Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Benched.

Evie was left behind in the Avengers tower, while the rest of the team was going over the latest missions that had come in. She was told it was because she needed to take a break after the hit she took back in Washington. But she knew better. She knew that whatever everyone had been told during the mission briefing had also included her. They were apprehensive about Evie getting involved in any way. Especially Steve and Tony.

So instead of sticking around to hear the whispers floating around about her, she kept busy with literally anything else. Training, working at Stark Industries, and even some light vigilante stuff on the side. But eventually after a few weeks she started to crave some real interactions with someone not treading carefully with her. A real connection.

To be with someone who didn’t see things so black and white. 

Her friends and family were supportive and caring. But she wanted to open up and not feel the weight of judgmental trepidation every time the subject of Void was brought up. Especially since as of late, her nights were plagued with terrors. Nightmares were constantly keeping her from peaceful rest. Causing her to have a horrible temper. And things got especially bad when news broke that Rumlow had escaped custody, and incoming reports confirmed Hydra had indeed been behind her ruined childhood.

Baron Strucker; Hydra's lead scientist, had specialized in illegal human experimentations. He was the one responsible, the one who had the wonderful idea that mixing the Stark genetics with unknown substances could create the ultimate soldier. One that could outsmart all other opponents and even create them new weapons, while simultaneously executing their every order without hesitation or resistance.

One morning after a particularly dreadful night Evie went for some distraction in her dad’s lab, only to find a case being built in order to find and wipe out any remaining Hydra cells and locate Loki’s scepter. And the scattered pictures of the monocle wearing bastard sent her over the ledge. 

Tony and the team rushed in hearing what could only be described as a hurricane tearing up the lab. They ran in to see Evie, completely enraged and possessed by Void. It took Tony; using Cap's shield to dodge the things flying around and some stubbornness, to get her to stand down and stop fighting invisible demons. She fell into her fathers arms wrecked, crying that she just wanted nightmares out of her head. Afterwards everyone was careful not to even mention the missions involving Hydra or anything remotely close when around her. 

In her ever growing isolation, Evie just wanted to feel ok, normal. To be with someone who wouldn’t see her as a ticking time bomb. With everyone walking on eggshells around her, she turned to her bad habit for some much needed comfort. 

Billy Russo was always more than happy to indulge her in any way possible. Now lets be clear, they both knew what they had wasn't true love. But they had a special understanding of one another. Billy loved how she was the only person who had a glimpse of who he was and not flat out reject him for his very gray sense of morality. And Evie enjoyed the way she never felt judged or feared by him, ever. No matter what he saw or found out about her. Billy would always let her know she was safe to be herself with him, even encouraging her to be at ease with her dark side. 

To embrace it, not shy from it. 

And that's how she found herself currently sharing a bed with her favorite cowboy, enjoying a hot mug of coffee. “What happened this time, baby?” She sighed deeply before setting the drink down. “They shut me out officially. Whatever is on their radar, I can’t be included.” She buried her face in her hands wishing the tension in her neck and shoulders would disappear. “I’ve been benched. I can’t even get near the meeting room before someone is steering me in the opposite direction.”

Billy rubbed small circles on her back. “Hey, it's gonna be alright. I’m sure this won't last long. They’re gonna realize they can’t get things done without you sooner or later.” But she got frustrated and leaned back into the headboard, picking at her nails. “It’s just… I get why. I do. But I hate the way they’re acting around me. Yeah, I might not have a good grip on my shit right now but I'm not useless…”

“And I hate that you're feeling that way at home. You shouldn’t be treated this way over something that isn’t your fault.” Evie went to rest her head on his shoulder, and he wrapped her up in his arms nuzzling into her hair. “Evie you are a goddamn force of nature. No one expects the sea to always be calm and peaceful. She has rough waters and dark depths too. Still people love it.” She inhaled his scent, taking comfort in his words and the familiarity of his warmth. 

“How are you so okay with me? Even when I flip out and Void tries to escape.”

“The same way you’re okay with me, knowing I'm much more than I appear. And I can’t thank you enough for not rejecting me and my cold black heart.” That earned him a giggle from her and she looked up at him. “Oh shut up. Yeah you’re no boy scout. But there’s no way the man before me is a vicious shark in a pool full of guppies.” He held Evie a little tighter, grateful she never was one to invade his privacy and dig into the dark corners of his mind. 

Evie glanced down at her watch and huffed, “I gotta go cowboy… what are you up to later?”

“Why wanna come spend the night at my place?”

“No. Just curious babe, why, you offering?”

“The door is always open for you. Matter of fact…” Billy got up and went over to his desk, pulling out a small box. Evie instantly froze, eyeing him warily. “Here.”

She took the gift, hesitating to open it. “What's this?”

“Just open it, it’s not a ring. I promise. But I can get you one if that’s what you’d like.” 

She elbowed him playfully and chuckled, lifting the lid. Inside was a shiny brass key inside. “I got to thinking and if things persist in staying difficult for you at the tower. You’re more than welcome to stay with me. For however long you need, baby.” She muttered out a, “thank you” and kissed him sweetly. “I really appreciate this, but I dunno Billy. We’re… complicated.”

“I know, but that doesn't mean we can’t learn to move past that. I want you by my side. Even if we’re not in love. But maybe we could learn to get there, together. I just can’t see myself without anymore.” 

Evie bit her lip, taking in his words. They looked deeply into each other’s eyes before he dived in. Kissing her with hunger. She cupped his cheeks as he stole the air from her lungs. As they parted she giggled again, “you’re such a tease… But I really do gotta go. I’ll umm… I’ll think about it. Okay?”

“Take as long as you need, I’m a very patient man, Stark.” 

Making her way back home, she went over his words again. Learn to love each other? Was that something she could do? Was she even capable of doing so? Her mind was so clouded with thoughts of what Billy was proposing, what was happening at the tower, and the night terrors she didn’t know how to start making heads or tails of anything going on. So much so, she didn’t hear the cab driver announce her arrival till he tapped the glass divider. She paid and thanked him before climbing out to see Natasha waiting for her. 

“Where you’ve been all morning?” Evie didn’t pay her much attention, but Nat followed closely as they went inside. She rolled her eyes when Natasha tweaked a brow at her, “oh, I’m sorry. Did I miss something important?”

“Genevieve, don’t be like that.”

“Like what?”

“Petty. I know you're mad, but you have to understand why we're keeping you off the mission.”

Evie pouted and crossed her arms, “I do. Still, sucks either way… And if you must know, I was with Billy.”

“Again? Did you spend the night?” She narrowed her eyes at her best friend, “no…” But the tone she had used made Natasha curious, “okay? Did something happen? You seem a little lost in thought.” She mulled it over as her mouth twitched to the side. She signed and decided If anyone was to help sort her cluttered brain, was her mom and best friend. But Pepper was in the west coast, so Nat got the rundown. 

They had made it all the way to the commons area and sat at the kitchen island with some water. “So are you considering it? Moving in with him, cause I didn’t think he was anything serious.”

“We’re not, but I dunno Nat. I hate that everyone at home is on edge around me. I don’t have anyone special to share any tender moments with or even feel some sort of intimacy. I’m lonely in a house full of people.” Natasha put a hand on her shoulder, “but sestra could you really learn to be with someone just to avoid feeling lonely? How well do you really know him, is an arrangement like this really worth it in the long run?” 

Evie pondered her words before answering. “I’ve only ever felt connected to one other person like that, Nat. And something tells me I'll never get that profound sense of unconditional love and comprehension again… Plus Billy accepts every part of me without hesitation. He’s always told me that he would take all of me, even if I never felt true love for him.” She shrugged, spinning the bottle of water in her hands. “Evie, I may not know what happened to you and your ‘mystery’ man while in space. And you’re in all your right to keep it to yourself. But is this really something you’d want? A life where you just settled for second best?” 

Evie knew she had a point, but was there a chance in hell for her to actually find happily ever after? Her life was a constant cycle of chaos. Or so it seemed that way, never able to really catch a break before there was another curve thrown at her. She sighed heavily and pushed the topic aside for now. “I guess, I don't know anymore… So what’s new? I’m I still off the team or do I finally get some real action, besides house sit?” Just then Tony’s voice rang through the room.

“Sorry honey. We’re still elbows deep cleaning up the mess Hydra has left while searching for the scepter of doom. Means you gotta keep sitting this one out.” She glared at him and Nat tried to pat her shoulder but she dodged her hand as she got up.

“That’s bullshit!” 

Her dad closed his eyes, running a hand over his face. “Genevieve, please…”

“Please what? This is stupid. I’ve put in the work! The hours of training, of doing anger management with Bruce, and still you’re punishing me?”

“It's not punishment honey-”

“Don’t patronize me dad! This is cause I wigged out, and now everyone treats me like glass!” Upon hearing the yelling coming from the kitchen Steve, Clint, Bruce, and even Thor came to see what was happening. 

“I'm getting sick and tired of it and honestly what pisses me off more is the way everyone talks behind my back. News flash, I might not be reading minds, but I can feel everyone’s emotions around me. And pity has been pretty fucking heavy in the air!” She was fuming, Tony could practically see the steam coming out her ears. But she was right. Yet it was done because it’s what everyone thought was best for the youngest Avenger. Seeing everyone’s stunted faces and lack of response, she stormed out of the room. 

Slamming her door, she started her breathing exercise in order not to reflex her abilities and either trash her room or shatter every glass in the vicinity. “Jarvis lock down my room, I don't want anyone bothering me please.”

“Yes, Ms. Stark.”

She pulled her phone out and thought of calling her mom. But the last thing she wanted was to worry Pepper and have her drop everything to come and comfort her. She needed to take the reins and stop feeding their assumptions of her, and with her little hissy fit she knew she was proving them right. 

So after two hours of careful consideration, she took the executive decision to put some space between herself and the team. Letting them focus wholly on their hunt and leaving her to deal with her demons in the best way she knew how. By herself. So she grabbed a backpack, throwing in what little sentimental items of value were left in her room and grabbed the keys to her motorcycle before taking a deep breath. Ready to calmly convey her decision with the team and her father. Her only regret was that Pepper wasn’t going to hear the news in person, but rather through a phone call later on. If Tony didn’t beat her to it first.

She walked into the lounge area where everyone was sitting around, either in light chatter or watching the tv. They all stopped when they spotted her come in.

“Honey… W-what's the bag for?”

She felt his heartache, but kept a neutral face. “I need to talk to you… all of you actually. I’ve been giving it some thought and with me blowing a gasket just now… It made me realize that I’m not okay. As much as I pretend to be, it's not fair to you guys. No one should tip-toe around in their own home. So I’m leaving…” 

There was a collective gasp and sharp inhales. Natasha jumped first, beating Tony to the punch. “What do you mean Evie? What are you talking about? This is your home!” She gave Nat a tight lipped smile. “You know what I mean, Romanoff. I’m not leaving you guys high and dry, I’m just giving you guys space to breathe and work freely without worrying about me and my... issues.”

Tony rushed to her side and caught her in a bear hug. Trying desperately not to cry in front of the others. “Baby girl, you don’t have to leave to get that done. What’s your mother gonna think when she gets back and you're gone?” She hugged him back just as tight saying, “that your adult daughter finally left the nest…” she chuckled but it did nothing to ease the distress in her dad. “I’m not going far daddy,” she whispered. “I just need to be alone with my mind to hopefully shut my brain up. I’m not okay and I can’t keep you in a constant state of worry. I’m giving you wrinkles and gray hair.” 

Everyone was standing at this point, coming closer to the Starks. “Where will you go?” Steve asked tentatively. His eyes were getting watery as he knew they weren’t going to convince her otherwise, they all knew how headstrong she was. Like Tony.

“I have a little spot for myself, it's roughly ten minutes from the tower. In Greenwich Village, close to Washington park.” Tony looked at her confused. “When did you get your own place?”

She gave him a sheepish look, “shortly after London... I started looking two weeks after I got back with Thor.” The big blonde teddy bear looked down at the floor when Tony threw him a dirty stare. “But it’s fine, everything's gonna be okay. I promise to come visit, plus If the good doctor lets me, I’d like to keep doing our meditation sessions.” Bruce came close saying, “of course kid. Anytime.” Giving her a warm embrace.

Thor was next lifting her off her feet as she giggled into the crook of his neck. “I’ll miss not having you close by, little sister, who's going to split the pop-tarts with now?”

“I’m not going off world Thor, I can still get here as soon as you call.” He put her down and she playfully hit his arm. Steve went in for a quick hug too, telling Evie she better not be a stranger and to not use traffic as an excuse to skip their weekly training with Widow. Clint simply nodded. Telling Evie, he better be the first one invited for the housewarming party, while Nat just clapped her shoulder in silent solidarity.

Evie said her last goodbyes and Tony walked her down to the garage. Giving her another cuddle and kissing her crown before giving her strict instructions to call as soon as she got there. Which she did after she settled in for a quiet night of movies, pizza, and wine.

Chapter Text

It had been six weeks since she officially relocated to her quiet corner of NYC. As promised she was there pretty much on a daily basis even if it was just for a few hours. Pepper had taken the news surprisingly well, granted more tears were shedded but she knew her little girl needed to find her own way, without anyone hovering over her. “I’m proud of you, sweetheart.” Those were her words. The nights she didn’t spend in her house, Evie would spend with Billy. He was a little hurt when she had told him she was out of the tower, but wasn’t moving in. However, that didn’t stop him from asking again. Or hoping she would be open to make things official. 

Evie would turn him down, telling him she just wasn’t ready. Per usual he said he understood and was willing to wait, no matter how long. As time passed she kept busy with training, Bruce’s meditations, reading, or tangled in the sheets with her cowboy.

Yet her little gap in tranquility would come to an abrupt end when she woke up one morning screaming, drenched in sweat and close to calling out to her dad. Like she did when she was a kid. Her heart was racing, beating loudly in her ears as she gasped for air. It was a horrible nightmare. The past playing on an endless loop, Strucker’s voice calling her a failed experiment. Commanding the troops and scientists under his thumb to leave her beaten to a pulp. The frantic shouts of a little girl in excruciating pain, getting a mental flossing via electric shock therapy. And the Winter Soldier, always lurking in the corners watching over her. Making sure she didn’t escape or die. 

Evie ran to the bathroom and stepped in a cold shower, hoping the freezing water would numb her brain. After a few minutes she got out and went about her usual morning rituals. She went to the tower to help Pepper with some work and afterwards sent Billy a text to see if he was available for lunch. He didn’t reply so she sent another saying she’d just stop by his place to pick up a book she forgot a few nights before. As Evie rode her midnight blue Ducati Scrambler, she couldn’t help but get the feeling something had been off with Billy lately. He had been acting more guarded, and aside from a few nights prior, they hadn’t seen each other much. 

She parked curbside in front of his building letting the doorman know she wasn’t staying long and rode the elevator up. The closer she got to the door, the louder her internal bells were going off. Something was wrong, yet there was no immediate danger. However the air felt thick, in a heavy humid type of way that was making her uneasy. She decided to move past it. If there was something happening, it was making her more determined to find out what the root of it was. She didn’t knock on his door. Evie assumed he was working since he hadn’t responded or even checked in with her that day. 

Inside the apartment she took notice of the area. There was a pair of black heels that definitely weren’t hers nor her style. Now at this point she knew exactly what her gut had been trying to tell her, and it got confirmed by the lewd noises coming from his room. Evie’s first reaction was to turn tail and leave. Completely ghosting Billy cause he didn’t deserve to even look at her much less hear from her again. But right this second she was cursing herself for: A) Bringing her favorite book Tony had gifted her, and B) leaving it on Billy’s nightstand. So she did what she did best. Evie kept her head held high and prepared to raise hell if need be.

The first thing her eyes saw was a patch of curly black hair. As soon as they heard the door open, both Billy and his side piece turned in shock and offense that someone had walked in on them. But Billy’s eyes nearly popped out of his face as she waltzed over to his nightstand completely unbothered, not even sparing him a glance. Picking up her book and heading out again. Billy all but threw the girl off him, as he scrambled to get somewhat decent and follow after Evie. She appeared to be completely nonchalant, as if the room had been empty to begin with. But she detached the key from her set, placing it on the coffee table as she heard Billy calling her name. 

She was already halfway to the elevator when he caught up to her. “Wait, baby wait! Let me explain.” She turned so fast it took him back, her face was eerily calm and collected. “Let me guess, it’s not what it looks like? Or maybe, it was a mistake? It’s fine, William. I just don’t understand why you were pushing for us to be more when clearly, you're not one for commitment. Do me a favor, and lose my number. Don’t ever contact me again.” 

She pressed the button and he went to block the doors before they even opened. “Baby, baby, please. I know I’m an idiot but she’s just the means to an end. I needed information from her. Please, you gotta believe me!”

“Was it hiding her in her vagina? And you have be real stupid to think she may not be doing the same with you, I could see it all over her face. She’s up to something and you're playing into her little scheme. You’re not an idiot, William. You’re a fucking dumbass.” She deadpanned, already exhausted with the conversation she turned for the stairs next. But he blocked that too. “William, move. I won’t ask again.” 

William. She had never called him that, and it was terrifying him. It had always been Billy or cowboy. But never his legal name. He knew he fucked up and she was now for sure done with him. But he didn’t want that. He needed her. And deep inside he felt she was like him in every way, it was the reason she had been the only one to get as close to him falling in love with as his psychology would allow. But Billy was messed up inside, in a much sinister way that Evie had yet to realize. He had been so riddled with racing thoughts he didn’t hear her last warning. Much less Evie telling him he had asked for it. In the blink of an eye, he had been violently shoved back all the way to his front door. The elevator doors opened and the last thing he saw was Void, coolly staring him down as the doors closed again.

As time passed Evie felt a sort of cathartic release after the break-up with Billy. She felt it was gonna stick this time, closing the door on a rather nasty habit. And he did what was asked, and left her alone. She didn’t cry, or get mad, and quickly realized that she didn’t even miss him. Her days kept on as normal (or as normal as possible when your mind is against you), and no one was any wiser that she had ended a relationship. All except for Natasha, but she was actually glad it ended it, she wasn’t a fan of how things were to begin with. But as life would have it her momentary peace and quiet was just that. Momentary.

Evie woke up to someone knocking on her front door. She mentally prepared for a fight. After having yet another nightmare, right now she wasn’t in the mood to receive unwanted guests. Throwing the door open, Evie found Billy fresh as a daisy in a neatly pressed suit on her doorstep. She immediately went to slam it, but his foot kept the door from closing. “Genevieve, wait. I gotta talk to you. It’s important...” When he saw her face he knew she had another bad night, so he decided not to beat around the bush. “Listen, I’m not gonna take much of your time. I just wanted to ask you about Frank.” She froze, but kept her face stony.

“Why are you asking me about a dead man?”

Billy studied her face intently, and couldn’t find any hints of a lie. “Madanhi, the girl you saw in my apartment... She’s with Homeland Security and she says he’s alive. I wanted to see if maybe with either your connections or abilities you could help me find him… I know I don’t deserve it. Hell you ought to kick my ass right here, right now. But my friend may be out there, and he’s probably real hurt. So if you could help me, I promise I'll be eternally in your debt.” 

Evie took a step outside into the cold frigid air in just sleep shorts and a Black Sabbath t-shirt she had swiped from her dad’s stash, and stared him down hard. “You really do got a lot of balls showing up at my house, asking me for help. Which by the way I don’t remember ever giving you the address to... If Frank Castle really is out there, maybe he hasn’t reached out for a reason. If he wanted you to know he was alive, or anyone for that fact, he’d know how to contact you. And if he’s hurt, well guess what. He’s a big boy. It took blowing an entire ship to finally stop that man. A little scratch wouldn’t have fazed him. Now leave.” She turned on her heels and went to slam the door again, but he caught it following her inside. 

“Baby, you don’t look so good. Are you sle-”

“YOU do not get to call me by any pet names!”

He tried to protest but she cut him off again, “ZIP IT! I’m talking. I told you to leave. Not come in here acting like you fucking care about me. You made it very clear the other day what I meant to you. So cut the shit, and get out!”

He took a step back, knowing better than to push her buttons. He nodded, “okay, if that's what you want… But if you hear anything about him, will you let me know?” She huffed, indignant with his presence still invading her home.

“Fine, but only if he's in absolute danger or still dead. Now. Get out, William.”

He recoiled at the sound of his name off her lips, so full of anger. “Why are you calling me that?”

“Because Billy was a friend, and someone who kept his word. Cowboy was the guy I was thinking about settling down with because I thought there was a small chance I’d learn to love him, like he suggested. But then William came out and showed me that the guy I thought I knew saw was still using a mask. Hiding his true nature from me. His very real and very selfish nature.” He swallowed dryly, gulping down his pride. He nodded slowly as he went out the door.

As soon as the door closed she went to change and get on with her day, burying the incident. Along with any peaking curiosity regarding Frank Castle and whether or not he was really once again walking among the living. It was a problem for someone else to solve. Right now she had training with Natasha and a board meeting to sit through with Pepper. 

Again, a few days went by. All according to the set routine she had made for herself. Training, meditating, and soul searching for peace. 

But trouble loved to follow, no matter how hard she tried to stay away. Evie was loyal to her friends and family to a fault. With things ending the way they had with Russo, it never meant she wouldn’t lend a hand to Castle. So when she got a random phone call from an unknown number she took the chance and answered. Because her gut was saying a friend needed help. 

“Castle?”

“Stark.”

She took a deep breath before putting the phone back to her ear. “Still among the living, so the rumors were true...” He chuckled, “yeah kid, seems that way. Listen, I’d never risk dragging you into my shit but-”

“You need my help. Someone is in danger and Castle can’t just go in guns blazing, right?”

“How fast can you travel with your little hocus pocus?”

“Depends where you’re at. Send me the address, I’m on the way.” Before she hung up he told her to stay covered, “I can’t let anyone know you're here. Too risky...”

It was twilight, and the NYC skyline sparkled against its deep blue backdrop. She spotted Frank by the waterline sitting in front of a burning barrel, wrapped tightly in an old ratty blanket. He seemed lost. His mind miles away. “Frank, are you… alright?” She could almost taste the grief mixed with confusion washing off him as the flames licked the air. “Why am I here Frank?” 

Evie took a seat next to him and she knew whatever he had gone though was enough to shake the entire foundations of what he thought his life had been. Betrayal and deceit were clouding his mind, making him question everything he had endured. After a long stretch of silence he spoke. “Did you know?” She scrunched her face as she stared into the fire. “Did you know about Billy? That he had been stabbing me in the back this entire time…” She was floored, what had Billy done this time? 

“I can both feel and influence emotions, I can travel through the dark. Make it do just about anything I want. And sometimes, when I really want to… I can poke inside people's heads. And read their thoughts. Pull out their memories and secrets even.” She heard him stop breathing, he was holding his breath waiting for her to continue. “Frank, I never use that last bit on people I trust and care for.” 

He took a sharp inhale, “so you never…” She shook her head as she looked up to the sky as if it held some sort of answer for her. “No, never. Up until recently I was even considering settling down with that prick. But then he decided to get a little side action, so I told him to go to hell. The last time I saw him, he was darkening my doorstep, asking me if I knew you were alive.” She kicked a pebbles at her feet. “I kept your secret and threw the door in his face.”

He responded with a grunt, and Evie took it as her queue to leave. But not before doing him a small favor. Ever so lightly she placed her figures on his temple. He tried to move away from her, but she used her power to keep him still. He reluctantly allowed her to continue, and she dropped the hold. Focusing on drawing the pain from his aching body. She didn’t even need to see the bullet wounds hidden by the blanket to know he was in rough shape. After about a minute or two she got up. “You need anything, just let me know. I don’t care how messy it gets. Whatever he did, he deserves the full weight of your wrath.” And with that she turned and left.

For the rest of her day, Evie spent trying to move on from the emotions Frank had flooded her system with. The man was a walking pile of pain and misery. She took care of some minor business affairs before calling it a day and heading home. She was mentally and emotionally exhausted. So she went home, hoping to wash away all the shit the day had brought on. Turning everything off included her phone. Anything that could bring in news from the outside world. After a long shower she went about her routine and went to bed, hoping to sleep for the next three days at least. With any luck, her nightmares wouldn’t be too bad.

The next day she woke up with the sun in her eyes as it was well past noon. She turned to be facedown into the pillow, groaning loudly. With the wave of her hand, she drew the curtains. 

“Damn baby, it never ceases to amaze me watching you use your powers.” She froze.

“Billy?”

How the hell did he sneak up on her? Had she really been that exhausted?! As her mind tried to get carried away she ever so slowly reached under her pillow, but when she felt nothing she cursed herself for forgetting she had lost her little dagger. The only thing she had as a reminder of her short love affair with Loki. Long gone after the battle against Hydra in D.C. when she jammed it into Winter Soldier.

“God, you don’t know how good it feels to hear you say my name, sweetheart.”

As she maneuvered herself to sit up against the headboard, that's when she noticed a new accessory dangling from her wrist. “How did you get in here without me knowing?”

He sauntered over to sit at the foot of her bed, drinking her in with dark eyes. “Did you really think I wouldn’t be able to get in my girl’s house? Which, by the way,” he whistled loudly glancing around the room, “this is very nice. But who the fuck is Virginia Hanson? And why didn’t you ever tell me about this?” 

She scuffed, “really? You don’t have the faintest clue as to why I’d keep this place a secret from you? After all the shit you did? And I’m not your fucking girl, Russo!”

He looked down into his hands, and she spotted a small object he was fidgeting with. “I know I’m a piece of shit to you right now. But baby, I can’t just let you go. It's why I pumped your vents full of nitrous oxide. I needed to get close.”

Having heard enough of his voice, she tried to send him flying into the air. Putting distance between them. But as soon as Billy saw her move a muscle in his direction, he pushed the button on the small remote he held. Evie went rigid, as she felt a shockwave stun her. She looked down to see the cuff on her wrist lighting up as it administered an electrocution. Not strong enough to cause her to completely shut down and scream in pain. But enough to power her down and freeze her.

He stood to loom over her, “I really am sorry for having to use this. But you’re still trying to pretend and be a good person. Evie, you wanna know why I was so adamant about trying to keep you at my side? Hmm?” 

He sat beside her and got in her face, brushing his nose against her temple, as she closed her eyes. Disgusted by him in every way. “Because deep down you and I are the same. We both have an insatiable darkness inside and together we don’t have to hide it from each other. Together we could quite literally conquer the whole goddamn country, hell. Maybe even the world if you wanted. I want you with me because I know deep down you want someone to tell you it's okay to be bad. And baby with me, being bad is the best thing ever.”

Glaring back Evie spoke through clenched teeth, “I-I’m nothing like you!” 

He took her face into his hands and with one swift movement, he slammed her head against the wooden hardwood behind them. Leaving Evie completely at his mercy as the lights went out.

Chapter Text

Jolting, she came into consciousness. “Shh, it’s okay.” Evie’s hands were both bound together. The same thing he used to tase her, only there was a second one and they were now connected to form hand-cuffs. Effectively restraining her. She could feel a low emittance of energy stinging her skin.

Evie could also hear the low buzz they were making as they prevented her from tapping into her supernatural abilities. Her mouth had also been taped over as she was slumped into the seat of the car they were in. 

He really had gone the extra length to ensure she wouldn’t try and escape. But he was severely underestimated her training. Powers aside, Evie could still hold her own in a fight. And right now her mind was running through every possible scenario that would get her out of these restraints, get moving, and guarantee Billy Russo was to never see the sun rise over New York city ever again. 

“Don't worry, after tonight we'll both be able to really be ourselves. I just gotta take care of the last person standing in my way. But I’m gonna need your help. The only thing is, it won't be very pleasant for you.” He got out of the car and came over to her side. She glared at him as he took her into his arms. They were in a park and it was late into the night. There wasn’t a person in sight.

Great, couldn’t have found a less creepy place for his macho showdown…  she thought as he took her towards a carousel filled with painted horses and adorned with mirrors to allow the lights to bounce around during working hours. Yet right now everything was ominously quiet. Not a soul in sight, aside from the two of them. Or so she thought. 

Billy placed her facing the tail end of one of the ponies. He took a key and freed one of her hands. Only to bring them over her head and once more binding them together, only this time she was tethered to the pole that held the decorative horse in place. “There.” He said in a low tone. As if he was almost proud of himself. “I made a little bargain with Frank, and the plan is to meet here.”

He took a step back, admiring his work. “We set the date for midnight, and only one of us gets to walk away. And since I'm not planning on dying today I thought you’d be the perfect distraction. Afterwards, you and I are gonna do some serious talking about our future together.” 

He was dressed in full combat gear. Complete with a bullet proof vest and armed with an assault rifle. Evie tested her voice, “w-what did… you… do…” Her voice was croaky and so she was barely heard through the tape. “Frank found out the whole truth baby. From the start it was me. I never wanted to get my hands dirty or have it go this far. But Frank pissed off the wrong guy. So he retaliated, and went after him. And I knew the entire plan right from the start.”

Evie’s eyes dilated as she understood why Frank had been so affected by what Billy had done. He placed his hands on her knees and searched her eyes. “I wasn’t there. I didn’t kill them. But everything would have been so much easier if they hadn’t missed that day. And they really did bury him with his wife and kids.” She blinked, trying to process how someone’s greed could lead them down such a destructive path.

All Billy ever wanted was to be the man he saw when he looked in the mirror. A wealthy and successful man who held all the cards to his advantage. When they first met, he approached her with the intention to use her as his last milestone to fulfilling his desires. But as he got to know her, and felt how comfortable she was with his cynical nature. He let his guard down. Billy knew she was clever enough to know that he was no angel. That he held up a front, but not with her. Russo was able to let some of ugly side slip out, and she never once criticized him for it. Instead she allowed him to take a glimpse at hers. Evie opened up to him in a moment of vulnerability about her struggles with Void, and the dark desire to lash out for all the pain and suffering she had gone through. To drown out her nightmares by taking it out on others who deserved it. 

The man stepped away and took out his phone to call someone. Evie could hear the line ring several times before the person on the other end answered. 

“Yeah?” 

“You out there Frankie?” There was no response, “Yeah, of course you are. But I gotta tell you something. I’m not exactly alone, I brought some company.” Billy flipped a switch and suddenly the merry-go-round started to play its carnival music, and all the lights came to life.

Evie started to go round in its loop frantically searching the tree line and her now illuminated surroundings for signs of Frank, or anything to help her get loose. “Remind me how it goes again. Tick-tock, tick-tock, right? I don’t want to, but I guess if I have too, one more person is gonna die for you.” He ended the phone call and gave her one last look before hiding out of sight to hunt Frank down.

It was a twisted game Russo was playing with Frank, setting their duel to the death in the place where he had last seen his family alive. A place both special and haunting to him. 

Out of the dark, three shots were heard. Billy turned to look in the direction the sound was heard, but from behind the three shots landed. The grenades launched bursted into balls of fire. Yet the discretion was short lived as Billy spotted Frank running towards him. He didn’t hesitate to take aim and fire. As she went in circles, all she could hear was the fire fight that ensued.

Desperate to get free, she put every ounce of effort into moving her body in any way possible. Another cycle on the carousel, and Evie saw Billy approach, unfortunately he seemed unharmed. But the pain filled grunt she had heard only meant it was Frank that got hit. There was a pause as she went around endlessly. It was honestly starting to get her dizzy. 

Another spin, and Frank was at the opposite end. He spotted Evie and his face grew full of concern. If she was caught, that meant something was seriously wrong. He knew she was more than capable of taking Russo down with little to no effort. So it was obvious he did something to subdue Evie and her mojo. Evie started to grunt and mumble, trying hard to get words to be audible, and let Frank know to get the cuffs off her. But what both Evie and Billy didn’t know was that Frank had called for back-up. Arriving on scene was a special agent of Homeland Security; Dinah Madani. 

Both men moved to jump on the swirling roundabout. As they stalked each other Billy started talking, “Guys like us, Frank. We need this! It’s all we’re good for. Just a couple of assholes who thought we could have the good things in life. But we are not good people, Frank. We never were! It’s something I’m trying to teach my girl here. She’s clinging to the wrong ideology. I need her to let that shit go, and then we can finally have everything together!” Frank lined up his sights and released a wave of lead. And Billy quickly responded with more gun fire saying, “what happens when we’re dead? Nothing! Who mourns us? Huh? Nobody!” 

They continued to hound each other. “Me, Evie, and you, Frankie… we’re all the same.” Billy took aim and fired, another grunt was heard and Frank retaliated with more bullets. One of them ricocheted off a pole, striking Evie’s wrist. A second stray bullet bounced off another hard surface and hit Billy in the face. The bullet got lodged in Russo’s gums, causing him to scream in pain as he fished the slug, spitting it out. With her ties broken, Evie slipped off and hit the floor. Her brain was shouting to her body to catch up, and move!

“All right, that's enough Frank! I said that’s enough of this shit!” The assault rifles were exchanged for handheld pistols and they moved in on one another again. Evie’s muffled struggle, Russo’s groans and yelps of pain, and his own heavy breathing were the only things Frank was registering as he sought out his target.

Billy went to yank Evie off the floor, using her as a shield when he abruptly stopped the ride. “You come out!” He shouted, and Evie didn’t need to use her powers to know the man was afraid. “You come out where I can see you, or I kill her right now!” He was clearly oblivious to the fact the power dampening cuffs were no longer working because Evie was slowly regaining feeling in her legs supporting most of her own weight now.

In a last ditch to coax Frank to show up, Billy pulled the trigger, grazing her leg. She hissed as she felt the warmth of blood start to run down. “That was just a scratch Frankie! The next one is gonna do more damage!” The wound was already starting to heal, as Evie was feeling her powers getting restored. But they were coming back at snail's pace. He dug his thumb in the injury and she cried out. 

“Bill… let her go!” He tightened his grip on her, “lose the gun Frank.” She was shaking her head no. “Toss the gun, nice and far!” She started to struggle against him, mumbling, “don’t.. Do it!” But Frank still had a good heart. “Okay,” he lowered the weapon and promptly chucked it aside. And yet Billy knew better, “Knife too.” 

Frank did as requested. “Bill… Let her go. She has nothing to do with this. Bill let her go.” Russo started to shake his head, walking forward with her. “Attachments are a weakness. I never had anybody. But I think it’ll be okay if I keep her.” He shot Castle in the chest and Evie’s breath hitched. She was cursing herself for taking so damn long to recover. Through heavy breaths Frank said, “You had us, Bill.” 

“The Punisher, what a crock of shit.” Another round to the chest, and Frank fell back again. “You always did care too goddamn much!” From the corner of her eye Evie saw the woman Russo had the affair with, appear. And she had Billy in her sights. Madani made eye contact and Evie nodded ever so slightly, granting her permission to take the shot. But the floorboards beneath her creaked. In a flash Billy threw Evie and fired at Dinah. Evie mustered everything she had to disrupt the bullet’s trajectory.

What should have been a clean headshot, scraped the side of her skull. Dinah hit the floor hard from the impact, and was out cold. But her senses indicated that the other woman was still alive. But now it was a race against the clock to get her help. Frank took the opening and rushed Billy, slamming him against one of the ponies. 

Both men wrestled for the gun, discharging a few rounds in the process. Frank managed to dismantled it, and Billy dazed him with a headbutt. Evie dragged herself over to Dinah, protecting her body to ensure she wasn't hit again. “You’re okay, Madani. You’re gonna be okay, just hang on!” She turned to see them both locked in a brutal fist fight, and Russo seemed to have the upper hand. Beating Frank without mercy.

But it only took one wrong move, and Frank delivered a devastating body slam to the floor. Punching Billy so hard, his head bounced off the ground in time to receive another blow. After the third one he timed it right for Castle to punch the hard surface, and he fought back with a jab to his neck. It sent Frank reeling back, gasping for air.

Billy drew out a blade and lunged but Frank moved back, deflecting. It took all but two seconds to disarm Bill and pin him against one of the mirrored panels of the carousel. They locked arms, as Frank tried to plunge the knife into his left eye. Knowing Frank would be able to overpower him, Russo impaled his forearm with the hidden blade concealed beneath his sleeve. Frank screamed and lost the knife he had as the other man once again went on the attack. Yet regardless of the number of lacerations he got, Frank just kept fighting back. Every part of Evie wanted to intervene and help him, but her gut was telling her Frank needed this. This was his fight, and his alone. 

They were once again crashing against a mirror, with Frank on the receiving end of the hidden blade stabbing his shoulder. It was feral the way they were attacking each other. In a swift motion Castle took a shard of the broken mirror, and buried it deep in Bill’s lower abdomen. Evie could hear the large drops of blood gushing out and pattering against the hardwood. He then turned the tables and took Billy’s face. Grating it against the fragmented glass they had shattered. A guttural scream was heard, and it made Evie’s jaw clench. His face was ruined, a mangled mess of flesh, glass, and blood. He fell to his knees, taking in the extent of the damage.

Frank picked up the knife, and put it to his throat. Gagging at the taste of his own blood, Billy gruffly said, “kill me.” Placing a hand over frank’s. “Do it!” Evie wanted to see Castle end him, right then and there. But something unexpected happened. 

Frank decided he was done with war that had consumed his life. 

He let him go, much to their shock. “I’m not gonna let you die today.” Billy was horrified yelling, “please!” But Frank wasn’t hearing it, “dying's easy.” He took a few steps back, looking Billy in the eyes through the broken reflection. Frank put all his pent up rage in a kick that once again crashed Billy’s face into the mirror. A loud gasp was heard, and Frank grabbed a fist full of his hair. 

“You're gonna learn about pain.” Smash.

“You’re gonna learn about loss.” Another smash. As Castle spoke Evie was catching glimpses of his family and the bright smiles that were etched into his memory.

“Every morning..” he said, coming down to kneel at Billy’s side.

“I look for ‘em, Bill. I look for ‘em… but then I remember.” 

They both took in the extent of the damage to Russo’s face, as did Evie. “It’s gonna be the same for you. When you look at your ugly, mangled face, you’re gonna remember what you did. You’ll remember, Bill.” Another impact with the glass. “You’re gonna remember me!” 

With two hands on his former best friend’s face, Castle sent him into the glass once more. This time embedding large shards in his cheeks, nose, and forehead. He slumped over, and fell to his injuries. It was a cathartic release from the war that plagued him. And Evie understood then, that not everything had to end the way initially started. Frank was passing on the living nightmare he had endured, and that was punishment enough for Billy. He made his way over to the women, still panting from the intensity of the battle.

“You okay Stark?” She shook her head, “this one needs medical help.” He nodded, taking a seat beside Madani. “Goddamn, Madani” He took her from Evie, and cradled her head, putting pressure on the wound like Evie had been doing. Sirens were heard quickly approaching. “Get outta here, kid. I’ll take it from here.” She whispered out, “yeah, okay…” Evie got up, giving him one last look. There was nothing left to be said, and as she vanished into the night, she heard him reassuring Dinah. Telling her, “I got you.” repeatedly as he waited for the police to arrive.

In the days that followed she reflected on her own internal conflict. And how it had been invading every aspect of her life lately. After some upgrades to her home security, she called her parents and friends over. Finally letting them into her private sanctuary.

Gathering them around the dinner table she made the decision to open up. They all listened carefully to every word she said. Evie told them about the nightmares, about the dark thoughts they were provoking. And as a few tears escaped she vowed to do better. To finally bury the past and stop allowing the pain to influence her.

“What about Void?” Tony asked cautiously. Evie wasn’t surprised by the question. If anything she expected it as Void was her dad’s biggest apprehension. “Void is very much a part of me, and it’s something I’ve come to terms with. With that being said, I am doing everything to keep her in check. Under control.”

The timer went off, signaling dinner was ready and Evie happily served her family. Making sure the super soldier and Asgardian got an extra large serving to satisfy their appetite.

Chapter Text

At long last, the Avengers located Strucker and the final Hydra base somewhere in the Sokovian wilderness. Evie stepped down even before Tony or anyone else could suggest it. “It’s fine, I don’t think I’m ne-” But Steve cut her off, “hey, none of that. We’ve all seen the progress you’ve made. And there’s no better way to put that to the test than being out there on the field with us.” She bit the inside of her check nervously.

Did they really trust her to join them and bring in the man responsible for her nightmares? Tony saw the dithering and placed two hands on her shoulders. “Honey, you don’t have to fight if you don’t feel ready yet. You could hang back and man the comms with Jarvis. If anything goes sideways, you’re the back-up. Deal?” He saw a sparkle in her eyes as a smile grew on her lips, “okay, yeah! I can do that.” 

So here she was alone in the quinjet, tapped into everyone’s conversation. The fortress was heavily guarded and they were taking longer than anticipated to breach. But it was the chatter between Tony and Steve that made her giggle in the middle of the battle. Her dad had tried to fly right into the building only to be met with an energy shield. As he bounced off harshly, Tony let out a frustrated “shit!” to which Captain America quipped back, “language.”

She shook her head, unable to believe he had really just reprimanded her dad for cursing. Jarvis informed the team that the tech Strucker was using was “well beyond any other Hydra base we've taken.”

As the fight progressed, Evie couldn’t help but take a moment to try and quell the alarms going off in her head. “It’s only because we're here… Strucker’s near” she said, hoping to ease her mind. But the feeling that there was something off wouldn’t back down. “The scepter is here. It's why the tech is so advanced. Just ease up!” Just then Jarvis told Evie, “Miss, the city is taking fire.” She got back to the work at hand while jumping on the comms. Telling her dad “Strucker's not going to worry about civilian casualties. I’m sending in the Iron Legion.”

“Good call, kiddo!” 

After a while the uneasiness grew, making goosebumps crawl down her spine. Without notice Steve’s voice was in her ear again, “We have an enhanced in the field. Evie, gear up!” But Natasha cut through next shouting out that Clint had gotten hurt. Evie did one last check to make sure she was combat ready when Tony told everyone, “the drawbridge is down, people.” The shields having just been removed with Jarvis’ assistance. She paced the space, waiting for the signal for her to engage. 

“Clint's hit pretty bad, guys. Evie we're gonna need evac!” She summoned a black cloud, and resurfaced next to Natasha, who was giving Barton first aid. Evie looked at the gash on his side, “okay I can get us to the jet, but he’ll still be laying down. Once there we'll get him on a gurney.” The two spies agreed to the plana and Evie took his hand. Seconds later they were out of the cold and in the jet, Thor came in just in time to help get Clint off the ground. With her friend out of harm's way Nat called in, “we're locked down out here.” To which Steve answered by saying it was time to bring in Banner, “time for a lullaby. Evie you’re with me. Let's wrap this up.” “On it.” she called.

Evie met Steve as he was about to enter the castle. “There’s a speedster, I need you to stay here and watch my back as I get Strucker.” With a curt nod she agreed to the plan. Putting all her focus on the person so far only Steve and Clint had encountered. Suddenly she was picking up on a strong source of power aside from the scepter when Rogers informed the team of a second super powered individual. “Female. Do not engage.” Evie’s alarms grew tenfold. This person was capable of major damage. In a heartbeat she was at Steve’s side and face to face with none other than Baron Strucker. 

“Ah, the failed experiment. I’m sorry my child, you'll have to be faster than-” using the shield, Steve knocked him out cold. Evie looked at his body on the floor, and Steve saw how Void slowly sneaking in. “Evie, you alright?” She crouched down, picking up the lens that had fallen off Strucker’s monocle. “Peachy…” as she stood up she twirled the circular piece of glass mid-air. She turned to Steve, showing him how the item spun rapidly just above her open hand. “I’m okay, Stevie. Honest.” As she made a fist the little glass crumbled to mere specks, scattering to the floor. “Take him in. He deserves to face justice for all the things he’s done. I’m gonna go make sure the building is clear of any remaining stragglers.” With that, she vanished.

Snaking through the shadows, Evie searched every room for any remaining Hydra soldiers when all of a sudden another strange surge of power was felt. Dad. She raced in the direction she had felt the power come from. Her gut was telling her Tony was there, meaning he was potentially in danger. She arrived in a room with a variety of technology, as well as recovered artifacts from the Battle of New York, including a gigantic Chitauri leviathan and some of its scrapped armor. Her dad was in front of a workbench, physically unharmed. But he was sweaty. His body radiating fear and anxiety. “Dad?” His arm was stretched out, summoning his suit gauntlet. As it connected and attached to him he threw her a wink before grabbing the scepter. “This is it, baby girl. All the hard work is paying off.” Tony was hoping to reassure her and let her know he was okay. 

But something or someone had triggered a horrible vision. The older Stark had seen himself on a desolate rock and the rest of the Avengers team were all lying on the floor, dead. He went over to Evie's severely beaten body to check her pulse when suddenly she grabbed him, gasping for air. With her face covered in blood and grime she searched his eyes, “you could've saved us, daddy…” His only child then dies in his arms, but Tony continued to hear Evie's voice in his head. “Why didn't you do more?” In his trance he looked up to see that he was in space, and that the Chitauri were invading Earth once more. Abruptly he was snapped back to reality. Moments before his daughter entered the room.

Back in the air, the team was heading home. Evie watched her dad piloting the quinjet from afar. Wondering what had made him fearful when Steve came to sit next to her. “Penny for your thoughts?” She took a deep breath before giving him a bright smile, “we did good, didn’t we?” “Yeah, we sure did. Thanks in part to you and Banner.” She chuckled, “the chaotic duo…”

He patted her knee, “I’m proud of you, kitten! Not many could’ve handled being that close to someone who’s hurt them, and choose to take the high road.” She rested her head on his shoulder, “it wasn’t easy. The last time I was in a room with that monster, he left me for dead so my dad could come find a body.” 

She huffed, “asshole. I’m no one’s ‘failed experiment’ that bastard. You know what though?” “What?” “That was pretty cool how you kicked the shield up, knocking him out. Had he kept talking it would’ve been me punching his lights out.” They laughed before Evie settled in for the rest of the flight back to New York. Leaving the others to talk among themselves. And for the first time in a long time Evie slept without any bad dreams.

After landing, Clint and Natasha were led away by Dr. Cho who had prepped a med station in Bruce’s lab while Thor went to put away the scepter. Maria called out to Tony as she walked up the ramp. “Labs all set us, boss.” He pointed at Steve saying, “Uh, actually, he's the boss. I just pay for everything, and design everything and make everyone look cooler.” Evie rolled her eyes at him and Rogers went to greet Maria. “What's the word on Strucker?” “NATO's got him.” As the other two went over the details on the two enhanced strangers they encountered, Evie stayed back to chat with her dad. 

“So… you gonna tell me what spooked you back there?” He threw her a side glance as he gathered his things. “Not particularly, no.” She sighed, crossing her arms and gave him a hard stare. Unable to avoid her knowing gaze he put his arm over her shoulder, guiding her out the aircraft. “Sweetheart, as your dad. It’s my job to always worry about you. Today, seeing that leviathan... I dunno. It brought me back to that day when the Chitauri invaded. And to be honest it only served to further my mission to put in place a well built defensive measure. Something to ensure this big blue ball we call home and more importantly; my girls, are safe from any outside threats.” Evie understood him perfectly, earth was vulnerable to outside forces. And if there was a way to make sure her home, and especially her family was kept safe. She was on board.

In Banner’s lab, Dr Cho was putting state of the art medical technology to good use patching up Clint. Evie walked with Bruce as he asked her dad regarding Hawkeye's condition. “Oh, unfortunately, he's still Barton.” Sarcastically Bruce replied with, “That's terrible.” Evie giggled when her dad said he was okay, just thirsty. She then ditch Bruce in favor of following her dad again.

“Gonna do some real work with me, kiddo?” She elbowed him in the ribs playfully before calling on their AI friend, “Alright, Jarvis. Let’s play.” Her dad took over as they approached the scepter that had been getting an in depth examination. “Come on, bud. We've only got a couple days with this joystick so let's make the most of it. Update me on the structural and compositional analysis.”

“The scepter is alien. So there are elements I can't quantify.” She smirked, saying, “So… there's elements you can?” “The jewel appears to be a protective housing for something inside. Something powerful.” The two Starks went about the lab, her dad making a sludge that closely resembled watered down motor oil, while Evie pulled up a holographic screen reading Jarvis’ report. “So, like a reactor?” She said, waving the screen away when Tony handed her a clear to-go cup with his ‘juice.’ Jarvis responded with something that blew them both away. “Like a computer. I believe I'm deciphering code.”

She continued to read over the decomposition Javis was doing while Tony went to fetch Banner who was fascinated by Dr. Cho’s mobile Regeneration Cradle that was creating new tissue to heal Clint. As both men came down the stairs she heard Bruce ask, “what's the rumpus?” She put down her drink and leaned on a desk. “Well, the scepter. You see, we were wondering how Strucker got so inventive...” Tony chimed in next, “So, we've been analyzing the gem inside-” He used a data pad, and flicked it in the air , bringing up a 3D image of Jarvis's consciousness. “-you may recognize.” The space between them glowed in a faint golden hue that reflected off their faces. “Jarvis.” Bruce said, stepping out of the projection. “Doctor.” 

Her dad continued with their impromptu demo, “Started out, Jarvis was just a natural language UI. Now he runs the Iron Legion. He runs more of the business than anyone besides Pepper.” Banner simply said, “oh.” and gave Evie a glance to which she only nodded, verifing what her dad was saying. “He’s top of the line.” She said, gesturing to the spherical hologram that was Jarvis. 

And the UI in question spoke next, “I suspect not for long.” Tony then took the data pad and repeated his motions from earlier pulling up another 3D image of what's inside the scepter saying, “Meet the competition.” Evie went to stand with the men. “It's beautiful,” Bruce breathed out getting closer to the larger, more intricate projection of the live data feed coming from the scepter. It really was beautiful, a celestial blue that mimiced the color of the gem’s glow. Tony then asked the doctor, “If you had to guess, what's it look like it's doing?”

Astonished by their find he said, “like it's thinking. I mean this could be a... it's not a human mind, it…” “Yep” Evie mumbled, following his train of thought. “I mean, look at this! They're like neurons firing.” 

Tony stuck his hands in his pockets, ready to work his charm to make a proposal to the man. “Down in Strucker's lab I saw some fairly advanced robotics work. They deep-sixed the data, but... I gotta guess he was knocking on a very particular door.” Evie voiced what Bruce was about to say. “Artificial intelligence.” Bruce looked at them fascinated. “This could be it, Bruce. This could be the key to creating Ultron.” The two guys chuckled softly, but Evie felt his uncertainty. “I thought Ultron was a fantasy.”

She crossed her arms, taking in the blue glow. “Yesterday it was. If we can harness this power, apply it to dad’s Iron Legion protocol.” She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively. “That's a mad-sized if, Evie.” He removed his glasses, and the three of them walked towards the other end of the lab. “Our job is, "if." What if you were sipping margaritas on a sun-drenched beach turning brown instead of green? Not looking over your shoulder for Veronica.” Bruce was fast to quip back at Tony, “Don't hate. Me and Evie designed Veronica.”

“As a worst-case measure, right? How about a best-case? What if the world was safe? What if next time aliens roll up to the club, and they will, they couldn't get past the bouncer?” Banner looked at her dad, “the only people threatening the planet would be people?” Evie patted Bruce’s shoulder, “and people we can handle, easy peasy.” 

“I want to apply this to the Ultron program,” Tony said, hoping to bring his friend on board with their plan. “But Jarvis can't download a data schematic this dense. We can only do it while we have the scepter here, that's three days, give us three days.” Not quite believing what his ears were hearing Bruce said, “So you two are going for artificial intelligence and you don't want to tell the team.” 

Tony; “Right. That's right, you know why, because we don't have time for a city hall debate. I don't want to hear the ‘man was not meant to meddle’ medley. I see a suit of armor around the world. We both do.” But Banner was still on the fence. “Sounds like a cold world, guys.” Evie stepped in with a very serious expression. “I've seen colder, Bruce. This,” she pointed to the floor, “this very vulnerable blue planet. It needs Ultron. Peace in our time. Just imagine that.” 

Both Starks and Banner would spent the next few days working in the lab together but found no program that worked to accomplish their shared goal. Frustrated and alone in the lab, Tony asked himself, “What did we miss?” Just then, Jarvis came through the speakers saying, “I'll continue to run variations on the interface, but you should probably prepare for your guests. I'll notify you if there are any developments.”

“Thanks, buddy”

“Enjoy yourself, sir.” 

“I always do.”

Tony exited the lab, and with that Jarvis quietly continued his task.

Several more failed simulations would happen, when unexpectedly their failed experiment successfully integrated itself.

Chapter Text

The tower was buzzing with excitement as the party her dad threw was now in full swing.  Although Pepper wasn’t going to be present for the event. She had a hunch her daughter would need a little pick-me-up after recent events. So Potts decided to give her something special, in hope that it would help her relax and enjoy the festivities. That evening Tony had left Pepper’s gift hanging from her door. It was the lovely blue backless dress Pepper had gotten for herself years ago before she and Tony had started their relationship, but it was with that dress he came to see Potts as something much more special in their lives. Seeing the gown, Evie sent her mom a thank you message saying she would wear it proudly. “You're the best mom, I love you!” 

She paired it with silver star earrings and a matching necklace. The final touches to her attire were her favorite pair of silver high heels. Natasha whistled when she saw her friend slip on her shoes. “Wow, trying to impress someone in particular?” Evie laughed, “not at all. I’m here to just let go and have fun. Come on, before my dad sends more people to find me.” They looped arms and joined the crowd of mengling people. And Evie really did as she said, talking among her friends or dancing to the music. 

Taking a short break, she approached the bar and ordered an espresso martini. Her signature drink at just about any party. And that's when she overheard Maria asking Tony, Thor, and her uncle Rhodes; “Hey, what about Jane? Where are the ladies, gentlemen?” After thanking the bartender she slowly walked up to the group.

“Well, Miss Potts has a company to run...” Her dad said proudly. Thor butt in saying, “yes, well I'm not even sure what country Jane's in. Her work on the convergence has made her the world's foremost astronomer.” Somehow her dad took offense to that. “And the company that Pepper runs is the largest tech conglomerate on earth. It's pretty exciting.” Thor couldn’t help himself, adding “There's even talk of Jane getting a... um, uh... Nobel prize.”

Evie decided now was the best time to intervene. “Yeah, they really must be busy because they'd hate missing you guys get together.” Maria mocked the men by faking a cough muttering “Testosterone!” As she cleared her throat innocently saying, “oh, excuse me.” Rhodes took the chance to walk away from the awkwardness with Hill offering her a lozenge and leading the agent away. Smirking, she looked at her dad and Thor, “well… I’m gonna go shoot some pool with Steve. Later guys.” But her dad was quick to spot her drink saying, "take it easy there, honey. I don't need you wired up on caffine and drunk. Last time you did your blind lawyer friend was calling me from some dive bar to come get you!" She simply rolled her eyes and smirked wickedly. 

As the night progressed and things picked up more. Evie was diving head first into the fun. When the DJ started up some Marvin Gay she practically dragged Sam to dance with her. The two did so, and soon the rest of the floor got packed with people showing off their best moves. After a couple songs she went back for a refill and asked the DJ to play Rock And Roll All Nite by KISS. Tony’s eyes instantly met hers as she grabbed two mics and tossed him one. The two belted out the song inciting the crowd to follow, and it was preceded by their rendition of Queen’s, Don’t Stop Me Now. 

When they turned the music back over the DJ, Tony proudly exclaimed. “That’s my kid, ladies and gentlemen. Genevieve Stark!” A round of applause ensued and her cheeks turned bright pink. She threw herself on her dad, crushing him in a big hug which he was more than happy to return. The team was over the moon to see her back to her lively and bubbly self. 

Taking a seat at the bar again she leaned on her elbows against the counter and asked this time asked for a tequila shot first. On the other end she watched Bruce and Natasha talking. The two were shamelessly flirting, and Evie could feel their affection for one another drifting her way. She downed her drink, and gazed warmly at them while requesting another. It made her heart joyful to see her friends getting so close. They were perfect for each other, but they were just hesitant to take the first step. Nat walked then away after telling Bruce, “but never say never.” Before winking at him.

She moseyed on over to the man and nudged him. “That’s cute.” 

“What, what, what is?” He said suddenly, nervous. “You and Romanoff,” she said slyly. “No, we haven't. That wasn't…” Her giggles stopped his stuttering. “Relax, I doubt anyone in HR is gonna get upset with you two. But she does like you, y’know.” He shook his head slightly. “No, Natasha, she... she likes to flirt.” Evie did the same. Saying, “Nah, I’ve seen her flirt with guys before. This ain’t it, man. You guys deserve this, each other. Don’t be afraid, cause secretly, she is too. Just take the leap and enjoy the ride.” She clapped his shoulder walking away.

Later that night, when most of the guests had left and it was just the Avengers, (plus Dr. Cho and Maria Hill) they were all sitting around winding down with Thor's hammer resting on the coffee table between them. 

“But, it's a trick!” Barton said, referring to Mjolnir. “Oh, no. It's much more than that,” Thor proclaimed confidently. Clint mocked him, “Uh, ‘Whosoever be he worthy shall haveth the power!’ Whatever man! It's a trick.” Thor pointed to the hammer, “Well please, be my guest.” “Really?” Barton deadpanned. “Yeah!” He got up from his spot on the floor. “Oh this is gonna be beautiful.” Rhodes teased, making Evie giggle at his side. She was most definitely tipsy, but she didn’t care. Right now she was living in the moment. Yet Tony caused everyone to laugh when he joked, “Clint, you've had a tough week, we won't hold it against you if you can't get it up.” 

Clint ignored him, telling Thor, “you know I've seen this before, right?” He grabs the hammer and; unsurprisingly, can't lift it. He turns to Thor after he fails, “I still don't know how you do it.” Her dad didn't pass the chance to grind him. “Smell the silent judgment?” Prompting Clint to challenge him next. “Please, Stark, by all means.” Her dad accepted the dare, handing Evie his glass. “Oh, here we go...” She said, grinning like a cat who got the cream before downing his whisky. He was about to be sorely disappointed. “Never one to shrink from an honest challenge,” he said addressing everyone, unbuttoning his coat as he walked. “It's physics.” 

“Physics!” Banner shouted in faux disbelief. Tony got a firm grip on the hammer. “Right, so, if I lift it, I...I then rule Asgard?” Thor confirmed it saying, “Yes, of course.” Quite cooly her dad added, “I will be reinstituting Prima Nocta.” Evie instantly huffed out, "yeah righ..." Placing a foot on the coffee table, Stark gave the hammer a good pull but it failed. “I'll be right back.”

This prompted a revolving series of attempts from the men present. But one by one, they all failed. Not even when both her dad and Rhodes used their suit gauntlets, did the tool budge. That was until Steve took on the invite. “Let's go, Stevie, no pressure.” She taunted from the side. Steve starts pulling on the hammer after rolling his sleeves up. And actually manages to stir it a little; Thor looked a little alarmed. Yet Steve still fails to fully get it off the table; making Thor laugh with relief.

Bruce gestured to Natasha, “Widow?” Nat didn't hesitate to turn down the offer. “Oh, no no. That's not a question I need answered.” He then turned to Evie and Maria, “ladies?” Maria waved him off, but Evie stood. Nat quickly pulled her back down, “oh no, you don't! You're drunk and caffeinated. If you actually manage to lift that thing, we’re all in big trouble.” This made the girl burst into a fit of giggles. Tony would later state that the whole thing was rigged and Clint quipped, “you bet your ass!”

Barely recovering from her overspill of laughter Evie said, “Stevie, he said a bad language word!” Pointing at Hawkeye. Incredulous, Steve looked at her dad, “did you tell everyone about that?” Evie couldn’t help but voice her drunken observation. “The handle's imprinted, right? Like a security code. ‘Whosoever is carrying Thor's fingerprints’ is, I think, the literal translation? Right?”  Thor then gets up. “Yes, well that's, uh, that's a very, very interesting theory, little sister. I have a simpler one,” He then lifts his hammer and flips it effortlessly. “You're all not worthy.” There was a chorus of groans and disagreement from the others.

Without warning a high-pitched noise was heard cutting through their merriment. Like microphone feedback, causing everyone to cover their ears. They let their hands down as it faded, and Tony pulled out his tablet. From seemingly nowhere, one of the Iron Legion suits, heavily damaged and housing an unknown consciousness, stumbled into the room. Trailing oil behind it. The machine then addressed the room as a whole. “Worthy... No, how could you be worthy? You're all killers.” Everyone’s worry and alarm caused Evie to quickly sober up as she turned to her dad. “Stark?” Steve asked them both, and she was already by her dad looking over his shoulder to his screen.

“Jarvis?” She asked tentatively. 

The bot continued to speak, “I'm sorry, I was asleep. Or... I was a-dream?” Tapping his device, Tony tried to give Jarvis instructions, “reboot, Legionnaire OS, we got a buggy suit.” Evie went to stand defensively in front of her dad. “There was a terrible noise…” It said as it stumbled about. “And I was tangled in... in... strings. I had to kill the other guy. He was a good guy...” Her heart dropped, what?! 

Rodgers took command, questioning it. “You killed someone?”

“Wouldn't have been my first call. But, down in the real world we're faced with ugly choices.” Thor stepped in next, “who sent you.” A recording of Tony's voice echoed off the walls, "I see a suit of armor around the world."

Evie was stunned, “Ultron!?” 

“In the flesh!” He answered, snapping in her direction, “Or, no, not yet. Not this... chrysalis. But I'm ready. I'm on a mission.” Everyone studley prepared for a fight. “What mission?” she said sternly, suddenly very upset and frustrated. Ultron stood upright and calmly said, “Peace in our time.” The walls behind him exploded, and several Iron Legion bots barged into the room. They begin attacking the team, who all go on the defensive and fought back.

Rhodey was hit first, getting knocked through a window. “Uncle Roe!” Evie shrieked as she threw her arms up, stopping one of the bots mid flight. It booted up its blaster, but in a swift motion of her hands, Evie crushed the head. 

As they all were all distracted one of the Iron Legion bots stole the Scepter, flying off with it. Another had gone to attack Dr. Cho, and Evie, thinking quickly, flicked her wrist yelling, “Thor!” The robot was thrown viciously towards the Asgardian. He jumped down on it, bringing down the full might of his trusty hammer, smashing it when another driod tackled him, dragging Thor away. Leaving behind Mjolnir. Barton tossed Steve’s shield, which Rogers then used to dismember the last Iron Legion bot, which was firing at Natasha and Bruce. 

“That was dramatic!” Ultron said, “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 went to pick up one of the dismantled bots. “With these, these puppets?” Ultron crumpled the bot's head with ease. “There's only one path to peace: The Avengers' extinction.” 

Sick of hearing his voice Thor marched over to it, picking the hammer along the way. He swung it with every ounce of determination he had coursing through his body. It speared the machine, obliterating it as it coiled with the wall. But Ultron wouldn’t leave without having the last word. Or in this case, tune. “I had strings, but now I'm free. There are no strings on me... no strings on me.”

After settling down from the attack, they all gathered once more in the lab.

“All our work is gone. Ultron cleared out. Used the internet as an escape hatch.” Bruce said while Evie and Tony stared at one of the destroyed robots. “Ultron,” Steve said menacingly.

“He's been in everything. Files, surveillance. Probably knows more about us than we know about each other,” Nat responded. Rhodes voiced his concern next. “He's in your files, he's in the internet. What if he decides to access something a little more exciting?” “Nuclear codes.” Maria said, sharing his worry. “Nuclear codes... Look, we need to make some calls, assuming we still can.” With that Rhodes went to fish out his cell phone as the team fell into banter, trying to determine Ultron’s plan. Both Starks looked at the wrecked device. Evie let out a heavy sigh thinking, are we ever gonna catch a break?  Clint then stated, “He also said he killed somebody.” Maria was fast to answer him, “but there wasn't anyone else in the building.” She crossed her arms tightly over her chest.

“Yes there was.” Evie said somberly, as Tony pulled up the now-destroyed 3D image of Jarvis' consciousness. She looked away, closing her eyes. Banner walked up to the wrecked hologram, “what? This is insane...” 

“Jarvis was the first line of defense. He would've shut Ultron down, it makes sense.” Steve said from behind Tony and Bruce. “No, Ultron could've assimilated Jarvis. This isn't strategy, this is... rage.” Bruce told him, when suddenly Thor barges in and grabs hold of Tony by his throat, picking him up off the floor. “Come on... Use your words, buddy.” Her dad told the man currently restricting his airway.

Evie moved to stand between them. “I have more than enough words to describe you, Stark.” She placed a firm hand on Thor’s chest, “put ‘em down. This isn’t helping anyone.” He threw her a dirty look, setting him down harshly. “Thor! The Legionnaire.” Steve questioned, gaining his attention. “Trail went cold about a hundred miles out but it's headed north, and it has the scepter. Now we have to retrieve it… again!”

She helped her dad regain his balance, asking him if he was okay, to which he nodded slightly. From the other side of the room, Helen Cho addressed them both. “I don't understand. You two built this program. Why is it trying to kill us?” Tony starts laughing, and Banner subtly shakes his head at him to get him to stop. However, at that moment Evie was seconds away from doing the same, so instead she covered her face with her hand. Breathing deeply.

“You think this is funny?” Thor asked, ready to take a swing at him.

“No. It's probably not, right? Is this very terrible? Is it so... is it so... it is. It's so terrible.” 

Thor was pissed with his response, and lack of responsibility. “This could've been avoided if you hadn't played with something you don't understand!” Tony interrupted him with, “no, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. It is funny. It's a hoot that you don't get why we need this.” Heading caution, Bruce tried intervening. “Tony, maybe this might not be the time to-” Yet Tony cut him off too. “Really?! That's it? You just roll over, show your belly, every time somebody snarls?!” 

“Dad!” She chided, but Bruce didn’t seem affected by his words.

“Only when I've created a murder bot.”

“We didn't,” Tony said exasperated, “we weren't even close. Were we close to an interface?” He turned to her with that last, Evie was pleading with her eyes for him to just shut up. “Well, you did something right. And you did it right here. The Avengers were supposed to be different than SHIELD.” Steve said, disappointed in the three people in front of him. Evie knew her dad was frantically trying to convey their reasoning for taking actions. Citing the battle of New York, when their planet got invaded. “A hostile alien army came charging through a hole in space. We're standing three hundred feet below it. We're the Avengers. We can bust arms dealers all the livelong day, but, that up there? That's... that's the end game.” Evie went to stand at her father's side. “How were you guys planning on beating that?” She said looking back at Steve. Always the optimistic, Rogers met their unwaivering gaze.

“Together.”

“We'll lose.” Her dad said, taking in the man before them.

“Then we'll do that together, too.”

The older Stark looked at him for a moment before turning away. Evie took his hand and together they went to take a seat. “Thor's right.” Steve continued, “Ultron's calling us out. And I'd like to find him before he's ready for us. The world's a big place. Let's start making it smaller.”

Chapter Text

The next few days melted together as father and daughter scrambled to help clean up their mess, when Captain America decided to call the whole team in for a meeting. 

“What's this?” She asked as the two entered the room with the others. Thor handed the tablet rather roughly to her dad, shoving it into his chest. “A message... Ultron killed Strucker.” Steve said the words eyeing her closely. “And he did a Banksy at the crime scene, just for us.” Tony said, handing her the tablet next. Evie took a seat as she examined the photo closely and the others went over his motives for killing the lead Hydra scientist.

Natsha did a quick computer check to confirm Steve’s suspicion that Strucker had knowledge Ultron didn’t want the Avengers to have. “Yep. Everything we had on Strucker has been erased.” Said the spy, turning towards the others. Evie got up abruptly, making everyone look at her with slight concern. “Not everything.” With that she vanished, only to return seconds later dropping a heavy file box on the table. 

They all looked at her both impressed and confused. “What? I had to do something while you all went galavanting without me. This is everything we have on that-” she looked at Steve before rethinking her words, “man…” 

Together they all combed through the physical evidence and mountains of files Evie had accumulated on the guy. “Known associates… Well, Strucker had a lot of friends.” Cap said as he glanced over the many boxes Evie had taken out of storage. Bruce muttered, “well, these people are all horrible,” as he pulled out some papers. To which Evie huffed, “yep…” Her dad looked over at Bruce when something caught his eye.

“Wait. I know that guy.” Banner passes Tony the photo he was looking at. “From back in the day. He operates off the African coast, black market arms.” Steve gave him an accusing look, silently judging. “There are conventions, alright?” He threw at him,  “you meet people, I didn't sell him anything.” He passed around the photo of a man named Ulysses Klaue. “He was talking about finding something new, a game changer, it was all very ‘Ahab’.” When he got the picture, Thor pointed to the scar on the back of Klaue's neck, “what's this?”

“Uh, it's a tattoo. I don't think he had it…” her dad said, not paying close attention to what he was pointing out. “No, those are tattoos, this is a brand.” Evie grabbed the photo next, and Bruce followed her to a computer where she proceeded to research the branding. “Oh, yeah. It's a word in an African dialect meaning thief, in a much less friendly way.” Bruce said glued to the screen she was sharing. “Apparently it’s Wakandan dialect.” she added. 

Tony stated the obvious, “If this guy got out of Wakanda with some of their trade goods…” Yet Rodgers cut him off, “I thought your father said he got the last of it?” The two men just stared at each other having a scilent conversation for all of three seconds. It took Bruce saying he wasn't understanding, for them to share the fact that Wakanda was the home to the strongest metal on earth. Vibranium. What followed next was a collective manhunt for the arms dealer.

After lots of research and back channel surfing they located Klaue in a ship salvage yard, off the African Coast. As they entered a stranded ship, the team caught the tail end of Ultron’s rant about Tony.

“Don't compare me with Stark! It's a thing with me. Stark is, he's a sickness!” Emerging from the dark shadows alongside Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America, Evie taunted the metal giant.

“Ahh, Junior,” she said in a patronizing tone, “you're gonna break our old man's heart.” 

He wasn’t alone. Evie was finally meeting the much talked about Enhancements, Struckers successful test subjects. The Maximoff twins glared back at them. Wanda particularly was staring daggers at her, and she matched her energy. Not breaking eye contact. 

“If I have to, little sister.” Ultron said, not surprised to see them there. Evie chuckled dryly, “last I checked, I was born first.” In an attempt to cool down the tensions, Thor tried to reason with him. “We don't have to break anything.” “Clearly you've never made an omelet.” Tony leaned over to Evie saying, “he beat me by one second.” The silver haired dude next to Ultron wasn’t amused by Tony’s comment. “Ah, this is funny, Mr. Stark. It's what, comfortable? Like old times?” Even with his thick Sokovian accent, they knew he was hinting at the space field with bombs, missiles, and other weapons. “This was never my life.” Tony said, and Steve stepped up next. “You two can still walk away from this.” Scornfully Wanda turned to look at him saying, “oh, we will.” Evie tried to be a pacifist and reach out to their humanity by trying to establish a connection.

“I know you've suffered...” She said in a soft voice. “Uuughh!” Ultron scuffed loudly, cutting her off. “Captain America. God's righteous man, pretending you could live without a war. I can't physically throw up in my mouth, but…” And Evie spoke up louder this time and with more firmness. “If you believe in peace, then let’s keep it!” 

“I think you're confusing peace with quiet.” The towering mech said, sauntering towards them. Evie stood straighter, holding her head up high as he neared. “Yuh-huh. What's the Vibranium for?” Tony asked. “I'm glad you asked that, because I wanted to take this time to explain my evil plan–” With no time to react, Ultron attacked Tony, and two more droids dropped down on both Steve and Thor.

Evie allowed her shift to take hold, as Wanda started to produce a red glow from both her hands and eyes. “Is that meant to scare me?” Maximoff asked. With black eyes Evie noticed the other twin was suddenly gone. “Not at all, this is your final warning... Stand down.” Instantaneously Evie saw a blast of red energy flying her way, using her invisible shield she deflected the blow but it still has enough force that it threw her back several feet.

Gun fire was soon heard, and everyone was engaged in a fight. All except Banner who had decided to hold back in the quinjet as a safty measure. Tony and Ultron flew high above everyone, locked in a tight battle. Steve and Thor were taking on Klaue’s henchmen as were Nat and Clint. Evie used her powers to take out the rogue droids, when from the corner of her eye, Rogers was knocked over. Something fast had just sucker punched him. But not even a few moments later she saw the missing twin crash against some crates after trying to grab hold of a flying Mjolnir.

She called her black fog to get her close to him. As Pietro tried to stand, she summoned one of the metal boxes laying around to kiss his face in a very unpleasant way. “I told you two, stand down! But no one ever listens to me.” Huffing in annoyance, she vanished once more, this time in pursuit of the missing sister. 

Evie focused, tuning out the battle. But Wanda was undetectable. That was until she started to use her magic again. Evie rushed to Thor’s side, “hey! You okay?” He took out an incoming man, before saying, “the girl tried to warp my mind. Take special care, I doubt a human could keep her at bay. Fortunately, I am mighty.” Evie swatted his arm playful before rejoining the fight once more. But Thor had indeed fallen to her mind tricks. As he walked the halls he was all of a sudden transported back to Asgard. Where he found himself surrounded by people drinking and dancing. It was a party, yet something was... off.  

The next power surge came and Evie darted in the direction, finding Cap down in some sort of trance. But she had no time to really check on Steve when the person who seemed to be forever in her blind spot emerged again. Evie moved erratically through the shadows to find Natasha in a similar daze. She had briefly peered into their minds, something very much against her own rules. But in seeing their hallucinations she panicked. Wanda was scrambling their brains and it was very dangerous game to play, especially given their current situation. Maximoff was slowly picking them apart, and Evie wasn't able to move fast enough to stop her.

Tony was flying solo against Ultron, but down below it was just her and Clint in the rusty pile of metal the black market dealer had set up as his HQ. Evie scoured the ship, and found him taking out both men and mechs with his trusty arrows. She hadn’t set foot out of the shadows, when Wanda crept up from behind him, illuminated hands inching closer to the back of his head. In a heartbeat, Evie had stepped between them with Barton's taser arrow in hand. With a gasp, Wanda was shocked and trembling. The wall being the only thing keeping her upright.

“I've done the whole mind control thing. Not a fan” Clint said giving Evie a grateful look, she nodded about to say something along the lines of “you’re welcome Bart,”  when; in a flash, both she and Clint crashed through an adjacent window. They looked up with just enough time to see Pietro unplug his sister and take off with her. “Yeah, you better run.” Clint said breathlessly at her side. Evie was already moving to get up, giving him a hand in the process.

“Whoever's standing, we gotta move! Guys?” But the lack of response worried her. Just then her intuition kicked in, screaming BANNER! She looked at Clint, and he knew what that look in her eyes meant. “Go, I’ll take over here.” And with that she vanished again.

Outside the shipyard, Evie made it to the quinjet. Her chest was rising and falling with unsteady breaths. “Doc?” She called out warily. But the only thing her ears picked up on was the ragged breathing of someone desperately trying to catch air. “Bruce you okay bud-” A ground shaking roar made her stubble back and fall on her ass. Now her heart was pounding against her ribcage. An onslaught of pure, unadulterated rage drowned her senses. “Hulk? Hulk buddy, it’s me Evie! I-I’m your friend, remember? Tiny Stark?!” 

But the enormous green eyes peering back at her were unfocused and crazed. Another deafening roar tore through the air, causing her to quite literally shake in her boots. Evie thought to herself, I can’t take him on. But if I could lay at least a finger maybe he’ll respond to the lullaby and my powers. She stood on weak knees, Evie had been up close and personal with Hulk several times before. Ever since they became the most unlikely of friends during the battle of New York, Hulk had always had a soft spot for the youngest Avenger. And never once had she feared him. But right now, it was coursing through her veins alongside copious amounts of adrenaline. 

She crouched slightly. “Hey there, big guy. The sun's getting real low...” Holding her hand out to him, she spoke gently and very calm. Just like she had practiced with Natasha. After all, between the two and Bruce they came up with the technique to make the big green guy docile. But the instant his eyes flickered from her hand to her pleading eyes, she knew he was lost. 

With no time to react she was swatted away, flying violently into the air. Evie landed harshly on her back, the wind completely knocked from her lungs. She couldn’t see through the black spots in her vision when she felt a giant hand grab her like a toddler would a barbie, whatever breath still in her lungs was instantly squeezed out. Her black tactical suit started to drip blood the more he crushed her. Yet just as fast as Hulk had tried to burst her like a water balloon, he once again threw her away. This time she took out a few small palm trees in her trajectory. The last thing Evie stayed conscious for, was the feeling of her ribs and spine crunching as they snapped from the immense pressure being applied by her friend. 

Meanwhile, the team was down for the count, leaving Tony alone to deal with the out of control Hulk. The spell Wanda had played on Banner had an even worse effect than anyone could’ve ever anticipated. It surpassed anything the Veronica protocol had prepared for. His rampage had a devastating toll on the city closest to where they had confronted Ultron. Nothing her dad had thrown at him (literally and figuratively) had worked.

When Tony tried calling on Natasha to get the lullaby into play, Clint informed him she and the others were down. “Evie, summon Void. I need all the help I can get, sweetie!” But given her current state, she obviously couldn’t answer. Leaving Tony to use an entire unfinished skyscraper to subdue the green giant. As soon as he had Hulk knocked senseless. He barked out orders to his system and Clint to locate his daughter. “She would never just walk away from a fight, somethings wrong! Something had to happen, find Evie NOW!” 

It took a little over an hour before Tony found her, she was still unconscious. A bloody mess on the ground, with twigs, dirt, and grass stuck on her in an almost cartoonish way. But nothing about her situation was funny. Evie was hardly breathing, and Tony’s heart nearly stopped at the sight of her. He removed the debris and cradled her against him as he felt how her limp body was slowly mitigating the damage done.

By the time he was carrying her into the jet, Evie had just the major breaks still healing as the bruising visible to the surface changed into some nasty mix of colors. The others all watched stunned at how badly she had been beaten, or well crushed actually. Banner especially. The guilt over what his alter ego had done was silently eating him whole. Thor, Steve, Nat, and Clint rushed over to them. 

Her dad gently laid her down on a stretcher, as Steve moved to strap her down to better help her body mend the bones and set them back into place. But it was the continuous coughs filled with blood that had them worried. With Banner unable to come near Evie to assist, Tony did a quick scan. A few ribs had punctured her lungs. There was nothing they could do other than wait and pray her body would be able to fully recover on its own. 

With Evie in a somewhat stable condition, the team fell into an eerie quiet as they flew to their next destination, which only Barton knew since he flew the quinjet. Maria had reached out and advised them to remain in hiding till Ultron resurfaced and they could formulate a better plan to proceed with. Because after the shit show that ensued with their last reunion, more then half the world was pissed off and upset with the Avengers. And they themselves were still reeling from the meddling Wanda had done with their brains and the hit Evie had taken. 

Hours later, just as the sun started to peek above the clouds Evie woke up with a gasp, still believing she was being used as a stress ball by Hulk. “Whoa, hey! It’s okay honey. I’m right here.” Taking in a full breath of air she threw her arms over her dad, “d-dad? Is e-everyone okay?” He leaned back looking at her curiously. “Honey, we found you as a pile of broken bones and blood. And your first reaction is to check on everyone else?”

She blinked, unable to catch up with the present yet, “the Maximoff girl, she messed with their heads dad! T-they’re not okay. She, she let out Hulk and he’s heading for the city! We, we nee-” 

Tony had to literally close her mouth with his hand to get her to stop rambling. “Genevieve, listen to me very carefully!” She looked at him with pinched brows and wide eyes. yet she nodded slowly. “We’re all okay! Physically at least. We’re all here, we got knocked down. But we’ll shake it off. Right now I need you to worry about you. AND Only you. Is that understood? That’s a pretty big knot you have on the side of your head still, so I can only guess it's reasonable to assume you’re concussed. Lay down, keep the ice pack there till we get to the safe house. Got it!” 

“Got it… thanks daddy.” She said in a small voice. Her head was pounding so she was grateful he had placed an ice pack beside the pillow she had been resting on. Without protest she did as told. Her eyes looked at her teammates, but they all seemed lost in thought. Scattered about the cabin, with no one saying a word. She felt their trepidation and anxiety slowly infecting her.

She was stubborn, so ignoring the throbbing in her skull, Evie tried to emit a sense of ease and reassurance. It seemed to work enough to take the edge off everyone a tiny bit. But with her body weak from over excursion and having to self-heal she soon fell asleep.

Sometime later Tony was gently nudging her to wake. “Come on kiddo, we're here.” He told her softly. She groaned, the sunlight coming in was harsh to her eyes and the migraine was still present. Evie was sluggish, so Tony and Thor helped guide her out as Clint and Natasha led them from the lush green pasture they landed into a lovely and cozy looking farmhouse. On her right Thor asked outloud what she was thinking.

“What is this place?” With Tony firmly holding her up, he craned over his daughter to tell him, “safe house.” But Evie’s senses were picking up on more people aside from them. After Clint threw back, “let’s hope.” Her suspicions faded, and curiosity took its place. Her gut told her he was familiar with this place. That it was home for agent Barton.

Chapter Text

With the Avengers all following Barton and Romanoff into the house, Clint called out to someone inside.

“Honey, I’m home.” They rounded a corner, coming into the living room that connected to the kitchen and dining room. Evie took note of the toys and pictures drawn by children on the fridge. A woman clearly in the later stages of pregnancy came in from another doorway. “Hi. Company. Sorry I didn't call ahead.” He said to her, and Evie was hit with the feeling of love and adoration from the two.

“Hey,” said the beautiful brunette as Clint stopped in front of her planting a kiss on her cheek sweetly. Evie cocked a brow, completely intrigued by what was going on. Girlfriend? She thought. “This is an agent of some kind.” Tony blurted as he looked at Thor. It was his way of making sense of the unexpected situation. And with that, Mr. Barton introduced the team to Mrs. Barton.

“Gentleman, Evie. This is Laura.” Laura looked at them excitedly and giggled, “I know all your names!” They all look at her awkwardly. Both Starks gave Laura a small wave, but the sound of small rapid footsteps approaching took their attention. “Oh, incoming.” Clint told them, as two young kids ran in shouting, “Dad!”

A cute little girl jumped into his arms, and a boy who looked to be slightly older wrapped his arms around Clint’s torso. “Hi, sweetheart! Hey, buddy! How you guys doing?” But leave it to her dad to ruin the tender moment with a joke. “These are...smaller agents.” He said as he continued to explain to the Asgardian what was unfolding.

“Look at your face! Oh, my goodness!” Clint was clearly happy and overjoyed to be home with his family. With a cute little voice the girl asked her dad, “did you bring Auntie Nat?” Natasha perked up with that and came out from the corner. “Why don't you hug her and find out?” She scooped her up excited to be at home with the Bartons.

Steve, always the gentleman, was the first to show manners. “Sorry for barging in on you.” “Yeah, we would have called ahead, but we were busy having no idea that you existed.” Tony interrupted, but nearly dropped his own daughter when she elbowed him. Telling him to behave. Clint explained, “yeah, well... Fury helped me set this up when I joined. He kept it off SHIELD's files. I'd like to keep it that way. I figured it's a good place to lay low.” 

As Nat spoke with Laura, the kids kept Clint busy, and Evie aubruptly caught a glimpse of Thor’s vision. She shook her head clearing away the intrusive blur as Thor marched out of the house. “Thor?” She called out. Feeling a bit of her own strength back, she left Tony’s side to follow the big blondie outside. Steve was right there behind her, keeping an eye on her and checking on Thor as well. 

“I saw something in that dream. I need answers, I won't find them here.” He told them with an unwavering firmness. Spinning the hammer, he flew to the skies disappearing from sight. Just as she turned to face Steve, he heard an echo calling out to him from the mind melt he had experienced. Without even sharing a word, muchless a glance. He too, walked off away from the house. Leaving her baffled at the foot of the steps outside.

As everyone settled in and got comfortable for the time being, Evie couldn't help but go sit in the fields of tall grass. She felt lost, and useless. Her team; earth’s mightiest heroes, needed to be pieced back together. But she had zero clue as to where to start. Evie was so caught up wallowing in self pity she didn’t pick up on Laura getting close till she tapped her shoulder.

“Sorry didn’t mean to spook you. Clint said you got pretty hurt, and I thought you could use a little something to help regain your strength.” She handed Evie a plate with a sandwich and a bottle of water, which she eagerly took. Not noticing how starved she was till the sight of food was before her.

“Thank you Mrs. Barton.”

Laura giggled, “may I?”

“Please this is your place, I’m the one who should be asking permission.” She waved her off, “oh it's alright. Clint has told me a lot about you, he really does admire your abilities and strong will.” 

“Strong will?” She asked through a mouthful. 

She shook her head, swallowing. “Stubborn maybe, but right now…” She exhaled deeply, “right now, I’m feeling pretty useless. We got picked off like fish in a barrel, and I almost got popped like a pimple.” This made the woman beside burst into laughter. “He did say you had a good sense of humor too, like your dad.” She smiled down at her food, slowly taking another bite. “I can’t speak from experience. Only from what I see, and right now, you're all a mess. Not just you.” Evie turned to give her perplexed stare.

“Yeah, they're all struggling to pick themselves up. And something tells me you and Clint are the best ones to help solve this puzzle. You can’t let what happened weigh you down. Sure there might be some guilt, but right now what matters most is what you’re gonna do about it. Genevieve, you are a smart and powerful young woman. Normally I’d tell Nat to whip these boys into shape, but given the circumstances it's gonna be you who has to steps up to the plate.” Evie put her food down and gave her a grateful smile.

Seeing the tears collect in the corner of her eyes, Laura asked, “what’s wrong sweetie?” Evie didn’t know how to put into words the feeling of warmth and welcoming Laura was giving her. “You remind me of someone special that I never really got to know. My birth mother…”

The woman gave her a sympathetic look, “I thought you didn’t look like Pepper. What happened to her?” Wiping a stray tear with the back of her hand, Evie told her she had passed before she got to met her. But her mother had died a hero in her eyes. Laura opened her arms to the girl. Scared to hurt a pregnant woman, Evie hesitated. Only at that moment had she realized she had never interacted with a woman caring a baby before. The youngest person she knew was Harley Keener, and he was already in his preteens. Laura noticed her hesitation and looked down at her growing belly. “It's okay, I’m not as fragile as people think. Come here,” She embraced Evie in a warm and affectionate hug, as if they had been lifelong friends. “I know you guys are going to pull through. Just promise me one thing.” Evie leaned back, nodding egarly, “yeah. Anything!”

“Promise everyone makes it home, okay? You all deserve a break when the dust settles with all this.” Evie finished the last bites of her meal and got up. Helping Laura since her belly was throwing off her center of balance. “One more thing, I think your dad might need help with our tracker. It kinda died on us.” She happily agreed and went in the direction of the barn. 

She found Tony talking sweetly to the stalled equipment. “Hello, Deere. Tell me everything. What ails you?” He saw her come in and motioned her to get closer. “She needs a kick?” Evie asked, but her gut indicated an old acquaintance was near.

“Do me a favor. Try not to bring it to life.” From the dark corner of the barn Nick Fury came out with a less than pleased look on his face. In a heartbeat her dad matched it, sighing loudly. “Ah, Mrs. Barton, you little minx. I get it, Maria Hill called you, right? Was she ever not working for you?” Evie crossed her arms and leaned against the big green farm tool. She was gonna take a backseat on this conversation.

“Artificial intelligence. You two never even hesitated.” The two men sauntered towards each other. “Look, it's been a really long day. Like, Eugene O'Neill long, so how's about we skip to the part where you're useful?” Fury wasn’t having any of Tony's sass. “Look me in the eye and tell me you're going to shut him down.” “You're not the director of me.” Nick wasn’t shocked with his response. “I'm not the director of anybody.” He said, taking a seat on a hay bale. “I'm just an old man, who cares very much about you.” But the atmosphere suddenly got very heavy. And the conversation went dark when Tony made a confession.

“And I'm the man who killed the Avengers.” Evie dropped her arms, stunned by what he said. “I saw it. I didn't tell the team, how could I? I saw them all dead, Nick. My daughter included. I felt it. The whole world, too. It's because of me. I wasn't ready. I didn't do all I could…” 

She knew now what had shook him to the core back in Strucker’s base. Wanda’s magic had triggered his biggest fear. “The Maximoff girl, she's working you, Dad. Playing on your fear.” Evie came up beside him, holding on to his arm. Much like when she was a kid, nervous of the big crowds. He placed a hand over hers. “I wasn't tricked kiddo, I was shown. It wasn't a nightmare, it was my legacy... The end of the path I started us on.” Patting her once more he slipped out of her grasp and paced the barn.

Nick then rose to his feet. “You've come up with some pretty impressive inventions, Tony. War isn't one of them.” Her dad picked up a wrench and towel, “I watched my baby and our friends die. You'd think that'd be as bad as it gets, right?” He scuffed as he cleaned the tool. “Nope. It wasn't the worst part.” Fury finished Tony’s train of thought.

“The worst part is that you didn't.”

Evie understood her dad’s sentiment entirely. 

Later that day after they all shared a nice home cooked dinner with Fury and the Barton family, Nick decided it was time to set them straight. 

“Ultron took you folks out of play to buy himself time. My contacts all say he's building something. The amount of Vibranium he made off with, I don't think it's just one thing.”

“What about Ultron himself?” Steve asked, taking the lead on their meeting.

“Ah. He's easy to track, he's everywhere. Guy's multiplying faster than a Catholic rabbit. Still doesn't help us get an angle on any of his plans though.” From the hallway where he was throwing darts, Tony chimed in with, “he still going after launch codes?” 

“Yes, he is, but he's not making any headway.” Exasperated, Evie added, “hm, I cracked the Pentagon's firewall in high school on a dare.” Making her dad very proud as he threw her a wink while he went to fetch the darts off the board.

“Yeah, well, I contacted our friends at the NEXUS about that.” Fury said, cutting himself a piece of coffee cake. 

“NEXUS?” Steve asked, confused. And Bruce provided the answer. “It's the world internet hub in Oslo, every byte of data flows through there, fastest access on earth.” “So what'd they say?” Barton questioned next, twirling a dart in his fingers. And Evie quickly knew what Hawkeye was gearing up to do, making her lips twitch with mischievousness.

“He's fixated on the missiles, but the codes are constantly being changed.” Fury stated. Evie instantly threw back, “By who?” Just then the dart Clint had been fidgeting with brushed close to her dad’s nose as he turned to listen to Fury’s next answer. He quickly threw their host a dirty glare. Which Clint only shrugged as a response. “Parties unknown.” Nick said coolly. 

“Do we have an ally?” Nat said, almost hopeful. “Ultron's got an enemy, that's not the same thing. Still, I'd pay folding money to know who it is.” Nick said. Her dad didn’t delay in saying, “I might need to visit Oslo, find our ‘unknown’.” With her usual wit, Natasha told Fury, “Well, this is good times, boss, but I was kind of hoping when I saw you, you'd have more than that.” 

With his glass of apple juice in hand and coffee cake in the other, Nick gestured at them saying, “I do, I have you. Back in the day, I had eyes everywhere, ears everywhere else. Here we all are, back on earth, with nothing but our wit, and our will to save the world. Ultron says the Avengers are the only thing between him and his mission. And whether or not he admits it, his mission is global destruction. All this, laid in a grave. So stand. Outwit the platinum bastard!”

Evie couldn’t resist the temptation to tease Rogers and blurted out, “Stevie doesn't like that kind of talk.” He scuffed. “You know what, Stark?” She threw him a sly smirk, looking at him through her long lashes innocently.

“So what does he want?” Nick continued, now sitting at the table. “To become better. Better than us. He keeps building bodies.” Rogers answered, and her dad quickly added. “Person bodies. The human form is inefficient, biologically speaking, we're outmoded. But he keeps coming back to it.” 

Nat chided Tony, Bruce, and Evie by saying, “when you three programmed him to protect the human race, you amazingly failed.” Meanwhile Bruce took notice of the buterfly picture little Lila had given Widow. “They don't need to be protected, they need to evolve. Ultron's going to evolve.”

“How?” Fury asked, as everyone in the room got quiet with anxiety spiking. 

“Has anyone been in contact with Helen Cho!?”

With time against them the team prepared to go on a mission once more.

Steve called the first shot, “I'll take Natasha and Clint.” As Tony adjusted his watch he pitched in next. “Alright, strictly recon. I'll hit the NEXUS with Evie, and we'll join you as soon as we can.” 

“If Ultron is really building a body…” Steve said, wary of the tin man’s plan for self help.

“He'll be more powerful than any of us. Maybe all of us. An android designed by a robot” Her dad said ominously.

“You know I really miss the days when the weirdest thing science ever created was me.” Cap said, with a bit of dry humor. On his way out the door Nick chimed in, “I'll drop Banner off at the tower. Do you mind if I borrow Ms. Hill?” Tony quickly threw back, “She's all yours, apparently.”

Steve questioned Nick’s next move and he replied, “I don't know. Something dramatic, I hope.” Evie snickered a bit, and told her dad she was all set to go, still bruised over with a shiner nearly matching her dad’s above her right brow. Her body seemed to have slowed down its healing on the superficial, less serious stuff. Then again, her face always took the longest to recover even if it was just small cuts or scrapes. Luckily everything else was back in working order. 

With everyone’s orders clearly set. They all set off to do their part of the mission. With the Starks promptly heading off to Norway.

Chapter Text

At the center of the NEXUS Internet Hub, Evie and Tony were firing away at the keyboards in front of them. “A hacker who's faster than Ultron? He could be anywhere.” Evie finished his sentence by adding, “And as this is the center of everything, We’re just two peas in a pod looking for a needle in the world's biggest haystack.” The three workers that stood next to them were in awe of their skills. “How do you find it?” asked one of the female techs, as the other two tried to discreetly take pictures of both father and daughter. 

“Pretty simple. You bring a magnet.” her dad said nonchalantly. He then started to playfully sing as they typed. “Oh, I'm decrypting nuclear codes and you don't want me to.” Evie giggled at his failed country tune and as they punched in the last of the codes she said, “come and get us.”

On the other side of the globe, things had gone sideways pretty quickly for Team Rodgers. Steve had found Dr. Cho seriously hurt with most of her employees dead. Ultron had commenced the process of uploading his consciousness into a newly designed body. Helene warned them of a gem uncrusted into the new form within the cradle. It had immense power, and couldn’t simply be smashed or blown up due to the repercussions it would carry to its surrounding area. The silver mech had taken off with his bot pals and the cradle, but were intercepted by the crew. Very unhappy to be interrupted he started to take Steve head on. Leaving Clint and Natasha to deal with the cradle and its contents. 

Somehow just as Natasha secured the cradle, Steve and Ultron managed to go from fighting in a truck through the streets of Seoul, to a speding train. The robotic henchmen Ultron had were instructed to take off with his body. But Nat had stopped that plan when she literally threw herself and the cradle out the air borne container. Right as Clint caught them both mid-flight, Ultron himself snatched Widow before anyone could do anything to avoid her capture. 

The train Cap and the android had collided with derailed and plowed through the city. And two unlikely twins stepped in to help Steve. With Pietro zipping ahead getting civilians out of harm’s way, and Wanda using her powers to force the train to stop before any more damage could be done. As the dust seemed to settle down it was Wanda’s words that planted the seeds of doubt in Steve's head regarding his friends’ plan for what the Cadle had inside. 

“He will do anything to make things right. And his daughter will go along with anything he does. Ultron can't tell the difference between saving the world and destroying it. Where do you think he gets that?” This rubbed Steve the wrong way and even though he didn't want to hear any of it, somehow it still stuck like sap. “Watch what you're saying… At the end of the day together we always save the world. Tony is a close friend and Genevieve is like a sister. So what? I supposed to trust you two, all of a sudden?” 

Back at Avengers tower Clint, Bruce, Tony, and Evie were thinking about what the next course of action should be regarding the Regeneration Cradle, and how to rescue Natasha. 

“Anything on Nat?” Tony answered Bruce’s question by saying she was alive, otherwise, “Ultron would be rubbing our faces in it.” Evie gently rubbed Banner’s back, in an effort to transmit some calmness. She knew they were special to one another. He gave her a grateful expression. Clint was trying to pray the cradle open, “This is sealed tight.”

Evie pushed him aside ready to rip it open when Bruce motioned her to not even try it, “We're going to need to access the program, break it down from within.” She then asked Clint, “Hey... any chance Natasha might leave you a message, outside the internet? Y'know, old school spy stuff?” With an air of determination he stated, “there's some nets I can cast. Yeah, alright. I'll find her!” And promptly left to explore his options. 

Dr. Banner came around the box, “I can work on tissue degeneration, if one of you can fry whatever operational system Cho implanted.” She knew what her dad was planning when he said, “Yeah, about that...” Bruce popped up and gave them an incredulous stare.

“No!”

“You have to trust us.” 

“Kinda don't.” 

“Our ally? The guy protecting the military's nuclear codes?” Tony said, whipping out his device and bringing up the 3D image of Jarvis's consciousness fully restored “We found him.” Evie’s eyes lit up with a very pleased grin plastered on. In that oh so familiar voice she dearly missed he greeted their friend.

“Hello, Dr. Banner.” 

Evie went to stand by the cradle opposite of Bruce. “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 we pieced him together.” But that did nothing as Bruce was still wary of where the chat was heading. Scuffing he said, “so, you two want me to help you put Jarvis into this thing?”

“No, of course not!” Tony said innocently. “We wanna help you put Jarvis in this thing.” Bruce shook his head fervently as her dad kept trying to persuade him. “We're out of our field here. You know bio-organics better than anyone.” Skeptical about everything, Banner questioned them, “And you just assume that Jarvis' operational matrix can beat Ultron's?”

With that Evie stepped in again, “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 traits. We have to, Doc.” She was giving him her best puppy eyes, one she normally used on her dad to get her way. Even the UI in question chimed in with, “I believe it’s worth a go.” 

“No, I'm in a loop!” Bruce exclaimed, still in disbelief of what he was hearing, flailing his arms about. “I'm caught in a time loop, this is exactly where it all went wrong.” Her dad quickly came around to reassure him. “I know, I know. I know what everyone's going to say, but they're already saying it. We're mad scientists.” Tony clapped his shoulder, giving him a firm grip. “We're monsters, buddy. You gotta own it. Make a stand.” Banner started to shake his head again.

“It's not a loop. It's the end of the line.” Evie added, silently conveying the feeling of confidence and security in what they were saying. And apparently it worked, because the good doctor caved to their peer pressure and Evie clapped like a kid in a candy store ready to pick the sweetest options.

“Let’s get to work gentlemen!” 

Together the three of them once more dove deep into their project, experimenting on the new synthetic body. Evie and Banner meticulously plugged cables and cords into the box’s frame while Tony was typing away at his computer prepping Jarvis for upload. “This framework is not compatible.” Her dad said from the platform above them, “the genetic coding tower's at ninety-seven percent. You have got to upload that schematic in the next three minutes.” Banner answered as they stepped back admiring their work. But Evie however, cursed under her breath when her senses picked up on her favorite golden boy and a speedster. 

“I'm gonna say this once...” Steve started in a firm authoritative voice, yet Tony cut him off instantly.

“How about nonce?” Steve got irritated, not accepting what he had just walked in on.

“Shut it down!” As Evie looked up from behind the cradle she spotted Wanda next to Rogers, and glared scornfully.

“Nope, not gonna happen,” she said, still locked on the other woman.

“You don't know what you're doing.” Steve said, trying to get her attention.

“And you do? She's not in your head?” Bruce bit back, pointing at the other girl in the room. Evie felt his fury start to bubble at the site of the twins. Wanda tentatively stepped out from behind Steve. “I know you're angry-” 

“Oh, we're way past that. I could choke the life out of you and never change a shade.” Evie, unwavering in her distrust, quipped in, “I second that.” Steve tried again to stop them using logic. “Banner, Evie, after everything that's happened-” 

“That's nothing compared to what's coming!” Tony interrupted once more.

“You don't know what's in there!” Wanda said taking a step in her dad’s direction and Evie moved to block her in a heartbeat. Steve and Wanda started to talk over each other trying to reason with the others, but the silver haired man grew bored with the bickering and in less then a second used his speed to destroy the lab equipment, unplugging everything and trashing all their hard work.

“No, no. Go on. You were saying?” Evie was about to launch him through the air, but Barton beat her to it, shooting out the glass floor Pietro was standing on. “Pietro!” Wanda cried. As he landed, Clint stepped painfully on his leg. “What? You didn't see that coming?”

Evie used the distraction and moved using her black cloud to where Tony was. “I'm rerouting the upload.” The system's incessant beeping was indicating a critical power loss. Without hesitating, Steve threw the shield, wrecking the lab even more. This triggered Tony and he put on his suit gauntlet, firing a blast that sent Steve tumbling back as the rest of the armor started attaching itself to Stark. Clint quickly came up the steps, clocking his gun. Since Banner was closer to Wanda, he grabbed the girl who was starting to glow red again.

“Go ahead, piss me off. I nearly killed someone I consider family because of you!” 

Steve took off running and jumped, trying to stop Tony with a punch. But his chest blaster sent Rogers back once more. However the collision also had Tony going through a glass wall. Evie vanished into the dark seeing how the other girl had managed to get loose from Banner by hurting him in the process. Just as she had become Void; catching Wanda in an invisible choke from afar, Thor slid in, rushing towards the cradle and jumping on top of it. As he lifted Mjolnir, Bruce yelled out, “Wait!”

Lightning was summoned and Evie ditched the witch to create a swarming dark funnel to channel all the energy directly into the box. She had read his mind, and knew exactly what he was doing. Wanda dropped and fell to her knees gasping for air. Everyone watched in stunned silence for what the result would be. Evie glanced at the screen, squinting to see past the blinding white light, reading ‘WARNING: Power overload.’ But she had a hunch their creation was about to awaken something new. 

With nothing to warn them, Thor was tossed aside when the metal box imploded. Evie vaporized into a black fog to go and check on Thor before looking back at what came out. There on top of what remained of the cradle, was a man? He was crouching, with smoke coming off its very naked red and silver body. Just like a brand new baby born into the world with nothing but its birthday suit on.

Thor quickly recovered and got off the floor as the others unconsciously took a step closer to look at the being with a bright shiny yellow stone encrusted in its forehead. He slowly stood looking at everyone and then itself. When his eyes landed on the Asgardian and younger Stark, he aubruptly pounced. 

As Evie vanished once more, Thor grabbed hold of him and tossed him out a window towards the commons area. Before he was sent tumbling head over heels out the main windows to the busy city streets below, he stopped himself. Evie reappeared behind him, somehow now able to read his profound sense of confusion, and registering zero indicators of danger or malice on his part. Steve was the first to jump down and came up behind Thor, who held his hand up to stop him. The red man studied his reflection while Evie studied his head. As the others gathered behind them, he slowly turned to face them. Somehow making clothes materialize from nothing to dress himself. Thor set his hammer down as the being floated over to Evie and joined them. 

“I'm sorry, that was... odd.” He spoke, turning to look at them both. “Thank you.” 

She was taken back by the sound of his voice. It was that of Jarvis. Yet she knew it wasn't him. He glanced over the Asgardian's attire. One second later a slight shimmer of yellow light made a cape appear that matched Thor’s. 

“Thor, you helped create this?” Steve asked cynically.

“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 inside the other guy’s head. Evie was too engrossed with the newcomer to even speak. “What, the gem?” Banner asked, coming closer to them. “It's the Mind Stone. It's one of the six Infinity Stones, the greatest power in the universe, unparalleled in its destructive capabilities.” Steve was fuming, “then why would you bring it to-”

“Because Stark is right!” This caught Evie’s attention as she snapped towards her favorite space god.

“Oh, it's definitely the end times.” Bruce spoke, voiced laced with anxiety.

“The Avengers cannot defeat Ultron.” Thor warned. And the creature spoke again, “not alone.” He gave her one last glance before walking towards Tony, Steve and the Maximoff twins. “Why does your 'vision' sound like Jarvis?” Cap questioned, only then did Evie find her voice. “We... reconfigured Jarvis’ matrix to create something new.” He threw her a slight glare.

“I think I've had my fill of new.” 

“You think I'm a child of Ultron?” Steve threw back, “are you not?” He seemed to ponder his next response, “I'm not Ultron. I'm not Jarvis. I am... I am-”

“I looked in your head and saw annihilation.” Wanda interrupted, and Evie defended him saying, “then look again.” With a challenging brow arched high. Barton scuffed, “yeah. Her seal of approval means jack to me,” referring to Wanda. Thor once more took over the chatter saying, “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?” Steve butted in, “are you? On our side?” He said looking at Vision directly.

“I don't think it's that simple,” he said, making Clint very unamused. “Well it better get real simple real soon.” 

“I am on the side of life. Ultron isn't, he will end it all.” Tony came up to him next, cautiously asking, “what's he waiting for?”

“You.” Vision answered calmly.

“Where?” Evie asked next, and Barton answered for him. “Sokovia. He's got Nat there too.” Bruce went to stand before him, “If we're wrong about you, if you're the monster that Ultron made you to be…”

“What will you do?” He looked around at them all, “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.” He looked down at his hands, “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.” He turned to the place Thor had put down the hammer, “but we need to go.” He held up Mjolnir, offering it back to Thor. Leaving everyone to stare back in complete shock. When Thor took it, Vision simply walked off. Evie used her hand to cover a smirk, as Thor merely said, “right.” Following Vision, only pausing briefly to clap her dad on the back as he passed. “Well done.”

Steve then gave the command, “three minutes. Get what you need.” 

They all start getting ready to leave, and Evie decided that a truce with the twins was in the team’s best interest. So she swallowed her pride and found them standing around unsure of what to do with themselves. “Follow me.” They shared a hesitant look between themselves. “Or stay here, I’m trying to be nice. You heard the… guy. Work together. I’m not gonna bite.” Pietro grew a smug grin, “what if I want you to?” She scuffed, rolled her eyes, and started walking away, leading them towards the training room’s locker area. When they got there she opened up a wardrobe with spare clothes and shoes. She picked out a few options and turned to the brother. “Here, I think these might be your size.” “I think you might be my size.” He said, giving her a flirty wink. Evie very dramatically rolled her eyes. “Are you comfortable in exercise gear, or do you want just a regular change of clothes?”

Wanda turned her head to the side, “why are you being nice? You were just trying to kill us.” Evie threw her head back sighing deeply, shoulder slumping. “Because my mom taught me to play nice with others. And in this case, it fits us. We all live on this floating rock together, and if we wanna live to see it continue spinning around the sun, then we best get along. If we don’t ever see each other after this, then so be it.” She gave her a blank face, “so, clean outfit or no?” Pietro nudged Wanda who gave her one last look over.

“Yes, thank you.”

Evie nodded saying she'd be right back and vanished in her black fog, returning a few seconds later with a fresh set of laundered clothes and her red leather jacket. “I don’t need a coat.” Evie shook her head, handing Wanda the bundle. “Sokovia is cold. You’ll need it. Plus, I don’t really use this one. I think you’ll appreciate it more.” For the first time ever, the other girl gave her a small but grateful curt nod and tight lipped smile. Evie then mirrored it, before leaving them to get ready and in search of her own gear.

Chapter Text

She got dressed in black jeans, and a AC/DC t-shirt. Throwing on her black sweater afterwards. Since the cold never seemed to affect her, she didn’t bother to layer-up for the snowy terrain they were heading to. Walking out, she found her dad in the lab installing a new UI to the suit.

“Is that your girl Friday?” She asked, coming to look over his shoulder. “Yep, speaking of which that reminds me…” He got up and went over to one of his work benches and picked up a small backpack that had a hard outer casing. “What's this?” she asked as he helped her put it on as she secured the buckle across her chest. He pressed a square button, and it hummed, suddenly extending metal amour around her torso, shoulders and down her back.

“A suit of armor around my world,” he said softly looking over his work for any modifications. It was a dark steel gray color and a bit bulky for her liking. Nevertheless it made her eyes sting with tears threatening to spill over. She threw her arms over his neck, bringing him down to her level. “Thank you,” she mumbled from the crook of his neck. Hugging her back just as tightly he said, “I can not afford another close call like the other day. This is gonna give me just a smidge, peace of mind. I know you're strong and more than capable. But this, this is me watching your back, like you do for me.”

Afterwards as they went to regroup with the other she teased him, “since I look so good in Iron Man gear, we should get Pepper one too. Make avenging a family thing.” He chuckled, throwing an arm over her shoulders and kissing the top of her head, “yeah I highly doubt your mom would agree kiddo.” They laughed and parted once they reached the others. Heading over to Steve and Bruce. After some light chatter Tony veered to the heavy topic of Ultron again.

“No way we all get through this. If even one tin soldier is left standing, we've lost. There's gonna be blood on the floor.” With an air of new found determination Steve said, “I got no plans tomorrow night.” Tony then told them, “I get first crack at the big guy. Iron Man's the one he's waiting for.” Evie felt Vision getting closer, but didn’t anticipate what he would say as he walked past them. “That's true, he hates you the most.” This made the girl burst into a fit of giggles, as they all went and boarded the quinjet. Once inside Thor took notice of her new attire. “I like this look. Armor suits you little sister. Makes you look like a fierce warrior.” She gave him a bashful smile, “thanks man, I appreciate your vote of approval.” 

Once in the air Steve did his best to inspire the team and give out his next orders. “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."

Upon landing the twins quickly mobilized to start evacuating the city since they knew the terrain. Pietro went zipping in and out of the police stations telling them, “we're under attack! Clear the city, now!” And when no one took him seriously, Pietro returned with a rifle and started shooting in the air yelling, “get off your asses!” All the while, Wanda stood at the center of the city and slowly reached the minds of the citizens, influencing them to take themselves and their families out of the city. On the ground the other’s were directing traffic, herding the people away from danger. In the meantime, Bruce went to retrieve Natasha.

So far, everything seemed to be going according to plan. 

That was untill, from up in the sky, Friday informed Tony of Ultron’s location. “Your man's in the church, boss. I think he's waiting for you.” He flew down to greet the prodigal son, and Evie went to stand by his side.

“Come to confess your sins?”

“I don't know, how much time you got?” Tony quipped. Since he was still just a machine, Evie didn’t sense Ultron creeping up behind them.

“More than you.” He stepped out of the dark, and towered over them.

“Uhhh. Have you been juicing? A little Vibranium cocktail? You're looking, I don't wanna say, puffy…” Her dad asked and she then added, “yeah, how much you benching these days little bro?” In a very condescending manner. 

Arduous Ultron sneered, “you two are stalling to protect the people.” 

“Well, that is the mission. Did you forget?” Her dad asked not backing down from the metal giant.

“I've moved beyond our family’s mission. I'm free.” From beneath the stone floor, an engine core Ultron had placed erupted. “What? You guys think you're the only one stalling?” As Friday scanned the thing protruding from the ground she came over the comms stating, “there's the rest of the Vibranium. Function: still unclear.”

“This is how you end, Tony. This is peace in my time. But not you Genevieve. You have evolved! Join me sister, and help me rebuild this to a better world. Together we can fix not just his mistakes, but all of mankinds. This could be the world you envisioned when you wanted to share it with Loki. A true paradise.” Tony turned to see her reaction. Very calmly Evie responded with, “you can't use his name to entice me, and he may have been a lot of things. But a destroyer of planets, he was not. He died a good man. Something you will never be.” “Fine, so be it then.” With disdain clear in his metal features, Ultron's army of robots started attacking the city as everyone was still evacuating. Upon hearing the chaos spread, Tony flew off and Evie vanished in a ball of black smoke. 

The battle had commenced, and the people were sitting ducks. She quickly emerged just in time to stop a robot from firing at a small family who got cornered. Using her powers she ripped the droid to spare parts. “Run! Get someplace safe!” She moved through the shadows tearing apart every robot she came across, when suddenly the ground beneath her started to shake and rumble. A man attempting to run across a bridge lost his footing when the structure split in two beneath him. She threw her hands up and caught him just as he was about to fall into the chasm forming below.

As soon as he was back on solid ground he fell. Evie caught the older fellow before he could hurt himself. “Thank you!” He wept as she called her darkness to move them away from the crumbling edge. After taking him to the city center with the other stranded Savokians, she returned to the edge. Taking in the severity of their new situation. “Friday?”

“Sokovia is going for a ride.” The UI said balefully. 

Sure enough Sakovia was gaining altitude gradually, with no signs of stopping anytime soon. Ultron was then heard, addressing them directly using his droids as speakers. “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.” She let out a frustrated huff, and allowed Void to completely settle in.

Evie knew she would need to sharpen her abilities and put them on overdrive. The out pour of robots seemed to be doubling by the second as more and more kept coming. She had shredded at least a two dozen when Tony called her. “Void, Cap’s got incoming!” Evie didn't get a chance to answer as Steve was in her ear next saying, “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.” 

As Evie was moving across the city, she saw Clint grab Wanda and drive through a window for cover. She wasn’t able to go to them as she got flanked by eight more robots. With her arms waving gracefully in front of her she crushed, smashed, and dismantled them in no time at all. Not wanting to be stopped by another swarm, Evie took to the shadows. But when she caught Barton mid pep talk she stayed hidden, eavesdropping on their conversation. 

“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.”

As the two looked at each other in contemplation, Void came out of the shadows, and gave Wanda her best reassuring smile, “I second that.” She and Barton exchanged nods before he went to the back door. “Alright, good chat.” He prepped another shot and chuckled, “yeah, the city is flying.” Then proceeded to kick the door open and unleash another wave of arrows on the incoming bots. 

Evie offered Wanda a hand to get her off the floor. “We may have gotten off on the wrong foot. But you’re one of us now. And something tells me you're not gonna just sit around and let the boys do all the ass kicking today.” She brushed some of the dirt and rubble off Wanda’s shoulder and stepped back into her black cloud to find Steve and help clear his area. She arrived in time to see Steve throw a droid over the edge, yelling, “you'll never what? You didn't finish!” She pointed to the direction for the woman Cap had saved in which to seek safety as Thor dropped a small car with two guys inside still screaming from the fright they just had. “Feeling sassy, Stevie?”

Rogers chuckled and turned to Thor, “what, were you napping?” Mocking the Asgardian for his delay in rescue. As the trio made their way back to fight, Evie was completely in tune with her darker form. Sure it was unnerving for the people who weren’t used to such appearances. But given the current events unfolding before them, Evie felt their gratitude for the first time overcome the fear that tended to follow when she was trying to help. 

She soon found herself back to back with Natasha using both her powers and Widow training to take out the never ending wave of robots coming at them. From the corner of her eye she saw the Asgardian rise above them. Spinning, he took out at least six more, one of the mechs was sent reeling straight into an abandoned oil rig. Causing the tanker to explode, obliterating the dozen or so droids that were nearby. This both angered and annoyed Ultron, as the last glimpse she had on the space god was him getting jerked away with Ultron saying, “Thor! You're bothering me.” But with no chance to fret over her friend, Evie kicked up her efforts up some more and pushed her aching muscles to fight that much harder. 

A few moments later she detected a strong wave of power that wasn’t hers. Clint was in their ears seconds after. “Alright, we're all clear here.” On their side of town, they were swamped. Barely getting a chance to fully inhale a deep breath before having to take on more insurgents. “We are not clear!” Shouted Steve, as he impaled a bot with his shield, “we are very not clear!” With a drop kick he severed the thing into a pile of nuts and bolts. “Alright, coming to you.” Stated Hawkeye and she was so glad to hear more hands were coming to take on the silver army.

Something fast blurred by and in blink Wanda and Pietro had arrived on the scene. Putting themselves between the new wave of droids and the local police force. One of the cops shouted, “hold your fire!” As Wanda did quick work with the bots closest to her, a single shot was misfired. The bullet grazed Pietro on the left arm, he instantly stopped dead in his tracks to give the officer responsible a look of disbelief. 

Evie then stepped in, with the flick of her wrist the group flanking the opposite side was crushed to bits. The man on her right whistled, “impressive!” She had her hands on her knees, trying to catch her breath. Panting, she said, “you’re incorrigible Maximoff.” He chuckled as they guided survivors to a nearby building for safety. “Maybe when all this is over, I take you out for dinner, yes?” This made Evie giggle, with a slight brush of pink gracing her cheeks. “If we live to see tomorrow, I’ll take you up on that offer speedy.” He gave her a flirtatious smile as she bit her lip, trying to contain the stupid grin trying to take over. 

“The next wave's gonna hit any minute. What have you got, Stark?” She looked at Cap, “huh?” But when her dad answered she scolded herself to get her head back in the game. “Nothing great. Maybe a way to blow up the city. That'll keep it from impacting the surface if you guys can get clear.” That made her heart drop to the pit in her stomach. “I asked for a solution, not an escape plan.” Rogers clarified as Evie and Natasha came to stand with him. “Impact radius is getting bigger every second. We're going to have to make a choice.” This made Widow voice both their concerns, “Cap, these people are going nowhere. If Stark finds a way to blow this rock…”

But Steve was determined. “Not 'til everyone's safe!” 

“Everyone up here versus everyone down there? There's no math there.” Nat said, trying to get him to understand the weight of their choice. “I'm not leaving this rock with one civilian on it.” Evie gave him a sad half smile, “she’s not saying we should leave.” Steve then turns to look at her. “There's worse ways to go. I mean, where else are we gonna get a view like this?” Without notice, their earpieces rung with an all too familiar voice. “Glad you like the view, kid. It's about to get better.” There drifting high above the clouds to greet them was a helicarrier, showing up ready for action. “Nice, right? I pulled her out of mothballs with a couple of old friends. She's dusty, but she'll do.” With a hopeful wave of excitement Steve exclaimed, “Fury, you son of a bitch!”

“Oooh! You kiss your mother with that mouth?” Nick teased, and Evie took a few steps forwards, a giddy smile spreading from ear to ear. “This is SHIELD?” Pietro asked suddenly at her side. “This is what SHIELD's supposed to be.” Steve confirmed. “This is not so bad,” the speedster said. “Let's load 'em up.” And with Caps new orders in place they got to work. But when Evie heard a heavy machine gun being fired somewhere not far, her senses told her Rhodey was now in the party too.

“YES! Uncle Roe!” She waved her arms, jumping excitedly.

“Hiya pumpkin! Oh yeah, now this is gonna be a good story.” He said very happy to be taking part in the action. But her dad didn’t miss the chance to be a part of the impromtu family reunion.

“Yep. If you live to tell it.”

“You think I can't hold my own?”

“We get through this, I'll hold your own.”

Evie groaned audibly, “you just had to make it weird, dad.” 

Walking into a small grocery store, Evie told everyone to group up. “At least six at a time, and hold on to each other tight. You’ll feel a slight chill but I’m getting you all on those boats!” And she did, with Void at the lead she loaded up a whole rescue boat in less than five minutes, packing it to the brim. Because this wasn’t Titanic, and absolutely no one was getting left behind. Captain’s orders. But when Tony told Thor he had a plan the long haired blondie informed everyone, “we're out of time. They're coming for the core.” Her dad told Rhodey to finish making sure the boats made it safely back to the mothership.

And to everyone else, “Avengers, time to work for a living.”

One by one, the Avengers made it to the church taking out robots left and right. Evie was one of the first to arrive and took perch on top of the core, she mentally set her perimeter around it and not a single damn bot was gonna cross her line. They seemed to be getting a rare moment to prepare for the next onslaught. Yet as when two of their key members hadn’t arrived her dad delivered a crude and immature joke, “Romanoff? You and Banner better not be playing ‘hide the zucchini’.” Evie grimiced as he chuckled and Natasha came through. “Relax, Shell-head. Not all of us can fly.” And with that she was already walking in, “what's the drill?

Tony pointed to the core Evie was still standing on. “This is the drill. If Ultron gets a hand on the core, we lose.” With the entire crew inside the church, Ultron made himself known, gliding down by the town square. Exasperated and very vexed, Thor yelled out, “Is that the best you can do!?” 

The monstrous AI didn’t take kindly to his challenge. With his arms slowly rising, an innumerable amount of robots started spawning behind him. Both flying and running in to form a massive metal mob behind their leader. Evie came to punch Thor’s arm, “you just had to ask, didn't you!?.”

“This is the best I can do.” Ultron boasted proudly, “this is exactly what I wanted. All of you, against all of me. How could you possibly hope to stop me?” Evie held her head up high scowling at Ultron, her dad was about to speak. So she emitted a strong sense of courage, duty, and an unbreakable confidence that was infecting the whole team. “Well, like the old man said. Together.” Tony stated, turning to look at their good friend Steve. Hulk took this as his queue to make his might known, unleashing a thunderous roar. Instigating the fight to pick up once more and it was all hands on deck to protect the core. 

The machines started pouring in like roaches. Climbing, crawling, flying, and rushing in. The team was talking them out by the handfuls. Flashes of red, yellow, and white lights illuminated the small space. There was a breeze produced by Pietro’s running, as he bursted through the robots. Wanda’s magic was doing a hypnotic yet destructive dance, tearing the droids to scraps. Captain America, Hawkeye, and the infamous Black Widow were using every ounce of skill, and training into dismantling the incoming army. Tony, and Vision were using their energy blast to pick them off from their vantage point up high. Thor with his mystical hammer, was batting them at full force, sending the attackers smashing to mere bits as they collided with both Mjolnir and whatever hard surface they crashed into. Evie was waving her hands, using her invisible force to tear them apart, or throw them far, casting a black curtain over the core. Keeping all hands off it. And Hulk was biting heads off some and smashing the rest. Absolutely nothing was getting past them. 

In seeing their beautifully synchronized collective effort to stop him, Ultron decided to pick out the one who was supposed to be housing his being. The sound of metal on metal clashing echoed throughout the air. Using his mind stone, Vision gained the upper hand. Both seeing and sensing the surge of power, Thor and Iron Man quickly joined him. Unifying their energies and aiming it solely on Ultron, who could do nothing more except hold his arms up to try and block them. The combined power was enough to really damage Ultron's Vibranium body as he was brought to his knees after the insane roasting session he had received. 

As he stood getting up with his body deformed and mangled he said, “you know, with the benefit of hindsight-” But was instantly cut off when Hulk rushed out to deliver an award winning sucker punch that launched Utron into orbit. Seeing what had happened to the head of their gang, the remaining robots scattered and tried flying away. With a growl Hulk started hunting them down and Thor stated the obvious, “they'll try to leave the city.” Evie instantly called for back-up. “We can't let 'em, not even one. Uncle Rhodey!” 

“I'm on it.” He said already approaching the robots mid-flight. “Oh, no, I didn't say you could leave. War Machine, comin' at you, right-” But his time to shine was cut short when Vision flew in and helped to destroy the runaways with a swift shot of his engery beam. “Okay, what?” He said both confused and disappointed. Rhodes hadn’t even been made aware of their other new guy on the team.

“We gotta move out. Even I can tell the air is getting thin. You guys get to the boats, I'll sweep for stragglers, be right behind you.” Steve said, giving out his final orders. But Clint voiced what Evie was thinking, “what about the core?” Wanda took a stance, “I'll protect it. It's my job.” She said it reassuringly. Both Clint and Evie nodded in agreement, and she followed Steve out to do one final scan over the city ruins for any remaining inhabitants. 

Evie was producing plumes of thick black smoke as she sent out unseen feelers trying to detect anyone’s presence, while also traversing the shadows going through all the buildings and houses. Seconds later she rejoined Steve and escorted the stragglers she had found to a boat where Thor was waiting on them. “Is this the last of them?” “Yeah. Everyone else is on the carrier.” Cap said, giving the team the all clear. “Thor, I'm gonna need you back in the church. You know, if this works, we maybe don't walk away.” Her dad said somberly. “Maybe not,” she answered, as Thor left and Steve placed a comforting hand on her shoulders. 

Yet it was her misfortune to not be able to detect Ultron like she could Vision, and at the last possible moment, she saw a quinjet swoop in and open fire on the last rescue vessel as the final people were boarding. While everyone ducked for cover Evie threw her hands up, projecting a protective barrier. Only then did her gut tell her they had missed one small child. She scanned the area franticlly, and landed on Clint near the market with a young boy in his arms. She was glued to her place, with everything happening so fast, it wasn’t giving her a chance to react. Barton prepared himself to be a sacrifice in order to take the shots and save the kid. But Pietro was a blur, zooming into the line of fire and taking all the hits. Saving them both. 

Evie’s heart stopped as she saw everything happen. Without thinking she used her powers to appear at Pietro’s side, “you didn't see that coming.” He said, looking at Clint. His body gave out and he fell over. She caught him before his body could hit the cold hard ground. Too stunned to speak or even cry, Evie just looked down at his pretty steel gray eyes. Just then a massive tidal wave of energy and raw emotion was washing over her. Wanda, without seeing, knew her brother was gone. As Steve ran towards them, she closed his eyes and gently handed him over. Clint looked to her for any sort of sign Pietro was okay, but she slowly shook her head no and then vanished. 

She found the other girl on her knees, tears flowing down her cheeks as she cried hysterically for her loss. Evie could feel every ounce of pain Wanda was experiencing. Kneeling down beside her she let Wanda embrace her, and tried to pass on some form of comfort as she rubbed her back. “I saw where he landed. Hulk threw him out the jet.” Swallowing thickly, Wanda leaned back taking her in. With a hard expression Evie said, “go. Find him. He owes you that much.” If anyone was close to knowing how the girl felt at that moment, it was Evie.

She stood at the edge of the church, waiting for Thor's arrival when, unknown to her, the battered corpse of one of the robots was inching closer to the core. It wasn’t till she heard a loud click and the sound of the core powering down did she realize her mistake. “FUCK!” 

Instantly the flying rock in the air started to fall, only gaining speed with each passing second. All ten thrusters Ultron had put in place crackled to life, driving them that much faster towards earth. With gravity failing Evie felt her feet leave the ground, that was until Thor dropped down beside her. Grabbing her and pulling her down towards him. “Why didn’t you leave with the others?” He yelled out over the muffling sound of air whipping around them. “Bad timing!” She shouted back, “guess we're stuck together, I wasn’t comfortable leaving my friend alone, anyways!” He placed her arms around his midsection and told her to grab on tightly, just as her dad was letting them know he was in place. 

“Thor, on my mark!” Thor brought down a blast of lightning, and held it ready with Mijolnir. “Now!”

With both hands, and Evie safely attached to his side he hammered down the core. Delivering a brilliant and devastating blast of pure lighting that started to vaporize the city. 

The impact was unimaginably strong. With her eyes shut tight Evie mentally projected her invisible bubble around them. But with the strength of the impact, Thor had received the full blowback and passed out as they started free falling among the rubble. 

Amid the massive boulders, chucks of fractured building, and other things Evie knew she had no place to ghost them out of there for. So she tightened her grip on Thor and prayed the water below could somehow cushion their fall. With the projection still in place she inhaled a large gulp of air and braced for impact.

Chapter Text

It was a few days later when Evie found out that Vision had pulled both her and Thor from the water. She had awoken to her room in Avengers tower with Tony at her side asking if she had a good nap. Nothing about the moment was meant to be lighthearted or funny. He was both upset and livid at the fact that she had failed to get on the rescue boats and off the floating island. Evie listened to him thoroughly chew her out for roughly thirty minutes. And did so uncharacteristically quiet. Without a single protest or reproach because she knew her dad was doing it out of worry and love. After his banter she got up and held her arms out to him. Sharing a tender moment and a crushing embrace. 

Afterwards they all eventually regrouped at the new Avengers facility in upstate New York. Even though it was just now starting to come together, the place was already buzzing with excitement. Dr. Cho had been invited to spearhead their medical department, Professor Eric Selvig was their resident astrophysicist, and Tony had built an all new state of the art labs for both Starks and Dr. Banner, for whenever he emerged from hiding. After the events in Sokovia, Hulk flew the coop in a quinjet with stealth mode engaged. No one had seen or heard from either one since. 

Although things seemed to be coming down to a more steady and stable pace. The content bunch of misfit heroes knew that there was something bigger at play. Together with her dad, Steve, and Thor, they walked the halls of the facility ready to see the god off to space once more. 

“The rules have changed.” Steve said as they rounded a corner.

“We're dealing with something new.” She confirmed looking at her dad.

“Well, the Vision's artificial intelligence.” Cap continued, but her dad clarified with, “A machine.”

“So it doesn't count.” Steve rebutted. She smirked saying, “no. It's not like a person lifting the hammer.”

Rogers again, “right. Different rules for us”

Her dad, “Nice guy, but artificial.”

All the while Thor kept his grin plastered on, while the other three kept debating how Vision had lifted Mjolnir. “If he can wield the hammer, he can keep the Mind Stone. It's safe with the Vision and these days, safe is in short supply.” Said the Asgardian as they stepped outside into the fresh crisp air. But Steve being the typical punk he was, didn't hesitate to tease him once more.

“But if you put the hammer in an elevator…”

“It would still go up.” Tony said, completing his sentence.

Evie giggled, “elevator's not worthy.”

Thor put an arm around her giving her a light squeeze, “I'm going to miss these little talks of ours.”

“Well, not if you don't leave.” She quipped back. “I have no choice, little sister. The Mind Stone is the fourth of the Infinity Stones to show up in the last few years. That's not a coincidence. Someone has been playing an intricate game and has made pawns of us. But once all these pieces are in position…”

“Triple Yahtzee?” Her dad added as they all came to a stop in the middle of the lawn. Steve turned to look up at Thor. “You think you can find out what's coming?” “I do.” He stated confidently as he let her go in favor of roughly patting her dad in the chest. “Besides this one, there's nothing that can't be explained.” With that he held his hammer up high and called on the Bifrost to beam him up. Leaving behind nothing but the once pristine manicured lawn, singed and scorched. 

“That man has no regard for lawn maintenance. I'm gonna miss him though. And you're gonna miss me too, Steve. There's gonna be a lot of manful tears. Evie doesn't do sentimentality so I know we're all good there.” She stuck her tongue out at Tony as they sauntered over to the driveway where, with the click of a button, her dad made his car meet up with him. “I will miss you, Tony.” “Yeah? Well, it's time for me to tap out. Maybe I should take a page out of Barton's book and build Pepper a farm, hope nobody blows it up.” She nudged him and playful added, “yeah, perhaps make an honest woman outta mom. Get married, maybe even make me a big sister?” She suggestively wiggled her eyebrows at him and Tony visibly shuttered. “Yeah, no. Hard pass on more little you's running around. You’re more than enough chaos on your own, kiddo.” 

“The simple life.” Steve said chuckling as they squabbled. Tony then gave him a pensive face, “you'll get there one day.” Steve sighed, “I don't know, family, stability. The guy who wanted all that went in the ice seventy-five years ago. I think someone else came out.” Tony moved to get in his car, but not before asking, “you alright?” With the distant sound of soldiers shouting cadence, Steve felt at ease saying, “I’m home.” From inside the car Tony took Evie’s hand. “Are we gonna see you for dinner tomorrow?” She smiled sweetly at him, “six thirty on the dot.” 

As they watched his car drive away, Steve asked her, “you sticking around to help with the new recruits?” She shook her head, “I’m a terrible mentor. Plus far Natasha is better at that. She did whip me into shape after all. But do take it easy with uncle Roe, the suit is new. But his bones are not.” “I don’t think he’ll appreciate you calling him old.” She laughed rolling her eyes, “he knows I just worry about him. Well I'm heading back to the city too. Call me if you guys need anything or if something strange happens.” She winked at him which made him snicker while she made her way to the garage to fetch her ride. After her busy weeks filled with excitement, she was more than ready to just be home and relax. Maybe even sleep for three days straight.

All Evie wanted was to spend some much needed down time simply reading or sharing good times with her friends and family. But as Evie was getting ready to start her ‘69 Ford Mustang she felt Wilson trying to sneak up on her. “Give it break Sam, you’ll never be able to scare me.” It had been an ongoing joke between the two friends. “Man that really is some sixth sense you got there.” They shared a small laugh before she felt a shift in his mood. “Here to talk business or just making sure I didn’t leave without saying goodbye?” “Both actually.” His smile dropped and he crossed his arms, “we got a lead on our missing person.” “Missing person? Who did we lose?” 

He huffed, “let me put it this way, how do you feel about getting a rematch with Rumlow?”

Well shit, there goes her quiet night of pasta and the final chapters to the book she left unfinished. “God dammit Sammy…” She got out of the car and nearly slammed the door.

“Round two it is. Where do we start?”