-11-

As Clint said goodbye to his wife, they were all ready to go. Bruce was heading back to the tower with Fury whilst Tony headed to the Nexus. Riley was leant us against a pillar that held up the roof above the porch, waiting for everyone to leave the house.

The first one to leave was Natasha to leave the house. Rolling their hips, Riley stood up straight, their weight finally back on their feet, following Natasha towards the quinjet.

"Are you prepared?" Natasha asked their friend, both of them taking large strides to make their way to the quinjet swiftly. Riley looked down at their feet as they walked faster than their usual speed.

"Not really," they answer truthfully, "but I'm going to have to suck it up." They looked up to face Natasha, her already looking at them.

"That's the spirit." Natasha smiled at them, looking forward towards the direction of the team's jet that wasn't too far away from them now. The large door falling slowly, allowing them to enter the jet. When the two of them walked up the slope, Riley went over to their bag in the corner, taking off their ring and putting it back into the small pocket that the bag had.

Steve and Clint weren't too far behind, entering the jet swiftly. "We're headed for U-Gin Genetics Research Lab in Seoul, Korea. It'll take a few hours." Steve told the group, that walking over to the driver's seat to put in the destination.

"Riley, you finally accepted Steve's offer?" Clint asked his friend.

"No, I'm just tagging alone for fun." They sarcastically answered, flicking their wrist towards Clint. He raised his brows, pretending that he took the answer seriously. During this, the engines of the jet started up loudly, lifting up off the ground. Whirring, the jet started to fly off into the air, moving towards the destination.

Hours of flying were ahead of the team but they knew it like go by quicker than expected, so none of them were willing to let their guard down. If not flying the jet, they were stood up, bouncing on their toes to keep themselves moving.

-

When the destination was in sight, Clint got into the driver's seat, swapping with Steve as he got prepared to jump onto a roof top nearby. Adjusting a few parts of their suit, Riley was now fully ready to execute the plan. With a grunt, Steve landed on top of a roof, running up some steps to get higher up.

"Two minutes. Stay close." Steve told everyone. Clint did as he said, keeping in close proximity of Captain America as he got prepared to head to the research lab. Riley was adjusting their belt that held various items they were told they need, trying to find something to fiddle with to calm their nerves. Although that pep talk from Fury motivated them, it didn't make their fear of failing disappear internally. During this, the quinjet flew over the city, Natasha now up in front with Clint.

"Dr Cho!" Steve could be heard calling through the earpiece.

"He's uploading himself into the body." Helen Cho could be heard explaining, out of breath.

"Where?"

"The real power is inside the Cradle. The gem, its power is uncontainable." She warned him. "You can't just blow it up. You have to get the Cradle to Stark."

"First, I have to find it."

"Go." She ordered him, her voice weak as she continued to breathe heavily.

"Did you guys copy that?"

"We did." Riley confirmed.

"I got a private get taking across town." Natasha told everyone. "No manifest. That could be him."

Clint looked down at the road below them, spotting a truck with the lab's logo in big, bold writing on the side. "There. It's a truck from the lab." The archer pointed out. "Right above you, Cap. On the loop by the bridge." The screen scanned the truck, information about it popping up in small text. "It's them. You got three with the Cradle, on in the cab. I could take our the driver."

"Negative. They truck crashes, the gem could level the city." The super solider reminded Clint. "We need to draw out Ultron." The sound of metal being landed on came from Steve. Riley went up to the front to look at the truck, spotting Steve standing up on top of it. Suddenly, the door flung open with the inside of it having smoke flying off of the shot area. Attempting to close it again, the door got shot once more, making Steve fly in the air and painfully land on top of the broken door that hung onto the truck by a thread. "Well, he's definitely unhappy. I'm gonna try and keep him that way."

"You're not a match for him, Cap." Clint told him.

A sigh could be heard from the Captain's side. "Thanks, Barton." The door was now moved to the side of the truck, merging in to the lane next to it, whilst Steve made his way to the truck to reach Ultron. When he finally made it up, Ultron was ominously standing near the edge, hand whirring as he got prepared to fire at any moment. As Steve looked up at him, the A.I took that as his queue to attack, making the doors completely come off and Steve fly into a car behind him, cracking the front window.

The jet flew under a building, turning to its side to fit through. Swiftly switching sides to duck under another building to make turn the corner to fly over the same road the truck, that Steve was fighting on, was. Making her way to the space between the seats, Natasha pressed a button that opened up the floor slightly.

"We got a window. Four, three..." Clint told his friend, "Give him hell." The quinjet lowered closer to the road, the small area of the floor fully opening up as Natasha, on her bike, fell onto the road. She sped between cars, switching lanes a few times to make her journey to the truck quicker.

"I'm always picking up after you boys." Natasha could be heard saying through the earpiece.

"They're heading under the overpass. We've got no shot." Riley said in a panicked state, leaning up against a metal piece that supported the window of the quinjet.

"Which way?"

"Hard right." Clint told her. "Now." Natasha was now moving out of sight at the order of Clint's words. As fast as she left, Natasha was now next to the truck, sliding underneath the bottom of it to get to the other side. She grabbed the shield at the front of her bike, throwing it up to Steve as he struggled to get out of Ultron's grip around his neck. Catching it, he swung it at the machine's neck, making him loose balance and fall over.

Riley took their eyes off of the screen, looking over at the other side of the window. "Clint, can you draw out the guards?" Natasha asked through the earpiece.

"Let's find out." He said in response. "You might want to get in a seat and buckle it, Riley." Following his orders, they swiftly jogged to the closest seat in the jet, connects the seatbelt like they were told to. As soon as the questioned was asked, his hands gripped the wheel tighter, preparing to make a quick turn to face the truck. When it was in sight, he started rapidly firing at Ultron, making his guards finally fly out of the truck and chase the jet as flew straight up into the air. The two robotic henchmen started an attempt to break into the jet, shooting at the glass aggressively, making the jet ricochet at the contact of their attack.

Without saying another word, Clint pulled the the wheel towards him even more, his face scrunching up. "We're not shaking them!" Riley stated to Clint. As the enemies continued to shoot at the jet, Clint started making the jet spin in circles as it continued to fly higher into the sky, finally knocking off the two bots that tried desperately to break through the glass. This didn't stop the pursuit; their jets started up once again, boosting them into the air to continue to fly after the two in the jet.

"How you doing back there?" Clint loudly called out to Riley.

"Could've done with a heads up!" They shouted back at their teammate, their grip on the armrests tightening.

"We're not done yet," Clint continued, "they're still after us."

"When isn't someone chasing after us?" They asked, rolling their eyes as they readjusted how they sat once again. They directed their eyes to face the small screen at the front of the jet, allowing them to see the two flying bits chasing them started flying back down to the ground. "They're heading back towards you." Riley accounted to their two teammates via their earpiece they were wearing. "So whatever you're gonna do, do it now."

"I'm going in. Cap, can you keep him occupied?" Natasha asked.

As heavy panting came though everyone's earpiece, Steve asked, "What do you think I've been doing?" Clint had stopped flying straight up, setting the jet straight in the air. Giving a nod to Riley, they unbuckled the belt and stood up as Clint slowly lowered them closer to the ground once more to get closer to the, no flying above water, truck that the two robots previously following the jet were attached to.

"Okay, package is airborne." Clint announced. Flicking a switch above him, he spoke again. "I have a clean shot."

"Negative. I am still in the truck." Natasha told him, her voice stern as it echoed through the earpiece due to her presence in the almost empty truck.

"What the hell are you..." Clint began to ask before he was interrupted.

"Just be ready. I'm sending the package to you."

"How do you want me to take it?"

"Uh, you might wish you hadn't asked that." Was all Clint got as an answer. The vague reply left him to think off all dramatic and crazy ways Natasha could be planning on doing.

"I lost him!" Steve shouted through the earpiece, startling Riley in the process. "He's headed your way!"

"Nat, we gotta go." Riley told their friend sternly, looking at the opened back of the jet and at Natasha. As she was told that, she planted a bomb on the wall of the truck and hopped on the Cradle as it slid out of the remaining part of the flying vehicle.

The Cradle made it in the jet successfully. Riley grinned as they saw Natasha back into the jet, only for the A.I to grab her foot after appearing from nowhere. Inhaling the cold air due to shock, Riley was quick to grab their gun, aiming it at Ultron's face to make him let go as Natasha used all her strength to keep ahold of the Cradle. No matter how hard she tried, Ultron was stronger, making her release her grip from the Cradle as the truck exploded, pulling her away from the jet.

"Natasha!" Riley yelled as they clung to part of the ship. Pressing a button on their earpiece, the quickly asked Steve: "Captain, have you seen Natasha?"

"If you have the package, get it to Stark! Go!" He loudly shouted.

"Do you have eyes on Nat?" Clint joined in the conversation, his voice sounding stern. He was worried for his friend and it very clear as day.

"Go!" Steve yelled back. The jet sped up, speedily flying away from the city. Clint cursed under his breath as Riley snapped their neck to face him.

"Clint, we need to get Nat.." Riley began to protest, only for Clint to interrupt them.

"I know, but right now we have to listen to orders." He told them, looking back at them for a second before turning back.

"What if she..."

"We'll find her." He interrupted once again, his voice more stern this time. "I don't want to fly this to Tony right now either but we have to. We'll help her as soon as possible." Riley wanted to portray once again, very much opposed against what they were doing in replacement of saving their friend. They sighed deeply, rubbing their face to stop their face from scrunching up in anger.