| the big picture|

❝ p o w e r ❞

Celeste, changed back into her suit, sits in the hangar of the quinjet with Steve while Clint and Natasha pilot the quinjet, heading for Oslow laboratories. Tony is in a different country, visiting NEXUS to gather information. Bruce was dropped off by Nick at the Avengers Tower to do research, as well as check on Brielle.

"Tell me a story," Celeste breaks the silence, her gloves off as she twirls her engagement ring around. "Please?"

"Only because you asked nicely," Steve chuckles, relaxing in the seat next to her. "Before or after the serum?"

This was a habit for the two - to swap stories about their experiences. Whenever they had a good amount of time before they arrived somewhere, or one needed to be distracted from their anxious thoughts, or one needed to loosen up before a mission, Celeste would put her head on Steve's shoulder and ask for a story about the past. In return, she'd tell him one about her time in the circus.

"After," she decides. "But something that's not mainly about the war."

Steve nods, taking a few moments to choose a story.

"I was stationed in France for a few months in 1941," he begins and Celeste immediately gets comfortable, resting her head on his shoulder and closing her eyes to let her imagination wander. "One of the governors decided to throw a party - or soiree, as he called it - in my honor. Initially, I turned it down, but he extended the invite to the Howling Commandos and Howard Stark, who threatened to replace my shield with plastic if I said no again."

Celeste giggles, surprised Tony hasn't said the same thing yet.

"So, I accepted and we all went. But, as it turns out, all this guy wanted was to form an even stronger alliance between the two countries, and he conveniently had a daughter my age."

"Wasn't it insanely hard for women to be a part of the war?" She interrupts, her forehead creasing as she tries to recall the history textbook she once had to read.

"It was," he admits. "Though that's not the alliance he was after. He wanted a marriage alliance."

"Can you blame him?"

"Real funny," Steve laughs dryly. "Anyways, his daughter - I believe her name was Roselyn - shows up."

"Was she pretty?"

"Very. Howard wouldn't stop flirting and Bucky couldn't stop staring to save their lives. And as soon as Howard tried to ask her to dance, the governor cut him off and asked if I'd like to take her for a dance. I-"

"We're here," Natasha calls back to them, cutting Steve off.

"I've got a heat signature on the top floor," Clint adds.

Celeste groans, pushing herself to her feet and putting her gloves back on as Steve stands and adjusts his helmet.

"I'll tell you the rest after this," Steve promises before directing his focus on the others. "Two minutes. Stay close."

"Aye, aye, Captain."

Celeste glances briefly at the screen for the location of the heat signature and latches onto Steve's arm, focusing on teleporting to the area.

There's an audible gasp as she reopens her eyes, but it takes several moments for her to adjust to the dim lighting before she can pinpoint where the noise came from.

"Dr. Cho!" Steve calls out worriedly, crouching to be at her eye level.

The million-dollar research facility is trashed - with expensive equipment turned over or damaged and the lights either off completely or barely clinging to life as they flicker. Directly in front of Steve and Celeste, Helen sits slumped on the floor with her back pressed against a broken machine to remain propped up and a hand pressed against a wound in her shoulder. A pool of blood covers the floor, causing Celeste to grimace as she steps in it.

"He's uploading himself into the body," Helen breathes out, inhaling sharply as her shoulder moves with the effort.

"Where?" Steve asks.

She shakes her head, a sob threatening to escape. Steve pushes himself back up and turns to leave, but her weak voice stops him.

"The real power is inside the cradle. The gem's power is uncontainable," she warns. "You can't just blow it up, you have to get the cradle to Stark."

"First, we have to find it."

"Go," she encourages. Noticing Celeste's unease, she offers a small smile. "I'll be okay."

"We'll fuck him up for you," she promises, averting her gaze before she has to witness the inevitable.

"Did you guys copy that?" Steve asks into his earpiece.

"We did," Clint says.

"I got a private jet taking off across town," Natasha answers. "No manifest. That could be him."

"There," Clint argues. "It's a truck from the lab. Right above you, Cap, on the loop by the bridge. It's them, got three with the cradle and one with the cab. I can take out the driver."

"Negative," Steve commands. "If that truck crashes, the gem could level the city. We need to dry out Ultron."

"You take the roof and I'll teleport," Celeste chimes in, an idea forming. "We've got a better chance if we're coming in two different ways."

Steve nods and sprints towards the emergency exit at the end of the dark hallway. Celeste fights the urge to glance back at Helen and closes her eyes, focusing on the truck Clint described.

"The two of you aren't a match for him," Clint warns.

"Thanks, Barton," Celeste and Steve huff into their earpieces in unison.

The silence of the facility is replaced with the engine of a truck and the unmistakable voice of Ultron as Celeste's surroundings change. She stands directly behind two robots, Ultron, and a crate with another robotic body in the cramped trailer, not yet detected by them.

There's a thud as Steve lands on the roof of the vehicle and Ultron groans loudly. Celeste grabs the waist of one of the robots, the hiss of melting metal going undetected as Steve's body slams against the door.

"Leave me ALONE!" Ultron yells, firing an orange blast at the door.

It flies off its hinges, barely giving Steve enough time to latch onto the side of the trailer as it slams into the traffic behind them.

"Somebody's cranky," Celeste jokes.

"He's definitely unhappy," Steve agrees. "I'm going to try to keep him that way."

Celeste pushes the singed robot out of the way and grabs the cord connecting the back of Ultron's head to the cradle, yanking it out just as he fires at Steve again.

"You don't know when to stop, do you?" Ultron huffs, turning his attention to her.

The robot with only a few wires keeping his body connected wraps it's metal arms around her neck as the one aims for her side. She kicks wildly, sending it flying into Ultron, who barely budges at the contact. Instead of coming back towards her, the robot flies out of the truck.

"It's one of my finer qualities," she gasps, clawing at the skeletal arms pressing against her windpipe.

"I'd admire that if you weren't on the losing side."

Ultron flies out and onto the roof of the truck, heading directly for Steve. Celeste drops to her knees and rolls forward, slamming the robot's body into the floor. She pulls her fascine knife out before it can get back up, successfully disconnecting its torso from the upper half.

With no more obstacles, she places a hand on each side of the crate, focusing her thoughts on the quinjet. She frowns when nothing happens, not having experienced issues with her powers before.

She tries again, this time keeping her eyes open, and watches as her gloves glow with the effort but her scenery remains the same.

"The cradle is too big for me to teleport," she finally gives in, quickly growing weary with the effort. "And it's sealed shut, so I can't get the gem out either."

"I'm coming," Natasha answers before going back to shouting for pedestrians to move out of her way. "But I think Steve could use a hand."

Celeste teleports to the roof, thankful for the flood of traffic preventing their vehicle from moving too quickly. Ultron stands at the edge dangling Steve over the road. She hesitates, knowing if she touched Ultron, Steve will plummet.

Thanks to Natasha on her motorcycle, his shield comes flying towards them and Celeste catches it, immediately sending it flying into Ultron's back and slides across the roof. He cries out angrily, releasing his hold on Steve and Celeste finds herself in between the deadly robot's legs as she latches onto Steve's arms.

Ultron is too focused on getting the shield out of his back, giving Steve enough time to pull himself back up with Celeste's help.

"Let me help you with that," Celeste offers, yanking on the shield.

Ultron growls as it becomes unlodged, firing orange beams at the duo as she hands it back to Steve. The bright light hits Celeste in the chest, knocking the air out of her lungs as she stumbles backward, teetering off the edge of the truck.

She barely registers Steve falling over too, too busy bracing herself to land harshly on the concrete below. There's a sharp gust of wind as her body grows closer and a pair of arms wrap around her waist.

"You really should be more careful."

She gasps, coming face to face with Pietro's confident grin as he gently sets her back on her feet. She doesn't say anything, for once at a loss for words and merely clutching his arm as she fights the urge to throw up in the middle of the road.

An impatient driver in the vehicle behind them honks a horn, snapping Celeste out of her inability to form sentences.

"I guess this means you can keep the knife."

"Oh really?" He laughs.

"Yeah, consider it a token of my appreciation," she says with a nonchalant shrug. "Even if you're on the dark side."

Pietro's smile disappears and Celeste can't help but slip into his mind.

I'm not on that side anymore.

"You've changed your mind about Ultron?"

"I happen to quite enjoy living in the world he wishes to destroy," he explains, hiding any surprise he has that she read his thoughts.

"I'm going in," Natasha shouts, bringing Celeste back to the problem at hand. "Cap, think you can keep him occupied?"

"What do you think I've been doing?" Steve pants.

"That's my cue," Celeste admits, watching in the distance Natasha discards her motorcycle and jumps onto the truck. "Don't go too far. We could use your help."

Not waiting for a reply, she teleports back into the trailer just as more of Ultron's robotic lackeys latch onto the side of it. The truck moves off of the ground and Celeste grabs onto Natasha as she tumbles.

"Package is airborne," Clint points out. "I have a clean shot."

"Negative," Natasha demands, trying and failing to override the electronic lock on the side of the crate.

"We are still in the truck," Celeste adds.

"What the hell are you-"

"Just be ready," Natasha cuts him off. "I am sending the package to you."

"How do you want me to take it?"

"You might wish you hadn't asked that," she admits, cutting off the straps holding the cradle in place.

"You are not flying with that thing," Celeste threatens, watching as Natasha positions her body over it. "I'll teleport us."

"I lost him," Steve warns. "He's heading your way."

"Guys, we gotta go."

Natasha doesn't listen to Celeste, instead kicking off the wall to send herself and the cradle flying out of the truck and into the quinjet.

Celeste immediately closes her eyes, not wanting to watch the perilous journey, and teleports onboard. Clint's worried cries can be heard from the cockpit as she glances around for the other woman.

"Cap, do you see Nat?" Clint questions, panic creeping into his voice.

"If you have the package, get it to Stark," Steve orders, yelling to be heard over the commotion on his end. "Go!"

"Do you have eyes on Nat?"

"What happened?" Celeste asks. "I just saw her!"

"Go!"