Philophobia ➤ W.M.

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~=~

  Astrilde was beyond chill. At least that's what she told herself as she ripped apart logs with her bare hands nearly as quick as Steve and Tony, both of whom were talking. More like arguing.

  After her semi-breakdown in the middle of the forest, Astrilde had gathered the courage to show her face again to everyone... not that everyone was there to see her.

  Maybe that's the reason she was furious. After all, her brother had left without even a goodbye. All she knew was that he was convinced his dream from Wanda was the key to everything. Astrilde had incredible doubts about his faith in the evil brunette, but now she couldn't voice them. That was unless she wanted to talk to the sky and hope it would carry the message to Thor.

  In the past, she may have done that, but now that she was abandoned and furious, it didn't sound like a great idea. The message would most likely end in her yelling or sobbing, both of which she had no desire to do anytime soon.

  The breakdown in the forest was the lowest Astrilde promised she would ever go, and she intended to keep that promise. Yelling at her only living sibling seemed like a bad thing that could become even worse.

  Astrilde suddenly ducked as a log was hurled in her direction. She scowled at Steve and Tony, both of which didn't acknowledge her. Mortals.

  "Every time somebody tries to end a war before it starts, innocent people die," Steve growled, his eyebrows narrowing at Tony. Astrilde watched the two, she could tell that bad things were brewing in the air, but she didn't dare step between the two. "Every time."

  "I'm sorry, Mr. Stark, Clint said you wouldn't mind but our tractor doesn't seem to want to start at all. I thought maybe you might-" The woman Astrilde saw Clint kiss cut in, her voice soft.

  "Yeah," Tony muttered, nodding. "Don't take from my pile," He then addressed Steve, pointing at the small pile of wood he had cut. Astrilde's eyebrows shot up. Compared to Steve's log pile, Tony's was nothing. His pettiness was plain as day, which wasn't surprising with how the two immature idiots were acting.

  "Do not worry Steve. He will come to realize the costs of his mindset. That is, if you do as well," Astrilde finally said, watching Tony walk through the grassy field to the barn in the distance.

  "But when will that be? Before or after innocents die?" Steve questioned bitingly, ignoring her jab at him as well. Astrilde cringed at the familiarity of his anger, which was all too similar to her own. Steve seemed to have realized his words were sharp as soon as he said them. "I'm sorry," He muttered, before walking away from Astrilde and the wood pile.

  The goddess sighed, playing with a loose strand that had come out of her braid. The negative energy in the air was almost as much as her father and late brother's combined. It was killing her soul, but she knew she couldn't leave her friends. While, she hadn't known them long, she was attached already.

---

  "Ultron took you folks out of play, to buy himself time. My contacts all say he's building something. With the amount of vibranium he made off with, I don't think it's just one thing," Nick Fury stated from the sink in Clint and Laura's kitchen. Astrilde watched him warily from a dark corner, not daring to glance at anyone else. She was undoubtedly still uncomfortable in the home filled with love, but after much convincing from Natasha, she caved.

  "How about Ultron himself?" Steve asked as he leaned against a wall.

  "Ah, he's easy to track. He's everywhere. Guy's multiplying faster than a catholic rabbit. Still doesn't help us get an angle on any of his plans though."

  "Still going after launch codes?" Tony then asked while he threw a dart at a dartboard.

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

  "I cracked the pentagon's firewall in highschool on a dare."

  "Well I contacted our friends at the NEXUS about that."

  "NEXUS?" Steve and Astrilde asked at the same time, equally confused.

  "The world internet hub in Oslo. Every byte of data flows through there, fastest access on earth," Bruce mumbled.

  "So, what'd they say?" Clint asked, twirling a dart in his fingers.

  "He's fixated on the missles. But the codes are constantly being changed," Fury informed the group.

  "By whom?" Tony asked, before a dart sailed straight past his face and embedded itself in the dartboard's bullseye. Tony's head swung to look at the dart before Clint, who just shrugged.

  "Party's unknown," Fury admitted.

  "We have an ally?" Natasha asked in a weak voice.

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

  "I might need to visit Oslo. Find out who our unknown-" Tony started.

  "Well this is good times Boss, but I was kinda hoping when I saw you you'd have more than that," Natasha cut in. Astrilde could tell she was affected badly by Wanda's powers, her eyes were hopeless and her voice was strained.

  "I do. I have you," Nick stated plainly. "Back in the day, I had eyes everywhere, ears everywhere else. You kids had all the tech you could dream of. And here we all are, back on earth, with nothing but our wit and will to save the world."

  "Sometimes 'wit and will' isn't enough," Astrilde responded cooly. Fury glanced at the Asgardian blankly.

  "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, laid in a grave. So stand, outwit the platinum bastard," Fury went on, ignoring Astrilde's semi-negative attitude.

  "Steve doesn't like that kind of talk," Natasha attempted to joke, smirking slyly at the captain himself.

  "You know what Romanoff?" Steve asked. Natasha simply smirked again.

  "So what does he want?" Fury asked.

  "To become better," Steve said, his eyes lighting up as if he solved a huge mystery. "Better than us. He keeps building bodies..."

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

  "When you two programmed him to protect the human race, you amazingly failed," Natasha addressed Tony and Bruce. Astrilde nodded in agreement. Anything that would willingly kidnap a person definitely didn't fall into the 'protecting' category of her book.

  There was a brief pause, before Bruce suddenly spoke,"They don't need to be protected. They need to evolve. Ultron is going to evolve." Astrilde's heart dropped, as she was sure everybody else's did in the same moment.

  "How?" Fury asked.

  "Has anyone been in contact with Helen Cho?"

~=~

I think we can all agree that Loki rubbed off on Astrilde when it came to temper.