"He's all over the globe," Maria reported. "Robotics labs, weapons facilities, jet propulsion labs. Reports of a metal man, or men, coming in and emptying the place."

"Fatalities?" Steve asked.

"Only when engaged. Mostly guys left in a fugue state going on about old memories, worst fears, or something too fast to see or force trapping them down."

"Maximoffs. It makes sense he'd go to them. They have someone in common."

"Not anymore." She handed him the tablet that had the picture of Strucker's dead body in an alleyway with the word 'Peace' written in blood on the wall.

Steve grabbed Clint before going into the lab with the rest of the avengers handing around the tablet.

"What's this?" Tony asked as Steve handed the tablet to Thor.

"A message. Ultron killed Strucker."

"And he did a Banksy at the crime scene, just for us," he said as Thor handed him the picture.

"This is a smoke screen. Why send a message when you've just given a speech?" Natasha asked.

"Strucker knew something that Ultron wanted us to miss."

"Yeah, I bet he..." She stopped as a notification went off on the computer she was working at. "Yeah. Everything we had on Strucker's been erased."

"Not everything" steve mumbled......

........Steve and the others carried all the boxes of physical records they had to the room where they briefed for missions. They started going through them.

"Known associates," Steve said as he looked through his box. "Baron Strucker had a lot of friends."

"Well these people are all horrible," Bruce said as he helped go through them.

"Wait, I know that guy," Tony pointed at one of the files laying on the table. "From back in the day. He operates off the African coast. Black market arms." Steve looked at him and Tony stared back. "There are conventions, alright? You meet people. I didn't sell him anything." They passed the file around, everyone getting a good look. "He was talking about finding something new, a game changer. It was all very Ahab."

"This," Thor pointed to a mark on his body.

"Ah, it's a tattoo. I don't think he had it."

"No, those are tattoos. This is a brand."

"It's an African dialect," bruce told them.

"It means thief... in a much less friendly way."

"what dialect is it?" Steve asked .

"Um, Wakanada.....Wakanda!," .

"If that guy got out of Wakanda with some of their trade goods..." Tony whispered to Steve

"I thought your father said he got the last of it."

"I don't follow," Bruce spoke up. "What comes out of Wakanda?" Tony and Steve looked over at his shield.

"The strongest metal on earth."

"Where is this guy now?" Steve asked.
_____________________________________
Klaue was in his office arguing on the phone before hanging up on the person and dialing someone else. The phone call being disconnected as the power in the building went out, frightening the workers.

Klaue cautiously reached for his gun, picking it up and stalking around his office. Pietro feeling cocky sped into the office and nudged Klaue after unloading his gun and lining up his bullets on the desk.

pietro seemed to grow bored; his arms were folded as looked at klaue in front of him. Wanda slipped into the cabin next to them.

"yeah. the enhanced. strucker's prize pupils" klaue says sitting down in his chair. "do you want a candy? hmm?" he holds a tray filled with wrapped candies towards them.

the siblings keep looking at him unimpressed, not answering his question.

"i was sorry to hear about strucker" he mused. "but then. he knew what kind of world he was helping create." he turns his head from pietro and evi, to look at wanda. "human life. not a growth market"

pietro looked at wanda, unsure. she still wore the same cold look as before, but she did seem a little irritated at his words.

klaue noticed it too. "you didn't know?" he asked. "is this your first time intimidating someone? i'm afraid, i'm not that afraid"

"everybody is afraid of something" wanda spoke, as she stepped down.

"cuttlefish" klaue answered, as he raised his finger and pointed it at wanda. "deep sea fish. they make lights, disco lights.." he explained before he started imitating the sound accompanied by weird air gestures.

"..to hypnotise their prey, and then" he turned his hand into a fist, acting like he had just catched something. "i saw a documentary. it was terrifying"

without reacting to klaues statement, pietro ran at the tray with the wrapped candy. He unwrapped it and put it in his mouth.

"You sure do talk a lot for someone who isn't afraid?" Danny spoke from a couple inches beside the man as he made him jump in fright. Pietro smiling at the boy.

klaue pointed his thumb at the little boy. eyes fixated on his older siblings. "This must really be child's play, huh?" Danny just glared at the man before walking to his siblings.

"so if you're going to fiddle with my brain and make me see a giant cuttlefish, then i know you don't do business. and i know you're not in charge. and i only deal with the man in charge." he didn't seem to notice ultron flying up in front of the glass behind him.

"Wish granted..." danny mumbled to himself.

klaue kept grinning at the siblings until ultron broke through the glass and threw him out of the office. he screamed in pain at his body shattered through the glass.

Danny watched as klaue groaned on the floor, ultron stopping to stand over him. "there is no man in charge" he spoke. he bend his head down so it was only mere inches away from klaues face. "let's talk business"
_____________________________________

klaues partner opened the safe filled with the vibranium. klaue took out one of the vessels. "upon this rock, i will build my church" ultron said, taking the vessel out of klaues hand. "vibranium" he acknowledged before throwing it at pietro, who caught it.

"you know" started klaue. "it came at great personal cost" he explained while scratching his neck.

"it's worth billions" klaue concluded. ultron chuckled "now so are you"

the phone of klaues partner buzzed.

he took it out of his pocket and looked at it. "it's all under your dummy holdings? finance is so weird"

klaue stepped next to his friend to take a look at the phone as well. "but i always say, 'keep your friends rich and your enemies rich and wait to find out which is which'"

that seemed to cause a reaction from klaue he turned around like he had just recognised something. "stark" he said.

"what?" ultron asked. "tony stark used to say that... to me" klaue answered. "you're one of his"

"what? i'm not.." ultron grabbed klaues left arm and held it up in the air. his partner tried to draw his gun, but wanda held his hand down. "i'm not. you think i'm one of stark's puppets? his hollow men? i mean, look at me. do i look like iron man? stark is nothing"

before anyone could react, ultron had took out his arm and cut klaues off.

"Oh my god!" Danny gasped, instantly turning away,
hiding his face in his brothers side.

"I'm sorry. i'm.. oh! i'm sure that's gonna be okay. i'm sorry. it's just i don't understand. don't compare me with stark!" he lifted his leg and kicked klaue in the face, making him fall down the steps behind him, his friend following close behind.

"it just angered me so much, you know? stark? stark is... he is a sickness"

"ah junior" danny was startled by the unknown voice that was suddenly speaking, looking up at stark. ultron turned around to look at iron man, behind him, captain america and thor. "you're gonna break your old man's heart"

"if i have to" the siblings stepped closer. "nobody has to break anything" thor said

"clearly you've never made an omelet" ultron joked.

'Joking at a time like this???' Danny thought to himself as looked at ultron in bewilderment.

"he beat me by one second" iron man said.

"ah yes. he's funny" pietro stepped forward and nudged Danny to Wanda. "mr stark. it's what? comfortable?" he threw a look down at the weapons beside him. "like old times?"

"this was never my life" stark answered.

"But it is ours.....You!, made it ours!" Danny said, his emotions getting the best of him.

"you three can still walk away from this" captain america spoke. "oh, we will" wanda declared.

"i know you've suffered" he tried to go on but ultron interrupted him with a laugh. "captain america. god's righteous man. pretending you could live without a war. i can't physically throw up in my mouth, but.."

"if you believe in peace, then let us keep it" thor exclaimed

"i think you're confusing 'peace' with 'quiet'" ultron informed

"uh-huh" iron man started "what's the vibranium for?"

"i'm glad you asked that, because i wanted to take this time to explain my evil plan"

ultron pulled iron man close before throwing him into a nearby wall. other robots started fighting the other two avengers. iron man stood up from the ground and flew directly at ultron, ultron did the same and they both collided in the middle and started fighting in the air.

Pietro sped off and hit thor on his way. wanda and Danny stayed where they were, first watching the fight. only seconds later, captain america tried to run at them. wanda stopped him with her powers and threw him back on the ground.

Danny now taking the lead as he put his spherical force field around him and his, the two laying low in the background. His eyes focused on his speeding brother.

The boy gasped as everything happened so quickly, his brother was sent flying off the railings and about to fall into some cargo boxes. Pietro sat there dazed, too stunned to get up. Danny was stuck staring at his brother in worry, he couldn't keep up with everything that was happening.

Pietro got up back in a daze before Steve knocked up him back into the cargos with his shield. "Stay down kid."

Daniel had his eyes still fixated on hos brother, when he heared the voice of one of the robots that spoke to wanda. "it's time for some mind games"

"Danny." The boy turned to nod at his sister, dropping his force field as he turned invisible, making his way towards pietro. Wanda let out a shaky breath worried about her brother before slipping into the shadows.

Danny reappeared next to pietro, tapping his face lightly. "Come on Piet! Wanda needs us!" Pietro sat up instantly hearing his brother panicking. The little boy smiled at his brother before helping him up. "Alright. Let's go" pietro shook his head to rid himself of dizziness, speeding himself and his brother to Wanda.

Wanda stood on the steps behind captain america and waited until pietro had knocked him down before shooting her red whisp into his mind as she done to Thor a few seconds prior.

The next one was black widow. She was pretty easy for Wanda to take down.

Some time later, wanda hid behind a corner and watched the archer, he was busy shooting at people and didn't seem to "notice her", or so they thought.

Wanda had left her hiding spot and snuck up behind him, but before she was able to do anything he had turned around and stuck an electric arrow to her forehead.

"i've done the whole mind control thing. not a fan"

"NO!" The young boy yelled reappearing next to Clint, and before the archer could react, Danny swung his arm out throwing a force blade at the archer, sending him through the window.

Pietro had rushed around the corner and removed the arrow from Wanda's head. He took wanda into his arms and slid his hand around Danny's waist, before he ran them all out.

"what can i do?" asked pietro, wanda who was still gripping at her forehead in pain. Danny stood next to pietro, eyes filled with worry. "it hurts" she said. "i'm going to kill him, i'll be right back" he answered. "no" wanda said

"i want" she started looking to her left, pietro and Danny following her eyes to the avengers ship. "i want to finish the plan, i want the big one"

Danny watched as his siblings rose to their feet. "I'll be taking a long nap after this! And you better carry me the whole time pietro!" Danny glared at his brother who only chuckled at him. Wanda ignored her two brothers antics as they snuck to the jet to get Bruce.
_____________________________________

Clint landed the jet in the middle of an open field, leading the Avengers out and to a farmhouse.

"What is this place?" Thor asked as they walked up the front steps.

"A safe house," Tony repeated what Clint had told him.

"Let's hope," Clint said over his shoulder before opening the front door and walking inside. "Honey?" he called. "I'm home." A woman walked into the room, clearly pregnant. "Hi. Company," he said about the figures behind him that she was staring at. "Sorry, didn't call ahead." She walked forwards and gave him a kiss and a hug.

"This is an agent of some kind," Tony tried to explain to Thor, getting over his shock.

"Gentlemen, this is Laura," Clint introduced her.

She waved. "I know all of your names." She gave a small chuckle as they stood awkwardly in the living room. Tony gave a small wave as Steve put on a gentle smile.

"Ooh, incoming," Clint smiled as he heard footsteps running down the hall.

"Dad!" a little girl yelled as she ran in and Clint picked her up.

"Hi, sweetheart! Hey, buddy!" He pulled the older boy into a hug. "How are you guys doing?"

"These are... smaller agents," Tony tried.

"Look at your face. Oh my goodness," Clint smiled as he put his daughter down.

"Did you bring Auntie Nat?" she asked.

"Why don't you hug her and find out?" Natashsa said before picking up the small girl who ran towards her.

"Sorry for barging in on you," Steve apologized to Laura.

"Yeah, we would have called ahead, but we were busy having no idea that you existed," Tony said as he looked at Clint.

"Yeah, well, Fury helped me set this up when I joined," he explained as he put an arm over Laura's shoulders. "He kept it off SHIELD's files, I'd like to keep it that way. I figure it's a good place to lay low."

"Honey, I missed you," she smiled and Clint gave her another kiss.

"How's little Natasha doing?" Natasha asked Laura. Thor kicked the pieces under the chair he was standing next to.

"She's... Nathaniel."

Natasha's smile fell and she leant down to face Laura's stomach. "Traitor." Thor walked out of the house, Steve following.
_____________________________________

"See? You worried for nothing," Clint assured her as she felt where his tissue had been replaced. "Can't even feel the difference, can you?"

"If they're sleeping here, some of them are gonna have to double up."

He laughed. "Yeah, that's not gonna sell."  he said as he went into the closet and changed.

"What about Nat and Dr. Banner? How long has that been going on?"

"Has what?"

She laughed. "You are so cute."

"Nat and... and Banner?" he asked, starting to catch on.

"I'll explain when you're older," she teased, "Hawkeye."

"Oh, okay."

She waited a second. "It's bad, right? Nat seems really shaken."

Clint sighed. "Ultron has these allies. These, uh, kids. They're punks really. But they carry a big damn stick and Nat took a serious hit. Most of the team actually. Someone's gonna have to teach them some manners."

"That someone being you. You know I totally support your avenging. I couldn't be prouder," she told him as he sat down at the desk facing the window. "But I see those guys, those gods..." They both watched Tony and Steve talk outside, her hand on Clint's shoulder.

"You don't think they need me."

"I think they do which is a lot scarier. They're a mess."'

"Yeah," he sighed. "I guess they're my mess."

"You need to be sure that this team is really a team and that they have your back." He stood up and put his hands on her stomach. "Things are changing for us. In a few month's time, you and me are gonna be outnumbered. I need... Just be sure."

He nodded. "Yes, ma'am." He kissed her before wrapping his arm around her and looking back outside as her hand came to rest under his shirt.

"I can feel the difference."
_____________________________________

Much time after the team split up and had individual heart to hearts, plus a surprise visit from Nick fury.

"Ultron took you folks out of play to buy himself time," Fury said as they all gathered in the living room. "My contacts all say he's building something."

"The amount of vibranium he made off with, I don't think is just one thing."

"What about Ultron himself?" Steve asked.

"Oh, he's easy to track. He's everywhere. That guy's multiplying faster than a Catholic rabbit,"

"It still doesn't help us get an angle on any of his plans though."

"He still going after launch codes?" Tony asked as he threw darts at the dartboard hanging on the wall.

"Yes, he is, but he's not making any headway."

"I cracked the Pentagon's firewall in high school as a dare."

"Well, I contacted our friends at the Nexus about that."

"Nexus?"

"It's the world Internet hub in Oslo," Bruce told Steve. "Every byte of data flows through there. Fastest access on Earth."

"So what did they say?" Clint asked.

"He's fixated on the missiles, but the codes are constantly being changed."

"By whom?" Tony asked before flinching away as a dart flew past his face and made a bullseye on the target. He looked back and Clint smirked as he shrugged.

"Parties unknown," Fury continued.

"Do we have an ally?"

"Ultron's got an enemy," he corrected Natasha. "That's not the same thing. Still, I'd pay folding money to know who it is."

"I might need to visit Oslo," Tony said. "Find our unknown."

"Well, this is good times, boss, but I was kinda hoping when I saw you, you'd have more than that."

"I do. I have you," he said, looking at them. "Back in the day, I had eyes everywhere. Ears everywhere else. You kids had all the tech you could dream up. 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," he motioned the house around them, "laid in a grave." Clint clenched his jaw. "So stand. Outwit the platinum bastard."

"Steve doesn't like that kind of talk."

"You know what, Romanoff?"

"So what does he want?" Fury continued, taking a seat at the table.

"To become better," Steve thought. "Better than us. He keeps building bodies."

"Person bodies," Tony added. "The human form isn't efficient. Biologically speaking, we're outmoded, but he keeps coming back to it."

"When you two programed him to protect the human race, you amazingly failed," Natasha told them.

"They don't need to be protected," Bruce spoke up. "They need to evolve. Ultron's going to evolve."

"How?"

"Has anyone been in contact with Helen