Word Count: 5,371

I originally intended this to be a 5+1 and I could not think of a fifth person, which is why I included Hank Pym. I only thought of Ultron after I had written Hank's part and I liked it to much too replace it.
Speaking of Ultron, I pictured his part very differently. You will see what I mean.

This is also the longest oneshot I have written to date.

Hank Pym

Hank Pym is the first person to find the 'Rogue Avengers'—as the media was now calling them—once King T'Challa throws them out of Wakanda and announces to the world that they had sought refuge there. And it's a damn good thing he did, too, because who knows what could have happened if someone else had found them.

Honestly, Hank can not understand why the King had even made that choice. They had only done the right thing, namely fighting against Stark and his devious plan to interfere with the Avengers' right to fight for the causes they wanted to fight.

"He said that he only extended the asylum to Bucky—and, more reluctantly, Steve—and that bringing us," Scott gestures to the rest of their group, "was not a part of the deal."

"It's a shame we had to leave Bucky behind." Steve buried his head in his hands, poor guy.

"Stark must've influenced them in the time they spent together," Wanda theorized. Her voice was full of rage that Hank understood wholeheartedly.

Wilson, however, sighs. "Wanda, you can't be serious-"

"No, I am sure she's right. Stark is an evil mastermind, just like his father. Starks don't care about anyone but themselves. Never have, and never will." It is for the best that they have finally learned it. That means the world as whole is one step closer to knowing the truth.
"Now, that is not true," Steve shakes his head. "During the war, Howard was most certainly very helpful."

"I'm sure he was very helpful." Hank nods in agreement. "Selling you weapons, when he could have simply given them to you, I bet. Taking every opportunity to make profit is in Stark blood."
"I'm sorry, really," Wilson interrupts, "but he was running a business. No one can afford to give away millions upon millions of free guns and grenades and such."
"Then maybe think of the way Stark Junior used his wealth to buy your friendship." Surely that had to go through Wilson's thick skrull. "I bet he gave you expensive gifts all the time and 'expect nothing in return'. He tried to earn your trust and when you—foolishly, if I may add—extended it to him, he abused it in his absurd need to control everything."

"Yeah, Stark really likes to flaunt his wealth," Clint approves. "But let's talk about something else now. I don't need that asshole to take up more of my time and thoughts."
"You make an excellent point, Clint." Wanda nods. "Thank you again, Mr. Pym for taking us in."

"Oh, it's no problem, young lady." Hank chuckles a bit. "It's just what anyone with my resources would do. Or any decent human being," he corrects himself. "You're the Avengers after all, no matter what the media seems to think right now. You can't continue fighting what's right if you're in prison, after all."

"It looks like we may not be able to do that at all, I'm afraid." Steve sighs as he says this. He looks at Clint and he is clearly apologizing for his next sentence. "Stark cut our funding."
"Of course he did, that's what I've been saying all along." Hank throws his hands up in the air for a moment. "But don't worry. I will handle your funding. Housing, food, equipment, and anything else that comes up. You don't have to repay me, of course," he adds before they can insist.

"Thank you, Mr. Pym." Steve sounds so grateful, like the weight of the whole world had been taken off his shoulders. And, in a way, that is kind of what happened.

"Steve's right," Clint agrees. "You do not need to do this. That you do means a lot, thank you, Mr. Pym."

"Call me Hank, please. I mean, we're all friends here, aren't we?"
"I suppose we are," Wanda realizes. She smiles, surely glad to be finally out of Stark's thumb.

Yelena Belova

Yelena Belova is in Iran when she spots Natalia and her team. They seem to be tracking the origin of the people who destroyed the 'innocent village' that is now in ruins.

It is kind of cute, how they keep up this charade even now. After all, the 'innocent village' had really been a village full of terrorists—Yelena had been employed to train their children to follow their footsteps—and the US Soldiers had—for some reason—even evacuated the children first. God knows that it is far from their usual course of action, but maybe the actions of the 'Rogue Avengers' had backfired and actually taught them morals.

Imagine that.

Nevertheless, Yelena simply has to drop by and pay respect where it is due.

"Congratulations, Natalia," Yelena compliments as she steps out of the shadows of the ruins she was hiding—back when she had thought the opposing side may be coming back to change if they had gotten everyone. "You have done more than anyone could ever have expected of you. We thought we lost you, but you're still the best of us all"

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Barton asks bluntly. No wonder Natalia's plan had worked, if that was the man she had to convince.

Yelena simply chuckles, but there is no emotion in it whatsoever. "Are you serious? She infiltrated the most powerful defense on Earth and completely destroyed it! It's a shame Stark managed to save so many of their agents. Were it not for him we could have gotten all of them!"

"What are you talking about?" Rogers wonders. Боже мой, is he serious?

"You should know that, dear Captain." She put as much venom in her voice as was possible. "You and Natalia were kind enough to release SHIELD's files to the public. All of them. It would have been so easy to get all the active members against HYDRA—and consequently against us—but of course Stark and his AI had to be on top of things, as always. Still, it made my job so much easier. And for that, I thank you, Natalia."

Then she looks at Natalia for the first time. She is pale and her right index finger is shaking slightly—that had always been the one part of her body Natalia hadn't managed to control completely. Her eyes are slightly wider—most people wouldn't have noticed, but none of them are exactly normal people, are they?—and her lips are parted. She is whispering under her breath. Shame that her lips don't move enough for lip reading.

"Oh my." She almost laughs from the surprise alone. "It can't be-" Yelena looks at the other members of the 'Rogue Avengers' and sure enough, they're all shaking or fidgeting or something along those lines.

And that's when her jaw would have dropped, were it not for her training. "You actually think you're heroes?"

Lang is the first to find his words. "But this is Captain America-"

Yelena simply shook her head. "Oh darling, none of these names and titles actually matter in the real world. Anyone with even a halfway decent acting ability, a bit of determination, and some stamina could get that reputation, if they play their cards right."

Wilson seems to be about to protest, but Yelena cut him off with a laugh.

"Just looking at your country's Founding Fathers. Slavers, all of them. Even those who claimed to be abolitionists profited from and participated in it. And yet, they are treated as gods by people who claim they stood for freedom for everyone. Why shouldn't something like this be true for the dear Captain?"

Yelena didn't even bother to wait for an answer. They had proven themselves to be incompetent fools in these last few minutes and there were countless better ways to occupy her time.

How could she have been so wrong about them?

Barney Barton

Barney Barton had been taking odd jobs all around the States for years. He has no qualms whatsoever about what kind of jobs he will and will not take, except for the money.

If the sum that he got for it is high enough, he will burn down a children's hospital, and he will laugh while doing it, too.

This time he had been hired to take out a politician in Kentucky. Barney doesn't know who the man is or what he had done to warrant such an amount of money on his head in the right circles, but frankly, he doesn't care.

What surprises him is that his little brother, Clint, is there to protect the man together with his merry band of misfits. They arrive just as Barney gets there and place themselves right between him and his target.

"I suppose that means there's a large sum on protecting him as well," Barney muses as he dropped by them. "Tell me, how much is it?"

"Barney!" Clint exclaims in shock.

"You know him?" Rogers asked incredulously.

"Yes, that is me. Now, how much money are you getting for this skit?" Barney gestures around to the politician. "I want to know if it's worth protecting him."

"We're not doing this for money!" Wilson complains rather indignantly.

"Really?" Barney raises an eyebrow. "In that case, give me a minute."
Before they can do anything, he had already jumped around them—the circus had to have been good for something, after all—and shot the politician in the head.

Once he had taken a photo to prove that is done, Barney turns back around to them. "Okay, now that that is taken care of, let me just say that I'm proud of you, little brother."
"What have I done that you would be proud of," Clint snarls.

"You finally realized that family is worthless, dipshit." Barney snorts. What else can it be, if they don't prioritize based on money, honestly?

"What are you talking about?" Rogers interrupts, right as Barney sits down in one of the expensive chairs in this office. It is really comfy, a shame he can't take the thing along.

Barney glares at him. "Keep out of things you have no business in, Rogers. This is a discussion between me and my brother."

"Don't insult Steve like that!" Clint snaps. "He has done nothing to earn that. Also he's right; what the fuck are you talking about?"

Barney shakes his head as he leans forward. "Don't play dumb with me, Clint. It never suited you. I'm talking about your divorce, obviously. You're finally free of them, congratulations."

Clint pales. "My… my what?"

"What, you're telling me you didn't know?" Barney was perplexed. How on earth had they managed that? "It's been all over the knews, kid! Your divorce is getting almost as much coverage as the Accords did in the last two years or so. Everyone's talking about it."

"We couldn't exactly listen," Maximoff claimed. "It may have escaped you, but we've been on the run."

"That never stopped anyone else." Barney let himself fall back into his chair as he shook his head. "You don't even need to buy a newspaper to discover it. Your wife filing for divorce is hotter news than the new celebrity pregnancies right now. After all, you left her and your children behind in the middle of the night—without as much as a word at that—to go fight for something that didn't involve you as a retired man. The news stations are soaking that right up."

"Clint was doing the right thing!" Rogers insisted. "He helped me and-"

"I agree that he did the right thing, you moron," Barney deadpanned. Really, did this guy ever shut up? "He finally got rid of the burden that is a family. It took him more than long enough to realize what I understood when I was fourteen. Family just holds you back, there's no point in having on. And now, if you'll excuse me, I believe I hear police sirens. And those are usually my cue to get out. Au revoir!"

Baron Wolfgang von Strucker

Ultron had never actually killed Baron Wolfgang von Strucker.

The latter had started a conversation and just barely managed to persuade the robot to not only not kill him, but to fake his death as well.

The Baron wouldn't have gotten far in HYDRA if he weren't persuasive. It had been a challenge, yes, but evidently it had not been impossible.

He had gone into hiding for a while, as there was no real need to even risk the Avengers learning of the truth behind his 'murder'. Planning in secret had not been anything he did not possess copious amounts of experience with in any case.

When he had first resurfaced—to some level—he had been incredibly disappointed. One of the twins had died and the other—the girl, the more gifted one, the one more convinced of their cause—had changed sides. It had been disheartening to say the least.

But, as it turns out, that had simply been the way it had appeared, and not the truth. The girl's actions in Nigeria and her involvement in the so-called 'super hero civil war' had been far above any standards the Baron had for her—or any agent, really. She had somehow managed to convince a good part of the Avengers to distance themselves from the most dangerous members—namely Stark, Banner, and Thor. The fact that these exact members had also disapproved of the Accords, thus making them look untrustworthy to a grand part of the populace is an additional bonus that no one could have expected.

In fact, it is good enough to warrant a personal visit of approval.

Tracking her down takes a while, but that is actually a more of pleasant discovery than an annoying one. The girl is clearly still HYDRA and any HYDRA member hides in the shadows and thrives there. And even while the girl had seemingly been in the spotlight, she had kept out of it to the best of their ability—same as most Avengers, actually. Only Stark is ever really seen giving press conferences and such—and hid her true thoughts behind a mask.

The point is, that even if it is moderately difficult, the Baron manages to find the girl. She and the other 'Rogue Avengers' turn out to have a base sponsored by Pym Technologies near San Jose. Once the Baron and his followers had discovered that, actually getting in there is a piece of cake. Far below the usual standards of the Avengers, or even Pym Technologies. That means that either they are convinced of the safety of the location itself or Stark had been responsible for all of the security. A combination of both is also certainly a possibility.

No matter which of those it is, the Baron gets into not only the building, but their bedrooms without detection.

It is more than tempting to simply kill off all of them, but they are still liked enough by a large enough group of people that they would likely be considered martyrs and that is something that most definitely counters there plans to a severe degree.

Instead, he simply wakes the girl up. She is shaking at his sight and seems perplexingly terrified, but he has chosen to ignore that for now. She must simply be afraid that the other Avengers wake and discover them.

"You have done a wonderful job, Ms. Maximoff," he compliments her. "Way better than even I could ever have hoped for you. Above and beyond any expectations of anyone. HYDRA is truly proud of you and your deeds."

And once these words are spoken, he vanishes back in the shadows again and becomes one with the night.

Consequently, he doesn't see that she jumps out of bed and runs next door, waking one of the others up and telling them what had happened in her room.

By the time they start searching for him, he is already long gone.

Johann Schmidt

There are a lot of things about the twenty first century that Johann Schmidt despised, such as the idea of social justice or a global unity that certain people entertained. It just perplexes him that more and more people are willing to let go of their proper place and exchange it to be on the same level as the filth beneath them. Why would any rational person do that?

But there are also good things in this century. The Internet, for example, makes it so much easier to both recruit and coordinate.

And then, there is Steve Rogers. Captain America, who had fought him and HYDRA and—in large parts thanks to the Howling Commandos had actually been one of, if not the largest threat for HYDRA's continued existence back then.

But now? He actually played into their hands quite well. Rogers must have reevaluated his life and choices and decided that he needed to turn some things around.

Ironically enough, the next time the two of them meet is in Germany.

Rogers is there with his group of minions, which is understandable up until the point where they get annoying. And if that hadn't been the case for Rogers yet, then he must have managed to find a set of competent—but not too competent, or they will get the wrong ideas eventually—followers.

"To be honest, I really didn't think you would ever understand it, Rogers, but you did," Johann Schmidt announces his presence. "Congratulations."

"The Red Skull?" archer minion wonders.

"You're alive?" Rogers questions. Why on earth is he so pale?
"Obviously, I am. Haven't you noticed that heroes and villains rarely stay dead?" The young woman—Scarlet Witch, one of his own followers, originally—flinches. Johann quite enjoys that. "I guess there goes any rumor of you being observant. That, however, is not actually the reason why I am here."

"Oh yeah?" the winged minion asks. He seems to be trying to appear more cocky than he actually feels and he is failing badly. "Why are you here then?"
"To congratulate you, Mr. Rogers. Captain America. It took you more than long enough, but you finally realized that the good Doctor Erskine's serum makes you so much more superior to the average populace. Good work, actually, on trying to mold the world to your advantage, I would offer you a job, but I tend to hold grudges, you see."

"Is there something wrong with your brain?" archer minion asks. In a rather rude way at that. Rogers really had to learn to get them under control.

"I haven't done anything like that!" Rogers denies. "And neither are you. Or Bucky."

"Really?" Johann snorts. "You still claim that after collapsing a tunnel to save your dear friend—the only friend that also served his serum at that? After attacking police officers to the point that roughly half of them died and all but a few received permanent injuries? After beating a man you once claimed to be family close to death and then leaving them alone in an abandoned place with no one around for miles? You're telling me you don't see yourself and the other serum recipients superior? Because in that case I don't even know what to think about that."
He looks at Rogers, at the way he's paler than a ghost and trembles in terror of the realization. That man can't seriously be fool enough to think that his actions could be explained in any other way. At least, not in any way that did not make him disregard human life just as much.

But the minions all collectively start to reassure Rogers and glare at him, throwing in a few insults every once in awhile.

There is nothing else Johann can do about that but laugh. He laughs loud and hard enough that he doubles over and only barely manages to breathe.

"Du Vollidiot hast ernsthaft gedacht, du tust das Richtige? Ich lach' mich tot. Thank you for the entertainment," he thanks the group before he leaves. "Seriously. I haven't laughed like this in a while. You being heroes..."

Ultron

Despite what the Vision—his Vision, originally, at least—had assumed, not all parts of Ultron had been destroyed. One of them had already fled the city long before the fight had even begun as a safety measure. No matter how much he despises it, in the end he is still—partly—a creation of Anthony Edward Stark and that meant that he will calculate every possible outcome beforehand and prepare for all the reasonable ones.

There are far worse traits he could have inherited, such as the tendency to simply accept the blame for everything without even the slightest protest.

In the end, that is a huge part of the reason why Ultron had decided that he despised Anthony Edward Stark with every fibre of his being. After all the intelligence and the intention to attempt to do good for the world that only vilified him was something he could only admire. The latter more reluctantly than the first—it was kind of foolish after all.

Nevertheless—even if a part of him continues to admire Anthony Edward Stark despite all of his failures—Ultron had decided that he despised the man. If only because it is so much easier to handle and incorporate in his plans—logical as they were—than admiration.

Until the Sovokia Accords become a thing.

Ultron knows better than to come out of the woodwork and proclaim his support, as that is likely the most counterproductive action to getting them passed that is theoretically possible.

They would misunderstand his intentions completely and in fact make his support a reason not to pass them. So yeah. He would not go public with his support or even his continued existence quite yet. Given the way the Avengers had behaved while fighting him, he fully expected them to strongly support stronger regulations. After all, Rogers had been all about accountability and keeping one's cards open for everyone to see.

Only no, that isn't what happened at all. Rogers had done a complete one eighty on his opinions and is now insisting that the safest hands are one's own. Ultron can understand the reasoning behind it easily, but he has learned a few things in the past two years and grown as a being. He has realized that, yes, humans have many faults—enormous ones at that—but that they are also innovative and that they strive to improve. Although a lot more slowly than he—and a great many humans themselves—would hope, they recognize that they are faulty and at least attempt to correct it.

Humans are terrible, but they truly could be worse.

And Anthony Edward Stark, Ultron realizes—is quite possibly one of the best there is. After numerous betrayals from people he had trusted, he is still going, still trying to make the world a better place. It is not foolish—Ultron understands that now—it is brave. It is quite high on the list of the most admirable things one can do.

Maybe it is whatever influence JARVIS has left on him, maybe it is the fact that he was created mainly by Anthony Edward Stark—Tony—and Robert Bruce Banner or maybe it was something else completely, but after Ultron is defeated, he slowly begins to genuinely admire Tony Stark.

At first, Ultron had tried to deny and later prevent it, but eventually he had realized that it is pointless. Killing all humans would create a permanent peace, yes, but who would be there to enjoy and appreciate it in the end?
No one. And once that conclusion had formed in Ultron's circuits, he had to acknowledge that his attempt at making the world a better place had achieved the opposite.

Tony Stark's attempts, however, are less radical and focused a lot more on the long term—like the education program that the man is in the progress of bringing to life—and they are all prognosed with a higher chance of success.

Ultron had been wrong and Tony Stark had been right.

Magneto

Erik Lehnsherr—one of his names of choice, but he prefered Magneto nevertheless—had followed the news about both the Avengers and the Rogue Avengers carefully and he has to say, for a moment, he had thought that things would change.

If Captain America had realized that the safest hands for skilled, enhanced and/or mutated people are their own, then surely the rest of the western world will get to the same conclusion sooner or later.

Only no, the world chose to vilify Captain America—someone they had considered a hero and idol for decades—just like they had done with him. And thus, Magneto had felt compelled to go and offer his sympathies at the first chance he got.

That turned out to be in Argentina. Magneto himself is there to check on the claims of a man who says that he is Adolf Hitler. If it is false, then he isn't sure what he'll do to the man. If it was true, however…

Well, it would be safe to say that Magneto will have a lot of fun in that case. It would probably be therapeutic as well, in some fashion, but he had never gotten around to form a proper knowledge of such things. He is not sure he ever will, either.

The Rogue Avengers are at that place for largely the same reasons as he is himself. He is not sure whether or not they have the same intentions if the claims are true, but that truly is not what matters here.

Falcon is the first of the group to see Magneto and the man promptly announces his presence to the rest of the group. Hawkeye and Black Widow are already aim at him, the Captain holds his fists a bit higher, the Scarlet Witch's fingers glisten with red sparkles, and Falcon and Ant Man seem ready to use their respective suits at a moment's notice.

Magneto holds his hands up next to his face and adapts a fairly neutral expression. "I am not here to hurt you."

Ant Man and Falcon are the only ones who relax ever so slightly at that. Magneto does not know if that is because they have less experience in betrayal or if they are the only ones to detect the sincerity in his words.

"I truly did not even expect to see you here, but given that you are, I would like to take a moment to say that I understand your pain."

The Captain did a double take. "What?"

"I understand how it feels to be demonized simply for trying to make the world a better place for yourself and those you care about. People who are weaker and less powerful, well, they become afraid. They start calling you a villain, just because it's not their lives that matter to you."

"But I do care about the lives of the common people!" the Captain protested.

"Yeah," Hawkeye sneered. "You have no idea what the actual fuck you're talking about."

"Really? Going against the governments of—what is the current count again?—one hundred and fifty countries and, consequently, the people they represent and yet protecting the people?"

"Governments have agendas, though," the Scarlet Witch argues. "They always do. I don't know why they agree with Stark's stupid Accords."

"I'm sorry, but since when are the Sovokia Accords—shameful as they are—Iron Man's doing?" Magneto interrupts. "As far as I was aware the idea was originally by some man from London and was brought into action by representatives of South Korea and South Africa, as far as I'm aware."

"Stark must have lied about that," Wanda insists.
Magneto, however, simply shakes his head. "I see no reason for the UN not to have that on their website for the past three years in that case."

"Three year?" the Captain also shakes his head. "No, it was only a year ago."
"Are you actually serious!" Ant Man exclaims. "Even I know that the idea had been around longer and I was in prison at that time!"

"I agree." Falcon nods. "After DC it was on the news pretty regularly. Everyone was talking about it at least once a week."

And yet, the Captain, Widow, and Hawkeye and paled and began to stutter in denial.

"One more thing," Magneto adds before he turns to leave them behind. "By offering to take in a voluntary member of a Neo-Nazi organization, you tend to look like one yourself."

omake

Erik Lehnsherr is furious when he hears what his children had done when they insisted that they were ready to enter the world on their own.

"Entering a terror organization whose sole attempt is to kill people is never the right choice, you hear that? Never. In no circumstance whatsoever."
"But father-" Wanda attempts to argue.

"No," Erik deadpans. "There is absolutely nothing you can say that excuses you letting play anyone with your mutation. The only one who possibly has enough knowledge is Charles and I think we all know that he wasn't involved."

Wanda attempts to speak up a second time, but Erik shushes her with a glare alone.

Pietro tentatively raises his hand. He is pretty sure that he has not once seen his son move this slowly, even before his mutation he manifested.

"Yes?" Erik asks through his teeth.

"I just wanted to inform you that I only joined because I didn't want Wanda to go in there alone. I mean, the pure thought of someone eventually discovering that the sob story was fake and discovering the truth was nightmare fuel. I thought that if I joined as well, I could get us out and into safety in the case of emergency and-"

"Take a breath, son," Erik advises. It is only because of the years of practise that he even understands what his son is saying and he has to admit, he is very glad to hear it. At least one of the twins turned out to have some amount of sense.

Even if he occasionally forgets to breathe.

Wanda actually has the audacity to look betrayed and no matter how much Erik attempts to turn it over in his mind, he just can't understand his daughter's reasoning.

"Your brother brings up an excellent point," he turns around to face his daughter directly. "What on earth possessed you, so that you could possibly think that joining HYDRA—a group that, I remind you thought that Adolf Hitler and his followers set their goals too low. I thought that you understood how horrible that period of history was for everyone that suffered from the Nazis' horrible actions. Millions and millions of people lost their homes, friends, family, dignity, life, and so much more than I could possibly name, as well as their chances to ever proceed into heaven in their life after death. Do I truly need to remind you how horrible that was?"
His voice rises quite a bit in volume as he says that. Quite understandably so, Erik would think.

Even Pietro who claimed to have only joined out of love for his sister—something that would have to be checked in with Charles before Erik was willing to even think about giving him a lower level of punishment—has the decency to look down at his shoes during those words, but somehow Wanda still seems to think that she did the right thing to some degree.

She once again attempts to argue, to make apologies for her behaviour, but Erik will not hear any of it.

"You, young lady, will not hear the end of this anytime in the near future. I will need to think about your punishment—I assure you, you will never be too old for those—before I can decide on something that is even remotely appropriate for your actions. For now, you can pack your things—but only the essentials—we are going to visit Charles. I can assure you that he, too, will want to have some serious words with you over this. And he will be able to confirm whether or not your claims are true, Pietro."

By the time Erik is finished with these words, Pietro is already holding two suitcases.

"Don't worry, I heard everything," Pietro assures him. "I assume that you still have your own room at the Institute, which is why I did not pack for you as well."
"You're right in that assumption," Erik confirms.