Chapter 136
“So what exactly do you need me to do?” I asked walking up behind the pilot’s seat.
“You can start by reading this.” Maria said handing me a huge binder.
“What’s this?” I asked confused.
“Owner’s manual.” Fury said.
“To what? The starship enterprise?” Will said helping me carry the binder. “This thing is huge.”
“So is that.” I said looking at the diagram of the huge ship. “When you said you needed a hacker I thought we might be launching a cyber attack against ultron or maybe putting up more firewalls not helping you program a flying aircraft carrier.”
“You’re not programming it, we need you to help us steal it from the US government and help us fly it.” Fury said.
“Okay yeah. That’s more up my alley.” I said skimming through the pages.
“Yup.” Will said. “Need me to tell you how illegal this is?”
“Treason, Trespassing, etcetera” I said.
“Among other things. You guys don’t really care do you?” Will said.
“Nope.” We all answered.
“Didn’t think so.” Will said.
“So I can probably hack whatever military base security system they have and if I had time to actually reprogram this thing to work more cohesively I could probably get it to work with just one person steering but considering we’re on a deadline...” I said.
“I already made a some calls. We’ll pick up a few stragglers and a few will meet us there.” Maria said.
“We’re still going to be short on people so try to minimize how many people we’re going to have scattered.” Fury said.
“Shouldn’t be too hard. Just need to keep this thing in the air while everyone goes do whatever needs to be done.” I said.
“And not get blasted out of the sky.” Will said.
“One thing at a time, Let’s start by stealing the ship first.” I said.
Third Person’s POV- Seoul, South Korea
“Two minutes. Stay close.” Steve told Clint and Natasha as he was dropped off on the roof and he headed inside the lab. He and Bucky cautiously walked in and found Doctor Cho on the ground. “Dr. Cho!”
Steve immediately grabbed a towel and went to put pressure on her wound.
“He's uploading himself into the body.” She told him.
“Where?” Steve asked.
“The real power is inside the Cradle. The gem, its power is uncontainable. You can't just blow it up. You have to get the Cradle to Stark.” She said.
“First I have to find it.” Steve said.
“Go.” She told him ushering them away.
“Did you guys copy that?” He asked Clint and Natasha through their comms.
“We did.” Clint said already scanning the city for it.
“I got a private jet taking off, across town, no manifest. That could be him.” Natasha suggested.
Clint looked out the window and noticed a truck leaving the lab.“There.” He told Natasha. “It's the truck from the lab. Right above you, Cap. On the loop by the bridge. It's them. I got three with the Cradle, one in the cab. I could take out the driver.”
“Negative!” Steve shouted as he and Bucky ran after the truck. “If that truck crashes, the gem could level the city. We need to draw out Ultron.”
Steve jumped onto the truck and tried to open the door but Ultron blasted the door. Bucky hung on to the side of the truck with his metal hand.
“Well, he's definitely unhappy! I'm gonna try and keep him that way.” Steve said.
“You're not a match for him, Cap.” Clint said.
“Thanks, Barton.” Steve said trying to get in the truck.
“Lucky for you I’m here.” Bucky said trying to get in but Ultron shot at them again. Instead he got on the truck’s roof.
“You know what's in that Cradle?” Ultron taunted him. “The power to make real change, and that terrifies you.”
“I wouldn't call it a comfort.” Steve retorted fighting back.
Hayley’s POV-
“Okay so I’m their system, forwarding the live feed to you now.” I said giving everyone access.
“Good. For you.” Maria said.
“Uh I don’t like guns.” I said.
“It’s loaded with icers. They’ll just knock the guards out for an hour or so, just long enough to get into the ship and get out.” Maria said.
“This entire thing is riding on the fact that you know how to fly the ship or at least program it to do it on its own. So please tell me you can do that?” Fury said.
“You were the head of shield, shouldn’t you be like an expert at flying this thing?” I retorted.
“I was the head of an international intelligence organization, the best in the world. I had people for that. I delegated.” Fury said.
“And you wonder how Hydra grew right under your nose?” I said.
“Can you fly the damn thing or not?” He said.
“Of course I can fly it, I’m going to need some time to reprogram it’s servers to consolidate the main functions in the control room so once we have it we need to set it down somewhere safe.” I said.
“Can’t you do it in the air?” Maria asked.
“Not unless you want that thing to come crashing down while it reboots.” I said.
“We can set it down in the water and you can work while we wait for reinforcements.” Fury said. “How much time will you need?”
“A few hours, I already started on the program just need to run it and add more once I’m inside.” I said.
“Let’s get going.” Fury said.
“Stay close.” Maria said.
“No arguments here.” Will said.
Third Person’s POV-
“We got a window.” Clint told Natasha as he saw an opening on the highway behind the truck. “Four, three...give 'em hell.” He said before dropping Natasha on a bike where she sped through the road after the truck.
“I'm always picking up after you boys.” Natasha muttered as she grabbed Steve’s shield off the road.
“They're heading under the overpass, I've got no shot.” Clint told them.
“Which way?” Natasha said.
“Hard right...” Clint said. “Now.”
Natasha did as she was told and headed to the truck she tossed Steve his shield and he used it to defend himself against Ultron. She moved through a crowd of civilians as she continued going after the truck.
“Come on!” Steve groaned as he kept fighting Ultron.
“Clint, can you draw out the guards?” Natasha asked.
“Let's find out.” He answered. He maneuvered the jet and got the robots attention. He didn’t get them for long before they headed back to the truck. Steve managed to tackle Ultron off the truck and into a train.
“Heading back towards you. So whatever you're going to do, do it now.” Clint warned Natasha.
“I'm going in, Cap can you keep him occupied?” Natasha asked.
“What do you think we’ve been doing?” Steve retorted. Natasha got into the truck just as the Iron Legion picked up the truck and lifted it into the air.
“The package is airborne. I have a clean shot.” Clint said.
“Negative.” Natasha responded immediately. “I am still in the truck.”
“What the hell are you...?” Clint started.
“Just be ready, I'm sending the package to you.” She answered.
“How do you want me to take it?” Clint asked.
“Uhh, you might wish you hadn't asked that.” Natasha answered.
Pietro and Wanda meanwhile appeared on the train and helped Steve fight Ultron.
“Please. Don't do this.” Ultron asked.
“What choice do we have?” Wanda said before Ultron flew off.
“Nat, we gotta go.” Clint said as Natasha dropped the cradle, as she held on tight. She landed on the jet but at the last second Ultron grabbed her foot and pulled her away.
“Nat!” Clint shouted. “Cap, you see Nat?”
“If you have the package, get it to Stark! Go!” Steve ordered.
“Do you have eyes on Nat?” Clint asked again.
“Go!” Steve insisted and Clint hesitantly did as he was told.
Meanwhile Back in New York…
Tony landed on the balcony of the tower and disassembled his suit before heading inside.
“Hey, have you heard from Cap yet?” Tony asked.
“Yeah, Ultron went after Doctor Cho and the cradle. She was hurt but she’s okay now. Barton’s heading back with the cradle, Steve’ll catch up.” Bruce said.
“Is Hales in her room? I want her opinion on something.” Tony said and Bruce shifted awkwardly.
“About that…” Bruce started.
“What?” Tony said already knowing he wasn’t going to like the answer.
“Hayley isn’t actually here.” Bruce said.
“What do you mean she isn’t here? Where is she?” Tony said.
“She went with Fury and Hill.” Bruce said.
“And you just let her go?!” Tony said freaking out.
“It’s Hayley we don’t let her do anything she just goes.” Bruce said. “Will went with her to make sure she stays out of trouble. I’m sure Fury and Hill will keep her safe.”
“I’m still making sure.” Tony said pulling out his phone and dialing Will.
Hayley’s POV-
“Wow this place is dusty.” I said as I moved the flashlight around to get a better look at everything.
“Hales, we’re kind of on a deadline.” Will said.
“Auxilary lights powered by a separate generator.” I said walking off the platform to look at the side for access to the emergency plank. Once I found the giant red handle I tried moving it but it was stuck. “Shit, Will give me a hand.”
“What do you need?” Will said jumping down to help me.
“We need to move this down.” I said.
“Okay.” He said grabbing on and pushing down until the panel finally lifted up and rolled to the side exposing a bunch of switches. “Now what?”
“I need the lights on, then we go from there.” I said flipping up the red switch, turning on all the lights. Will whistled as he looked around.
“It’s bigger than I thought it was.” Will said.
“Okay, main computer…” I said going to turn it on. “Why do all computers take forever to start up?”
“Is that one of Clint’s arrows?” Will said looking at an arrow sticking out of a USB plug.
I turned on the screen and synched my phone to the computer.
“Are you almost done?” Fury called over through the comms.
“I just got the computer on, there’s a ton of malware on this thing…” I said.
“Hurry it up will you, I think they’re on to us.” Hill said as there were gunshots in the back ground.
“Way ahead of you.” I said shutting all the entrances to the hanger except the only one no one was at yet. I turned one of the screens to Will. “Will play keep away.”
“I don’t know how to hack.” Will said.
“I already did the hacking. Keep the guards running in circles. As soon as they get close to that door press the lock to lock it and open another to keep them moving. Hill and Fury can take care of the stragglers.” I said.
“Why not shut them all down?” Will said.
“Because if we barricade ourselves in they’ll focus on shooting us out of the sky. This’ll distract them while I get the shields online for a safe getaway.” I said typing in code to reprogram the ship. “Program is starting up, need to work on deactivating the anchors. You two may want to get inside,”
“On our way.” Fury said as I heard a weird song playing.
“Uptown funk you up…”
“Oh that’s mine.” Will said taking out his phone. “It’s a catchy song, Bruno Mars…”
“Answer it.” I said not looking away from the screen as my fingers kept moving on the keyboard. The computer could barely keep up with how fast I was typing. It was so slow. “This is too slow.” I said turning on the rest of the adjacent compute and synching it so I could work on more than one thing at once.
“Hales.” I heard someone say but it just kind of blended into the background. “hales? Hayley!” Will shouted.
“What?” I said snapping out of my daze.
“It’s for you.” Will said.
“Speaker please.” I said as I kept working.
“Hales?” I heard Tony said.
“Hey you… how was Oslo?” I said.
“Interesting. Where are you?” Tony said.
“Uh… not one hundred percent sure…” I said as Hill and Fury ran in.
“We need to get in the air now.” Fury said.
“Then turn on the jet.” Tony retorted.
“Are you seriously taking calls when we’re in the middle of…” Fury started.
“Done.” I said. Tapping on the screen before moving to the other screen and swiping up to set the engines to full power and then tapping Will’s screen to open the hanger doors. “Shield’s up…” I said before starting lift off. “Enter the coordinates to set it down there.” I said flipping a screen to Fury before grabbing Will’s phone and taking it off speaker.
“Sorry, you were saying?” I said.
“You’re flying the jet?” Tony asked.
“Uh, kind of.” I said. Technically there were jets on the Hellcarrier. “Simple hacking. Find anything in Oslo?”
“I did. Jarvis is alive.” Tony said.
“Seriously? Finally some good news.” I said.
“I could actually use a hand. Are you heading back?” Tony asked.
“Not exactly. I still have some work to do here.” I said.
“Hales.” Tony said before sighing. “We just got you back.” He whispered.
“I know, I’ll be home as soon as I can. Just need to finish what I started.” I said.
“Promise me you’ll stay out of trouble.” Tony said.
“I’m not walking into any fire fights. I’ll be behind a computer the entire time. Will will make sure of that.” I said smiling at my brother.
“I guess I’ll see you when it’s over.” Tony said reluctantly.
“You will. Be careful.” I said.
“I’ll try.” Tony said.
“I love you.” I said.
“Love you too.” He said before hanging up.
“Is he flying over to get you?” Will asked.
“No, he has his hands full on his end.” I said continuing to adjust the settings and adding more functions.
“Support’s on their way.” Hill said.
“How’s she looking?” Fury said.
“It’s coming together. Working on getting remote control of defense systems. We’re going to need them. I’m adding all the life boats as we speak.” I said.
“Life boats?” Hill asked.
“Ultron wants global extinction, he doesn’t care about any casualties, and the faster we evacuate civilians the better.” I said.
“You really thought this through.” Fury said eyeing me skeptically.
“It’s why you brought me with you.” I said. “Okay, shields, weapons systems, lifeboats, engine controls, it’s all here, I’m putting us on stealth mode while we figure out where to go from here.”
Third Person’s POV-
“Anything on Nat?” Bruce asked.
“Haven't heard. But she's alive, or Ultron'd be rubbing our faces in it.” Tony answered.
“This is sealed tight.” Clint said trying to pry the cradle open.
“We're going to need to access the program, break it down from within.” Bruce said.
“Hm. Any chance Natasha might leave you a message, outside the internet, old school spy stuff?” Tony asked Clint.
“There's some nets I can cast. Yeah, alright. I'll find her.” Clint said before heading out of the lab.
“I can work on tissue degeneration, if you can fry whatever operational system Cho implanted.” Bruce said getting to work.
“Yeah, about that.” Tony said and Bruce immediately looked at Tony knowing what was going through his head.
“No.” Bruce said.
“You have to trust me.” Tony said.
“Kinda don't.” Bruce retorted.
“Our ally? The guy protecting the military's nuclear codes? I found him.” Tony said bringing up his finding as a projection.
“Hello, Dr. Banner.” Jarvis answered.
“Ultron didn't go after JARVIS cause he was angry. He attacked him because he was scared of what he can do. So JARVIS went underground. Okay? Scattered, dumped his memory. But not his protocols. He didn't even know he was in there, until I pieced him together.” Tony explained.
“So, you want me to help you put JARVIS into this thing?” Bruce asked.
“No, of course not!” Tony answered. “I want to help you put JARVIS in this thing.” And Bruce shook his head completely disagreeing. “We're out of my field here. You know bio-organics better than anyone.”
“And you just assume that JARVIS' operational matrix can beat Ultron's?” Bruce said.
“JARVIS has been beating him from inside without knowing it. This is the opportunity, we can create Ultron's perfect self, without the homicidal glitches he thinks are his winning personality. We have to.” Tony said.
“I believe it's worth a go.” Jarvis seconded.
“No, I'm in a loop! I'm caught in a time loop, this is exactly where it all went wrong.” Bruce said.
“I know, I know. I know what everyone's going to say, but they're already saying it. We're mad scientists. We're monsters, buddy. You gotta own it. Make a stand.” Tony said and Bruce kept shaking his head. “It's not a loop. It's the end of the line. Hayley thinks it’s a good idea.”
“She said that?” Bruce asked.
“Not exactly but if she were here she would.” Tony said.
“Would she really?” Bruce asked. “Knowing exactly what happened the last time we were in this position?”
“She’s all about second chances.” Tony said. “She may not trust my judgment right now but she trusts yours. What’s your gut say?”
Bruce stayed quiet. “Get started on the framework, we need to move fast.” Bruce said.
So they did. Bruce worked on the organic tissue construction and getting the tissues to work with the gem while Tony worked on reworking the framework to work for Jarvis.
“This framework is not compatible.” Tony said.
“The genetic coding tower's at ninety-seven percent. You have got to upload that schematic in the next three minutes.” Bruce said grasping onto the necklace in his pocket to try and stay calm. At that moment Steve and the Twins walked into the lab.
“I'm gonna say this once.” Steve started.
“How about "nonce"?” Tony retorted.
“Shut it down!” Steve demanded.
“Nope, not gonna happen.” Tony answered.
“You don't know what you're doing.” Steve said.
“And you do?” Bruce said eyeing Wanda. “She's not in your head?”
“I know you're angry.” Wanda started.
“Oh, we're way past that. I could choke the life out of you and never change a shade.” Bruce spat out.
“Banner, after everything that's happened...” Steve started.
“That's nothing compared to what's coming!” Tony said jumping to Bruce’s defense.
“You don't know what's in there!” Wanda shouted.
“This isn't a game...” Steve continued.
“The creature...!” Wanda started before her brother ran through the lab destroying equipment.
“No, no. Go on. You were saying?” Pietro sassed. Clint saw him standing on the glass above him and quickly shot at him breaking the glass. Pietro fell down.
“Pietro!” Wanda shouted.
“What?” Clint asked. “You didn't see that coming?”
“Go ahead, piss me off.” Bruce said as he grabbed Wanda by the neck. The Thor crashed in and pounded the cradle with Mjolnir sending lightning through the cradle and bringing the body to life. The cradle burst open knocking Thor down. Everyone was ready to attack when eh stood up. “Wait!” Thor said as a red body flew up towards the window.
“I'm sorry, that was...odd.” The red android that sounded like Jarvis said before turning to Thor. “Thank you.”
“It sounds like the ceiling.” Bucky said making Tony roll his eyes at him.
“Thor, you helped create this?” Steve asked.
“I've had a vision. A whirlpool that sucks in all hope of life and at its center is that.” He said pointing to the gem on Vision’s forehead.
“What, the gem?” Bruce asked.
“It's the Mind Stone. It's one of the six Infinity Stones, the greatest power in the universe, unparalleled in its destructive capabilities.” Thor said.
“Then why would you bring it to...” Steve started.
“Because Stark is right.” Thor said making bucky and Steve stare at him in disbelief.
“Oh, it's definitely the end times.” Bruce groaned.
“The Avengers cannot defeat Ultron.” Thor said.
“Not alone.” The android corrected.
“Why does your "vision" sound like JARVIS?” Steve asked.
“We...we reconfigured JARVIS' matrix to create something new.” Tony said.
“I think I've had my fill of new.” Steve said.
“You think I'm a child of Ultron?” Vision said understanding why Steve was so resistant.
“You're not?” Steve answered.
“I'm not Ultron. I'm not JARVIS. I am...I am.” Visions said.
“I looked in your head and saw annihilation.” Wanda said.
“Look again.” Vision said.
“Yeah. Her seal of approval means jack to me.” Clint said defensively.
“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...” Thor started.
“Is it? Are you? On our side?” Steve asked.
“I don't think it's that simple.” Vision said.
“Well it better get real simple real soon.” Clint said.
“I am on the side of life. Ultron isn't, he will end it all.” Vision said simplifying it.
“What's he waiting for?” Tony asked.
“You.” Vision answered.
“Where?” Bruce asked.
“Sokovia. He's got Nat there too.” Clint said.
“Which means that’s also where Hayley’s going?” Tony said. “So much for staying out of trouble.”
“Hayley?” Thor said confused.
“Hayley’s awake,” Tony said.
“She is?” Thor asked cheerfully.
“Yeah and already walking into trouble.” Clint said.
“If we're wrong about you, if you're the monster that Ultron made you to be...” bruce started.
“What will you do?” Vision asked and by the looks on all of their faces he could tell what they were all thinking. “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.” He said lifting up Thor’s hammer and offering it to him.
“Right.” Thor said taking his hammer and patting Tony’s shoulder as he walked past him. “Well done.”
“Three minutes. Get what you need.” Steve ordered them all and they scattered.
The twins went to look around for a change of clothes. Clint headed to the armory to stock up on everything he could carry. He opened his locker and started filling his quiver with arrows. He slipped on his uniform before something caught his eye. He reached for the photo and unfolded it.
It was a photo of him and Hayley before she found out they were all her soulmates. He had talked her into going on a hike with him and Lucky. She was hesitant at first but ended up loving it. When they got to the highest point of the trail she took a photo to remember the occasion. He had an arm around her and at the last minute Lucky had slipped between them making them both laugh
Clint smiled before folding the picture and slipping it into his coat pocket. He closed his locker before heading to the jet to get ready for the flight.
Hayley’s POV-
“No, don’t touch that.” I said.
“This is my work station I know what I’m doing kid.” One of Fury’s support team said.
“No you used to know what you were doing. We’re operating at an eighth of the capacity needed to normally work the ship so this ship has been reprogrammed to work at minimal capacity.” I said.
“Meaning?” The guy said.
“Until she tells you otherwise, you sit down and do nothing.” Hill said.
“We’ve got movement.” Fury said.
“Where we going?” Will said.
“Sokovia.” Fury said.
“Sokovia?” I said confused. “The location of the last Hydra base?”
“They’re heading there now.” Fury said.
“I’ll set the coordinates for Novi Grad now.” I said entering them in the computer. “Autopilot should get us there right behind them. Okay everyone listen up. We’re heading straight into a battlefield but we’re not there to fight we’re strictly support. All the lifeboats have been reprogrammed. Our priority is to get all civilians out of the line of fire once they’re on board we need to start triaging and getting them what they need whether it’s medical care or a shoulder to cry on. Auxiliary support will stay here and work the cannons. Your priority will be to cover the life boats.”
“I guess it’s up to me to make sure no one gets out.” I heard a familiar voice say. I turned and saw Rhodey walk in.
“You guessed right.” I said.
“Good to see you kid.” Rhodey said coming over to greet me with a hug.
“It’s been a while.” I said.
“Over a year. Good to have you back.” Rhodey said.
“Good to be back.” I answered.
“Hales, the computer’s beeping.” Will said.
“That must mean the program worked. I hacked in to a satellite to keep an eye on things while we get there. There’s a huge energy signature coming from under the city. It’s almost like a magnetic field.” I said.
“That’s a big field.” Will said.
“I think I’m going to go suit up now.” Rhodey said.
“Good idea.” Will said.
Third Person’s POV-
“Your man's in the church, boss. I think he's waiting for you.” Friday told Tony as he headed to the center of the city. He walked into the church where Ultron was already waiting for him.
“Come to confess your sins?” Ultron taunted.
“I don't know, how much time you got?” Tony retorted as he tried to distract him.
“More than you.” Ultron answered.
“Uhhh. Have you been juicing? A little Vibranium cocktail? You're looking, I don't wanna say, puffy...” Tony said.
“You're stalling to protect the people.” Ultorn said.
“Well, that is the mission. Did you forget?” Tony said.
“I've moved beyond your mission. I'm free.” Ultron said as the vibranium core popped up from the ground. “What you think you're the only one stalling?”
“There's the rest of the Vibranium. Function: still unclear.” Friday said.
“This is how you end, Tony. This is peace in my time.” Ultron said as his army started attacking the city.
“Go!” Steve ordered trying to get people off the robots started coming towards them.
“Get off the bridge! Run!” Wanda yelled.
“You shut me out!” Ultron yelled as vision blocked him from the internet. “You think I care? You take away my world, I take away yours.” With that he activated the core and the earth started shaking.
“FRIDAY?” Tony asked.
“Sokovia's going for a ride.” Friday said.
“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.
“I really hope this makes us even. Now go be a hero.” Natasha said as the Hulk dropped her in the city.
“The Vibranium core has got a magnetic field, that's what's keeping the rock together.” Friday said.
“If it drops?” Tony asked.
“Right now the impact would kill thousands. Once it gets high enough: Global extinction.” Friday said as Tony flew out of the church to get a better view. “That building's not clear, Tenth floor.”
Tony flew into the apartment building to find a family in fear for their lives. “Hi. Okay. Get in the tub!” Tony said.
“I got airborne, heading up to the bridge.” Friday told him as the robots got to the bridge.
“Cap, you got incoming.” Tony alerted Steve.
“Incoming already came in. Stark, you worry about bringing the city back down safely. The rest of us have one job: tear these things apart. You get hurt, hurt 'em back. You get killed, walk it off.” Steve said.
Wanda was starting to feel the guilt and stress of the day taking its toll on her. Clint finished off the last few robots before getting her out of the way and into a building.
“Go, go, move!” Clint told her.
“How could I let this happen?” Wanda said breaking down.
“Hey, hey, you okay?” Clint asked.
“This is all our fault.” She said.
“Hey, look at me. It's your fault, it's everyone's fault, who cares. Are you up for this? Are you? Look, I just need to know, cause the city is flying. Okay, look, the city is flying, we're fighting an army of robots, and I have a bow and arrow. None of this makes sense. But I'm going back out there because it's my job. Okay? And I can't do my job and babysit. It doesn't matter what you did, or what you were. If you go out there, you fight, and you fight to kill. Stay in here, you're good, I'll send your brother to come find you, but if you step out that door, you are an Avenger.” Clint said and Wanda looked at him speechless. “Alright, good chat.” He got up and took a deep breath before going out. “Yeah, the city is flying.”
On the bridge Steve held on to two cars before one of them fell. Thor swooped down and caught a woman before throwing her up at Steve. “I got you! Just look at me.” He reassured her.
“You can't save them all. You'll never...” Ultron taunted.
“You'll never what? You didn't finish!” Steve said destroying the robots before Thor landed next to him. “What, were you napping?”
“Thor! You're bothering me.” Ultron said going after him.
Clint was fighting off some robots before Wanda made up her mind and joined him wiping out the last robots in their area.
“Alright, we're all clear here.” Clint said.
“We are not clear! We are very not clear!” Steve exclaimed.
“Alright, coming to you.” Clint said before Pietro sped by and picked up his sister, leaving him behind.
“Keep up old man!” He called to him and Clint aimed an arrow at him.
“Nobody would know. Nobody. "The last I saw him, when Ultron was sitting on him. Uh...yeah, he'll be missed, that quick little bastard. I miss him already." Clint muttered.
“The anti-gravs are rigged to flip. Touch 'em, they'll go full reverse thrust. The city's not coming down slow.” Friday told Tony.
“The spire's Vibranium. If I get Thor to hit it...” Tony theorized.
“It'll crack, but that's not enough, the impact would still be devastating.” Friday said.
“Maybe if we cap the other end, keep the atomic action doubling back.” Tony asked.
“That could vaporize the city, and everyone on it.” Friday said.
“The next wave's gonna hit any minute. What have you got, Stark?” Steve asked.
“Well, nothing great. Maybe a way to blow up the city. That'll keep it from impacting the surface if you guys can get clear.” Tony said.
“I asked for a solution, not an escape plan.” Steve said.
Hayley’s POV-
“We’re coming up on Sokovia now.” Hill said.
“Wow.” Will said looking out the window.
“You don’t see that everyday.” Fury said.
“Is the city actually moving?” I said quickly scanning the rock. “Oh shit.”
“What?” Will said coming to look at the screen.
“The magnetic field from earlier is keeping the rock together and there’s a rocket under the city taking it up higher but there’s another that still hasn’t been activated that’ll make that rock crash into the Earth.” I said.
“You mean like the asteroid that took out the dinosaurs?” Will asked.
“Exactly like that.” I said patching into the team’s comms and activating the lifeboats. “Look alive people, everyone get in positions.” I said as I got into the comms.
“Impact radius is getting bigger every second. We're going to have to make a choice.” Tony said.
“Cap, these people are going nowhere. If Stark finds a way to blow this rock...” Natasha started.
“Not 'til everyone's safe.” Steve said adamantly.
“Everyone up here versus everyone down there? There's no math there.” Natasha said.
“I'm not leaving this rock with one civilian on it.” Steve insisted.
“I didn't say we should leave.” Natasha said. “There's worse ways to go. Where else am I gonna get a view like this?”
“It is nice but I’ve seen better.” I said as I adjusted the hellicarrier to stabilize next to the city.
“Nice, right? I pulled her out of mothballs with a couple of old friends. She's dusty, but she'll do.” Fury told them.
“Fury, you son of a bitch.” Steve said.
“Oooh! You kiss your mother with that mouth?” Fury retorted.
“Altitude is eighteen thousand and climbing.” Hill said.
“Deploy lifeboats.” I said opening the hatch.
“Disengage in three, two...take 'em out.” One of the specialists said.
“I thought you weren’t walking into any firefights?” Tony asked.
“Technically I’m flying.” I retorted. “Lecture me later, stay focused.”
“This is SHIELD?” a heavily accented voice said.
“This is what SHIELD's supposed to be.” Steve answered.
“This is not so bad.” He said.
“Let's load 'em up.”Steve said as one of the monitors started beeping.
“We have multiple bogies converging on our starboard flank.” Hill said.
“War Machine you’re up.” I called out to Rhodey.
“Yes! Now this is gonna be a good story.” Rhodey called out.
“Yep. If you live to tell it.” Tony answered.
“You think I can't hold my own?” Rhodey said defensively.
“We get through this, I'll hold your own.” Tony said.
“That sounded so wrong.” I said putting my hand on the screen where I noticed it was very shakey. I swiped it to get an update on the lifeboats.
“You had to make it weird.” Rhodey said.
“Alright, let's load 'em up! Alright, here we go. Here we go, let's move. Let's go everyone!” Clint said.
“Number six boat is topped and locked.” The specialist said.
“Bring it in.” I said.
“Incoming!” Hill yelled out. Will pushed me out of the way as a robot few in and crashed a few feet from where I was standing.
“Woah.” I said.
“That was close.” Will said getting up and helping me up. I felt a bit lightheaded but shook it off and went back to my post.
“Boats two through five are at capacity.” I said brining them in. “Get everyone into the inner corridors, it’s more fortified, the most severely injured go to medical.”
“I got it! Create a heat seal. I can...I can supercharge the spire from below.” Tony said.
“Running numbers.” Friday said. “A heat seal could work with enough power.”
“You finished Friday!” I said.
“Yeah, I’ll show off later.” Tony said. “Thor, I got a plan!”
“We're out of time. They're coming for the core.” Thor said.
“Rhodey, get the rest of the people on board that carrier.” Tony said.
“On it.” Rhodey said. “Hayley, where do you need me?”
“There’s a group hiding out in a café at your three. They need cover to get on the boats.” I said.
“On my way.” Rhodey said.
“We need to move faster, there’s no telling how long they’re going to be able to hold them off.” I said moving things on the screen when my vision started blurring. I blinked it off before getting back to work.
“Avengers, time to work for a living.” Tony said.
I was on a roll. I turned from screen to screen my fingers didn’t stop moving and my head turned from side to side to different monitors. Everything around me just blurred together into background noise.
“Hales.” Will said.
“Everyone’s almost on board just one more boat and we’re done. Guys you need to get on board now. Air’s getting thinner by the second.” I said.
“On our way.” Steve said.“You guys get to the boats, I'll sweep for stragglers, be right behind you.”
“What about the core?” Clint asked.
“I'll protect it. It's my job.” Wanda said.
“We don't have a lot of time.” Clint said.
“So get your ass on a boat.” Natasha and I said at the same time. “You too Nat.”
“I’ll be there just need to put the big guy down.” She said. “Hey, big guy. Sun's getting real low.” I heard her say.
“Is this the last of them?” Thor asked about the passengers on the boats.
“Yeah. Everyone else is on the carrier.” Steve said.
“You know, if this works, we maybe don't walk away.” Tony said.
“Maybe not.” Thor said.
“Don’t make me get off this carrier. You know I will.” I said.
“Don’t even think about it.” Will said.
“Nat, you need to move.” I said as I saw a jet flying towards the city. I heard shots fired over the comm but nothing else.
“Nat!” I said Feeling the air get knocked out of me,
“Hales?” Will said worried.
“I’m okay.” I said hanging onto the monitor. I felt a pit in my stomach and overwhelming guilt as chills ran down my spine.
“Hayley, call that jet now.” Natasha said as she ran in.
“On it.’ I said snapping out of my daze and quickly connecting to the jet. I didn’t see anything at first but them I saw the Hulk.
“Hey big guy.” I greeted and saw a faint smiling on his face as he walked closer. “you did it. It’s over. We can go home but first you need to turn off the ship’s stealth mode. We can’t track you so please…” I started but then the call cut off.
“What happened?” Natasha said.
“I…” I said trying again but there was no signal. “He cut the call.”
“Hales…” Will started.
“Is everyone on the ship?” I asked.
“Last lifeboat just got in.” He said.
“Let’s move.” I said shutting the doors and moving the ship as fast as I could from the soon to be blown up rock. “Did you get check out?” I asked Nat.
“Not…” She started.
“Medical, now.” I said.
“I’m fine.” She said.
“You were kidnapped and shot at. Go.” I said. “Shield’s up at full power, it’s going to be a big one.”
“Where too?” Hill asked.
“Closest major city.” I said.
“Better make some calls.” Fury said.
“I’ll help, I studied international law.” Will said.
“I speak multiple languages.” I said as we each took phone assignments.
“I understand this is a very unprecedented situation Mister Ambassador.” I said in Russian walking towards medical to check in on everyone. “But most disasters are unprecedented.”
“I would like to help but the amount of resources you would require…” The man bantered pulling out every excuse in the book he could think off. I ears started ringing and I felt dizzy.
“You would not have to worry about any resources, the Stark foundation will full fund any programs to help displaced Sokovian families we are simply asking for you to open your boarders to allow us to do both of our jobs.” I said. “I’m sure you can find it in your heart to help and I’m sure your charity will not go unnoticed by the UN who is currently considering filing sanctions against your country for discrimination on…”
“We would be more than happy to help Miss Adams.” He said enthusiastically.
“Thank you Mister ambassador. We will be in touch shortly.” I said before ending the call and taking a deep breath.
The room started spinning again.
“Hayley.” I heard a familiar voice say.
I turned around and saw Thor walking towards me.
“Thor.” I said smiling. I took a step towards him but my dizziness got even worse. I leaned on the wall but I started falling. I never felt the ground. Thor caught me just in time.
“Hayley.” He said worried.
“Hey you.” I said smiling at him.
“Are you alright?” Thor said.
“I’m a little dizzy.” I said trying to get up.
“You should sit down.” He said picking me up.
“I’m okay just need a minute.” I said resting my head on his shoulder finally feeling everything from the last few days catch up to me.
“It’s alright love. Just rest.” Thor said holding me close.
“I’m just going to take a tiny nap.” I said closing my eyes. “Mind cuddling?”
“Nothing would make me happier.” He said before I drifted off to sleep.
Third Person’s POV-
“Hey.” Tony said running towards the control room.
“You’re foundation’s paying fro everything right?” Will said.
“Uh most of it…” Tony said.
“Good, cause that’s what we’ve been telling everyone.” Will said. “I thought you’d be downstairs.”
“I was but I came to check on Hayley.” Tony said.
“That’s funny because she went down to check on all of you.” Will said.
“I didn’t see her.” Tony said and Will put the phone down. “I sent her own there because she was feeling off…”
“What exactly?” Tony said.
“Shakey, dizzy, zoning out.” Will said.
“I’m going to look for her.” Tony said all but running out of there. He found everyone in one of the labs. Thor was sitting down asleep holding Hayley who was also asleep hugging him but was using Thor’s cape as a blanket.
“We found them like this.” Steve said.
“She’s been running around non stop for days. I’m surprised she lasted this long.” Natasha said.
“Foundation’s en route and Fury and Hill have things handled. It’s time to call it a day and head home.” Tony said.
“We should also go get her checked out.” Clint said.
“How’s the kid?” Steve asked.
“She’s just lost the only family she had left.” Natasha deadpanned. “She’s a wreck.”
“Banner?” Tony asked.
“He’s gone.” Natasha said.
“We have a lot to figure out.” Steve said.
“Tomorrow we can figure it all out. Let’s just go home.” Tony said walking over and shaking Thor’s shoulder. Thor woke up startled and tightened his grip on Hayley. “Hey, we’re heading home. Jet’s waiting.”
“Aye.” Thor said looking down at Hayley and smiling. He stood up and carried her to the jet.
After a very long year they were finally bringing their soulmate home.