MISSOURI, LOCATION UNKNOWN
2015

THE TEAM was gathered at Clint's kitchen table looking terribly worse-for-wear. The thought itself was odd—Clint's kitchen table. They didn't have kitchen tables in this line of work.

As June inched further into the room and took in more and more of the farmhouse, she realized how mundane it was. No glass floors, no flickering holograms or sleek lounges or anything she had grown used to. Just airy curtains that drifted along with the evening breeze, the smell of animals, earth, and smoke brought in through the windows. Something was frying on the stove and the smell was enough to make June drool. There was a regular fridge in the corner. Normal dishes piled in the sink. Toys on the floor, on the shelves, all in places they shouldn't be. Laundry baskets everywhere. It was boring, cluttered, and homemade.

June loved it immediately.

She was brought out of her wistful stupor as soon as she stepped foot in the kitchen. Nick Fury sat among the others at the table, eye on her, looking almost bored. "Has it only been a year?" he said gruffly. "You look terrible."

June felt her expression turn nasty. She couldn't even bring herself to be glad he was back. "I've had a shitty couple of days."

"Haven't we all?" Fury returned.

Irritated, June moved past him, deeper into the kitchen. He was right, of course. It was stupid to think she was the only one who was having a hard time. But it pissed her off anyway.

"How are you feeling, June?" Bruce asked softly from behind her.

June took in a deep breath. "Terrible," she said. "Really terrible."

"What happened to you?" Natasha murmured without looking at June; her eyes were fixated on nothing, lost and shaken.

June couldn't even worry about what they'd think. Half of them already knew, anyway. "Wanda got me," she said. "She . . . altered my mind. Not like she did you guys. She made me what I would've become if I hadn't failed Strucker." She nodded at Steve and Bucky. "I tried to kill them."

There was a brief, tense pause, and then Bruce piped up again. "If it makes you feel any better, I tried to kill him." He pointed at Tony.

Tony rapped his fingers against the table. "It's been an awkward day."

"How long was I out?" June asked. She dreaded the answer.

"Around six hours," Tony replied, rubbing his eyes.

June relaxed slightly. Not as bad as she'd expected. She turned her attention back to Fury. "Why the hell are you here? Where's Thor?"

"Big guy ran out on us," he huffed. "Went to find answers of his own. I can see you're not too happy to see me."

"Well, you've done a lot of lying to me," June shot back. Maybe she was being too harsh—he was looking worse for wear. June took a moment to examine herself and realized she did not care.

"If it vindicates you at all," he said, an octave louder, "I'm unemployed. Truth be told, you should be grateful for that. I have no jurisdiction to lock up that boyfriend of yours."

Wariness struck June suddenly and she forced her eyes to stay on Fury rather than leap to Bucky. She hadn't thought of that. She stared him down a moment longer, then turned away, shuffled to the stove where an extremely pregnant woman stood frying onions in a skillet. She could only assume this was her house 

"Hi," she said softly. "I'm June. Thanks for letting us stay here."

The woman nodded enthusiastically, her pretty brown eyes wide and excited. "Oh, yeah. Yeah, totally. We're happy to help you guys out. I mean, how could I say no to the Avengers?" She laughed like the idea was ridiculous and not the smartest option. "Oh!" the woman exclaimed, "God, that's so rude of me. I didn't introduce myself—I'm Laura, I'm Clint's wife."

June grinned. "It's nice to meet you."

Privately, she wondered how Clint managed to land a dime like her.

She surveyed the array of diced and whole vegetables, corked vials of spices, a baguette waiting to be sliced, a massive roast steaming up a crockpot. "Can I do anything?" June gestured to the food.

Laura smiled, showing dimples. "Sure. Do you mind chopping those peppers? Really fine?"

"Yes ma'am," June said, beginning to ease up. She decided she liked Laura.

As June reached for a knife and arranged a cutting board and three green bell peppers on the counter before her, she felt Laura's eyes on her. "I know all about you," the woman said eagerly. "I saw all the news after Washington—you're badass."

"Oh," June's cheeks grew warm. She smiled. "Thank you."

"Sorry if that's weird to say," Laura laughed. "It's just true. There's Facebook groups about you, a few cool student docs . . . people think you're . . . well, awesome."

"I don't really do anything," June blurted. Her heart slammed against her ribs. God, people cannot be researching me . . . .

"You kidding?" Laura laughed again. "Please, you're super cool. I watched your interview on Capitol Hill after the hovercrafts dropped—pretty ballsy if I do say so myself."

June did her best to chop the peppers evenly—Nat was still better at it than her. She sighed. "You know where I got my abilities, right?"

Laura quieted considerably. "The news said something about . . . something about Hydra, but you're—"

"It's right," June admitted with a sigh. Laura's eyes softened. "I was enhanced by the same guy who created the kids who fucked everyone up today. Excuse my language." June gave a wary look at Laura's belly.

"Did you volunteer?"

"No," June shook her head vigorously. "They took me. Drugged me at a hospital and took me underground."

Laura paused her stirring. "Oh, god, I'm so sorry."

"Don't be," June assured her quickly, "it's fine. It was a long time ago. It's just . . . it's hard for people to understand the whole thing, so . . . I don't really talk about it."

Laura smiled kindly. "Well, I get the feeling you haven't been around many moms these past few years."

A bizarre image of Tony in an apron and curlers crossed June's mind. "I guess not."

"The first job of parenthood is listening. I know I'm probably not much older than you, but as long as you're here . . . I'd be happy to talk. Trust me, I know the kind of life this is. I've seen Clint live it for years—I almost lost him a while back. I understand this shit." She grinned and covered the sides of her stomach so the baby wouldn't hear. "Really, I'd like to listen."

June's eyes stung, and it had nothing to do with the onions. "Thank you. Seriously, thank you. I'll take you up on that."

Laura kept up her smile. They resumed work in a pleasant quiet, the aggravated conversation of the others not reaching June, for once. After a few minutes, Laura cleared her throat.

"So, uh," she snickered to herself and jerked her head towards Bucky. "Is that the boyfriend Fury was talking about?"

"Yes." June's cheeks reddened. "He's not a terrorist anymore . . . and we didn't do anything in your guest room."

"Relax," Laura eased. "Depending on the point of view, everyone here is a terrorist. And honestly," she cast another look at Bucky, "well done. Do whatever you want to him in my guest room."

June let out a bark of laughter that she wasn't quick enough to cover. The others turned to look at her.

"I'm sorry," Fury said, hands folded on the table, "is global extinction funny to you?"

"Yes, sir," June gibed without glancing up, smirk still very present on her face. In the corner of her eye, she watched Bruce let his face fall into his hands. It only made her laugh again.

"She's snapped," Tony huffed. "She's too far gone. Someone get the straitjacket."

"Don't joke about that," Steve snapped, but June just chortled away, nodding enthusiastically.

"God, he's right. No, global extinction is not funny," she tipped her head in Fury's direction, "sorry I said that. Don't institutionalize me. But Jesus, lighten up for forty-five minutes. Dinner's almost ready."

She and Laura served the meal, and it was delicious. Everyone swore they hadn't eaten food so good in years. June enjoyed her helping quietly, sat next to Bucky with a leg across his lap. She returned Fury's irritated, unamused stares with looks of blatant satisfaction. Not your jurisdiction, she thought dryly. Clint's kids came dashing out once they realized the food was ready; Cooper, a boy of about eleven, and Lila, a little girl of around seven. Lila clung to Nat for the majority of the meal but eventually clambered over to June and Bucky after eyeing them for a good while.

"Are you Daddy's friend?" she asked, doe eyes peering up at June.

"Yes ma'am," June said with a smile and pet her braided brown hair.

Lila turned to Bucky. "Are you?"

Bucky lifted an eyebrow. "Sure."

"Undecided," Clint called over.

Lila giggled and wormed her way between them. She started trying to climb into Bucky's lap, and he scooped her up on his arm like she was nothing and helped her settle down. She kicked her feet happily. "Are you married?" she wondered, looking between them.

"Not yet," Bucky answered, and June smiled herself stupid. It was a ridiculous thought because they'd all probably be dead in a few days, but why not indulge herself for a minute? They could be married, like normal people who loved each other. And sure, the guest list would be short, and those who were invited probably wouldn't show up, but they could be married, with a fluffy white cake and a fluffy white dress and fuck it, maybe an ice sculpture of a swan. They could dance, probably to some irritating number from the forties, but it would be them, and June wouldn't care at all. They'd have a house just like this one. Maybe kids to fill it up. A cat or two. The skeletons would stay in the closet.

But an awful thought struck June. Could she even have kids? The dream withered and crumpled around her. Anger stuck her like a hot poker.

Someone made coffee and the rich smell took the place of dinner. Laura came to gather the kids for bed, and the Avengers were left to talk.

"Ultron," Fury began, "took you folks out of play to buy himself time. My contacts all say he's building something. The amount of vibranium he made off with, I don't think it's just one thing."

Steve lifted his eyes from where he was stooped against the kitchen doorway. "What about Ultron himself?"

"Ah," Fury almost smiled, "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."

Tony looked at them all over the rim of his coffee cup. "He still going after launch codes?"

"He is," said Fury, "but he's not making any headway. Thankfully."

Tony half-rolled his eyes. "I cracked the Pentagon's firewall in high school on a dare, so . . . ."

"Impressive," June muttered.

"Impressive or not," groused Fury, "I contacted our friends at the Nexus about that." He gave Tony a side-look.

Steve frowned. "Nexus?"

"It's the world internet hub in Oslo," explained Bruce, "every byte of data flows through there, fastest access on earth."

Steve scowled. June suspected he didn't know what half of what Bruce said meant.

"What'd they say?" asked Clint. He straddled his chair, chin rested on the back of it.

Fury shrugged and adjusted his sleeve. "He's fixated on the missiles. Can't get 'em, though. The codes are being constantly changed."

Tony straightened. "By whom?"

"'Parties unknown,'" Fury said dryly.

"Still," June piped up, "it's good for us. At least someone clever is on our side."

"Well, we don't know if they're for us," Fury amended. "They're just not for Ultron. Which, yes, is still good. I'd pay folding money to find out who it is."

"I might need to visit Oslo," Tony said. "Figure out who our 'unknown' is."

They were all very quiet for a long while. June finished off her coffee and was even more tired for it. Natasha shifted in her seat. "I hoped you'd have more, boss." She gave Fury a wry smile.

" I do," Fury shrugged again. "I have you. Back in the day, I had eyes everywhere, ears everywhere else. Here we all are, back on earth, with nothing but our wit, and our will to save the world. So stand. Outwit the platinum bastard."

"I lost my wit in the move," June grumbled.

"Yeah, but you're a pistol, and I need you to beat some metal ass." Fury threw her a smug look. "So, put your hand in, Ivanski. As far as I'm concerned, you're an Avenger."

June scoffed. "Keep concerning yourself, sir, I'm not that nuts."

Fury moved on. "So what does he want? What does that hunk 'a junk want?"

"To become better," Steve said at once. "Better than us. He keeps building bodies."

"Person bodies," Tony agreed. "The human form is inefficient, biologically speaking. We're outmoded. But he keeps coming back to it."

Natasha threw him and Bruce a dry look. "Protector of the human race, huh?"

"No," Bruce shook his head, suddenly intently focused on a colorful drawing of a butterfly June assumed one of the kids had made. His finger traced a glittery wing. "They don't need to be protected. They need to change. Evolve. Ultron's going to evolve."

"How?" Fury barked.

Bruce was deathly quiet. His face drained of color, his dark under-eyes stark and swollen. "Has anyone been in contact with Helen Cho?"

June swore. Everyone groaned and took on looks of desolation. That was it. Ultron just needed enough time to get to Dr. Cho. She was too brilliant to go unnoticed.

He'd have his body in no time.

note.
this is a double update!! check out the next chapter!!