Chapter 67 - ch 20, ch 21, ch 22

Chapter 20: Tipped OffSummary:Natasha questions. Natasha doubts.

Notes:(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter TextNatasha had been helping the IT department under Stark Industry decode some of the data left in the last skirmish of a Hydra facility. 

The reason was because she was a little bit bored. Other Avengers had been going through the channels about the latest serum going around turning people into a mad smaller version of a Hulk. 

She'd already exhausted her own informant so she was free to do anything on her own time. 

They've somehow found the formulation of the serum and Bruce is in the process of making an antidote for it. 

All she needed to do was wait. However, Natasha has an issue with doing nothing. So here she is, typing away and helping what's left of the encrypted file.

Another reason why she particularly wanted to help with this was because this was the data taken from the Hydra facility where they got won over by two Hydra operatives and blew up the place.

The only one time where she was left confused about the ordeal. She couldn't erase the last skirmish from her mind. 

Her finger stopped when she remembered those violet eyes. 

The percentage of a person having violet eyes is only 1 percent. They are very rare. To have the same ones Skye had, it had to be a coincidence... or maybe it wasn't. 

She leaned on her chair and groaned. Lots of questions berated her. If that really was Skye. Why was she there? Working for Hydra no less. Was she a double agent this whole time? 

No. That can't be. The first time they even mentioned Hydra she had no idea. Her expression was truly genuine. Also, if she's loyal to the cause she wouldn't have helped them stop the launch during Project Insight fiasco and wouldn't let Alexander Price die. It has her hacking that led to Natasha firing the bullet to his head. 

She wouldn't be HYDRA if that were the case. Right?

Cap did mention that it was Skye who called for a powered individual to help bring down IN-02 and save him and his friend by default. 

But why was she now in HYDRA? Was she in trouble?

Why couldn't she approach her for help?

She sighed. "Why the fuck am I so bothered by this?" 

It's not like they're a thing. Their time together was more of a friend than anything and the one time the redhead had initiated asking someone for a coffee date, she didn't even call back for months.

What was she even expecting? Maybe she's just projecting. 

"It's also possible it was someone else. The way they shot was so precise it was scary. Too skilled to be her." Not to mention, she jumped out of the window 2 floors from the ground. 

That can't be done by normal humans. It could be that the HYDRA operative she met was enhanced and changed their gene resulting in those colored eyes. 

But why help her? 

Why save her from being shot in the head? 

Then she remembered the scars... the lacerated indentions on brown skin, the way each and every stroke could have been as deadly as the last. She had never given it thought that she couldn't possibly have gotten those without learning how to prevent another from taking place. Added by the fact that it was she herself who told her that she was subjected to abuse in order to get stronger. Stronger now, she didn't specify... but yeah, it's possible that she may be more than she was letting on. 

More than the 'Skye Abeline' persona, she perused over months prior. And more than the 'Skye the Hacker' they met in two days. 

She stared at a small scar on her own wrist. Courtesy of the Winter Soldier grazing it during the scuffle on the Highway rendezvous. She had tried over and over again thinking of excuses on how Skye could have survived the crash— the hail of bullets no less— and ended up just tossing it at the side because she didn't want to taint her image with rational thinking. 

Was she playing them all this time?

It was really confusing that it was giving her a headache. 

"Romanov. You there?"

Natasha saw Tony's face so close to her that she couldn't stop her hand from punching it out of instinct. 

"Ow! Fuck!"

"Sorry!" She was quick to get out of her seat to help the man clutching his nose. 

"Come on, Nat. Not the nose! Shit!" He stood up and crinkled his nose from side to side, touching the cartilage. Natasha winched when a red bruise started to form. 

"Is it still straight? I can't have my beautiful face ruined." 

Although she felt bad, she still rolled her eyes at him and went to get ice from the small snack bar set in the room. 

She threw it at him and he quickly put it on his face. 

"What the fuck, Natasha? Are you punching people in the face for fun now?" He said trying not to crinkle his nose while doing so.

"I'm sorry. I was— I was distracted and your face suddenly popped up. I reacted."

"Oh, you reacted alright." Tony sounded annoyed but with his face obstructed by a bag of ice, she can't really take him seriously. 

She went back to her seat, trying to keep herself focused, "So why were you looking for me, anyway?" She quickly went back to her work, typing on the keyboard while also Ignoring the man groaning when he moved the bag. 

"Well, you were moping like you got dumped or something so I asked if you were alright. Not that I expected for you to break my nose." He finally put down the ice and started touching the bridge of his nose. 

Natasha paused for a moment, her expression quickly turning annoyed before typing again. 

"I was not dumped and it's none of your business." 

Tony snorted, putting ice on his nose again. "With you being this bitchy, I think you did get dumped." 

"Don't make me break your nose more than it is, Stark." 

"Okay~ Damn. Just saying." Tony's left hand went to his pockets and took something. He then threw it at her. 

Natasha wasn't expecting anything but when she opened her hands to see a USB in her hands, she was lost for words. 

"What's this?"

"Come with me to my lab. The others are waiting." 

"Couldn't you have just asked JAVIS to notify me?"

He puts down the ice bag to look her in the eye. There was a seriousness in his eyes, she knew it was him attempting to read her. For what, she still was clueless. 

"This was sent addressed to you yesterday and for some reason, there's a strong password that I can't encrypt with a note saying. 'Come find me' with blood on it. I traced the blood and it's from a HYDRA agent on our blacklist. So I really need to talk to you about that." He said and threw something at her. 

Natasha's eyes widen. Blood. Hydra? The first thing she thought about was a certain eccentric brunette and her heart spiked.

She looks down at the USB. It was plain and no more than the size of a thumb before nodding to him. Feeling conflicted. 

"Okay. Let's talk."

When Natasha reached the lab, everyone was already there. Everyone that was not in the field, at least. She found Bruce, and Steve already sitting on their spot. Maria is on the side jolting down the details. 

Hawkeye as it would seem was still in Hong Kong following the the drug trail while Thor was off knows where with his issue of his own realm. 

Bruce looked relaxed as he made himself comfortable in his seat, only to fumble a bit when their stares met. She waved at him and he nodded back with a shy smile.

It was different when it came to Steve, there were no smiles when they stared at each other. He gave a court nod and she did the same with a hint of underlying understanding.

If Tony had assembled them out on a whim, then he must have been informed about what. He must have put two and two together when it had something to do with a possible security breach that even Tony himself could not figure out.

It's something both of them came to the same conclusion.

The only troublesome, weird, hacker extraordinaire they knew of was Skye and it wasn't impossible either that this was her doing.

Cap and she made a promise not to mention anything about her and for good reasons. 

They did a little digging and found traces of her being part of a major illegal hacking organization called Rising Tide. A Hackitist gunning for SHIELD after the aftermath of the Battle of New York, releasing to the masses undiluted information for the posing of transparency. But as far as the leader of Rising Tide had mentioned. She left a few months after the Battle of New York. 

They both assumed she had a change of heart and started clean. But she's still wanted as far as technicalities go so they planned to hide her identity as much as possible. 

That is... if it was Skye. 

"So Natasha. Care to maybe tell us who could have sent you this USB?" As Toney started opening the file on it with JARVIS' help. 

"Before I try answering that. How did you get a hold of it if it was addressed to me?"

"I monitor what goes in and out of the tower. When Jarvis filed your parcels a warning notified me." 

"That's still my property, either way, Tony."

"Yeah well, your buddy should have sent it to a more private address, noh?" He didn't even hide how much he was snooping around. 

If this was Skye, she might have used her recent location for sending the thing. Which explains why it wasn't through the private channels she had all through New York City. 

"So do you know the password to this one?" 

"I'm not sure to be honest. I'm not even sure who sent this to me. You said there was blood on it. Who was it?" Natasha's voice held a small tint of worry. She prayed it wasn't Skye's. 

She knew over the course of time with each other that the hacker somehow had the knack of getting into trouble in the wildest of ways. Even when it's just fate doing it to her. After months without any response, Natasha can bet she's in trouble again. She only hopes it's not critical.

The large screen flickered, displaying a photograph of a man with distinct but unassuming features—a small face, a bulbous nose, and a sharp jaw. His expression was unreadable.

"Lieutenant Reinhard Krieger. HYDRA operative. Born into a family with deep Hydra ties, indoctrinated young, and trained in covert operations, assassination, and military tactics. In 1976, he led the purge of a rogue Hydra faction, earning the name 'Iron Fang' for his execution of defectors."

Tony swiped to another image—Krieger standing beside a man with a clean-shaven face and brown hair. His features were average, but there was something off about his expression. A cockiness reserved for the assholes of leadership management.

"Krieger is now believed to be working under Baron von Strucker—a high-risk target responsible for multiple strikes against S.H.I.E.L.D. If the blood on this sample is his, we might have a lead on Strucker.

"The real question—did Krieger send this, or did someone else? And if so, why do they want us to find them?" Tony said, voice measured.

"Maybe they're in trouble," Bruce suggested, trying to help. 

Only Steve and Natasha got tense when the thought occurred. 

"Could be, but we won't know unless we open it," Tony replied.

"So, any ideas, Natasha?"

"How many characters?"

"Nine."

"Can't you have J.A.R.V.I.S. brute-force it?"

"We can't. We only get one attempt—if we get it wrong, it wipes itself."

Bruce frowned. "Don't they want to be found? Why make it this difficult?"

"This isn't about keeping it locked. It's about making sure the right person is the only one who can open it," Tony explained. "A nine-character password has billions of possible combinations. Normally, we'd run a script to cycle through them, but with a single attempt, it's useless. Whoever set this up wasn't just cautious—they designed it to be impossible to crack without the exact key."

Steve and Natasha exchanged a look, searching their memory for any clue.

They only had one chance.

"Can I see the note?"

"Oh yeah, here." Tony pulled a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to her.

Natasha hadn't even noticed that Cap was already behind her. She unfolded the paper, revealing a much larger sheet than expected. In the center was a hurried scrawl of lines—"Come find me"—written in blood. But the splatter pattern looked... off.

"Does that look like a cookie to you, Nat?" Steve asked suddenly.

"What are you two talking about now?" Tony stepped up beside them.

"It does look like a cookie," Bruce said, joining the huddle.

"It does not," Tony insisted.

Maria was the last to take a look. "Hmmm."

"Don't 'hmm' me, Maria. Don't tell me you're siding with them."

"Well... it kinda does." The raven-haired woman pulled out a pen and traced over the darker splotches, ignoring the lighter strokes. "There."

It wasn't exactly Rembrandt, but now, with the rough outline of a circle and a few dots inside, it did resemble a cookie.

"Okay. So now what?" Tony sighed, frustrated that they were doodling on the evidence. "What does this blasted cookie mean? Is there milk to go with it?" He rolled his eyes.

"Maybe we're looking at it literally..." Bruce interjected. "On websites, cookies store information when you visit—a memory of sorts."

"Natasha accesses a lot of websites. Which one do you think will give us the right password?"

She drowns out their conversation, especially how Tony knew about that tidbit about her browser history and thinks about it. 

Cookie. When the hell did Skye spout anything about a cookie? 

Or, maybe, it wasn't Skye who said it...

Memory. 

That's it!

Everyone was so surprised she leaped off her seat to go to the keyboard. 

"Hey, wait Natasha!" Tony was so fast in grabbing her wrist, he looked a bit winded but his grip wasn't enough to bruise. Just enough to halt her. 

"We have one chance to open this. You sure?" There was always something in Tony's gaze these days. She couldn't decide if it was worry or his usual reprimand. 

He was always on edge, so you can never truly know. 

"Yes. I'm sure. It's my..." Now that she was going to say it, she found herself flushing. She stooped and suddenly felt a bit embarrassed. 

"Your what?" 

Suddenly, it was Steve who laughed and smiled.

"It's her social security number." He said, voice laced with a tease.

She felt her cheeks blush but tried her hardest to mask this by looking away and scowling. It shouldn't have been that scandalous in retrospect but if Steve remembered when it had been mentioned it was when she was flirting with the brunette the first time they met. She did it mostly to get her to lower her guard but now, she felt a little bit affronted that she tried seducing the hacker so shamelessly. 

"I didn't know you're that close to each other now," Steve continued to chuckle.

"Shut it," she glared at him and got out of Tony's grasp. 

While the two were having a blast with their inside jokes, Tony however was not. His eyes trailed over her with suspicion. "And how do you know this person?"

She had to bite down her tongue to not say the wrong thing. Tony doesn't know that Skye's alive and she promised not to tell just yet. "Back when we were being hunted down as criminals when Pierce put the target on us. We met someone. She was a friend—" she was cut off by a scoff by Steve who she glared at again. "She's very good at hacking. Let's just say we parted ways and we didn't know where she is right now. We don't know why she's involved with a Hydra operative and I definitely have no idea what she's planning."

"She must be a really good hacker then if we can't bypass her security," Tony said a bit probing, his eyes changing but she ignored it.

Ignoring the bull in the eye.

"That she is. She even got Sam's wings from the Vault in as easy as a few taps of her laptop." Captain mentioned a bit proud. 

She has no idea if Steve is caught up in Tony's over-musing mind or if he's just keeping it lax by default. 

A soft ding sounded as the disc finally unlocked.

Immediately, a flood of files began populating the screen—too fast to read, but efficiently queued to avoid overloading the system.

"J.A.R.V.I.S., what's happening?!"

"We are receiving a structured data transfer from a private server, Sir. I am indexing and sorting the files now. This will take a moment."

Tony shot Natasha a serious look, but just as quickly, his expression shifted into a smirk.

"This admirer of yours is really pulling out all the stops, huh? Should we expect a meet-the-parents moment soon?"

"Drop it, Stark. She's a friend."

"Oh, must be the same friend who had you sulking around the tower? Skipped a date night, huh?"

Natasha was about to deck him when J.A.R.V.I.S. interrupted.

"File processing complete."

They turned back just as a map appeared on the screen, pulsing in red.

"This..."

"Jackpot."

The minute Natasha figured out what the map was, the nagging in her head was cleared up. 

She felt the jolt of the jet as she couldn't find it in herself to be excited about their new mission. 

They were sent the coordinates of a HYDRA facility. Not just any facility but a likely dwelling of Baron von Strucker's. The very same coordinates she'd been looking for when they raided the ones in Hanex. Which meant, the person she met that very same night really was her. It was Skye. 

She hoped that there was a big chance her hunch could be wrong. That the password she put in would erase everything and she'd accepted Tony's chide. That would have been okay because that meant everything she knew about the brunette was infallibly correct, reliable, and one-dimensional. 

Now that she was proven correct that meant, there's a side to Skye that might be... fake.

"I have secrets. You have yours. I also think it's in your job description to lie, not that it's justifiable but I understand why you had to."

Her face crunched up at the thought before she snorted bitterly. 

Is this what all her targets feel whenever they find out she isn't the person they thought she was? A person wearing a mask to get something from them. 

What did Skye want from her and Steve? 

"Hey," She snapped out when a large hand squeezed her shoulder. She didn't notice Bruce had actually approached her, too preoccupied with the bile at the back of her throat.

"You okay, Natasha?"

"Hey, Bruce," She smiled. The practice smile she'd always done with them. She shrugged away all the thoughts that were assaulting her and gave him her attention.

"Yeah. Just worried about her. I don't know why she's there and why now. I just... I'm not sleeping so well."

"It's gonna be alright. I'm sure we'll get there in time." 

"Yeah." But there was no merit in her voice. Because the moment she sees Skye, she's not even sure she can trust her. 

Why are you with HYDRA?

Were the words you told me even true?

Why didn't you reach out to me until now?

All questions she doesn't want answered but is stringing to come out. 

But she didn't have time to maul over it because everyone was alert and standing as the jet flew over the white landscape of trees and snow. Over the horizon, a large castle with a looming amount of missiles.

"Ready, everyone. We're landing in five minutes."

They stormed the building. There were casualties on both sides. Their tanks lay in ruin, and their men lay scattered—beaten— while Hawkeye got a large chunk of his waist shot through. A pair of unidentified enhanced operatives had overpowered them, vanishing the moment a deafening alarm rattled through the compound, triggered just as they breached Strucker's main hall.

Strucker was there. So was the scepter.

But there was no sign of Skye.

"Check every room. We have a civilian hostage to retrieve," Tony ordered over comms.

Nastaha stayed to keep the remaining abled HYDRA operatives in check but she could feel her fingers twitching to press the trigger. The longer they had no news of her the more, she was glowering. 

Then Strucker laughed, blood seeping over his mouth, when Tony came in to apprehend him. "Oh. Are you looking for her?"

And that caught both Tony's and her's attention.

Tony's repulsors hummed, glowing hot. "Tell me where she is."

He laughs. The way one would when someone is affronted by something silly. A joke. "She's not a civilian, I'll tell you that. The moment she's ready. She'd be the perfect evolution. Even better than anything you will ever make, Stark."

Before she could hit him in the face to make her tell the truth, her breath stopped when she heard JARVIS report.

"No signs of a hostage, sir. But…"

A feed was sent into Tony's suit, he enhanced it for better coverage and what they saw made them freeze.

A lone room. A room drenched in blood. A room, with bodies dismembered beyond recognition. Of faces frozen mid-scream. 

Strucker laughed and Natasha couldn't get the images out of her head. 

Notes:The next chapter might be a little delayed. Hahahaha. But we are finally starting the Ultron arc.

As is from Scar's zesty musical number "Be prepared~"

Chapter 21: No one thinks like I do...Summary:People have different priorities, and those priorities will point to one outcome.

Notes:(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter TextTony once believed that he could do anything. He was rich. He had loving albeit strict parents. He was a genius. But as much as he rallied himself to think that he deserved all the good things in life. Life stands to chance in reminding him that he, like any other person living on Earth, is mortal. A mortal who in any sense of regards, is weak against the hands of fate.

His wealth was only as fulfilling as the papers on the tabloids came to revere him. 

His parents, young souls taken away in an unquilted breath.

His genius, still cannot save a friend who reached out a hand to him.

He tried to argue that he could have done better. In which, he now wants to do better. But what does 'being better now' look like? 

He had done his best. Using money for charity, sending his team members to track down every last HYDRA-related business to the ground. Save as many people as he could. But the looming images of stars landing on Earth. Powers beyond his comprehension. And the realization that... maybe his 'better' can never stoop to the horrors of Fate. Even when he wills to fight it.

He saw a vision of his friends dying. Earth burning and everyone dyed in red. And then of a woman who was drowning in pale cracked skin. Eyes stringing Tony's as if to curse his name. Her mouth moved to tell him of her woes, but all he could hear was unbearable screeching.

The vision lay waste in his mind, itching the crevices as it haunted him before he was snapped away from it. 

"Sir. A message from Dr. Cho has been received. Would you like me to open it for you?"

"Yes, please." He said, his voice oddly cracked.

His hand gripped the lever as a habit, before reminding himself where he was. He quickly went to the message before hearing the conversation behind him. He wasn't sorry for interrupting Romanov and Bruce's little heart-to-heat conversation yet still polite enough to get in between when they've spoken their piece.

"Hey Banner, Dr. Cho's on her way in from Seoul, is it okay if she sets up in your lab?"

"Uh, yeah, she knows her way around."

He muttered a thanks at him before ordering JARVIS. "Tell her to prep everything, Barton's gonna need the full treatment."

"Very good sir."

He let JARVIS take the wheel when he felt his thigh freeze for a moment, and wanting to stretch. His seat propelled him back, enough that he could get out of the pilot seat. 

Tony slowly approached Thor, eyes steadily on the scepter, while his own thoughts jumped in rapid succession about what to do with it. 

He had thought about it. His own gaze followed the blue glow of the gem. His thoughts were of the people he was going to lose if he continued to play neutral. 

The scepter held immense opportunity. A chance to protect. To save. If only he can have a few days with it. 

His eyes landed on the demi-god. He doesn't quite admit he is one. In his mind, he refuses to put the moniker who is as imperfect as the next hobo in the street, only he knows they are more than hobos in the street, they are powerful, durable, and almost ageless. But their decision, well, they're human at best. 

Maybe it was only his own reason. An excuse. An easy excuse so he wouldn't be so guilty when he planned to sway him. 

" It feels good, yeah? I mean, you've been after this thing since SHIELD collapsed. Not that I haven't enjoyed our little raiding parties, but..." 

"No, but this... this brings it to a close." This was a tinge bit of chirp when he said it. 

But Captain wasn't as easy to ease. "As soon as we find out what else this has been used for. I don't just mean weapons. Since when is Strucker capable of human enhancement?"

He wanted to laugh. Ah yes. Human enhancement... the images still burned in her head. He couldn't look away even when he wanted to. 

Another reason to make sure to have countermeasures. To make a more hardened shield. Against whatever it is they have to face. Against Monsters.

"Banner and I'll give it the once over before it goes back to Asgard. Is that cool with you? I mean, just a few days until the farewell party. You're staying, right?" He passed it off as a suggestion but he knew his answer before Thor could utter it.

"Yes, yes, of course. A victory should be honored with revels."

He smiled, faux yet a little genuine. He pats Thor's shoulder. "Yeah. Who doesn't love revels. Captain?"

He sighed but agreed. " Hopefully this puts an end to the Chitauri and HYDRA, so. Yes, revels."

Tony gazes down at the scepter again. But the sound of screeching in his ears was all too realistic to shake off. 

Steve was never the person who regretted doing the right thing to make the world a better place. His country a safe place. But he knows, firsthand, that sometimes achieving said peace and safety requires sacrifices, whether he likes it or not. Even in his time in the military, he knew he could lose his life. His fellow soldiers too— they knew that their lives were easily extinguished with one swipe of a bullet or a combustion lying in waiting. A knife to the throat or a poison gas hidden in the mist. 

And sometimes, those sacrifices were only deemed necessary if you've won the whole thing. Otherwise, the other side can only be called a waste.

When he left Skye in the wreckage, he didn't know if he called it a sacrifice. It was more like an unnecessary loss. She wasn't supposed to be there. She joined because she became attached and by default wanted to help them. When he knew that Skye was alive courtesy of her powered friend, he felt his relief wash over him. 

Then, came the news of her capture. That was their assumption, though. She was captured and he also believed it. Only because Skye was the only one he of that could be so smart as to push Tony into a stalemate but so goofy enough to have the password be Natasha's social security number.

Hearing news that she might not be... okay left another round of guilt over him.

Which is ridiculous. 

He shouldn't feel responsible for her kidnapping but at the same time, as her friend, he did feel some blame. 

He'd been looking for Strucker for a long time. He almost got his hideout multiple times but came up empty. The fact that he had heinously used people like left and right for his experiments over the years, he wasn't subtle, he should have been apprehended much earlier. 

He should have. 

If they did, Skye wouldn't be here right now. Missing and with an unknown situation. 

Seeing the room firsthand, smelling the stench of rotten flesh, an aching similarity on the battlefront, the sight itself was almost identical. Soulless eyes, a den of flies, and the unmistakable sordid mountain of body parts. 

He heard Maria coming into the jet and even heard Tony's last words. " Uh, actually, he's the boss. I just pay for everything, and design everything and make everyone look cooler."

If he wasn't so shaken by thoughtless imagery, he would have even smirked but all he felt doing was indignation. 

"What's the word on Strucker?"

"NATO's got him."

"Can we interrogate him about the missing civilian?"

"Unfortunately, NATO's got jurisdiction on his arrest, and until our request is granted, we can only wait."

Steve could hear Tony beside him. "I don't think we should pursue that for now, Cap."

"And why not?" He gave him a hard look. 

"Right now, our missing person is unidentified in a way that we don't know if they're our target or if they're a threat." He was blunt, that Steve had always known about him.

"We can't just leave them. What if they need our help?"

"I'm not saying we aren't going to. Just that we have to be cautious. You've seen it. You heard Strucker. They did something and we don't know how dangerous it is."

"She." Steve's voice also challenged him. "...and I'm not going to stop investigating."

Tony sighed and nonchalantly waved his hand in the air. "Do what you want, Cap. But remember if you do find something let us know firsthand before making any stupid decisions."

"I should say the same to you," 

Tony snorted and left. 

Steve reeled in his emotions before facing Maria again, a small smile to hide the awkwardness. "Sorry. Do you have anything about the two enhanced?"

She nodded and offered him an understanding smile in return, not lingering on the latter issue. "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."

He watched Maria offer him a table of the two individuals while following her to the elevator. The image was the exact description of the two. 

They're like Skye. He thought crossly. 

"Their abilities?"

"He's got increased metabolism and improved thermal homeostasis. Her thing is neural electric interfacing, telekinesis, mental manipulation." Steve wasn't even going to lie that he didn't understand all of that. 

So he did what he knew that could fix that. He raised an eyebrow at Maria and she smirked weakly. "He's fast and she's weird."

"Ah." He nodded. "Well, they're going to show up again."

"Agreed. File says they volunteered for Strucker's experiments. It's nuts." And that made it more horrible to hear. Did Skye volunteer as well?

Focus. 

They made it on the elevator, both of them feeling a bit stressed. He went in, pressed his floor, and stared the ex-shield agent in the eye. "Right. What kind of monster would let a German scientist experiment on them to protect their country?"

"We're not at war, Captain."

"They are."

"And the woman?"

Steve didn't have an answer as the elevator door shut. He closed his eyes, hoping this wouldn't turn out into a mess.

Bruce is slowly taking control of his life back. It wasn't much but it's there. The help Skye put in months ago was a catalyst. 

He doesn't hate himself... at least not like he did before. 

It wasn't all perfect with the big guy but there was progress. He wasn't quick to anger and if he was, he didn't worry too much about letting him take over a few minutes at a time. The other guy seemed more accepting too. 

There were still times were doubts clouded his mind. He won't hurt people, right? I won't hurt them?

So long as he could picture the brunette giving him a lazy but megawatt smile, he relaxed. 

But it's a bit different when it's Natasha though. 

She makes him nervous and that makes him worry more. He isn't sure if it is the anger of the possibility of hurting her while on a mission or the unknown feeling of fear if somehow, one wrong move and she'd see him as a monster most people do.

With Skye, he doesn't hesitate to believe her when she says he isn't a monster. 

But Skye wasn't any other person he'd known. Natasha could be in that category but there's still a voice in him that doubts if she's sincere to him or just a placation made to illusionized him. A leash of some sort.

Wouldn't be surprising if that really is the case.

He was being led by Tony to his lab, the others joking with Dr. Cho as she fixes Barton with his almost life-threatening injury.

Tony had a look in him when he gestured him out of the room and he followed mostly because he was intrigued. 

"What's the rumpus?"

He saw the scepter in the middle of his table, and he faintly had an idea why he wanted to talk.

"Well, the scepter. You see, we were wondering how Strucker got so inventive. So, I've been analyzing the gem inside-- You may recognize," Tony took a small card in his hand which he recognized was JARVIS's program. He flicked it in the air and then appeared a 3D image of Jarvis's consciousness.

"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."

Bruce chuckled. "Really?"

Tony smirked. "Top of the line."

"I suspect not for long." JARVIS spoke out suddenly and Tony kind of agreed with his assistant. 

He took about small card and this time taps it from the scepter to the front. "Meet the competition."

Bruce was a nuclear physicist first and foremost, but that doesn't mean that his only expertise. He's had research done in all kinds of fields and one of it is biochemist and genetics. The display before him was unimaginably astounding. A blue glow of lines, of codes flashing itself in direction that shouldn't have made sense but it does. It was both intricate and familiar.

He couldn't stop himself from observing it. "It's beautiful."

" If you had to guess, what's it look like it's doing?"

"Like it's thinking. I mean this could be a..." He could almost see the same pulse on a PET on one of his subject but..." it's not a human mind, it..."

He stared at Tony and he gave the go to continue. 

"He went back to looking at it. Trying to figure out if his observation wasn't wrong. "I mean, look at this! They're like neurons firing."

"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. There's also human test results but they could have been something else entirely."

"Artificial intelligence." Bruce mumbled and Tony couldn't hide the spark in those eyes. He was thinking of something dangerous again. 

"This could be it, Bruce. This could be the key to creating Ultron."

Bruce didn't know if he should leave or stay. The Ultron Program was a wish fulfillment Tony brought up before. A long time ago. The goal was to create a global defense system that could protect the world without the need for the Avengers. But they neither had a concrete plan to do it nor the means to do that. Going global was a stretch to even begin planning. That takes a whole lot of process, one neither the two was prepared so it remained that, just words on paper.

"I thought Ultron was a fantasy." 

"Yesterday it was. If we can harness this power, apply it to my Iron Legion protocol." 

He gulped at the idea. That both answer the how and the means. He's a bit mad at himself that he's actually considering it. 

"That's a mad-sized if." he drawled.

Tony didn't back down. "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."

"Don't hate, I helped design VERONICA."

He snorted. "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?" 

Bruce was beginning to waver. He saw his reflection and was reminded of the green big version of himself. 

What if I don't have to turn green? Would that be better?

Bruce turned to look at his feet before looking disparagingly at him. "The only people threatening the planet would be people?" 

Wouldn't that be a dream?

Tony grin. "I want to apply this to the Ultron program. 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 me three days."

Just as he was slowly welcoming his idea, another issue appeared. "So you're going for artificial intelligence and you don't want to tell the team." He didn't even want to pose it as a question because, by Tony's tone, it was already hinted. 

It was his turn to stress his word.

"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." He said with a bite in it.

Bruce paused for a moment to look at him. He had a deep look in him. Guilt? 

"Sounds like a cold world, Tony."

The man snorted and turned his back. "I've seen colder."

Bruce could hear a break in there but he was quick to save himself and faced the AI imagery again, this time his eyes a calm stillness that worried Bruce. "This one, this very vulnerable blue one? It needs Ultron. Peace in our time. Imagine that."

Bruce joins him in looking at the AI. Imagine that, peace in our time.

Peace... does that mean, he wouldn't be needed?

Clint winches when he touches the side of his waist. It was squishy but firm... and weird enough, he could feel it.

"I really am made of plastic now." he joked to himself as he dressed himself. 

It's been three days after the big infiltration. Tomorrow the scepter would be taken back to Asgard and he wouldn't have to think about it ever again.

The thing brings back bad memories for him and wouldn't miss it in a long shot. 

Tonight though, he can relax. They were having a party in Stark Tower. A celebration that one of the most dangerous things on Earth will be rid of or maybe it's just Stark's usual off party.

He felt his phone vibrate in his bed and he quickly took it.

"Hi, Laura. How's the kids?"

"They're watching TV. We're alright." His heart swelled, hearing his wife's voice. He was in the process of fixing his jacket when he heard something on the other end. 

"What was that?"

"It's the rodents again. I tell you they keep getting bolder with the trash. I'm surprised there's no bears around yet."

He chuckled. "I made sure there's no bear around us. Those fences are very sturdy and at the same time bear-friendly too."

"But small ones can still get through?"

"Well, it's very selfish of us if we hog all those spaces with just us, right?" He said warmly, feeling the fear of the last mission ebb away from his heart when his wife laughed. 

"That's true. What's a little creature here and there." She said before her voice turned low. "Are you coming home soon?"

"Maybe this weekend. Most of my missions are on halt and Tony's not going to expect much from me until a few days after the proclamation. I can spend some time with the kids."

"That's good. They miss you. I miss you."

"I miss you too. I promise I'll make it up to you. Be careful okay?"

"Yeah. I will."

After saying their goodbyes and I love you, Clint left his room, looking dressed up. He was on his way towards the fourth floor when he saw Natasha in the hallway looking dazely at nothing. 

They told each other they'd go to the party at the same time. She was dressed pretty. She wore a sleek, dark green dress and a satin cardigan. Her hair was perfectly framed and her makeup was nice. She looked every bit ready for the party but her demeanor was another thing entirely.

He frowned. "Hey, Nat? You okay?"

She was quick to hide, her face quickly smiling as if she hadn't been so distracted— you'd think she wasn't breathing.

"Yes, just thinking about the paperwork Tony was pushing on me. Nothing big." She said before looping her hands into his arms as the two walked side by side towards the party.

Clint wasn't fooled, though. They'd been friends longer than they had been Avengers. The only person he could even call a sister in that regard. So he stopped them before they entered the elevator, making sure no one else was on the floor, and glanced at her with concern.

"You know, I heard about it during my deployment. The information we got from Strucker came from your friend, who still seems to be missing. You don't have to hide it from me, Nat. Are you really okay?"

Natasha was looking ahead, still not meeting his eye. There was an eerie calmness on her face—one he couldn't decipher, which made him more concerned.

She finally lets out a small and soft exhale, still very much undeterred. "I don't know what to say actually. I'm fine overall. While I'm a bit bothered that she's still missing, I still have a job to do here and until we have more information there's nothing I or any of us can do about it. I know that there's some part of me that wants to find her but also I..." she stops for a moment, her eyes finally flashing an emotion. Sadness.

"…If, for some miracle, she managed to step right in front of me this instant, I don't even want to look at her face."

Clint's hand covered hers, gripping it slightly to ground her in the present. She gave him a grateful smile, but it never reached her eyes.

"I have no idea about the details between the two of you, but it sounds like you're hurt. Whatever it is she did, I hope she can shove it up her ass."

"Clint," Natasha said in warning, but her eyes were lighter, and she actually chuckled.

"No. Really. I hope she trips on her foot or spills her coffee on her shirt for whatever she's done to you but... I also think you should be more honest, shouldn't you?"

"huh?"

Clint rolled her eyes at her confused expression. "You clearly care for her or you wouldn't be so bothered by her disappearance."

"As much as I care if any of you went missing, so what's your point?"

"My point is...If this chick really is an asshole that you don't want to look at her, we wouldn't even be talking about this. But we clearly are. So that means, you do actually care... even more than you're admitting. You might be disappointed, that's your given right, but not acknowledging this feeling won't do you good, Nat."

"What are you talking about?" She moved to put space between them, but Clint was faster and made sure Natasha wasn't running away, keeping his hand clamped on the arm she had looped through his.

He stared at her—firm, but still gentle. "When you said you didn't want to face her, that was a lie, wasn't it?"

Natasha's jaw tightened, and her eyes widened slightly.

"You do want to see her. You lov—"

"Enough."

Clint watched as Natasha walked away, leaving him there.

He didn't run after her, knowing she was still very much agitated.

He sighed, running a hand through his hair in surprise more than shame.

The very first time he'd seen Natasha in love, and she wouldn't even admit it. He was still reeling from whether all of that was actually true. He had been bluffing during their conversation to get a rise out of her—he hadn't really thought that she actually was.

"Damn. Should I tell Laura?"

Notes:Still a very small chapter. Different pov makes me squishy and confused hahaha. Next chapter will be next week and hopefully planning it to be a little more longer. Toddles~

Chapter 22: Default and UpgradeSummary:Skye finds a comrade in herself.

Notes:(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter TextSkye did not regret it. Even if she was harsh. Inhumanly cruel

Animalistically merciless.

"Do you think they'll come looking for us?"

"HYDRA is a different kind of stubborn, so it could be possible," Skye admitted as she cast her eyes upon the horizon, the moon so close and so bright you'd think it would collide with the mountain's peak. 

"Not if someone gets to them first."

Skye sighed. Not an impossibility but she never assumes things to be so positive going considering her track record. She can only hope. "I kind of regret not bringing them along."

"They can choose for themselves. At the rate that they are in, they won't give up. We both know that feeling very well. We aren't their parents. They can make their own mistakes at their own pace. Even if that meant they will have to lose a limb while at it." The feminine laugh was sweet sounding yet it held no possible place for a genuine exposition. 

Skye snorted, trying to hide it—from her, of all people.

"I hope it doesn't have to come to that."

"Let's just focus on recuperating, hm?"

True, her body did need to heal, finally free from it.

Skye's body had been bound for days.

A snake-kind bound with a deeply claustrophobic-inducing tightness. Her feet, her arms, her waist and her chest. All of it, with the except of her head and neck was secured by two opposing metal slab. A form fitting indention of her body shape and nothing more.

An security cage made by Dr. List after her attempt to escape. One she did not regret nor provided details on how she had even managed to get into the forest. 

They assumed it was one of her manifesting powers. The belief that she could create portals, maybe fly, or semi-hover and managing to escape from the facility, all under their noses. 

So they did the next best thing, trapping Skye so she couldn't attempt it again. The makeshift coffin was heavy. It would take almost seven men to carry, and it produced an electric pulse that disrupted any warping, rendering teleportation, if that had been the case, impossible to accomplish. 

That was how the misunderstanding happened.

They had assumed that was her power.

After a month of exposure, Skye did gain another ability but it wasn't warping through space or flying, which she could already do to some extent.

It was something far more... interesting.

Her body had been immobile for a long time.

Far too long that she vague disassociate her senses from her hands and legs.

With nothing but her eyes, head, and neck the only thing she could move, things to occupy her mind was more apparant as time went on and it got boring really fast. 

She was slowly feeling lonely, more so than before since she couldn't drink, she'd have nights where it's just her mind playing tricks on her. 

Paired with the fact that she was so isolated, mealtime being the only time she can even talk to someone outside of the sessions with the wack doctor, Skye was beginning to feel something snap. 

She could have easily quaked the coffin apart, but her body was still unresponsive. Her muscles had deteriorated somewhat so probably she would be unable to sprint herself away and she wasn't sure her unstable mindset could precisely fly her out of there without causing a massive earthquake that might endanger the neighboring city and it's inhabitants.

They were already at war. Skye has no plan adding a massive earthquake to their plate above all the messy things already happening. 

So, she waited. Giving herself ample time to recover before making an escape.

That was until, during the dead of night, when most people were asleep and the guards had relaxed. She found herself unsettled.

She'd been imagining a version of herself walking around the room, nothing more than a wandering daydream, a simple, selfish desire she'd been craving for nights

Then, all of a sudden… she was there.

Another her or someone with her face... walking in the room like a ghost. She wasn't tangible per se. She was see-through, like a thin sheet but she felt oddly real.

Then, without so much as a sound, the apparition vanished.

Skye was half debating whether what she saw was real or not. Then, she started to maul over the possibility that this may be the light in the dark. Her chance. 

She glanced at the camera in the room, carefully quaking its head just the tiniest inch, just enough to create a small blind spot on the far left side of her peripheral vision.

Then that's how she started to imagine another her in the room. Most nights there's barely a vision of her but after her fifth day of trying, she managed to make the same result as her first.

But she could only make it appear for five minutes, and even then, it couldn't move anything. It passed through objects like air.

Yet, unlike the first time, when it vanished, the memory of standing in the corner, looking at her own trapped self, assaulted her mind.

She couldn't stop herself from grinning all day long. 

Gradually, she realized this wasn't just some illusion-based ability. What if she could make it tangible?She'd be able to escape without causing too much of a ruckus.

For a week, she trained her mind to make it. Over and over again. She found that not only did it put a strain on her head, but it also drained a considerable amount of stamina just to maintain a vision of it for more than 15 minutes. It didn't help that she hadn't been fed much lately, so most of her energy came from sleeping all day.

Dr. List hadn't been happy about that but so long as he could alien-ray her to oblivion, he hadn't much care what she did in her spare time. 

She was on the verge of giving up when, of all things, the thought of wanting food made all her practice finally bear fruit.

Another Skye came alive. It stood there, looking around the room and planning its next move toward the door.

"Stop!" She shouted, afraid it would get caught on camera if it took two more steps.

The copy stopped. Stood straight. And...

Waited?

It stood stiff like a soldier, its face blank, and no life in those eyes that was uncannily a copy of hers. 

Was it waiting for her command?

"Um. Jump?"

It jumped.

Skye's eyes gleemed. 

"Say something," she thought to try. 

"Something." The voice was almost robotic.

Skye's eyebrow twitched. "I have no idea if that's my sense of humor peeking through or if you're just being literal."

It didn't reply.

"Oh, okay... Um." Skye thought for a moment.

"Make a small crack on the wall beside you with a flick of your finger."

It did as it was told. It raised its arm and flicked the wall, but instead of a small crack, the split spread all the way to the ceiling with a faint pop.

Skye's eyes widened. "Ahhh. Okay. Not what I was aiming for, but at least I know you can touch things now. So... can you disappear?"

"To where?"

Skye finally heard it speak, and it weirded her out a little. Her voice speaking back to her was not how she pictured her night would go.

"No, I mean disappear disappear. Like—poof, gone with the wind. MIA kind of deal. Uncreate yourself from existence." She rambles on. 

It stared at her. Incredulously.

The very first emotion it showed, and it was spent looking at Skye like she was an idiot.

Then, its body started steaming before finally vanishing.

"Why do I feel like it was judging me?"

As time went on, her progress became noticeable. She could summon the copy much more easily now but its default attitude left a lot to be desired.

It was snarky. The sarcasm was off the charts. Actually, it's a bit comparable to her teenage years.

But without the ideals she had. Just the personality.

So she did the most logical thing: she tried putting her mind into it, seeing if she could use it like a mecha. 

It didn't work. Not all the way, at least…

"So…"

"So…" Both spoke, but at different intervals.

"This is strange," Coffin-bound Skye said, eyeing her copy with new curiosity.

"I know, right?" Free-range Skye cooed, raising her hands in the air like she couldn't believe it.

"Can you feel this?" Free-range Skye pinched her own arm. Hard enough to make her flinch.

"Yes and no. I don't feel it necessarily on my arm, but I can feel it on yours. As for pain, I don't exactly feel it. I's more like I know you're hurt, and I can kind of register a numbness. It's weird."

"It's like I'm split, but I still think you're the original."

"And while you're me, you think a little differently too." Bound Skye was fascinated.

"What does this mean exactly? I can make a copy of myself?" She wondered aloud.

"It means you're talking to yourself, you crazy woman." Free-range Skye laughed as she stretched, both of them feeling the relief of finally moving after days of stillness.

"I'm mental." Bound Skye laughed along. "I can probably get out now."

"We should probably figure out first how long I can materialize or practice how to prolong my existence."

"Good call. I also want to test if I can create you in a space I can't see but still remember being in."

Free-range Skye sat on the floor and shrugged. "Worth a try. If I can roam around, I can definitely help get us out. But I think we need to test the proximity limits too."

Bound Skye wanted to nod but couldn't. Fortunately, Free-range Skye could already sense what she was thinking.

"Like how far apart we can be before you poof away. Anyway, what about your powers? How much can you do?"

Free-range Skye looked at her hand and flexed it. "I think about 30% of my vibrations. But that's good enough for me. My motor skills mirror yours. As for making copies, I don't think I can."

"30 percent is more than enough. But maybe if I fine-tune the next copy, I can increase it." Bound Skye shifted her eyes toward the cameras and bit her bottom lip.

"I really hope there's no sound recording."

"I could check, you know."

"And risk getting caught in video?" Bound Skye snorted.

"I can quake the wires. Duh. Unless they can explain how that happened, they can't really blame you. And even if they do, you can easily play dumb. We're good at that." Free-range Skye was already standing up.

"You're not going to listen to me, are you?" Bound Skye pouted.

"We both know you're just jealous I can move and you can't. Also, I can feel the stiffness in your bones. That's why I really want to move. It's too clamp up in here." Free-range Skye saw her original pout even more and looked dejected.

They can both feel the other since they are the same person but, even she felt a bit troubled that she was being juvenile about this. 

"Hey, look on the bright side. If I roam around, I can refresh us both. Want some food while I'm at it?"

"Yes, please. I want some soda. I'm really craving sweets right now."

"God, me too."

Good news: There's no sound captured.

Bad news: They did blame Skye.

They didn't know how, but the footage of her talking to someone out of frame raised suspicion. She neither confessed who she was talking to nor did they have any suspects to pin it on. Prior to Skye sabotaging the cams, no one had entered or exited the room. And short of someone hacking the door from the inside, there wasn't much they could do about it, except grill her.

Her punishment? More time on the artifact exposure. 

When she woke up the next night, there were now guards stationed inside her cell. It put her in a tight spot, but she still wanted to try something.

From their trials yesterday, they'd learned her copy could only go about eight and a half miles before vanishing. She had no way of knowing if that was her actual limit, but she planned to test for more distance later.

For now, she wanted to see if she could manifest her copy two rooms above where she currently was.

Safe to say, it worked like a charm.

...

Skye stole a laptop. Easy enough when the owner had left it lying around in the comm room without so much as a lock. Rookie mistake.

She was planning on breaking out soon. There was no reason to stay, especially now that she had a body on the outside to help her.

What she needed was a distraction.

And that came in the form of the Avengers.

If she could get them here and cause enough chaos, she could slip away in the confusion.

She'd already set up the USB—simple, elegant, and impossible to crack. The drive itself held nothing useful. Instead, it was designed to reach out to a private server the moment it was accessed. If the right password was entered on the first try, the server would send back the real intel, which was the exact location of the current hideout she was in. 

If they got it wrong? Nothing serious. The USB would just wiped itself clean, with no second chances.

She believes that if she does it like this, only Natasha can get the right information.

With that in place, she pocketed the stolen USB and went to mail it.

She kept her head down, hair tucked under a hood, face half-covered. Just another person blending into the foreground. She was walking up an intersection when someone grabbed her and yanked her into an alley.

The punch landed before she could react. It was heavy, solid, and unapologetic. It was the sheer surprise that Skye bristles back to the bins of trash lying about.

Any witnesses that were near, scuttled off like rabbits.

Skye shook her head, blinking away the haze, then glared up at her attacker.

He was built like a tree. He towered over her easily, all rough edges and bad intentions on his face. His scruffy mug matched the title of a huge asshole, with his wide grin and puffed out chest that could be mistaken as sand bags. 

With just two steps, he closed the distance yet again, his heavy boots sinking into the damp ground and hands ready to grab her. 

Before she could react, he yonked her by the collar, hoisting her up like she weighed nothing.

"I was really surprised to see you here, little missy," He smelt of cigarettes, and a nose-itching-inducing cologne that made Skye want to belch.

She cringed right back at him but remained silent. 

"Aren't you supposed to be tucked away nice and tight in Dr. List's isolation rooms?" He leaned in, his breath up close was rancid so much Skye let her disgust show and he smiled even more after. "But here you are, wandering around like some lost girl. You want me to walk you back?"

Skye hated being degraded like a harmless joke so she chooses to handle things quickly. 

She couldn't miss even if she wanted to.

Her fist connected with his teeth and used the shock to dampened the pain. His grip slackened instantly, and she dropped to the ground while he stumbled back, clutching his mouth.

Blood dripped and even saw a tooth lay, all chipped. He moaned and groaned, hunched over while looking so surprised. 

She ignored it because she was still irritated. Skye sneered at him, as she began brushing off dirt and mud that got on her. 

That should teach him not to go around punching people. The punch itself didn't hurt, but the fact that he'd dared to put his hands on her in the first place? That pissed her off.

She looked around them.

There was no one in sight. Already minding their business as they should be. 

She let a dry chuckle before grabbing his neck, which was in range. He looked at her, eyes blazing with hatred and move to punch her again and without much extra words, his head blew up.

The sound was loud but tampered. 

The body froze, still unregistered that it no longer had a head but nothing last. It's knees gave in and slowly falls with a thud and the slowly pooling blood under her boots was the only indication that it was all over. 

30% really is more than enough. Even if she had to fight through twenty more agents, it wouldn't have mattered. But this copy's control was still unmanageable, evident in the sharp pain radiating through her hand. Some bones were definitely fractured. Not enough to render it incapacitated, but enough to be annoying and unreliable in long fights. 

It's either she's not used to the copy's body outburst adjustment or the copy itself lacked the sturdiness of her original. She still needs to test its limits.

She glanced at the mess behind her and sighed. The body didn't bother her. If they found it, they found it.

Stepping over the corpse without a care, Skye headed for the post office.

It was closed.

Not that it mattered.

She broke in, rummaging through the outgoing mail. She was about to drop hers into the pile when she hesitated.

Right, she wanted to include a note.

Spotting a notepad and pen on the counter, she tore off a sheet. Her mind drifted to Natasha, and her lip tugged a little. 

She thought of a way to convey her message. 

As she wrote, a drop of blood splattered onto the paper.

"Tsk. That's not a nice letter to send someone." She cursed. But then as she was looking at the splatter and the blood on her hand, she got an idea. 

She added a few dabs and she's done. 

"Good. She'll figure it out."

After dropping the mail, she took a detour to grab some snacks.

"Hey, did you guys hear about it?"

"Damn, man. Lt. Krueger was found dead at dawn when he didn't answer his comms. His head was missing."

"I heard it blew up. There was blood everywhere."

The two men gossiping around Skye made no movement to stop. 

She didn't interfere as all the information she got from them was highly appreciated. 

"They're asking around, trying to figure out who did it. They think it had to be a powered individual—might've been a woman, based on some testimonies."

"So you think it was the twins?"

"Why would they?"

Skye perked up at that. A knot of worry tightened in her chest.

They wouldn't be stupid enough to pin this on Wanda… right?

"There's no one else here with powers."

"Well—"

The three turned to look at Skye, who was watching them with interest. She beamed, a ridiculous sight considering only her head was visible.

They stared at her, unconvinced, before turning back to their conversation.

"Strucker's pissed. Mike said there were orders to interrogate the twins. Might even get rough."

One of them whistled. "Unlike Ms. Invincible here, they'll go down like flies if they get sent back to the chambers."

Another shivered. "I hate that place. Gives me the creeps."

Skye tuned out the rest of their conversation as it had derailed from there. 

When the time came for her usual sessions, she wasn't strapped inside the chamber. Instead, they brought her to another room—one with a full view of the chamber.

The control room had a dark color scheme: deep gray walls, and a muted blue carpet. The air was thick with the hum of high-powered machines. Rows of high-tech equipment lined the space—KVM switches, CAD systems, and multiple monitors streaming live data. A one-way mirror overlooked the chamber, offering a perfect view of what went on inside.

Beyond basic surveillance, the room housed biometric scanners and neural activity monitors, their displays flickering with real-time readings. A secure terminal ran predictive modeling software, likely tracking physiological responses and stress levels. Overhead, a set of retractable robotic arms—fitted with various medical instruments—stood by for remote procedures, while a secondary system controlled automated restraints inside the chamber.

At least twenty-five personnel were stationed at various terminals, monitoring the session. Some managed the chamber's atmospheric controls, adjusting oxygen levels and temperature to induce stress or compliance. Others kept an eye on an encrypted data stream, likely feeding results to an off-site research hub.

It was more activity than she ever realized. Back when she was inside the chamber, all she'd ever seen were dim lights and shadows.

She barely had time to take it all in before Dr. List arrived. Strucker, however, was nowhere to be seen.

"Ahh, Ms. Skye. So good of you to join us." Dr. List smiled, his voice laced with frustration masked by forced cheer.

Skye didn't bother turning her head. Even without looking, she knew the death of a high-ranking operative had thrown everything into chaos—including Dr. List.

"Not that I had a choice," she said flatly. "Why am I here and not in there?"

She'd learned early on that the man thrived on getting under people's skin. Show even a flicker of anger, sadness, or hope, and he'd dig in like a parasite. Ignoring his veiled jabs worked best.

"Yes, we were supposed to have a session," he said, settling into the best seat in the room—the one with a perfect view of the operators below. "But I thought you might enjoy being on the other side of the mirror, hm?"

He flicked a few switches, fingers dancing across the console as the chamber roared to life. The sickly crescendo of engines whirring filled the air, a sound Skye had come to dread.

"You've probably heard the latest news. Strucker isn't pleased," he continued, still fine-tuning the controls. "Unfortunately, our list of suspects is rather short—unless we have a player we didn't account for trespassing into our territory. Not likely."

He finally stopped fiddling with the controls, leaning toward the mic.

"Bring them in."

Skye's fears were confirmed as a dozen Hydra operatives entered, dragging the twins along. They didn't look pristine—far from it. Shock collars sat snug around their necks, metal gleaming under the sterile lights. Despite that, their glares were sharp, both aimed directly at the camera.

"What's the meaning of this?!"

Skye could see Pietro's eyes darted to his sister, seeing her current condition and anger flickering to life.

Dr. List barely spared them a glance, his frown deepening across his weathered face. Ever since he'd started working on Skye, his priorities had shifted. Dr. List had slowly turned his favoritism on her. The connotation behind those isn't favorable. If anything, his growing interest only led to longer sessions in the chamber, experimental pills shoved down her throat, and restraints that treated her like she was some mass murderer. 

But, he did favor her survivability— more so since she's shown that she's still alive where others could not. 

The twins, though? His opinion of them had changed. There is still pride in them. They were his first real results after all. But it's been clouded. He had merely chucked them off as side projects now. If they die, Skye wasn't sure he'd even care.

"This is just a routine check-up. Nothing to worry about," he said, his voice smooth, practiced.

"The hell are you talking about? You slap these collars on us and call it a check-up? Bullshit!"

Pietro barely finished before his collar activated. The jolt hit instantly, forcing his body rigid before he crumpled to his knees, gasping.

Skye winched but didn't look away. She was observing how the collar worked. If it had a simple contraption, Pietro would have disassembled it either through luck or force. Yet, it looked durable against powered individuals.

"Pietro!" Wanda was on him in an instant, cradling his head.

Her eyes flickered towards them. They were dark but Dr. List continued to smile. 

"We know why we're here. And we didn't do it," she gritted out, stroking Pietro's hair. "Why would we? What would we even gain?"

"Plenty of reasons," List mused. "Could be... he put his hands on you one too many times? Could be, he had eyes for another woman, and jealousy got the better of you? Petty, ridiculous notions, I admit, but humor me—why did the witnesses say it was a woman? One from our compound, no less. And there's no one else who fits the description."

Skye barely stopped herself from flinching.

Wanda's expression shifted—genuine surprise, followed by dawning realization. But she quickly looked away, her jaw tight, saying nothing.

Skye's limbs buzzed as the stress was getting to her. Did she figure it out that it was her?

Wanda's gaze flicked to the camera. Skye felt a pang of guilt—Wanda was staring right at her. As if she knew.

"It wasn't me!"

"While we value power, Wanda, we value loyalty even more," List said smoothly. "If your loyalty is compromised, you taint the legacy of HYDRA."

His voice remained calm, but there was an edge to it—an unspoken threat.

"We've always known where your true allegiance lies. Your country came first. But you promised us—your service, first and foremost, would be for the betterment of our regime." He leaned forward, fingers tapping against the console. "So please, tell me the truth... or both of you will be sent into the chamber."

His smile widened.

"And this time—there will be no timer."

"It wasn't me, and my brother had no reason to go after Krueger," Wanda shot back, her voice steady. "But if you want to throw away an important variable in Strucker's plan, Doctor, then go ahead."

Her eyes never wavered.

"You mistake this interaction of ours as malicious, Wanda. That is not my intent. I am merely... rousing the truth." After a second she pressed another button before speaking. "Put Pietro in the chamber."

"No!" Wanda tried to use her powers but another jolt buzzed and she was left lying on the floor, screaming, as she looked at Pietro being hauled into the chamber.

Skye finally spoke. "Dr. List. Isn't there a possibility your security has been compromised? Wanda wouldn't have blown up a person's head—even if she had telekinesis."

"Could be," he admitted. "But unlikely."

He turned his attention back to Pietro, watching the struggling speedster with detached interest whilst they tussled him in the chamber.

"And why is that unlikely?" Skye hissed.

"Lt. Krueger wouldn't have attacked if it were one of our own. He knew how to sniff out… defects." List's voice remained clinical. "The only reason he would have confronted an enemy is if he knew they weren't to be trusted. For months, he never flagged a single one of ours—until last night. That means it wasn't an internal problem. It was someone else."

"You put too much trust in a dead man."

"A dead man who served HYDRA to his grave," List countered. "That is a man worth respecting."

Skye was snapped from her glare at Dr. List's back as Pietro was finally shoved inside. Wanda could do nothing but tremble, fresh jolts still coursing through her body.

Then the screaming began.

Skye's face paled. Unlike her own experiences, Pietro's agony was unmistakable. His screams weren't just pain—they were raw suffering. His body bruised too easily, his skin already mottling from the chamber's effects.

She barely had time to process it before she felt List's gaze on her.

"You see that, Skye?" His voice was almost admiring. "You make it seem so easy."

He leaned forward slightly, eyes gleaming. "The first time I put you in, I expected screams. I thought you'd beg me to stop. Beg me to kill you instead. But you just… fell asleep. Every time. Not like them—flailing around like broken experiments. You were like a sleeping dragon. I could feel you buzzing. You..." He smiled. "You are going to be more than the twins could ever be. The perfect result."

Memories assaulted her. 

She was young. Small and could barely call out her mother's name.

Only she doesn't have one. 

She floats around water. That she was sure of was the first memory she could recall. 

Tubes around her, her air no more than allowed mercy. 

Of individuals looking at her day and night.

Of words, she could not understand. 

Of knowing nothing but a series of commands. 

There had been no warmth. The concept of it is nil and volatile. 

Her purpose was objective; Fight in their war for their war 

Yet, the reason for her conception stemmed from raw emotions; hate and conquer.

When she could speak, she was taught never to complain. Only obey. 

When she could walk, it must be to run. Only towards your foes.

When she could feel, it must be to worship their dictum. Only for Supreme Intelligence. 

'You serve not for anything else but results'

Skye stared at the man in front of him. He looks just like him. Her once Ruhi-Tugu.

HYDRA was the epitome of salvation on Earth.

A beacon of life amongst the wretched heretics that failed to see the Ruler of all.

Baron Strucker had promised him evolution, that they would be the founders of creating the weapon that would swallow all.

He was hopeful—pragmatic, yes—but hopeful just the same.

It was with his means and hands that he will see the force that can triumph all. The White House. SHIELD. The Avengers. All of them bowing down to them.

And he was peeking over the pit he had found. Where gold whispers to their point of origin. 

That being the woman who he was now looking at. 

Skye. A woman with no last name. Who came swalding in without any worries. Without any self-preservations. He had thought she was suicidal. To have walked in just to ask point blank that she sought power. He had snorted before— he hadn't known before— believing she was wasting time for meager attention. But then, she marched up. She sat and she took all the relic's rays like nothing more than a few minutes rest. 

Any other person would even combust into fire, had they'd been unlucky. 

She was... a surprise. The gold he'd been looking for. 

He had known it wasn't Wanda who killed Kruger. Skye was right in her points, Wanda's powers were immense but it wasn't the kind of cruelty that befell the agent. He had looked at the body. His head exploded from the inside. No signs of a bomb strap to his neck, no powder to speak of, no smell of a burning. 

It was a woman, they said and a woman, he was now staring at. 

He wanted to know if Skye would show him what she had been hiding for the past months. If she was willing to let me watch.

Now as her eyes glowed impossibly more purple, he knew this was it. He was going to see the other side of the pit.

Her eyes finally struck him and he could only gape as the coffin trembled. The metal creaking and a resounding wave he was slowly noticing. 

"You want to see the perfect result? Then make sure you look a monster in the eye," 

His eyes widened as people in the chamber began to scream. He turned around to see the chamber had exploded and a woman had appeared raising her hands and painting the room red. 

It was Skye. But— List looked back at the raven woman in his room. She was standing in front of him, the metal-infused coffin, falling down like rocks. Her hands were fast, as she grabbed his jaw and raised him up. He fell down seconds later, head concussed as his face was dragged on the control like a grater. 

He groaned, his face, throat, and skin stung and burned. Then she threw him in front and grabbed his hair to make him look at the one-way glass. Skye's twin wreaked havoc on the floor, people banging on the door of the room that had been destroyed minutes ago. They could only wait, as she approached them one by one, being offered a part of their limbs they'd like to explode rather than her picking. 

The twenty operatives he had sent in were already dead, heads all missing. 

He was still slumped over the control, his head behind held in place with a vice. Then a voice sounded behind him, and he could swear he could hear her laugh. 

"What do you think, doctor? Isn't this a sight? The result you've been waiting for." 

Dr. List could see the screams were dying down but the intensity was still the same. They were begging. Clawing away from her, tripping over their colleague's cut-off parts. Cornered with no other hope.

Was he going to beg too? Was he going to be killed by his own creation? 

He laughed, mouth and his vision turning red. "Yes, this is it. My wish is being granted!" 

He felt joy and could feel another bound of laughter from his chest, followed by her laughing along with him. 

Then he saw his hand flying. 

"AH!" 

Then his feet went next.

Then his arm.

Dr. List couldn't think as he lay on the carpet, losing blood, but his mouth still had a grin. Yes, be magnificent!

Skye tilted her head at him, a bit amused before she lay beside him, exhaustion under her skin. "You know doctor. You might think you created me. But you didn't."

Even when he could see the fatigue in her hands, she still raised it towards his face while facing him on her side. "What you did was improve what was already a broken weapon. However, this weapon will never enact the horrible plans you and HYDRA wish to do."

He still bubbled out a laugh. "A weapon will always be a weapon, no matter what. Rusted. broken or even lost. It will always bear its fangs and it will always pierce the one who attempts to wield it. Be it SHIELD or even humanity itself. I might not have made you but as your purpose of being made so will your life be. The scepter told me so."

"The scepter?"

"Yes, it showed me after our first session. You will do magnificent things—" he found he couldn't speak, his cords cut with a small pop. Then Skye's eyes turned sullen. 

"You're senile, Doctor. You should sleep now."

Magnificent!

Free-range Skye had finished all the people inside the room except for two. She turned to watch Wanda and Pietro, who looked terrified of her.

They were huddled across from her, their stance united against her. She smiled at them and slowly approached.

She saw a blur, but the vibrations were faster. Before he could land his punch, she sidestepped and tripped him. He yelped as he skidded across the bloodied floor before getting up in mild haste, his body shaking as he realized he had just barreled through dead bodies.

Skye felt like snickering, but then—someone was behind her. She turned to see red eyes trying to worm their way into her mind.

Sorry, Wanda.

Skye's hand hastily snaked around Wanda's neck before thrusting her back down to the ground. Wanda gasped, taken by shock at the retaliation.

"Wanda!" Pietro rushed to her.

For a powered person who's supposedly fast, he didn't have as much spatial awareness as he liked to believe.

Just as Skye planned, he was already beside her, his fist raised, ready to strike. He landed a punch, and she took it with gusto.

Her eyes twinkled, feeling the tap on her cheek.

Got you.

She smiled at him as he realized she was now in range. Suddenly, his neck was caught in her left hand, her grip death-like, and he couldn't get free. Both twins clawed at her hand, but it wouldn't budge. Their throats were slowly being squeezed.

But the snap, the pop—neither came. Instead, they felt a small tremor before they were released, gasping as air rushed back into their lungs.

Skye stood up and sighed, stretching her joints as she walked away from them.

"You!" Skye looked bored as she turned slightly, peeking at Pietro, who was still glaring at her.

"Why aren't you finishing us off?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Do you want me to kill you, then?"

"Weren't you?" Wanda asked beside her brother.

She shook her head. "I don't like collars in general."

She didn't wait to see their expressions and continued walking toward the original, who was weakly pouting at her, lying beside the doctor she had killed not long ago.

"Help me! I can't move again," Original Skye complained sourly.

"I know, dummy. I was surprised you were even able to move before."

"I was overexerting myself!"

Free-range Skye shook her head and started collecting her original in her arms.

"A bit early, but it's as good a time as any to leave, right?" she double-checked as she carried her back to the Red Room, mostly because heading toward the north door would get them out faster than taking the opposite route.

"Welp, we tried to plan. Doctor's too much of an asshole to pull through with it."

"Are you twins?"

Original Skye and Free-range Skye looked at Wanda and Pietro, who had stood up again—not looking for a fight, considering they must have realized Skye only wanted to free their collars rather than kill them.

"Nope," came a unison reply.

"I don't get it."

"Then don't think about it," Free-range Skye said as she started moving again.

"Wait!"

Original Skye shouted before her copy could complain. "Pietro."

"Uh, yeah?" The man looked wary but approached when she gestured for him to come closer.

Free-range Skye was watching him, gauging if he would do anything, but Original Skye wasn't bothered as she leaned close to his ear.

"Your revenge against Stark will never amount to anything. If you lose sight of what matters now, you will lose everything you have. Don't make my mistake."

Pietro's expression was hard but softer than it had been before. "I will try."

"That's enough for me." Skye smiled at him before looking at her copy. "Pat his head for me."

"No. We're losing time. We need to leave—I can feel them coming down in droves."

"Then pat his head already!"

Free-range Skye was reluctant but adjusted Skye in her arms and patted Pietro's head while the man tried to ignore her unwillingness.

"Great!"

Her copy sighed and took her away from Pietro before looking at Wanda, motioning for her to come closer.

She was more hesitant but approached Skye nonetheless. Her eyes flickered back and forth between the two.

One was serious, the other beaming.

"Thank you for trying to help me before. I know between the two of you, you liked me more. Maybe one day, I can say thank you properly. For now, I have to go. Please look after each other."

Then, like clockwork, she spared her copy a look.

"Really?!"

"Yes, come on. I don't know when we'll see them again."

Free-range Skye bit her lip to keep her protest in but gave up halfway and held Original Skye out to Pietro.

"Please carry her for a second for me."

"Okay?"

Once Original Skye was handed off, Free-range Skye looked at Wanda, her earlier hesitancy washing away before a small smile graced her lips, and she hugged Wanda.

"I saw the photo you have in your room. You had a great family. I wish it had gone differently, but I still think you can make something out of a bad memory. She would have wanted that from both of you."

Wanda stiffened in her arms before she stared at her face, and tears slowly leaked out.

She slowly hugged back, crying on her shoulder. "Can I ask you for a favor?"

"So long as I don't have to pat your brother's head again, I'm good."

"Hey!"

Wanda laughed.

"Can you please say, 'Volim te, moja mala devojčice,' to me?" (1)

If Skye was shocked, she didn't show it too obviously. Instead, she smiled more sincerely at Wanda before turning to Pietro, who was standing off to the side. She waved him closer, and when he approached, she grabbed his shoulder and pulled both of them into a hug.

Original Skye was squished in the middle, cackling as she struggled to breathe.

Free-range Skye smiled and shook the twins' heads as a mother would.

"Volim vas, moja mala deco." (2)

Pietro and Wanda's breath hitched.

"Nedostajaćete mi, duše moje." (3)

The second the door started to give, her copy yanked Skye from Pietro's arms and took off.

"Bye!"

The door didn't just open—it was ripped apart, sending shards of metal and wood flying. Heavy boots pounded against the floor as they rushed in, but it was too late.

Their target was nowhere in sight and what lay was a massacre. Most could not stomach it and vomited. Others paled and walked off. The ones who dared had checked their exit. On the other side of the room was a hole— blown through the concrete and metal. 

They knew they couldn't hold the target even if she had waited for them.

By the time they made it outside to check, the two were gone—just a fading streak in the sky.

Notes:Story Notes:

(1) "Volim te, moja mala devojčice" means "I love you, my little girl"

(2) "Volim vas, moja mala deco" means "I love you, my little children"

(3) "Nedostajaćete mi, duše moje." means "I will miss you, my sweethearts."

Notes:

So my mother once wanted a farm with free-range chickens. For some reason when I was writing Skye version 2, free range kept swarming but I'll figure out a distinction later on. Also, we have a snippet about Skye's backstory!!

Hope the chapter wasn't so bad, let me hear what you guys think.

Next chapter will be longer so an update might be pending.

This is an ongoing work so any future chapters made by the author can be found on ao3