Chapter 7: Prepping the Stage

3rd POV:

The Twins were watching Hulk run towards the city with guilty pleasure. Then they felt a feeling of betrayal when Zero transported Hulk back to the beach and fought alongside Stark. They shared a look, expressing their displeasure. When they saw that the battle was over, Pietro picked Wanda up and both fled with his super speed.

Eventually Pietro stopped somewhere far away and let Wanda down.

''We shouldn't have trusted him. If I could see in his head this wouldn't have happened,'' Wanda complained.

Very slow mocking clapping was heard as Zero revealed himself. The twins not wanting to see that traitors face and also aware of how dangerous he was, they've seen him fight after all, ran away again with Pietros super speed.

They stopped only to hear that same clapping again. They fled again and yet again the clapping followed. When this happened for the 3rd time the Twins stopped and prepared themselves for a fight.

The clapping stopped and Zero said:'' You know, it's funny that to you argued yourself in a position where I betrayed you, when in fact it's the exact opposite. You betrayed me. I distinctly remember telling you to stay far away from Banner. The Hulk is too volatile. You remember that? When we were discussing the plan? What do you have to say in your defense?''

''Stark yet lives. You even fought alongside him. We didn't betray anyone,'' Wanda argued to proud to admit her actions.

''I was just about to kill Stark, in fact. But your actions and their consequences took priority and I had to abandon that venture to fix your mess,'' Zero explained.

''My mess? You fought alongside Stark. I removed Hulk as his ally, why didn't you take the opportunity to kill Stark?,'' Wanda scoffed.

''Did you suddenly develop some affections for your father? Did son and father reconciliate after all?,'' Pietro challenged.

''For your sake, I'm going to pretend you didn't say that. No one hates Stark more than me. As for you Wanda. Hulk would've been to the civilians of that city, what Starks bomb was to you! I wasn't aware I was working with hypocrites!,'' Zero yelled that second last sentence to drive it really home and make the twins realize what they had almost done. He succeeded leaving the twins momentarily stunned.

In retrospect it was actually a good thing, that things developed as they did, Zero thought. It wasn't like he couldn't have stopped Hulk and this way he has found himself in an superior morally position from which he can argue easily. He also doesn't need to do mental gymnastics to find an excuse why Stark isn't dead.

Some time passed and Wanda's anger slowly gave way to shock. She put her hand to her mouth and fell to her knees. Pietro immediately moved to her and rubbed her shoulders in comfort. He moved to tell her it wasn't her fault, but Zero interrupted him drawing their attention.

''Don't make excuses for her, Pietro. You're just enabling her. She must realize what she almost caused. Then again, I did the same. I enabled you two. I should have known better than to work with children,'' Zero told them.

''We aren't children. We are both 19 years old,'' Pietro defensively replied. Children don't survive the type of shit they did.

''Only children would lash out at the world, like you did, when they are hurting,'' Zero explained. Pietro cast his eyes down in shame.

''What happens now? When will we go after Stark again?,'' Wanda asked after a wile.

''There is no 'we'. Our partnership is terminated. Don't go after Stark alone. He is mine to kill. If you interfere I will kill you too,'' Zero answered coldly.

''You kill us?,'' Pietro scoffed moving his eyes back up.

''You need to sleep eventually. I only need to wait for that and then I'll kill you. Nothing you can do will stop me from portalling myself to you,'' Zero relied loftily.

Pietro wanted to move and attack him, but Wanda pulled him back by his biceps. Pietro gave her a surprised look, but she gave a harsh one in turn. Pietro let her take the reigns.

''Look. I ... You are right. You are right. Hawkeye electrocuted me with an arrow and I got angry. I lashed out. You are right. I can't thank you enough for stopping Hulk and from stopping me from making the biggest mistake of life. And I'm NOT a hypocrite. It is just I wasn't thinking about the civilians ...''

''That is not an excuse nor a justification!,'' Zero interrupted Wanda harshly.

''I know. You are right. Thank you for stopping Hulk. Look, can we please still work together? We all want the same thing. To see Stark pay. There is no reason to be enemies. I accept full responsibility. If you want me from the team, then I will stay away. But Pietro did nothing wrong. Please, at least let him avenge our parents,'' Wanda pleaded firmly.

''Wanda!,'' Pietro exclaimed incredulously. Wanda cast him a look, telling him to shut up.

Wanda knew Zero was right. He was completely right and she was in the wrong. She wanted Stark to pay, but she didn't want to become the same monster as Stark while enacting her revenge. It was just that her anger clouded her rationale when she unleashed the Hulk on the city. But Zero was right again, that was no justification for her behavior.

However, admitting her wrong wasn't entirely done out of altruistic purposes. Yes, Zero was right in chastising her. But another reason why Wanda so readily accepted her blame was, because they couldn't afford to let go of their revenge on Stark, just like they couldn't afford to make an enemy out of Zero. Wanda has seen him fight. He was scary and creative in utilizing his portals. In that entire exchange he only got hit once, by the Hulk. Or maybe he got hit another time, when the twins ran out of the ship, but she couldn't work with that assumption.

She needed to convince him to team up with them again or at least take her brother or else they will never get revenge for their parents.

Zero stepped through a portal a grabbed her by the jacket, putting his head close to hers. Wanda starred at where she believed his eyes were and put her hand on Pietros chest, when he was about to protect his sister.

For a while neither moved. Zero felt something, thought with his headgear it was hard for Wanda to tell and she still couldn't read his mind. Wanda on the other hand had conflicting emotions dancing across her face, ranging from shame, resolve, determination and challenging.

''I'm going to give you a second chance,'' Zero eventually said,''However, no more involving the civilians. No more lashing out. And no more deviation from the plan. Do that and we can work together. Mayhaps we can even become friends. Don't and should you interfere in my business, I will kill you. You are lucky that I can tell you are good people, don't squander this chance.''

And Zero meant that. He didn't need the movies to know they were good people. But they were hurting and he knew people would do questionable stuff, as a coping mechanism. Yeah, he knew too much about that. He couldn't tell them outright what the consequences of their unchecked behavior could be, without raising questions. And he could already see that they were regretting almost harming innocents, that did nothing to them. 

He wanted them to do better than him. Not make the same mistakes he did. He stood by what he said, but that was also a form of manipulation to get their head straight.

Zero let go of her jacket and offered her his hand. She took it and he helped her up.

''So, when will we go after Stark again?,'' Pietro asked seeing that they all made up.

''Stark is personal business. I want him dead, but he is not the center of my universe. For me he doesn't take priority over everything else. No, that would be HYDRA, who has priority on my list. They only reason why I could go after Stark today, was because I had some free time from my investigation. Free time before I needed to meet with my contacts and follow up other leads on HYDRA to make them pay. Stark, after all, isn't the only one that wronged me,'' Zero explained.

''Ok, but why can't you ignore HYDRA for a bit, kill Stark and then go after HYDRA?,'' Pietro asked, not liking what he was hearing. Sure he agreed that HYDRA was a problem. They were vindictive when they gave the Twins their powers, but both used each other to get what they want.

''For all that they spew metaphors about world domination, they behave more like rats. They are elusive and once a trail goes cold, it is hard to pick it up again. I know where Stark always is. That idiot is to arrogant to hide himself, but HYDRA is annoying to track down,'' Zero explained.

''Alright. And how long till we go after Stark again?,'' Wanda asked.

''It took me two years of tracking down HYDRA, until I had some free time to go after Stark. I don't know when the next time will be, when we can go after Stark,'' Zero answered.

'' You expect us to wait two years or more? Can't we just go after Stark while you go after HYDRA?,'' Pietro complained, not wanting to wait so long.

''No. Stark doesn't die without me. So you can help and speed up my investigation or you can wait,'' Zero denied firmly.

''We'll help,'' Wanda offered casting Pietro a look, who reluctantly nodded,''We'll help. So, what now? The quicker we deal with HYDRA, the quicker we can move to Stark.''

''What now? Well, I will meet up with my informant while you will wait in my safe house, then we'll go over the intel and we'll go from there,'' Zero replied creating a portal,'' After you.''

Pietro looked a bit unsure but Wanda moved through the portal, her brother quickly followed after her.

''We are in a small apartment in Swiss. Make yourself at home, fell free to explore. But whatever you do don't leave the house. I don't trust you not to attract unwanted attention. Remember I will be back in two hours,'' Zero explained stepping through the portal after them, before leaving through another portal. Bell had some safe houses around the world. It wasn't anything obscene, like a mansion or something. The cheap rent made no dent in his account and it was not like anyone could track the flow of money.

Pietro immediately used his super speed to explore every room of the apartment and memorized the layout. Wanda took a seat at the kitchen table, being more reserved in messing up the apartment and exploring it. 

Pietro stopped in the kitchen and opened the cupboards looking for food. He eventually took out a fresh box of cereal and some viable milk and poured himself a bowl.

''Pietro!,'' Wanda admonished shocked. They were as guests here and shouldn't mess with a mans home.

''What? You want me to pour you some as well? Do it yourself,'' Pietro told her. His voice slightly incomprehensible due to having stuffed his mouth with cereal. At Wandas narrowed eyes he defended himself:'' Get of my back, sis. He told us to make ourselves at home and do anything except leave the safe house. I ran the whole day, I'm hungry. I'm more interested in what you were thinking, in agreeing to go with him instead of after Stark. Yeah, we hate HYDRA, but why help him?''

''Because, you idiot, he is dangerous. As we are now we can't defeat him. My magic doesn't work on him and I can't read his mind. And your super speed means jack shit, if he can cross distances in an instant. Even if you can hit him, he took a hit from the Hulk, so good luck trying to harm him. I'm also pretty sure he has some other powers as well, but since I can't read his mind, they will remain mere suspicions. It was easier to convince him to team up with us, then die because we went after Stark alone,'' Wanda explained her reasoning. But she did share Pietros frustration in having to wait to go after Stark again.

''Besides we owe it to him. He was right. Hulk would have been to that city, what Starks bomb would have been to us. He saved us from making a massive mistake,'' Wanda added.

Pietro sighed impatiently:''Yeah, yeah. Doesn't mean I have to like it. So what? He our leader now? Our friend? What is he too us?''

''An ally for now. And I think we should let him take the reigns for a bit. I think.... I don't trust myself to make good decisions for a while. Besides this is his operation. And if it wasn't for us, Stark would be dead already. Besides look at it this way, the quicker we help him, the quicker we can go back to getting revenge against Stark,'' Wanda exlained. Her reasoning a bit all over the place.

''Fine. Doesn't mean I have to like it,'' Pietro huffed, stuffing his face with another spoon of cereal. Wanda looked at the clock on the wall. Only 20 minutes passed. Yeah, she wasn't going to wait this long, while doing nothing.

She grabbed a bowl and poured herself some cereals, before going to the small living room and turned on the TV, looking for a good TV show. But Zero didn't seem to have a TV program cable installed, because there was only static. He did have internet though, as she quickly found out. After typing 'good shows' in the search bar she eventually stumbled on League of Legends by Arcane. It wasn't a show as she desired, but it was a highly rated movie apparently.

Turns out she liked it. She watched transfixed, tuning out everything around her. And so it was that short time after the movie ended Zero came back.

''Alright, come here and let's look at what my informant found,'' Zero said dropping a laptop from a portal and plugging in the USB. Clearly not minding the Twins antics in his safe house.

The Twins came to the kitchen and looked over his shoulder.

''We can't read that well, the letters are a bit too small. Can you tell us what we're looking at?,'' Pietro asked, failing to make any sense of this small scribbles.

''One second,'' Zero said scrolling a little through the information. Not that it was much information in the first place.

''It says here something about multiple projects named X something. What it is, my informant couldn't find out, except that it is big. He did however find some potential leads, that could reveal some information about this project. Places we can infiltrate and uncover HYDRAS secrets,'' Zero eventually summarized.

Sure, he could do this alone, but all Sherlocks needed their Watsons. It was more fun this way. He had some ideas of what these projects were, but nothing explicitly concrete. He only did a preliminary search after all. Who exactly was involved? Who were the victims? Now that Ultron was taken care of, these were all things he planned to investigate, now that he has free time on his hands. Though it would be more accurate that this clone (Zero) has found itself with free time on its hands.

Then again, it was even more accurate to say that this was a flesh puppet of himself with no consciousness and he split his attention, controlling both his body and this puppet. A little bit difficult he admitted, but like a muscle it got it easier the more he practiced. 

So Bell played the informant to Zero and planned on using this time to help the Twins heal their wounds. Afterwards they can still go after Stark, if they really wanted to. But this time in a controlled manner, without putting others at risk. He wasn't their father and they could make their own choices. Besides, Stark wasn't exactly faultless. He could be infuriating and in the wrong at times. Exhibit Ultron. So he kind of deserved it. Or the twins could find closure and stop desiring revenge. Completely up to them. So long as there was no danger of them repeating his mistakes. He knew they would regret it, when the dust settles, should they harm innocents. Just like him.

How did he find the HYDRA bases? His magic sense was now strong enough to sense all of humanity. He didn't exaggerate when he told Stan he can now feel everyone on earth.

''That's it? You sure you were not scammed by your informant?,'' Pietro exclaimed.

''HYDRA are rats. Hiding is what they best do. If anything this is lot more than I was expecting. I paid my informant some more money than agreed, for a job well done. It is good to keep them happy and in your pockets, makes them more eager to put in more effort. Still never forget that you aren't their only customer. Expect them to sell you out at any time,'' Zero defended his informant, aka himself.

''Ok, fine. So what now? Which base do we hit up first?,'' Wanda asked.

''Hm,'' hummed Zero scrolling a little up and down,'' There seems to be a small base in Smiley Mountain, in Idaho, America. It says something about Weapon X possibly being connected to this whole conspiracy. I guess we can infiltrate that first.''

''You mean the X-Program? Could we be part of this as well?,'' Wanda asked surprised.

''No. Look at that astericks here (*Zero points on the screen*). It clearly says Weapon X not to be confused with X-Program or anything else named X something, he could prove at least that much,'' Zero explained.

''But why name it something with X if they are all different projects. Why do all these different projects contain an X in their name? What does the X stand for?,'' Pietro asked confused.

''I think... well, it might be a little on the nose for HYDRA, but I think I know why,'' Zero typed something in the search bar,'' Read this.'' He removed himself from the chair and mentioned for Wanda to sit.

''Professor Charles Xavier has been nominated for a Nobel Prize for pioneering the discovery of a new type of gene. Though he has declined the Nobel Prize calling it a collective effort he has taken the opportunity to name the newly discovered gene as the X-Gene. Research for the effects and purpose of the X-Gene in our body is currently still pending...,'' Wanda read the short overview on the subject.

''Wait. You suspect this X-Gene could give people powers? But Hydra told us we were normal and that it was Loki's scepter that gave us our powers,'' Pietro argued.

''You're not seriously taking HYDRAs claim at face value? They are a shadowy organization. Their lies have lies. Who knows what the truth is. You might have the X-Gene, but needed something to activate it. It might have activated on its own, it might not have activated at all. Or maybe, just maybe, they are telling the truth,'' Zero said, shrugging.

''You know... You might be right. Some of the people in that facility never got powers, no matter what HYDRA tried with Loki's scepter. Maybe they didn't have that X-Gene?,'' Wanda recounted contemplatively.

''Ok. So this X-Gene plays a huge role. I mean at least it explains why it was named X this or X that, though they have terrible naming sense. Completely unimaginative. But how exactly does this X-Gene affect us, if we have it? I mean, how does it work?,'' Pietro asked.

''Look, we can speculate all day about this, but the quickest answer is to hit up some of these bases and find out that way,'' Zero replied.

''Ok. OK. You are right, sorry, this is huge for us. So how do we go about it?,''Wanda asked, looking some more at all the information.

''Well, for one, get your mind out of the gutter. We are not the Avengers. We are not gonna go in guns blazing like you've seen them do. We will attack from the shadows and remain in them for as long as possible. I was thinking of this.....,'' Zero began laying out his plan, the Twins listening attentively.

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''Can I just say Laura, my compliments for the food. It was delicious,'' Nick thanked Clints wife. Nick wiped his mouth with a tissue. It was evening and the Avengers and Nick enjoyed dinner with Clints family.

Clint understood that while they could enjoy a few hours of relaxation, it was now time to talk about business. He mentioned Laura to send the children up and told her that if she wanted to come down again, she could. The Avengers watched the kids depart.

''Where is Thor?,'' Nick asked.

''He went to Asgard. Said he needed to consult his father about the Infinity Stones. The Mind Stone makes the fourth Infinity Stone to be found on earth,'' Steve explained.

''Infinity Stones? Mind Stone? What are we working with here?,'' Nick asked.

''We don't know what the Infinity Stones are. We only suspect that the Mind Stone was one of them. Thor looked worried, but wouldn't explain anything to us about it,'' Natasha reported.

''What did it look like?,'' Nick demanded.

''It was a yellowish Stone presented to us by Zero. Which is weird, because it used to be the gem from Loki' scepter. And that one was blue,'' Clint replied.

''Zero? Who is that? I thought you were fighting Ultron,'' demanded Nick. He moved to the kitchen starting to fix himself a coffee.

The Avengers looked at each other for a bit until they looked at Stark who was just starring of in the distance.

''He introduced himself as Starks son. He said he killed Ultron and wiped him from the internet,'' Steve replied gravely.

Nick pressed the button to heat the water and turned around looking at each of them, inspecting them.

''You telling me it wasn't Ultron that kicked your butts, but Starks son?,'' Nick inquired.

''And the Maximoff Twins,'' murmured Banner.

''Well, yes, those two as well. But Zero did the heavy lifting,'' elaborated Clint.

''So Ultron is dead? It would explain the suspicious lack of activity in the internet at least. S.H.I.E.L.D has been trying to keep track of him, but we have noticed nothing except that the defences in certain places are stronger. Does that mean we have a new threat to worry about?,'' Nick poured the water in the cup and stirred. He made two cups offering one to the Avengers. Natasha took it.

The Avengers looked at each other.

''Difficult to say,'' Natasha eventually offered reluctantly.

''Motherfucker, it better became simple real soon. Is he or is he not a new threat,'' Nick demanded sharply.

''Careful some people don't like this kind of language around here,'' Clint joked, crossing his arms.

Steve wanted to say something back to Clint, but upon noticing that Nick looked like he would burst a vessel he decided to focus on his question instead:'' I think he is not an enemy. He made it quite clear he only has personal beef with Tony and offered us to step away. When we refused he called beating us a professional courtesy.''

''Professional courtesy? Really?,'' Banner asked hiding his amusement.

''Yes. Then when the Maximoff sister bewitched Bruce and enraged him, Zero immediately abandoned the fight and teleported Hulk back from the city to the beach,'' Steve continued.

''He didn't teleport,'' Stark spoke up for the first time during the evening.

''What do you mean?,'' asked Steve. Tony no longer starred in the distance, but he now looked conflicted.

''I wasn't there with them in the ship, but I think I know what Tony means. There is creating wormholes or portals as they are more commonly known and then there is teleportation. With teleportation the body,you want to transport, itself becomes the mass that achieves an Einstein Rosen Bridge effect. Thus the body appears from one spot to the other in an instant. Teleportation. Portals on the other hand require a different mass to open and more energy to sustain them to keep the wormhole open, the object you want to transport then has to manually walk through on the other side. Portals,'' Banner explained.

''And which one is more dangerous?,'' Fury asked.

''A few days ago I would have said teleporting. But after the fight with Zero, I have to say Portals. Some of the things he pulled of I would have never thought of. We only hit him once in that entire exchange. And that honor goes to Hulk,'' Clint replied.

''So he is not your enemy. He kicks your butt and he becomes your friend instead? Did I get that right?,'' Fury mocked.

''Well, some people think that going out of your way to save civilians from the Hulk makes you a hero (*Natasha looks at Steve*). And if he really did kill Ultron then I'm inclined to agree with him,'' Natasha shrugged her shoulders.

''Besides I don't think he even hates Stark as much as he claims he does,'' Barton revealed.

Tony snapped his head to him and sharply asked:''What did you say?''

''You probably didn't notice in the heat of the moment, but I watched that entire exchange. There was a significant amount of time that passed between Zero being able to kill you and him going away to engage the Hulk,'' Barton explained. And he meant it. He wouldn't have shared this information otherwise, seeing as Stark was so hopeful. It clearly meant a lot to him.

There was a long pause. The others watched how Stark would react.

''You know what? You might be right. In the file I read, they said that his potential for assassination was extremely high. He probably could have killed me anytime, before I could even react,'' Stark shared, slowly some color returning to his face.

The others exchanged several glances.

''What file?,'' Fury sharply asked, putting his cup down.

''The HYDRA base we raided. I downloaded everything. It was called Project:Wunderkind. The goal was to take kids from intelligent people and attempt to enhance them. Out of the 74 attempts only 16 made it through. Zero is my son and he was one of the few surviving children,'' Tony explained with more vigor. Ideas already forming in his head on how he could make it up to him.

''You telling me there are more?,'' Fury immediately interrogated.

''Hard to say. The file said that the experiment ended in failure and that the project will be scraped for a new one. The X-Program. The one that gave us the Maximoff Twins,'' Tony answered.

''Tell us everything you remember reading in that file. Better yet, once we have proven that Ultron is really dead, send me a copy of those files,'' Fury demanded.

Tony gave a quick summary of everything he read.

''I can see now why you are so fixated on him being your son,'' Fury eventually replied, after going through everything Stark said.

''You saying he isn't my son?,'' Tony scowled.

''That too. But I wasn't referring to that. He sounds like a rebel. One difficult to work with,'' Fury elaborated.

''Yet you still don't believe he is my son?,'' Tony asked, feeling a strange kind of pride in his son resisting the mind control attempts.

''Tony, you have to understand how strange this all sounds. I'm not saying he isn't your son, he certainly displayed enough characteristics to resemble you in some ways. And he certainly possesses your genius if he erased Ultron from the internet. I'm just trying to be realistic. Until we have a DNA test, there is the chance that Zero is lying or that HYDRA told him a lie,'' Barton carefully explained not wanting to agitate Tony.

Tony clenched his jaw and bit out:'' We are not harming him to get his blood.''

''We wont. We can ask. Then we will go from there,'' Steve calmed him down. Tony looked at him before turning his head.

''What I'm more interested in, is that Personal Addendum added by the doctor. I know HYDRA. That is not their style, unless they felt it was really necessary,'' Natasha wondered.

''You saying that he has more powers? Powers that HYDRA knew nothing about. Powers like sensing people around him or something?,'' Fury asked.

''Not sensing people. Sensing space. I suppose that makes sense. Sometimes there are side effects when one develops powers. Like that Maximoff guy. He needs an enhanced body to endure the speed at which he travels at. As far as I have seen Zero didn't accidentally portal himself into a wall, this could be explained by him having a sixth sense. One that makes him aware of space and the objects in it,'' Banner shared his theory.

''And how powerful is this ability? You think he knows we're here,'' Fury asked, hiding his worry. Barton tensed at hearing this, scared for his family.

''If he does possess that ability, it's a testament to his character that we are currently not fighting,'' Steve replied full with conviction.

Somewhere, someone forced himself not to laugh in the presence of his companions. He was deeply amused at them turning their heads like chickens while looking for him.

''Don't you think you are giving him to much credit?,'' Natasha asked.

Tony opened his mouth wanting to defend Zero, but Steve was faster:'' And you are not giving him enough. He helped stop Hulk. He stopped Ultron. He hesitated in killing Tony. Assuming he really knows we are here, he is not attacking us. He is not working for HYDRA else we would have heard something about mysterious assassinations. If mind control really didn't work on him, then he might be the one that put a stop to that project in the first place. He is not an enemy. And I'm certain we can convince him to join the Avengers.''

''And what about Tony? Or the Maximoff Twins? That is a barrel of powder waiting to explode,'' Natasha asked.

''They are children and they are hurting. But I think on some level even they understand that Tony isn't completely responsible for their misfortune in life. They are frustrated and seek someone to blame. And Tony can be frustrating sometimes. No offense Tony,'' Steve explained, an apologetic look on his face.

''None taken. Really,'' Tony quickly amended, meaning it too.

There was another pause going on in the room. Fury took his cup again and began draining the last bits of his coffee.

''I don't like this. Even with S.H.I.E.L.D diminished as we are, with budget cuts, fewer people working for us and having been exposed to the world we still are the best spy agency in the world. Granted we can longer operate as quickly as we used to be or to the same extent.

And yet we didn't catch so much as a whisper about Project:Wunderkind. We still don't know who is making all these spider people. We don't know about the 15 unaccounted children from Project:Wunderkind. We don't know if Ultron is dead and gone. We don't know who is increasing the defences in certain spots of the internet. We don't know who is behind AFoxyScriptwriter. We know nothing that really matters,'' Fury complained.

''So what is your call,Fury?,'' Steve asked.

''It used to be I had eyes everywhere and ears everywhere else. We had all the toys we could dream off. But my endgame was always you. The Avengers. Enhanced individuals that would lend their strength for the protection of earth. I think this is the final nail in the coffin.

More and more people with powers are stepping into the light and and S.H.I.E.L.D is out of their depth, lacking the equipment or means to deal with them. I realize that now. 

I can no longer call the shots. No longer order you to do anything. Only advise and lend you my help by sharing anything we manage to unearth.

So, the ball is completely in your court. What is YOUR call, captain?,'' Fury gave a motivational speech. The others perked up to attention. Was Fury really giving them the green to go completely independent? The Avengers shared glances, multiple emotions going through their faces. Eventually they all looked at Steve. He looked at the others and gave himself a reassuring sigh.

''It won't hurt to confirm that Ultron is gone, even if we are pretty sure he is. Tony, can you do something about that?,'' Steve began.

''I can go to Oslo. It's the internet nexus. There is no other place on earth that has higher internet speed. Since I will be there, I might as well see if I can't find the guy that increases digital defences all over the internet. Once I do that we will have a definite answer about Ultron,'' Tony replied.

''Good. Then we will wait for you to do that. Meanwhile Fury, you will do what you do best. Investigate anything about Zero and the Maximoff Twins, any sightings or activities. Share them with us. With a bit of luck, we can resolve their issue with Tony without anyone dying and convince them to join the Avengers,'' Steve continued.

Fury nodded even if he didn't like relinquishing control, he knew it was for the best if the Avengers will stop getting bogged down by paperwork. It was not a choice he made lightly. He knew this could turn ugly very quick if something went wrong, but while he may be a paranoid bastard, Fury admitted, he also knew people could do good. He just hoped he wouldn't come to regret it.

''What if we can't convince them to join us?,'' Barton asked, having slightly relaxed, the more time passed and Zero didn't bust their door down, putting his family at risk.

''We promised Tony that once the Ultron matter is resolved, we would help him with his issue. We have to try and resolve this matter going on between them. If we can't convince them to join us, then at least we can try and turn some of our enemies to neutral. And if we are really lucky, we can at least convince them to help us every now and again when the Avengers are not enough for a threat,'' Steve replied firmly. Barton nodded and Tony nodded appreciatively.

''Which brings me to my next point. If I learned something in our exchange against Zero and the Maximoff Twins, is that we six are not enough. Up till now we had luck. But Fury is right, more and more enhanced are appearing, which means we need to expand our roster and diversify our skillset. Fury, those spider people. Are they still fighting for what is right in New York? (*Fury nods his head*) After we deal with Ultron and while we wait for word on Zero and the Twins, we will try and recruit them and answer how they grant people spider powers,'' Steve finished.

''And if they refuse?,'' Natasha asked, raising an eyebrow.

''Then we hope they at least answer the question of where they get their powers. Either way, we fight on the same side. Remember they are not our enemy and we have no reason to turn them into one,'' Steve answered firmly.

''I don't like it. But I suppose we can see if our lucky streak can continue for a bit more. And once Thor comes back, we will hopefully get some answers on these Infinity Stones. Fine, no complaints from my side,'' Natasha said, tapping her finger nails on the table. She looked at the others and they all nodded in agreement. Some more eager than others.

''Very well then. Avengers, you all know what you need to do. Tomorrow we move out,'' Steve said a determined look on his face.