LIGHT.
007. | ❛ what's worse is that I liked it. ❜

Caroline aimlessly walked around the woods hoping to feel better yet she never felt more alone. The woods, even though made her feel lonely provided the most shelter from the sunlight. Caroline looked above her seeing the towering trees covering the sun. Ruffles upon leaves were heard from a distance as Caroline approached the figure. Quietly, she peered over a tree to reveal a deer who was drinking from a small pond. Caroline's eyes seeped through as she quickly approached the anima, digging into its limbs. The small thing stood there yet Caroline pulled her fangs out, as she bit her wrist and gave some of the animal her blood. She hunched over to see the deer healing, it quickly leapt up and escaped from Caroline's eyesight

Caroline's hearing heard more ruffles but it felt more human than an animal. She wiped her lips as it revealed to be her boyfriend.

"I wanted to be left alone," Caroline said before turning away from him.

"I know better than anyone that a vampire shouldn't be left alone, that and Kiara practically kicked my butt out the door until I brought you back." Steve got closer to her as she took a step forward

"I'm sorry," Caroline said walking deeper into the woods with Steve trailing behind her

"What did you see? When the Enhanced touched you?" Steve asked the question he dreaded to ask.

"I saw my dad. He was the one torturing me for SHIELD intel. My dad was working for the Red Skull, for Hydra, all this time."

"Your dad is long gone. He can't hurt you anymore."

"It's funny because as a kid I loved the sun so much, I was always outside. Now, imagine if the thing you loved to enjoy had more power over you. The sunlight burned me when I became this monster, this murderer-"

"You're not a murderer." Steve now getting a hold of Caroline's shoulders.

Caroline huffed as she cleared her throat to reveal a secret she has been keeping,"Right after I was turned, it was your anniversary. I was really hungry so I killed someone. A stranger. I just...killed him. And what's worse is I liked it. That was my choice and I'm living with it."

"You are no longer that person. It's okay to let her go. You have full control of this now. And you have me."

"I have you," Caroline smiled before she placed a small delicate kiss on his lips before going back to the farm.

________________________

Caroline hopped in the shower, in the room where Steve and her were staying. Letting the water wash off the horrible memories. Caroline places her head against the bathroom tile.

Dear diary, I used to think the worst feeling in the world was losing someone you loved, but I was wrong. The worst feeling is the moment that you realize that you've lost yourself.

As Caroline continues to write, blood starts dripping down her hand. She puts down her pen and touches her nose to see if it's bleeding, but it isn't. She looks down at the floor and sees small pools of blood leading to the bathroom. She follows the trail of blood and opens the bathroom. She flips on the lights and sees the bathroom is splattered in blood. She looks at the mirror and sees the word "KILLER' written in blood on the mirror. Caroline gasps as she backs up, slipping on some blood and falls to the ground.

Heavy steps run upstairs, looking at the frightened Caroline on the floor. Steve kneels down, as she huddles her knees, closing her eyes, refusing to see the sight in front of her again.

"Caroline, what's wrong?"

"The blood, the writing," Caroline sways back and forth

"What blood?"

Caroline sits up, seeing that the bathroom is spotless without a drop of blood in sight. She stands up and looks at the mirror. The word KILLER is gone. She looks down at her arms and around the room. Caroline is terrified of what is happening to her.

"There was... on the floor... and on the mirror.." Caroline sat down on the bed, trying to recall everything,

"Ultron's getting to you, like the rest of us," Steve sat next to her, taking her hand into his.

"Steve, what's your fear?"

"Losing you, and not being able to go home," he looked down at the floor

"We can always buy that apartment we saw in Brooklyn. I bet that nobody bought that apartment we saw. It's perfect for us." Caroline assured with a smile

"It's not that," Steve shook his head, sighing at the same time,"Everybody I cared about at one time or another is gone. Peggy, Edith, Howard, and... Bucky."

Caroline squeezed his hand, knowing that he was suffering, "I remember the exact moment when I first saw you. I was a young and hopeless. I'm not gone, not yet," Caroline giggled

Caroline looked Steve dead in the eyes, "You won't lose me, okay? It's you and me, always and forever. I promise you." She confessed, she could see some of Steve's hesitate and doubt.

"I'm always honest," she chuckled as Steve showed her a smile

"That's my line," Steve said before taking his hands cupping Caroline's cheeks and pressing a small delicate kiss.

"What was that for?" Caroline smiled, even though she was never opposed to his kisses

"I love you"

"I love you too"

____________________

Caroline looked at the two men chipping wood, "Is this you in crisis mode? Because it's a lot more stealth than mine."

"Just hand me that log," Steve sassed back.

"Thor didn't say where he was going for answers?" Tony asked as he chopped another log of wood.

"Sometimes my teammates don't tell me things. I was kind of hoping Thor would be the exception." He said as Caroline brought him another piece of wood.

"Give him time. We don't know what the Maximoff kid showed him."

" 'Earth's mightiest heroes.' They pulled us apart like cotton candy." Steve said as he chopped more wood and grabbing another.

"Seems like you walked away alright," Tony said, watching Steve closely

"Is that a problem?" Steve stopped chopping wood as he looked at Tony.

"I don't trust a guy without a dark side." Tony shrugged, "Call me old-fashioned."

"Well, let's just say you haven't seen it yet."

Tony turned to face the vampire,
"Actually Care Bear is the most trusted person on the team, she doesn't try to hide behind anyone else when something is wrong."

"Well...." The blonde trailed off, she wasn't exactly open about everything she just wanted to let out the weight of everything that was crushing her down. "I wouldn't say that."

"Yeah, except when she turned off her humanity, almost killed Natasha, and not to mention a blood thirsty vampire." Steve retorted to Tony.

"He has a point. Just one question. Talking about my mistakes really makes you sound like you want to lose your girlfriend today." Caroline glared at Steve, who was just not having it today with Tony.

"You know Ultron is trying to tear us apart, right?" Tony jumped in

"Well, he's doing a damn good job of it." Kiara came out from the house hearing their muffled conversation as she crossed her arms.

"Well, I guess you'd know," Steve told Tony before chopping another piece of wood, "Whether you'd tell us is a bit of a question."

"Banner and I were doing research," Tony defended himself

"That would affect the team."

"That would end the team!" Tony shot back, " Isn't that the mission? Isn't that why we fight? So we can end the fight? So we can go home!"

"Guys," Caroline tried to clam them down, "This doesn't have to end in a fight."

"Ditto, I don't want to choose sides." Kiara huffed trying to calm the two of them down.

Steve tore a piece of wood apart with his bare hands, the anger very visible in his stance, "Every time someone tries to win a war before it starts, innocent people die. Every time."

"I'm sorry." Laura jumped in from a few feet behind Tony. "Mr. Stark, Clint said you wouldn't mind, but our tractor doesn't seem to want to start at all. I might maybe you might-"

"Yeah, I'll give her a kick." Tony cut Laura off before turning away from Steve and Caroline.

"Don't steal from my pile." He said as he and Laura walked to the barn.

"I swear to God you guys bickering might just lead to a civil war." Caroline said once Tony was out of eye sight.

"I wouldn't be opposed to it, what's next a spider bitting a boy and getting spider powers." Kiara wondered as she trailed back inside towards the house leaving the couple alone.

____________

"Ultron took you folks out of the play to buy himself time." Fury said from the kitchen counter. "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."

"What about Ultron himself?" Steve asked, leaning against a wall as Caroline took her seat next to Natasha.

"Oh, he's easy to track. He's everywhere. The guy is multiplying faster than a Catholic rabbit. It still doesn't help us get an angle on any of his plans, though."

"Is it still going after launch codes?" Tony asked as he played darts.

"Yes, he is." Fury said. "But he's not making any headway."

"I cracked the Pentagon's firewall in high school on a dare."

"News flash, nobody cares." Kiara rolled her eyes at Tony.

"Well, I contacted our friends at the Nexus about that."

"Nexus?"

"It's the world internet hub in Oslo." Bruce informed Steve and the rest of the group. "Every byte of data flows through there. Fastest access on Earth."

"He's fixated on the missiles. But the codes are constantly being changed."

"By whom?" Tony asked as he continued to throw darts off the board. Clint threw a dart, getting a bullseye and receiving a annoyed look from Tony.

"Do we have an ally?"

"Ultron's got an enemy. That's not the same thing." Fury pointed out. "Still, I'd pay folding money to know who it is."

"I might have to visit Oslo." Tony said, "Find our unknown."

"Well, this is good times, boss." Natasha told Fury as she looked at him. "But I was kind of hoping when I saw you, you'd have more than that."

"I do. I have you. Back in the day, I had eyes everywhere. Ears, everywhere else. You kids had all the tech you could dream up." He walked to the center of the room.

"Here we all are, back on Earth, with nothing but our wit and our will to save the world." He looked around the room. "Ultron says the Avengers are the only thing between him and his mission. And whether or not he admits it, his mission. And whether or not he admits it, his mission is global destruction. All this, laid in a grave." Fury said as he motioned to all in the room. "So stand. Outwit the platinum bastard."

"Steve doesn't like that kind of talk." Caroline joked, looking at her boyfriend with a small smirk.

"You know what, Kingsley?"

"What, Rogers?" Kiara stood behind her sister, knowing that two Kingsley siblings are stronger than one.

"So what does he want?" Fury asked, ignoring the flirting going on between the two.

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

"Person bodies," Tonu addes "The human form is inefficient. Biologically speaking, we're outmoded. But he keeps coming back to it."

"When you two programmed him to protect the human race, you amazingly failed," Natasha said, looking between the two idiots, called Tony and Bruce.

"They don't need to be protected,' Bruce said, looking at the butterfly picture Lila gave to Natasha. "They need to evolve." He looked up to find the rest of the team staring at him. "Ultron is going to evolve."

"how?"

"Has anyone been in contact with Helen Cho?"