to.
“Nuclear code,” the man agreed, “look we need to make some calls, assuming we still can.”
“Nukes?” Natasha spoke once again, “he said he wanted us dead-”
“He didn’t say dead,” Steve cut her off, “he said extinct.”
“He also said he killed somebody,” Clint recalled the detail Maria couldn’t stop thinking of.
“But there wasn’t anyone else in the building.” She had checked as soon as she hung up with Barnes, there was no one else in the building other than the partygoers and those in her own apartment.
“Yes, there was,” Tony tapped his phone and pulled up what could only be described as a pile of holographic orange scraps.
Banner approached the projection, arms open in disbelief, “this is insane.”
“Jarvis was the first line of defense, he would have shut Ultron down, it makes sense,” the blonde didn’t look up as he spoke.
“No, Ultron could have assimilated Jarvis this isn’t strategy, this is…” Banner shook his head, “rage.”
Maria pulled out what she hoped was the last of the glass as Thor walked into the room, taking large strides until his hand was around Stark's throat.
“Woah, woah,” Rhodes was on his feet in a second.
“It’s goin’ around,” Clint chimed in.
“Use your words, buddy,” Tony struggled to breathe.
“I have more than enough words to describe you, Stark,” the god held the man’s throat with ease.
“Thor,” Steve got his attention, “the legionnaire.”
He let Tony go with enough force to send the man reeling back, “trail went cold about 100 miles out, but it’s headed north, and it has the scepter. Now we have to retrieve it. Again.”
“Genies out of that bottle,” Natasha spoke up, “clear and present is Ultron.”
“I don’t understand,” Helen shook her head, “why is it trying to kill us?”
Tony laughed and everybody in the room turned towards him, all ready to put him in line for joking at a time like this. Banner shook his head.
“You think this is funny?” Thor began walking over to the Billionaire once more.
“No? It’s probably not, right?” Stark smirked, “is this very terrible? Is it so- it is, it is so terrible.”
“This could have been avoided if you hadn’t played with something you don’t understand-” Thor started what would turn into an argument between all the men in the room.
Maria looked over at Natasha who shook her head and rolled her eyes, it was amazing that she put up with arguments like this nearly daily.
“We’re the Avengers, we can bust arms dealers all the livelong day. But that up there,” Tony pointed to the ceiling, “that’s the end game. How were you guys planning on beating them?”
“Together,” Steve’s voice was clear as he spoke.
“We’ll lose,” Tony took a step towards him.
“Then we’ll do that together too,” And then it was so clear who was in charge of the group, “Thors right, Ultron’s calling us out and I’d like to find him before he’s ready for us.”
All of the people in the room nodded.
“The world's a big place, let’s start making it smaller,” Steve nodded to Natasha who was already typing away on the computer in front of her.
Maria checked her phone and, with a quick squeeze of the Russian's shoulder, walked out of the lab. Dominic had just gotten off work and offered to come pick Liam up just in case. While there was a twinge of guilt, she couldn't blame the man.
The elevator behind her dinged as she opened the front door.
"Hey Maria," Dominic was still in his scrubs.
"Hey," she offered a weak smile, "I'm so sorry-"
He held up a hand, "The only thing you have to be sorry for is not telling me that an old patient of mine is bleeding all over the place."
She glanced down at her feet and frowned, they had started bleeding again. Sighing, she opened the front door fully and waved to the man who had not one, but two small children passed out on him.
"If I move do they wake up?" Barnes's voice was barely a whisper as he spoke.
"No," Maria snorted and went over to free the man who had been trapped on the couch for who knows how long.
Ellie barely stirred as she was laid down on one cushion of the couch, Liam spanning the other side as Dominic removed his child.
The metal-armed man visibly relaxed as he stood up, from the credits that rolled on the screen, he had been there for a while.
"They asked for a movie after brushin' their teeth and I said alright but then they go and sleep all over me not even 5 minutes in," he rolled his neck.
"Aladin?" Maria watched the credits for a moment longer.
"Actually was a pretty swell movie," Barnes shrugged.
"Well thank you again," the Commander held back a smile as she walked him to the door.
"Thank you," Ruiz seconded her thanks.
"You sure I can't pay you?" she reached for her wallet that was placed on a table by the door.
"Nah, it was my pleasure, really," he gave a small smile, "They're good kids and I got outta that party."
"We could have used you," Maria noted as she shrugged off Steve's jacket and handed it to the man in front of her, "he's still in the lab, probably just him, Tasha, and Tony by this point."
"Thanks," the brunette nodded and left without another word.
"Alright, let me see what you did to your feet," Dominic called and Maria stopped by the kitchen to grab the first aid kit they kept there.
"I think I got all of it," she sat down in her armchair and propped her feet up.
He used the nearby lamp and his fingers to double-check before cleaning the cuts and placing steri strips over them and then bandages to keep them from bleeding more than they already did.
"Alright, you're good to go," he smiled as he stood up.
"Thanks again and really I'm sorry for the way everything turned out," she looked over to the couch where both 7-year-olds were passed out, not having stirred once.
"I'm not, from what I heard they had a great night, plus Elena's staying at her friend's house so now Liam and I can have a boy's day tomorrow," Dominic slowly picked up his son.
After gathering his backpack and waving a sleepy goodbye, the two left. Maria ran a hand through her hair as she sat down in her chair, watching the steady rise and fall of her daughter's chest.
"The funny feeling is gone," Ellie's little voice broke through the silence.
It had been almost two years since she had first brought the girl home and yet her ability to use the skills she had learned in the Red Room were as sharp as the day she left.
"It was taken by some bad guys," she didn't know much more to tell the girl, "the thing that made the funny feeling was taken out of the tower during the party."
"To make more Ellies?" the curly-haired girl cracked one eye open from where her face was still pressed into the couch cushion.
"No," Maria smiled, "there's only one Ellie in this world."
The child nodded and closed her eyes again.
"Come on baby let's go to sleep," Maria stood and scooped up the girl who didn't protest.
By the time she had put Ellie to bed and changed into a pair of sweats and a T-shirt, Natasha and Clint were back home. The archer pulled his hearing aids out and signed to Natasha that he was going to sleep.
The Russian nodded and looked around the apartment for a moment before she slipped into Ellie's room, just for a moment before reemerging and finding Maria in the main bedroom.
"Find anything useful?" the brunette pulled her hair into a bun and glanced up from the tablet in her hands.
"Not much, but I sent out some feelers to surveillance groups," Natasha fidgeted trying to get the zipper of her dress.
Maria's hands brushed hers away as she pulled the small metal tab herself. Natasha sighed and was into the closet and back out in soft clothes before Maria could send off a single email.
The Russian sighed and slipped into the soft sheet of the bed, her body immediately sliding over to Maria.
"Do you think it's always going to be like this?" Natasha placed her head on the brunette's chest.
"Like what?" she asked, glancing down at the locks of red that now took over the left side of her body.
"Whenever things get good, they don't last?" the question was barely above a whisper.
"I don't know," Maria's voice was muffled as she kissed the top of the woman's head, "but even if that's the case, you'll always have me to come home to."
Sunday flew by as the group worked to piece together exactly what had transpired the night before. Ellie followed Maria around like a duckling, sitting with her in the control room, walking with her hand in hand as they went into Tony's lab, and jumping off the last few steps as they made their way into the debrief room. No matter where she went, Ellie (and sometimes Natasha) followed just as she had done in the days of the triskellion.
"Here," Maria dished out a serving of goldfish crackers in front of her daughter as they sat in her office.
Ellie happily snacked on them, her eyes still glued to the tablet in front of her.
"Report said a group of four robots broke in last night," Bobbi spoke through the phone speaker on Maria's desk, "stole a ton of weapons, not just complete ones either, pretty much every bit they could get their hands on."
"Anyone injured?" the Commander listened to the woman list of a few names of those wounded, but not killed.
Morse, along with a small group of old SHIELD agents were still deep in global security and while they operated under a different name, they were still the group she knew she could look to for help just as she had for so long in the company. It was why she knew there was something else when the woman hesitated to speak.
"What else Dr. Morse," Maria teased, trying to lighten the mood.
The blonde sighed over the phone and dropped her voice, "People are... cautious of the Avengers now."
"Because of what happened in Sokovia?" she paused and listened.
"Because the robots that broke in last night looked real similar to Starks ion legion," Morse continued to speak quietly, "May's keeping us out of whatever you're doing."
"Noted," the brunette nodded to herself, "thanks Bobbi."
They exchanged goodbyes and Maria continued to work, checking on the girl in front of her every so often. She had almost called it a night when her phone began to ring once more.
"Whatcha got for me Belova?" she didn't miss how Ellie perked up immediately and leaned her head closer to the phone.
"Tin Man junior just killed two men in a robotics-" the blonde accent was thick as she tried to recall the word, "здание объекта"
Maria's brows furrowed.
"Big work building," Ellie pipped up.
"Hi Rat," The blonde's tone changed significantly once she heard the child's voice.
"Hi Lena," Ellie responded.
"And you're positive it was him?" Maria double-checked.
"Yes, Melina was working with that group. She received a phone call explaining the situation, they..."
Maria was used to the way that Yelena spoke, she knew to give the young woman time to get her thoughts.
"The scientist was in a mental state similar to subjugation and called to see if it was mental control from where we were raised," the woman explained in a hushed tone.
It was the other thing about her, she was much less likely to call the Red Room by its title, just as she was more likely to call Melina mom. There were differences in the three women who were indeed all raised in the same place.
"It wasn't," Maria's own voice softened as she spoke, "You know that the Room came down and that there is no one with the ability to subjugate any longer."
She tried her best to reassure the blonde who was no doubt unraveling.
"There is a young woman who has the ability to mentally manipulate those around her," she explained, "I have her file right here and it's black and white one of her abilities."
Maria looked at her computer screen and confirmed it, "the effects aren't lasting but they are potent when she's close range."
Yelena sighed slightly, "I'll let Melina know, but Maria Hill, she is not happy with the Avengers group currently."
"I'll add her to the list," she huffed.
"Is it going to be... bad in the world again?" the blonde asked.
It was a loaded question, even more so as she took in the big green eyes that watched her every move from the couch. A question so similar to the one that Natasha had asked the night before. Both girls were looking to Maria for answers.
"I don't know," she was honest as she spoke, "but I do know that no matter what, we have each other and you two will be safe."
Both girls seemed to take the answer at face value and continued on with what they were doing. The trust they both had in Maria wasn't something she would ever take for granted.
They had both been raised not to trust, not to accept love, not to show any weakness. It was something Maria thought about again and again that day, emphasized even more as she watched surveillance footage Bobbi had sent over late that night.
Even in the low-quality video, the young Sokovian's faces were noticeable. They too looked as if they were untrusting, unattached, and unforgiving. As much as they had done wrong, it still tugged at Maria's heart to see two people no older than Yelena with such coldness in them.
"Go tell your mommy to put work away for the night," Natasha stage whispered to the girl next to her on the couch.
Maria smiled as the pitter-patter of Ellie's feet got louder and louder until they were right in front of the door to her office in the apartment.
"Mommy, Tasha says you have to not do any more work tonight," the girl pulled on the hem of her shirt as she spoke.
"Oh yeah?" she pushed herself away from the desk until she was directly in front of the child.
"Yeah," Ellie nodded.
"Is Tasha the boss of me?" Maria smiled as the redhead leaned against the door frame right behind Ellie.
"Um," her daughter squinted and tilted her head to the side, "I think so."
The Commander barked out a laugh as she stood, in two big steps she was in front of her daughter. She picked Ellie up and threw her over her shoulder, the little girl squealing in protest.
"I'll show you who's in charge," Maria tossed the girl further over her shoulder and jostled them both.
Natasha smiled from where she stood in the hallway, rising to her tip toes to kiss Maria as she and Ellie passed.
"We playing Launch The Kid?" Clint came in through the front door and immediately made grabby hands for Ellie who continued to laugh and squeal in delight.
Clint had been away from the kids for over two weeks and while she knew he had been without them for longer stints, she still felt bad for him. The team not knowing about his family made it so the archer only ever took phone calls to Laura and the kids once he was back in Maria's apartment.
"Were you looking at the string of break-ins?" Natasha asked from where she stood by the brunette's side.
"Yeah," she sighed, "Ultron's got not only the legion but those twins doing his dirty work for him. It's going to be really hard to take them down."
The Russian hummed in agreement, "Think we'll be able to do it?"
Maria nodded, "but only if you stick together."