Into the Unknown || A Captain America Love Story

50

Steve

"Doctor Cho," I exclaim. "Victoria, I need you!"
I rush to the scientist's side. Blood stains her light blue clothes and a bleeding cut is on her cheekbone. She glances up weakly at me, panting. Tori sprints to us, her eyes filled with fear.
"Helen," she chokes out. "What happened?"
I try to clean Cho's wounds while Tori tries to numb the pain with her powers without touching my hand. Tori stares up at her sweaty face, holding back a heavy sigh.
     "He's uploading himself into the body," Cho pants.
     I look into the scientists eyes with concern, trying to wash away my fear. "Where?"
     She shakes her head. I glance to my left and begin to stand. Cho grabs my hand, forcing me to look at her.
     "The real power is inside the Cradle," she says. "The gem, its power is uncontainable. You can't just blow it up. You have to get the cradle to Mister Stark."
     "First, we have to find it," I say, staring at Cho's cut upper lip.
     "Go," she whispers. She shoves Tori and me away from her, leaving her to die.

•••

     I receive intel from Clint that we have found Ultron and the cradle. Jumping on top of a truck from the lab, I begin to infiltrate it. I hear Tori tell me through the comm that she is close by and ready to follow it. I cling onto the back of the truck. I am about to open the door, but a voice shouts, "Leave me alone!" Most likely Ultron.
     A red blast opens the door that I hang onto, moving it so that it flails and squashes me between the door and the side of the truck. Grunting, I push myself off and bring myself back to where I started. Another red blast happens inside, making me fly into the air. I land on the door which is skidding along the road.
     "Well, he's definitely unhappy," I state. "I'm gonna try and keep him that way."
     "You're not a match for him, Cap," Clint says.
     "Thanks, Barton," I mutter.
     I continue to hold onto the door as sparks fly from the bottom. I pant and wait for the time to be right to attack.
     "Steve, I'm a mile away," Tori informs me. "Just keep pissing him off until I'm there."
     "Got it," I say.
     I climb up the door. Before I can make it to the top, I spot Ultron stepping towards me. He shoots the red at me, causing me to fly back into the windshield of a car behind me. I grab the window on the side of a truck and swing to propel myself onto the top of Ultron's.
     "You know what's in that cradle?" Ultron asks me, flying in the air. He shoots red at me, hitting my shield. "The power to make real change. And that terrifies you."
     "I wouldn't call it a comfort," I say, throwing my shield.
     It lands in his chest. He looks down at it with an angry expression. "Stop it," he spits, ripping it out. The shield lands on the road, tumbling back. Red blasts, knocking me back onto the front of the truck. The windshield shatters by a fist. I swing around the side, making my way to the top.
     "Tori and I are always picking up after you boys," Natasha says through the comm.
     I hold onto Ultron's neck from behind, holding him in a headlock. He throws my arms back, taking my throat with one hand. I try to pull it away, but he's too strong. I feel myself being pushed to the side of the truck, a rush of air coming from the ground. The roaring sound of two motorcycles come down from the road. I glance down at a grinning Tori, who tosses my shield up to me. I take it gratefully and slash Ultron.
     He brings up a piece of land, stopping Natasha and Tori from going any further. I hear them stop for a moment, then continue to get to the back of the truck.
     I bring myself to punch Ultron, but he attacks with the red blasts. I fall onto another person's now shattered windshield, and hold onto the top. Ultron makes another spot of land rise from beneath the car. The car topples over on its side, ready to crush me. I land on the ground and sprint away from two others. I hop onto the bottom of a airborne car, jumping back onto Ultron's truck.
     "Come on!" I shout to the robot.
     We engage in another hand to hand battle, throwing punches at each other. Bullets erupt from behind me, hitting Ultron. I manage to throw Ultron off the truck, into a pillar that holds up a bridge. He returns swiftly, wrapping his metal arms around me.
     We slam into a train, breaking the glass. Shrieks echo around us as we fall onto the floor of it. I throw my shield at him. He catches it and tosses it back to me. Red surrounds the walls, knocking me onto the ground.
     "I'm going in," Natasha says through the comm. "Cap, can you keep him occupied?"
     "What do you think I've been doing?" I pant.
     I stand and continue the fight. Ultron throws more and more punches, eventually hitting my stomach. I groan, and for a spit a split second, Ultron is standing in front of me. The next, I'm on a train seat alone. I stand, hearing the commotion.
     "Please," Ultron mumbles, staring at someone. "Don't do this."
     "What choice do we have?" Wanda Maximoff asks, trapping Ultron using her powers.
     Ultron escapes from her while I'm not looking. 
     "I lost him," I yell into the comm, sprinting through the isles and around passengers. "He's headed your way!"
     I find the unconscious train conductor, alarms beeping in the background. I look up, watching through the shattered window in front of me. There is a fence blocking the tracks. The train slides onto the pavement, running over multiple things in its way.
     "Cap, have you seen Nat?" Clint asks me.
     "If you have the package, get it to Tony," I shout. "Go!"
     "Do you have eyes on Nat?"
     "Go!" I shout again.
     "Civilians in our path," I say, turning around to face the Maximoffs. Pietro zooms out in a flash of blue, leaving Wanda with me. "Can you stop this thing?"
     She looks at me without saying a word, but her expression says yes. I shield a citizen and bolt to the front of the train. It crashes through a brick building. I hold my shield over the circular hole in the windshield, but something slams into it. I sends me back as the train rams through more things. I stand back up, holding the side of a wall.
     The train abruptly comes to a halt. I sigh of relief and pant even more than I was. Civilians rush out of the train. I step out, coming to the Maximoffs. Pietro sits down in front of his sister, breathing heavily.
     "I just need to take a minute," he pants.
     "I'm very tempted not to give you one," I spit.
     "The Cradle," Wanda says. "Did you get it?"
     "Stark will take care of it," I reply.
     She stares at me, her green eyes filled with hate at the mention of Tori's brother.
     "No he won't," she mumbles, shaking her head.
     "You don't know what you're talking about," I say. "Stark's not crazy."
     "He will do anything to make things right," she quakes.
     We stand for a moment, staring at each other. Looking at her is like looking into the eyes of a hurt child, broken and innocent. It forces me to look away.
     "Stark, come in," I say into my comm. "Anyone on comms."
     No one replies, not even Tori.
     "Ultron can't tell the difference between saving the world and destroying it," Wanda announces softly. "Where do you think he gets that?"
     I clench my jaw, picturing Tony. He has the same blood as the only person I know that I can trust wholeheartedly no matter what. Yes, he has no common sense, but he wouldn't destroy the world. Tori wouldn't destroy the world.