Chapter Text
“Shit!” Tony shouts as he bounced off the barrier.
“Language! JARVIS, what's the view from upstairs?” Steve asks.
“The central building is protected by some kind of energy shield. Strucker's technology is well beyond any other Hydra base we've taken.” JARVIS informs.
“Loki's scepter must be here. Strucker couldn't mount this defense without it. At long last” Thor states
“At long last is lasting a little long, boys,” Natasha explains after taking down some Hydra soldiers.
“Yeah. I think we lost the element of surprise.” Clint states firing an arrow.
“Wait a second. No one else is going to deal with the fact that Cap just said "language?" Tony asks the group.
“I know.” Steve jumps over the handlebars of his motorcycle and throws it at an incoming tank.
“It just slipped out,” Steve explains hanging his head a bit.
{inside the base}
“I am going to surrender. You will delete everything. If we give the Avengers the weapons, they may not look too far into what we've been…” Strucker says quietly to List.
“The twins.” List says.
“They are not ready to take on…”
“No, no. I mean…” List points over where the Twins were standing.
{on the field}
Clint fires an arrow that never hits the bunker and Clint goes to fire again when he’s knocked over by Pietro.
“You didn't see that coming?” Pietro asks smugly.
Clint raises his bow to fire at Pietro but is shot by an enemy.
~Time skip brought by a confused Steve~
“The two enhanced?” Steve asks.
“Wanda and Pietro Maximoff. Twins. Orphaned at ten when a shell collapsed their apartment building. Sokovia's had a rough history. It's nowhere special but it's on the way to everywhere special.” Maria says calmly handing a tablet to Steve.
“Their abilities?” Steve requests.
“He's got increased metabolism and improved thermal homeostasis. Her thing is neural electric interfacing, telekinesis, mental manipulation.” Maria explains and earns ‘what the hell’ look from Steve.
Maria sighs.
“He’s fast, she’s weird,” Maria simplifies and earns an understanding nod.
“Well, they're going to show up again,” Steve says handing the tablet back to her.
“Agreed. The file says they volunteered for Strucker's experiments. It's nuts.” Maria says shocked.
“Right. What kind of monster would let a German scientist experiment on them to protect their country?” Steve asks rhetorically stepping into an elevator.
“We're not at war, Captain.” Maria states.
“They are,” Steve informs as the elevator doors shut.
~Timeskip brought to you by the Maximoffs~
The twins meet with Ultron in an empty building.
“Talk. And if you are wasting our time-”
“Did you know this church is in the exact center of the city? The elders decreed it so that everyone could be equally close to God. I like that. The geometry of belief.”
Ultron was seated facing away from the twins.
“You're wondering why you can't look inside my head.”
“Sometimes it's hard. But sooner or later, every man shows himself.” Wanda says.
Ultron stands up and looks at them.
“Oh, I'm sure they do. But you needed something more than a man. That's why you let Stark take the scepter.”
“I didn't expect. But I saw Stark's fear, I knew it would control him, make him self-destruct.” Wanda states.
“Everyone creates the thing they dread. Men of peace create engines of war, invaders create avengers, people create...smaller people? Uh...children! I lost the word there. Children. Designed to supplant them, to help them...end.” Ultron says.
“Is that why you've come? To end the Avengers?” Wanda asks.
“I've come to save the world. But also, yeah. We'll move out right away. This is a start, but there's something we need to begin the real work.” Ultron says.
“All of these are... All of these are…” Wanda looks at the robots.
“Me. I have what the Avengers never will. Harmony. They're discordant, disconnected. Stark's already got them turning on each other. And when you get inside the rest of their heads…” Ultron states.
“Everyone's plan is not to kill them,” Pietro says.
“And make them martyrs? You need patience. Need to see the big picture.” Ultron says matter of factly.
“And make them martyrs? You need patience. Need to see the big picture.” Pietro says firmly.
“You lost your parents in the bombings. I've seen the records.” Ultron says.
“The records are not the picture.” Pietro seems to now fume.
“Pietro…” Wanda whispers.
“No, please,” Ultron says waiting.
“We were ten years old, having dinner, the four of us. When the first shell hits, two floors below, it makes a hole in the floor. It's big. Our parents go in, and the whole building starts coming apart. I grab her, roll under the bed, and the second shell hits. But, it doesn't go off. It just...sits there in the rubble, three feet from our faces. And on the side of the shell is painted one word…” Pietro says holding his sister’s hand.
“Stark,” Wanda seethes weakly.
“We were trapped two days,” Pietro says.
“Every effort to save us, every shift in the bricks, I think, "This will set it off." We wait for two days for Tony Stark to kill us,” Wanda says weakly.
“I know what they are,” Pietro states.
“I wondered why only you two survived Strucker's experiments. Now I don't. We will make it right. You and I can hurt them.” Ultron says to Pietro.
“But you will tear them apart, from the inside,” Ultron says to Wanda.