"We have to be careful," Ira warned as the four Enhanced strolled through the streets towards the church. It was dark outside as they walked; the only light provided came from the stars and the occasional street lamp. The chill wind nipped at their flesh and caused chills to run up and down their spines. As she walked warily through the streets, Ira looked for any signs of trouble. "We don't know if this is a trap."

"If it is Stark, we won't let him get away again," Pietro said, looking pointedly at Wanda, who huffed and rolled her eyes. Pietro still was having trouble understanding why Wanda had to let Stark go, and seemed to bring it up every few minutes.

"And we won't let them trap us," Emilia said, turning back to look at them. "Now are we going or not?"

They continued through the stone streets until they reached the church. A small stone path led to it, and the lot was surrounded by a chain link fence. Wilted flowers lined the frost-covered fence, placed there to mourn those who had been lost when one of Stark's bombs hit the church, also leaving a hole in the roof. Anger bloomed in her heart as she saw the flowers; signs of more people affected by Stark and the Avengers.

Pietro led the way as the four warily crept through the archway that led into the church. Shadows danced across the cracked stone walls, concealing any manner of hidden dangers. As they entered the church, Ira noticed a raised stone dais in the center of the church. Placed atop the dais was a throne-like ornate wooden chair. Sitting in the chair was a man, the iron man, draped in a blanket so she couldn't see what he looked like. All that was visible was an arm perched on the armrest of the chair, glinting in the light streaming in from a cracked window.

"Talk," Wanda told them. "And if you're wasting our time..." she let the threat hang in the air.

"Did you know that this church is in the exact center of the city?" The man spoke, his voice echoing, hollow and clear, through the ruins of the church. "The elders decreed it so that everyone could be equally close to God. I like that," he continued, "the geometry of belief." It was not Tony Stark, that much Ira was sure. But if it wasn't Stark, who was it?i

Ira turned to Wanda, seeing her eyes glow faintly crimson as she attempted to invade the man's mind. There was silence for a few moments before he spoke again. "You're wondering why you can't look inside my head," he said, addressing Wanda.

"Sometimes it's hard," the brunette replied, stepping forward. "But sooner or later every man shows himself."

"Oh, I'm sure they do," the man said, standing up. The blanket fell off, and Ira realized what she had thought to be a man, was actually a man made of metal. He towered over them, and Ira stepped back in shock. His whole body was made of metal; interlocking plates covering his body, with red light leaking out of the slits between the metal slabs. His eyes were scarlet, sunk deep within metal sockets, and two curved metal bars surrounded his face. Realization hit; this is what the boy had meant when he had said 'iron man'.

"But you needed more than a man," the android continued. "That's why you let Stark take the scepter." Ira glanced over at the others. Confusion was present on Pietro and Emilia's faces, but Wanda almost seemed calm. Either that, or she was masking her panic with a carefully-constructed facade.

"I didn't expect," Wanda admitted, warily looking up at him. "But I saw Stark's fear. I knew it would control him, make him self-destruct."

"Everyone creates the thing they dread," the man told the Enhanced as he strolled around the church. "Men of peace create engines of war, invaders create avengers, people create...smaller people," he paused for a second, struggling to find the right word. "Children! I lost the word there," he chuckled. "Children. Designed to supplant them. To help them end."

"Is that why you've come?" Wanda asked him. "To end the Avengers?"

"I've come to save the world," he replied. "But also, yeah."

Ira's eyes widened slightly. If he was planning to destroy the Avengers, too, maybe he could help them. But could they trust him?

"That's great, and all, but I still am not totally comfortable with the walking tin can over here," Emilia said, and Ira wanted to scream from exasperation. She noticed Ultron's eyes narrow slightly, and a small seed of worry bloomed in the back of her mind. "So I have some questions," Emilia continued. "Like how are you alive?"

"I was created by Tony Stark, as a way to foster peace and unity among man." He made a noise of disgust. "The only way to peace is through the Avengers' destruction," Ultron told them, and he sounded honest.

"Stark?" Wanda asked, venom dripping off her voice.

"I do not answer to Tony Stark," he swore vehemently. "And I've left some marks on him that can attest to that."

"And why should we trust you?" Ira finally spoke up, stepping forward to face the metal man. In truth she quivered a bit, but she stood strong, staring him right in the scarlet pits of his eyes.

He looked down at her, considering his answer. "I can get you what you want," he told them. "Revenge, the Avengers' destruction. Tony Stark's head served on a silver platter," he told them. Ira watched the others' reactions out of the corner of her eye as he spoke. Pietro and Wanda's eyes both lit up when he mentioned revenge against the Avengers, and Emilia's hazel eyes gleamed cruelly when he said the death of Tony Stark.

Ira couldn't lie; all of these things sounded appealing. They were all what she had been training and laboring towards for all these years. The Avengers had caused enough pain, and it was time that they had a taste of their own medicine. So maybe it was for this reason that she looked up at him, and nodded. "Okay. We'll help you." The others nodded along with her.

His eyes seemed to shine. "Perfect," he said. He turned and began walking out of the church, and the Enhanced followed behind him.

"Wait," Ira called. "What should we call you?"

He turned to them, a smile creeping over his metallic face. "Ultron."

*****

They left the church, walking through the abandoned city. It was late at night, the stars glinting weakly in the sky above. Ultron led them through the streets, but not before telling them that they were going back to Strucker's HYDRA base. Their home.

As they were walking, Ira found herself trailing behind, next to Pietro. They walked together in silence for a few moments, and all that was heard was the crunching of the snow underneath their feet before Ira spoke.

"Do you really think we can trust him?" She asked. She realized that she had spoken loudly, but if Ultron heard, he didn't make any sign to show that he had. "He was created by Stark. What if he's working for him?"

Pietro shook his head as he kicked a stone along the road with his toe. "Did hear the way he spoke when he talked about Stark? The contempt in his voice? That was real. He hates him just as much as we do. And even if we don't trust him, he wants what we want. We can help him destroy the Avengers. And everything we've trained for, suffered for, and fought for will be worth it."

"You're probably right," Ira agreed, and Pietro smirked.

"Of course I am-"

"But," she continued, interrupting him. "What if he's just using us to get what he wants?"

"Aren't we just using him to get what we want?" Pietro questioned, and Ira paused for a second as she thought through what he said. They were using Ultron to get what they wanted: the Avengers' destruction. But wasn't that what he wanted too? So who was really to blame?

"I guess the door swings both ways," Ira admitted as they caught up to the others on the road that led out of town.

"You ready to go back?" She asked him, looking towards the entrance to the snowy woods, which she knew the base lay beyond.

"We've faced this much," Pietro stated, and Ira smiled.

They made their way through the woods, the four Enhanced trudging through the snow after Ultron. Ira wrapped the torn remains of her shawl around her tighter in a bid to stay warm as the cold night wind bit at her skin. Her lips were painted purple, and her teeth chattered, but still they continued on. The wind whipped her platinum blonde hair across her face and stirred up snow from the ground below so that it swirled in eddies across their path.

They soon reached the rusted railroad tracks, and the  dark tunnel that led into the base. They crossed through the tunnel, their footsteps echoing through the air. Ultron's rang the loudest; his metal feet clanging upon the stone as they moved. As they came upon the base, Ira noticed that some of the window that were once dark now had lights in them, indicating Ultron had already been there. It wasn't long before they found themselves back in their old home, in the secret room that Tony Stark had revealed to them only hours before, though it seemed like a millennium.

The room was different, though. Blue light flooded the room, allowing Ira to clearly see what it looked like. The massive creature was still in the middle, and it was still surrounded with machines and parts, but now robots that bore a resemblance to Ultron hurried around. They carried metal, and built machines, and more were being made as they watched.

As they entered the room, Ultron spread his arms out, reveling in all that he had created, for the robots were surely his work. "We'll move out right away," he told them. "This is a start, but there's something we need to begin the real work."

"All of these are..." Wanda questioned, referring to the robots.

"Me," Ultron finished. "I have what the Avengers never will: harmony." As he talked, small rockets on his back and legs allowed him to fly over to where some of the bots were working a pull a large chain attached to a machine. "They're discordant. Disconnected," he continued. "Stark's already got them turning on each other. And when you get inside the rest of their heads..." Ultron said to Wanda.

"Everyone's plan is not to kill them," Pietro said, shrugging and looking annoyed.

"And make them martyrs?" Ultron asked, flying towards him. "You need patience. Need to see the big picture." He landed in front of them with a clang.

"I don't see the big picture. I have a little picture," Pietro told him. "I take it out and look at it every day." Ira could see Wanda look at her brother.

"Your parents were killed in the bombings," Ultron said. "I've seen the records."

"The records are not the picture," Pietro stated, and Ira glanced over at him.

"Pietro-" Wanda began, but Ultron stopped her.

"No, please."

All eyes were on Pietro as he began his story. It was one that Ira had heard many times before, and similar stories echoed through the hearts and minds of all who had lost someone during the bombings. Ira herself had lost someone, and she knew how it felt. The horrible, gut-wrenching feeling of indescribable pain. So it was with this sympathy that she listened to Pietro.

"We were ten years old, having dinner, the four of us," he began, looking at Wanda beside him. "When the first shell hits, two floors below us, it makes a hole in the floor. It's big," he said, approximating the size of the hole with his hands. "Our parents go in, and the whole building starts coming apart."

Ira looked at Ultron out of the corner of her eye, and saw him listening with rapt attention. Wanda had turned away, perhaps in an attempt to hide from the pain the memories brought. "I grab her, roll under the bed, and the second shell hits. But it doesn't go off." Wanda turned towards them again, biting her lip as she relived the memory. It just...sits there in the rubble, three feet from our faces. And on the side of the shell is painted one word."

"Stark," Wanda finished, her eyes briefly glowing crimson as she uttered his name with contempt.

"We were trapped two days," Pietro told them.

"Every effort to save us, every shift in the bricks, I think 'this will set it off,'" Wanda recalled. "We wait for two days for Tony Stark to kill us."

"I know what they are," Pietro finished. Ira's heart ached, and she knew exactly how he felt.

"They're monsters," Emilia stated, continuing where Pietro left off. "They took everything from me, and yet the world calls them heroes. My parents would still be alive if it weren't for them, but they're revered and adored. It's not right. They should be punished," she said, her hazel eyes flashing. "They deserve to be punished."

Ultron turned to Ira, his scarlet eyes questioning about her past. "They killed my mother," Ira admitted, sweeping a lock of blonde hair behind her ear. "We were sitting in our apartment, and a shell collapsed the floor above us. Debris and rubble were raining down, and my mother pushed me under the table," Ira told them, struggling not to break down as she told the story. Pain came with the memory that she had shoved to the back of her mind, deep in her subconscious, and this pain wrapped its iron fingers around her heart. "She um...She was about to come after me, but a block of concrete struck her in the head," she said, looking at the floor as tears pooled in her eyes. "I watched her die," she told them, looking back up, her gaze hardening, azure irises turning to lead. "And I swore that one day I would watch them die, too."

Images flashed through her mind: ten year-old Ira crawling out from under the table, softly whispering "Momma?" The little girl sobbing over her mother's lifeless body, begging her to come back. Ira finally drying her tears and swearing to her mother that she would make the Avengers suffer what they did to her. She would make them pay.

"I wondered why only you four survived Strucker's experiments," Ultron said softly. "Now I don't. We will make it right," he promised. "We can hurt them," he said, looking at Pietro, Ira, and Emilia, "But you can tear them apart from the inside," he told Wanda, a slow smile creeping over his face.

*****

Ira stared out the window, watching the wispy clouds pass by her window. She leaned her head against her hand, turning to Wanda sitting next to her. Seeing the blonde looking at her, Wanda smiled exhaustedly. "That was a lot, wasn't it?"

The four Enhanced had spent all of the night and most of the day raiding robotics labs, weapons facilities, and jet propulsion labs to gather parts needed for Ultron's plan. They had finally been able to freely use their powers without the threat of being captured by the Avengers and it had been exhilarating.

She could still feel the adrenaline that had rushed through her veins as she swirled midnight blue energy through the air. It was like pure elation pumping through her body, filling her to the brim until she exploded with energy, using her powers to disarm tens of guards.

It had been the greatest feeling in the world.

"Yeah, it was...something," Ira replied. But she hadn't been the only one who had changed in the moment.

She looked over at Emilia sitting across from her. Her dark blonde hair was splayed across the back of the seat, and her hazel eyes were closed as she rested against the seat. But Ira could still remember how those eyes flashed as she brought tens of guards and scientists to their knees. It had been the first time Ira saw Emilia use her powers, and it had been a sight to see. Ira wanted to destroy the Avengers, and she knew that getting these materials were crucial to do so. But even so, she hadn't realized how much pain Emilia could inflict on the innocent technicians and guards that weren't even working with the Avengers.

"There's one more thing we need to complete the plan," Ultron announced from his seat at the front of the jet, breaking Ira out of her reverie. "Vibranium. The strongest metal on Earth, and the key component to our plan." Ira glanced quickly over at the others, who were all staring at Ultron. No recognition was shown on their faces, but Ultron must not have seen this, for he continued. "There is only one place where we can get vibranium. There is a man living off the coast of Africa named Ulysses Klaue. He'll give it to us."

"What if he won't?" Emilia asked.

"Well, it will be more painful for him if he doesn't," Ultron chuckled, and Emilia's eyes glinted.

They spent the rest of the flight in silence, each lost in their own thoughts. Ira wondered what Ultron had meant when he said that it would be more painful for Klaue if he didn't comply. Did he really mean torture?

Ultron had told them to trust him, and they did. But how many people were they going to have to hurt to get what they wanted? And would it all be worth it in the end?

*****

Second chapter is up! A lot of backstory was established, so now you know why my babies act the way you do. And I know we're moving quickly, but there's not much of the aou plot that shows the Enhanced before the big battle, so I have limited material to work with. (And I know this was shorter than the other one, but I felt like that chapter was ridiculously long.)

Please tell me what you guys think!