Honey, I'm Home!

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Glancing up at the monitor set above the door allowed her to see into the next room without opening it. She sighed at what she saw. Really, it wasn't unexpected and it was what she'd signed up for. Sort of. At least, it was part of the job description and really, it wasn't realistic to expect that every one of these was going to be as easy as learning to ride a broom.

Squaring her shoulders, she took a deep breath, made sure that her game face was on and pulled open the door. The instant that she was noticed, she heard them, each and every one turning their attention to her and shouting at her. But, as they should know by now, she had absolutely no interest or intention of addressing them until she was ready.

Placing the pad that she'd carried onto the lectern, she activated it, settled her hands on either side of the deep cherry wood and gazed out over the crowd. And waited. It was an old trick, one borrowed from her old Head of House and one that surprisingly worked as effectively on teen witches and wizards just as well as it did on muggle reporters.

"Thank you," she said once the room was quiet and all there were seated.

After doing this for so long, it was easy these days to ignore the forest of microphones that had been set up in front of her as well as the numerous recorders and phones that we aimed towards her and instead simply focus on the people.

"At approximately half past twelve local time in Johannesburg, South Africa, there was an incident involving the Hulk which culminated in parts of the outskirts of Johannesburg suffering considerable damage. Thankfully, while numerous injuries have been reported, there were no fatalities involved in the incident. Already, the Stark Relief Foundation is on scene and assisting with assessing damage and clean-up operations.

"I am certain that by now you have all seen the footage. What you are currently unaware of are the circumstances that led to this extremely unfortunate incident.

"A short time prior to the incident in Johannesburg, the Avengers were on a mission targeting a black arms dealer. This dealer has been known to operate off of the African coast for the past two decades. He has specialised in selling weaponry to terrorists and rogue militia groups. The Avengers arrived at the site during the middle of one such deal and as such, a fight broke out.

"The buyer that was involved in the deal had a number of enhanced individuals in their employ, one of which has the capability to manipulate the minds of others. This mind manipulation was used on the Hulk, sending him into a terrible rage, a rage that he was trying to escape from. During this time, he was not aware of what he was doing or of the damage that he was causing or of the civilians that were being hurt.

"Please direct your attention to the screen behind me."

Here, Lavender tapped the pad in front of her causing side by side images of the Hulk to appear on the large screen.

"On the left, you can see an image of the Hulk as we know him. On the right is an image of the Hulk during the incident in Johannesburg. Please note the differences between the two images, particularly the hue of his skin. With the Hulk's unique physiology, it is easy to see how this mental manipulation affected not only the Hulk's mind, but also his physical appearance, which is directly linked to his emotions.

"I would also like to point out that this mental manipulation was attempted on two other Avengers, one of whom suffered minor mental trauma, while the other was able to fight off the invasion to his mind.

"This concludes my prepared statement, I will be taking questions at this time," Lavender said, wishing that she didn't have to.

Immediately, the room full of reporters were on their feet, all shouting their own questions at her. As she'd learnt to do, Lavender ignored them all, waiting until they'd settled back somewhat before calling on the first.

"Mister Jameson?" she asked, hoping to get the annoying man over and done with quickly.

"When will Bruce Banner be handed over to the South African police?" he asked.

"Having expected your question, I contacted the Avengers' lawyers prior to this press conference," Lavender said. "I have with me a prepared statement from Mister Murdock of Nelson and Murdock, Attorneys At Law. 'At this time, Nelson and Murdock are meeting with representatives of the City of Johannesburg as well as the Director of Public Prosecutions for South Africa to determine whether or not any charges will, in fact, be laid against Doctor Bruce Banner, also known as the Hulk, due to the extenuating circumstances which resulted in the incident. Until such time as an agreement has been reached, no other comment can or will be entered into.' Miss Everhart?" Lavender asked, indicating the next allowed to ask a question.

"You mentioned some enhanced individuals? What happened to them?" she asked.

"The Avengers have detained two for questioning and to determine exactly how complicit and involved they are and have been in any criminal proceedings. It is also believed that they may have information leading to the ringleader of the deal that the Avengers interrupted," Lavender said. "Miss Riley?"

"Which two Avengers were attacked by this 'mental manipulation'?" Miss Riley asked.

"Thor and Mage," Lavender replied. "Both are currently fully recovered and no other Avengers were injured during the mission."

"What sort of weapons were being sold in this deal?" Jameson shouted.

Lavender frowned at the man. "Mister Jameson, you know better than to ask out of turn. What I will say is what you've heard me say numerous times before: I will not comment on any on-going Avengers mission until I have been given clearance to do so and you'll know when that is because I'll call a press conference. I believe that that will do for today. Thank you all for coming."

And, ignoring the shouting and questions still being thrown at her, Lavender strode from the room, holding her composure until the door was firmly closed behind her.

ooo00ooo

The quinjet was subdued. At best, the mission was a stalemate.

Ultron had managed to get away with the vibranium. In the confusion of the fight, Klaue had also managed to escape, although the majority of his men had been captured and handed over to the South African military. Yes, they'd taken down some of Ultron's robots but with the numbers that they suspected that he'd already built not to mention the numbers that he was likely to build given the resources that he'd been amassing, it was a drop in the bucket.

The only redeeming factor was that they'd managed to capture the Maximoff twins.

"The news is loving you guys; nobody else is," Maria stated over the comms. "There's been no official call for Banner's arrest, but it's in the air."

"Murdock?" Tony asked.

"He's running interference and is quietly optimistic," Maria replied. "Brown's done her best with the press with some success but the footage is bad. How's the team?"

Tony shrugged. "Frustrated. Any word from Rhodey and the others?"

"Not yet but I wasn't expecting it yet," Maria replied. "Until we do, I'd suggest staying in stealth mode and stay away from here."

"Run and hide?" Tony asked incredulously.

"Stay off the radar, somewhere Ultron can't find you until you're ready to find him," Maria countered.

With a final nod, she closed the connection and Tony moved up to Clint at the helm.

"Hey, you wanna switch out?" he asked.

"No, I'm good," Clint replied. "If you want to get some kip, now's a good time. We're still a few hours out."

"A few hours out from ...?" Tony asked.

"Safe house," Clint replied.

Shrugging with the vagueness of the answer, Tony moved deeper into the quinjet.

"Our guests still out to it, huh?" he asked, nodding towards the two still forms bound and lying on some seats near the back.

"And they'll stay that way until we're ready to talk to them," Harry stated.

"Well, if it helps, we're apparently a few hours out from a safe house. We can put them through the screws then," Tony said.

Harry simply nodded, his eyes never leaving the unknown pair.

ooo00ooo

The farmhouse was unexpected to say the least. Although, when one thought about it, the fact that they'd landed in the middle of nowhere, with no other houses around and only light forests and fields as far as the eye could see, perhaps it wasn't quite so unexpected after all. And considering that this was a farm, then the large barn, woodpiles and the old pick-up truck fitted right in.

Clint, at least, seemed to know where he was going, and so the others followed obediently along. Harry's eyes narrowed slightly as he noticed that, apart from Clint, the only other one to not be looking around in interest was Nat. The only thing that he could assume was that it was an old S.H.I.E.L.D. safe house.

"Where are we?" Thor asked.

"Safe house," Tony shrugged.

"Let's hope," Clint smirked.

The group was led up the four stairs to the porch and then to the front door which Clint opened without knocking.

"Honey, I'm home!" he called.

'Honey'? Harry mouthed to Bruce who simply shrugged.

From what appeared to be the kitchen, waddled an extremely pregnant woman.

"Company. Sorry I didn't call ahead," Clint said as he strode across the room, took the woman in his arms and kissed her.

"I'm guessing this is an agent of some kind?" Tony said.

"Everyone, I'd like you to meet Laura. My wife," Clint said, a broad smile on his face.

"Hi, I know all your names," Laura said, sounding almost sheepish.

Harry raised an eyebrow at Clint, his hood was currently down his back exposing his face.

"Yeah, yeah, I know but I can't keep secrets from her," Clint said before he was interrupted by the sound of running footsteps.

"And these are smaller agents," Tony said, pointing down at the two children.

"Dad!" the boy yelled, rushing at his father who promptly picked him up to give him a hug.

"Hey buddy, I've missed you," Clint said as he also reached out to draw in his daughter.

"Did you bring Aunty Nat?' the girl asked.

"Why don't you hug her and find out yourself?" Nat grinned, kneeling down to give the girl a hug.

"Sorry to barge in like this, we've been a bit busy not knowing that you existed," Tony said.

"Yeah, Fury set this up for me back when I first joined S.H.I.E.L.D.," Clint explained. "Kept it completely off the books. We'll be safe here."

"I'm guessing that this is where you keep running off to for your 'vacations'?" Harry smiled.

"Well, it's home, you know?" Clint replied.

"And how's little Natasha?" Nat asked, leaning over Laura and talking to her stomach.

"It's Nathaniel," Laura replied looking apologetic.

"Traitor!" Nat mock-groused at the unborn child.

Suddenly, Thor turned and strode out the door, Steve and Harry following him.

"Thor?" Steve asked.

"I saw something in that vision," Thor stated. "Something important. Something that I need answers for. I won't find them here."

With that, Thor spun Mjolnir before rocketing off into the sky.

"I'll get the twins," Harry explained. "I'd rather not leave them in the quinjet just in case they wake up. I should be able to transfigure something to keep them safe and secure in the barn."

"Good call," Steve said. "Let me know when you've got things set up and we'll talk to them. I think the sooner we do so, the better."

"Agreed," Harry said before striding off towards where they'd 'parked' the quinjet.

ooo00ooo

Pietro woke. It wasn't the way he normally woke up, a little at a time, some fuzziness that gradually disappeared as time worn on. No. This was more akin to being asleep one moment and wide awake the next.

Opening his eyes, he looked around. Hay? This was definitely not the derelict hulk in South Africa which was the last place that he remembered. Nor was it Sokovia or at least, no part of it that he recalled ever being or seeing. Looking further afield, he saw wooden slats making up a wall and then a high vaulted roof, also made of wood.

A barn? That was the only thing that made sense. Although exactly how he'd gotten there – wherever here happened to be – he had no idea. And then a thought occurred.

"Wanda?" he called.

A sound behind him made him roll over or at least attempt to. Looking down his body, he saw that his hands were tied together, as were his feet. Really? Whoever had captured them thought that that was enough to hold him?

Channelling his super speed, he vibrated his wrists enough to loosen his bonds before shucking them off and reaching down to untie his legs. It was a simple matter, then, to get up, grab his sister – he'd untie her later – and start to run out of there.

At least, that was the plan. For some reason, his feet suddenly felt like they were in quicksand and they all but froze in place. Unfortunately, the rest of him kept going – straight to the floor.

"Ooh, that hurt! Get off me!" Wanda cried out as he landed on top of her.

Pietro twisted about to stare at his feet, trying to comprehend why they weren't working the way they were supposed to.

"Now that you've seen that you aren't going anywhere, would you like to take a seat so that we can talk?" Captain America asked as he, the one called Mage and the Black Widow faded into view in front of them.

"What did you do to me?" Pietro demanded.

"Nothing permanent," Mage replied.

From the corner of his eye, Pietro noticed Wanda attempting to use her magic to free them and most likely to confuse their captors.

"What did you do?" Wanda echoed her brother, causing Pietro to stare in wonder as the red magic that she could normally wield seemed to simply stutter out.

"Magic suppression cuffs," Mage replied. "Wasn't sure that they'd work but there you go. I'll remove them after we've talked. Would you care to take a seat?"

Pietro watched as Mage twirled his wand and produced five seats, two together facing the other three a metre or so away. Not seeing any other alternative, Pietro sat.

"What do you want?" he asked.

"To talk," Captain America said.

"About what?" Wanda demanded.

"About Ultron," Black Widow said.

"Why should we tell you anything? You work with Stark," Pietro snapped.

"What did Tony ever do to you?" Mage asked. "He's not mentioned meeting you before."

Pietro shared a look with his sister before shrugging. It couldn't hurt and if it meant that these three trusted Stark a little less, well that could only be a win.

"We lost our parents because of Stark," Wanda stated.

"I've seen the records," Black Widow said with a cocked head. "They were killed in the bombings. Neither Stark nor the US had anything to do with that. That was a beef between Sokovia and Latveria."

"Even still, it was Stark that cost us our parents," Pietro spat. "We were ten years old, having dinner, the four of us. When the first shell hit, 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 Wanda, 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 it is painted one word ..."

"Stark," Wanda supplied.

"We were trapped for two days," Pietro continued.

"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 said.

"Merlin, that's rough," Mage said, shaking his head. "I doubt that I can understand exactly what that did to you. I can say that, after experiencing that, I can understand why you have a problem with Tony."

Pietro narrowed his eyes at the Avenger. He hadn't expected that. It even sounded ... genuine. If only he could see the man's face, then he might be able to tell if it actually was.

"Okay, that explains your problem with Stark. It doesn't explain why you joined up with Ultron," Captain America said.

"Actually, it does," Black Widow said. "Assuming that Ultron promised you that he'd kill Tony."

Once again, Pietro looked to Wanda, not that she looked back this time.

"He did," she said flatly.

"Does it bother you that he plans to kill a whole lot of others along the way?" Steve asked.

"Some," Pietro shrugged. "But if he does what he promised, I can live with that."

"Do you know Ultron's whole plan? His endgame?" Black Widow asked.

"What does he plan to use the vibranium for?" Steve added.

Pietro simply shrugged, Wanda remained silent. He didn't like these questions; these were questions that he didn't have answers for, questions that he'd even asked himself.

"You don't know," Black Widow stated. "I wonder exactly how much Ultron did tell you."

"I'm guessing that you knew that Ultron is based in Sokovia," Mage said.

"Where else would we have met him?" Wanda asked.

"Therefore, you also know that he's building an army of robots," Captain America stated. "What does he have planned for his army?"

"You think that they're just an army?" Pietro laughed.

"Pietro," Wanda said warningly.

"No, what harm is there in telling them?" Pietro countered. "It's not just an army. It's all him, all Ultron, every single one of them."

"That fits with what Tony got from his last talk with Ultron," Black Widow nodded. "A robot army with a hive mind and you think anything good will come from it?"

"You think something bad will come from it?" Wanda countered. "Well, apart from your own deaths, of course."

"Yes, the very first time we met Ultron, he did say that he wanted the Avengers' extinction," Steve said. "And that's a very particular word, 'extinction'. It makes me wonder exactly what he has planned."

Pietro felt a chill travel down his spine. He didn't like that word, it was a little too close to home after the war between Sokovia and Latveria. They'd come very close to being wiped off the map. If NATO hadn't stepped in, it was very likely that within a year, two at the most, all of Sokovia would have been 'extinct'.

"I think that it's time for a break," Mage suggested. "I'm sure that you two are hungry. How about you come with us up to the farm for dinner. You'll have to stay as you are, of course, no magic or speed. And I warn you now, there are civilians up there, a family, kids. You try anything and you won't like the consequences."

Once again Pietro shivered. He believed him. Not that he had anything to worry about. Kids. Neither he nor his sister would ever do anything to harm a kid.

ooo00ooo

Harry blinked at the sight of Nick Fury leaning against the kitchen bench that Clint was working at. Exactly when the former Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. had arrived, he didn't know.

Tony, he was pleased to see, was playing darts just off of the kitchen and far away from the lounge. Apart from a single glance across when they first entered, Tony appeared to be ignoring them, which was fine as far as Harry was concerned – the Maximoff twins definitely needed some time adjusting to the fact that they were basically in the same room as the man who they blamed for their parent's deaths before there was any sort of interaction.

Leaving Steve to settle the two on the couch, Harry

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