Chapter Five




Katerina and Natasha are in the assassin's room. Natasha holds up a purple dress to Kat's figure, she shakes her head and puts it back. "How come your dad looks good in purple and you don't?" Natasha joked and Kat cracked a small smile, Nat felt like she accomplished something.


"I am utterly in love with red," Kat smiled dreamily and grabbed a black dress that red underneath it. "I like this one," Natasha looked over and nodded in approval.


"You'll be meeting the Avenger's extended team at the party," Kat took off her suit and Natasha got full view of some of her tattoos. "Woah, don't think Clint is gonna like those." Kat looked at Natasha and sighed.


"They hide my scars," Kat whispered and looked down, Natasha walked over and put her hand on the young archer's arm.


"He'll get over it," Natasha smiled when Kat laughed a little and slipped on the dress. "Here, take these," Natasha handed Kat a pair of heeled combat boots. "They don't fit me anymore, so you can have them."


"Thank you," Kat got up and slipped on the shoes as well and looked to the rings on her fingers. "You know," Natasha looked to her, "These rings used to dawn on the fingers of my Darling." Natasha smiled at their love, Wanda is all Kat compared everything to. "Let's go."


*^*^*


Rhodey is speaking to two avengers and an agent. "Well, you know, the suit can take the weight, right? So I take the tank, fly it right up to the General's palace, drop it at his feet, I'm like, "Boom! You looking for this?" Stark and Thor just look at him blankly. "Boom! Are you looking..." Why do I even talk to you guys? Everywhere else that story kills."


"That's the whole story?" Thor asks.


"Yeah, it's a War Machine story." Rhodey seems proud, but dejected.


"Well, it's very good then." He laughs. "It's impressive."


"Quality save.'' Rhodey turns to Tony. "So, no Pepper? She's not coming?"


"No." Tony answers.


Maria turns to Thor. "Hey, what about Jane? Where are the ladies, gentlemen?"


"Well, Miss Potts has a company to run." Tony brags about his girlfriend. Thor gets in on the bragging trying to trump him.


"Yes, I'm not even sure what country Jane's in. Her work on the convergence has made her the world's foremost astronomer." Their conversation catches the attention of Kat.


"And the company that Pepper runs is the largest tech conglomerate on earth. It's pretty exciting."


"There's even talk of Jane getting a... um, uh... Nobel prize." Thor finds the word and Kat walks up to them, gaining the attention.


"Yeah, and you know, my girlfriend can control people's minds as well as throw them wherever she pleases," The group looks at her and she smirks at winning the game they made. "Excuse me," She walks off towards Natasha. The group watches her dumbstruck.


"That's what I'm talking about," Maria high fives Rhodey and they walk off laughing. Steve Rogers and Sam Wilson are standing at a pool table, playing.


"Sounds like a hell of a fight, sorry I missed it." Sam says while glancing briefly at a new brunette who laughs with Natasha.


"If I had known it was going to be a firefight I absolutely would have called you." Steve states, not noticing that Sam was looking at Kat.


"No, I'm not actually sorry. I'm just trying to sound tough. I'm very happy chasing cold leads on our missing persons case. Avenging is your world. Your world is crazy." Sam laughs a little and Steve smiles.


"Be it ever so humble." Steve stands looking out the window.


"You find a place in Brooklyn yet?" Sam asks but reminds himself to ask about the brunette who is able to get the assassin to laugh.


"I don't think I can afford a place in Brooklyn." Steve scoffs and looks to where Sam was looking. Steve smiles knowing he was about to burst his bubble.


"Well, home is home, you know?" Sam answers and Steve shrugs. "Hey, whose the brunette with Natasha?" Steve smiles and looks at Kat.


"That's Barton's daughter, Katerina." Sam gives him a shocked look and looks back at Kat.


"So is she single?" Sam asks while laughing.


"Do you have boobs?" Steve asks and Sam looks at him laughing.


"No. Why?" Steve laughs and pats Sam on the back.


"Then you're not her type," Sam gets the message and throws his head back laughing.


*^*^*


Clint Barton says referring to Thor's hammer, "But, it's a trick!" Kat is sitting in the chair above her father.


"Oh, no. It's much more than that." Thor insists, but Clint is having it.


"Uh, "Whosoever be he worthy shall haveth the power!," Clint says with a dramatic voice while playing with drum sticks. "Whatever man! It's a trick." Kat grins in amusement.


"Well please, be my guest." Thor motions to Mjolnir on the coffee table.


"Come on." Tony urges Clint on.


"Really?" Clint asks dumbfounded.


"Yeah!" Clint gets up and makes his way towards the hammer. Kat claps her dad on the back for encouragement.


"Oh this is gonna be beautiful." Rhodey exclaims and smiles.


Tony makes a joke, "Clint, you've had a tough week, we won't hold it against you if you can't get it up." The others laugh as Kat scrunches her nose in digust.


"You know I've seen this before, right?" Clint asks before he grabs Thor's hammer and can't lift it. Clint says to Thor after failing. "I still don't know how you do it."


"Smell the silent judgment?" Tony muses with squinted eyes. Everyone laughs a little, Kat just glares at Tony a little.


Clint scoffs, "Please, Stark, by all means." Tony gets up and Natasha quips a comment.


"Oh, here we go." Tony struts his way up to the hammer.


"Okay." Maria smiles amused.


"Uh-oh.' Rhodey groans with a smile.


"Um-hmm." Clint hums sarcastically and Kat can't help herself.


"You look like a gay bird strutting like that," Her comment got laughs and a playful glare from Tony.


"Never one to shrink from an honest challenge." Tony inspects the hammer.


"Get after it."


"Here we go."


"It's physics." Tony says as he tries to explain it.


Bruce calls out playfully, "Physics!" Stark grasps the hammer but doesn't pull. He turns towards Thor.


"Right, so, if I lift it, I...I then rule Asgard?" Tony sounded like a little kid.


"Yes, of course." Thor jokes but Tony takes it as a challenge.


"I will be re-instituting Prima Nocta." Stark tries to lift the hammer but fails, "I'll be right back." Tony comes back wearing his armored hand, Stark tries to lift the hammer again and fails. He got Rhodey to help and they're both wearing their armored hands, Stark and Rhodes both try to lift Thor's hammer.


Rhodey asks, "Are you even pulling?"


"Are you on my team?" Tony retorts.


"Just represent! Pull!"


"Alright, let's go!" They both pull as hard as they can, Banner tries to lift the hammer, he roars trying to change to the Hulk but fails, and everyone but Natasha stares at him warily. Natasha grins. Kat looks to the ground knowing the feeling.


Next Steve gets up to try, "Let's go, Steve, no pressure." Tony encourages.


"Come on, Cap." Rhodey calls out. Steve starts pulling on the hammer and manages to budge it a little; Thor looks a little alarmed. Steve still fails to lift it; Thor laughs with relief. Kat laughs and narrows her eyes at Thor.


"Nothing." He says while giving Kat a look, she smiles paying along.


"And?" Tony gestures to everyone else.


"Widow? Kat?"


"Oh, no no. That's not a question I need answered." Natasha says and Kat looks at everyone.


"What she said," Kat points at Natasha and smiles slumping back into the chair.


"All deference to the man who wouldn't be king, but it's rigged." Tony claims and Clint agrees.


"You bet your ass."


Maria points at Clint, "Steve, he said a bad language word." Steve sighs.


"Did you tell everyone about that?" He asks Tony, who shrugs it off.


"The handle's imprinted, right? Like a security code. "Whosoever is carrying Thor's fingerprints" is, I think, the literal translation?" Tony guesses and looks at Thor who laughs.


"Yes, well that's, uh, that's a very, very interesting theory. I have a simpler one." He gets up and lifts his hammer and flips it. "You're all not worthy." There's a chorus of disagreement from the others. There's a loud screeching noise, causing everyone to cover their ears. They let their hands down as it fades. Kat holds her ears a little longer since hers is enhanced.


A robot that has strings of cables hanging off of it comes in, "Worthy... No... How could you be worthy? You're all killers." Kat's ears stop ringing and she looks at the robot.


"Stark." Steve calls out thinking it's a faulty legion bot.


"JARVIS." Tony calls out while tapping on his watch.


"I'm sorry, I was asleep. Or...I was a-dream?" The robot seemed to be confused and sees the vubranium skeleton in Kat.


Tony taps his device, "Reboot, Legionnaire OS, we got a buggy suit."


The robot ignores it, "There was a terrible noise...and I was tangled in... in...strings. I had to kill the other guy. He was a good guy." It waves it's hand as if it's nothing.


"You killed someone?" Steve called out alarmed.


"Wouldn't have been my first call. But, down in the real world we're faced with ugly choices."


"Who sent you?" Thor asks.


Tony's voice comes from the suit, ""I see a suit of armor around the world"."


Bruce exclaims, "Ultron!"


"In the flesh. Or, no, not yet. Not this...chrysalis. But I'm ready. I'm on a mission." Ultron said and confuses the people in front of him.


"What mission?" Natasha asks curiously.


"Peace in our time." Suddenly the Iron Legion bots break smash through the walls and attack the team and Kat. Kat jumps and rolls to behind the couch crouching.


A legion bot walks behind Kat and she turns, sensing it. Her eyes gold and vibranium claws extend from her fingers. "Interesting," it mutters and leaves her alone. In fact the bots don't even make a move towards her. She doesn't mind, she's not used to fighting without Wanda by her side.


"Stark!" Steve yells, Stark is trying to shut down one of the Iron Legions that is flying with him on it's back. Kat moves to help but a bot gets in her way. She stares at it as the fight continues around them.


"What?" She asks and the robot raises a hand to her, she takes a step back. Clint looks at his daughter and the bot just staring at each other. Kat's eyes on full display, the bot suddenly grabs her head and slams it into the ground repeatedly.


"No!" Clint yells and the bot flies off through the window with the others. When he gets to his daughter, her eyes are closed and there's blood underneath her head. He cries a little and calls out, "Bruce!" Said man ran over and checked her vitals.


"She has a pulse, but it's weak. I don't think her healing works so well with head injuries." Bruce and Clint hurriedly get her to the medical room. "Clint, I need you to hold her down." Clint does as told and watches Bruce shove a tube down his daughter's throat. "This'll help her breathe."


Clint sighs and looks at his daughter with sad eyes.


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