Age of Ultron
"Hey, the lullaby worked better than ever." she says, walking over to the huddled figure on the ground. She knew how much Tony loved Bruce, and she wanted to make sure the other man was okay.
"Just wasn't expecting the Code Green." the man replies in a hushed voice.
"If you hadn't been there, there would've been double the casualties. My best friend would've been a treasured memory." she tries, giving him a smile while nodding over to where Clint was laying. Bruce just sends her a grimace.
"You know, sometimes exactly what I want to hear isn't exactly what I want to hear." he says, a self-deprecating smile on his face. She looks at him for a moment, before sighing.
"How long before you trust me?" she asks, meeting his downcast eyes.
"It's not you I don't trust." he replies with a sly smile, she regards him for a moment before standing up.
"Thor, report on the Hulk?" she says then, looking over at the giant blonde.
"The gates of Hell are filled with the screams of his victims." the man replies, and Natasha sends him a glare, as the man behind her makes a wounded noise.
"Uh, but, not the screams of the dead, of course. No no, uh...wounded screams, mainly whimpering, a great deal of complaining and tales of sprained deltoids and, and uh... and gout." the man tries to redeem himself, and Natasha just shakes her head in defeat.
"Hey Banner, Dr. Cho's on her way in from Seoul, is it okay if she sets up in your lab?" her husband speaks up then, she furrows her eyebrows at his voice, which sounds a little too stiff for her liking.
"Uh, yeah, she knows her way around." Bruce responds and Natasha sends him one more smile before walking over to her husband.
"Tell her to prep everything, Barton's gonna need the full treatment." she hears him say to JARVIS.
"Very good sir."
"JARVIS, take the wheel." her husband says, before standing up. He looks like he's about to head over to where Steve and Thor were standing, but she intercepts quickly.
"What's wrong?" she says, not bothering to beat around the bush. He furrows his eyebrows at her before sighing.
"Nothing, just a long day." he says, and she can still hear the tightness in his voice, and she knows that something is up that he's not telling her. She narrows her eyes.
"We are going to talk about this later." she said harshly, and by the look on his face she knows he's aware that she's upset with him. He nods quickly before heading over to the two men by the scepter.
---
"How did a nice girl like you wind up working in a dump like this?" he says, walking up to his wife who was mixing a drink behind the bar. She raises her eyebrow at him for a moment, before she smirks.
"Fella done me wrong." she replies, and Tony stiffens a bit. He knew she was still mad at him for brushing her off in the quin-jet. He didn't really mean to, he had just not been ready to face what he had just seen. He was still pretty shaken up about it. Seeing her...Tony shakes the thought out of his head.
"You got a lousy taste in men, kid." he responds, with a smirk of his own. She rolls her eyes, and leans forward. He drinks her in and lets it calm his nerves. He tries to convey how sorry he is through his eyes, and it seems to work because she gives him a soft smile.
"He's not so bad. Well, he likes to push people away. Deep down he's all fluff. Fact is, he's not like anybody I've ever known. All my friends are fighters. And here comes this guy, so focused on the fight, he doesn't have room to let people in." Tony takes a deep breath, and studies his wife's eyes. They have a silent conversation for a bit, before he lets out a sigh of relief when he realizes she's no longer mad.
"Sounds amazing." he says then, giving her a warm smile.
"He's also a huge dork." his wife says then, taking him by surprise. He lets out a surprised chuckle. "Chicks dig that. So what do you think, should I fight this, or run with it?" she says then, her hand coming to gently squeeze his arm, the warm look in her eyes contradicting her teasing tone. He taps his finger on his chin for a moment, acting like he's thinking.
"Run with it, right? Or, did he...was he...? What did he do that was so wrong to you?" he says then, testing the waters. She leans over and gives him a kiss, before starting to walk away.
"Not a damn thing. But never say never." she pauses, turning to him, giving him a nod, before walking away. Tony stands there for a few more minutes, staring after her before there's a throat being cleared behind him.
"What was that?" Steve asks, eyebrows raised. Tony turns around, trying not to flinch at Steve's sudden presence.
"What was what?" he asks then, grabbing the drink Natasha had made him, so that he would have something to do with his hands. He could see the disapproving look in Steve's eyes but forced himself not to acknowledge it. Little did Steve know, he had stopped drinking when Peter was born.
"You and Romanoff, just now? It looked like you were having two different conversations." Steve says then, and Tony lets out a small laugh.
"No, she was just flirting." Tony says, not feeling comfortable being asked about his relationship. Steve shakes his head, still looking confused.
"I've seen her flirt, up close. This ain't that. I hope everything is okay between you two?" Steve says, and Tony opens his mouth to snap at him to mind his own business, before something Steve said brings him up short.
"Wait, what do you mean, 'up close'?" Tony asks, narrowing his eyes, watching as Steve's face turns red, and he quickly moves to walk away. "Wait right there Rogers! What do you mean up close?" he yells again, following after the super soldier.
---
"All our work is gone. Ultron cleared out, used the internet as an escape hatch." Bruce says, and something in Tony's stomach tightens. He is watching Natasha out of the corner of his eye, feeling very grateful Peter was not here during that attack.
"Ultron." Steve said, disdain clear in his voice. Tony feels his throat tighten, and he can feel the panic clawing it's way to the surface. He couldn't let it out, not in front of everyone, he swallows thickly and tunes back into what is going on, his fingers tapping out a rhythm on his thigh.
"He's been in everything. Files, surveillance. Probably knows more about us than we know about each other." Natasha was saying, and he could see Rhodey shaking his head next to him.
"He's in your files, he's in the internet. What if he decides to access something a little more exciting?" Rhodey says, and that's not helping the panic settling in his stomach. He can feel the looks Natasha is sending him, but he is too focused on keeping the panic attack at bay, his fingers moving more frantically on his leg.
"Nuclear codes." Maria says gravely. Tony looks at her, swallowing down the bile in his throat.
"Nuclear codes. Look, we need to make some calls, assuming we still can." Rhodey responds, and Tony is grateful he's there, so someone can get a plan going.
"Nukes? He said he wanted us dead." his wife says, moving to stand beside Tony, taking his tapping hand in hers. He feels his breaths coming a little easier.
"He didn't say dead. He said extinct." Steve bites, anger in his voice.
"He also said he killed somebody." Clint speaks up, looking concerned, sending looks over to him and Natasha. Tony feels his heart pang in his chest at the reminder. He can feel Natasha's eyes on him as he let go of her hand, picking up his phone.
"But there wasn't anyone else in the building." Maria says in confusion, and Tony forces himself to speak up.
"Yes there was." He says, flicking his phone to bring up JARVIS' interface, he has to swallow more bile at the sight of the torn up orange.
"This is insane." Bruce breathes.
"JARVIS was the first line of defense. He would've shut Ultron down, it makes sense." Steve says simply, and Tony's too focused on keeping his breathing under control to snap at him.
"No, Ultron could've assimilated Jarvis. This isn't strategy, this is...rage." Bruce says, voice laced with fear and confusion. Tony can feel his breathing getting shaky before it's stolen from him by a large fist around his throat. He feels himself being lifted up in the air and it takes everything in him to avoid crying out in pain.
"Woah, woah, woah! It's going around." Clint says, hand reaching for his gun. He could see Natasha pull hers as well from beside him. He knew this was going to escalate quickly, if he didn't step in.
"Come on. Use your words, buddy." Tony breathes, trying not to let anyone see how much pain he was in. He could see Natasha stiffen though, and knows he didn't fool her.
"I have more than enough words to describe you, Stark." Thor says menacingly.
"Thor, put my husband down." he hears Natasha say coldly, and feels relief flood him at being let go. Once he's set down Natasha rushes to his side, starting to inspect his neck.
"Thor, the Legionnaire." Steve reminds, bringing everyone's attention back to him. Tony takes a few choked breaths, trying to calm himself again, hoping to stave off the panic. He focuses on his wife's hands brushing the bruises probably forming on his neck.
"Trail went cold about a hundred miles out but it's headed north, and it has the scepter. Now we have to retrieve it, again." the god answers, anger clear in his voice. Natasha lets out a sigh, and stops inspecting his injury to turn to everyone.
"The genie's out of that bottle. Clear and present is Ultron." she instructs, her voice leaving no room for argument.
"I don't understand. You built this program. Why is it trying to kill us?" Dr. Cho speaks up, her voice trembling with fear. Tony feels his panic bubble over the surface, and soon he's laughing, and he can't stop. He can see Bruce shake his head, and Natasha turn quickly to watch him warily.
"You think this is funny?" a booming voice demands, and he could see the anger on Thor's face, but Tony can only feel the panic.
"No. It's probably not, right? Is this very terrible? Is it so...is it so...it is. It's so terrible." he says then, rambling. He just wants the panicked feeling to stop, before he has a panic attack right here.
"This could've been avoided if you hadn't played with something you don't understand." Thor yells, and Tony takes a deep breath, ignoring his wife's questioning looks. He shoves the panic down, and lets his press persona take over, a dangerous look crossing his face.
"No, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. It is funny. It's a hoot that you don't get why we need this." Tony snaps, Natasha raising her eyebrows, but otherwise staying silent.
"Tony, maybe this might not be the time to..." Bruce tries to step in, and Tony lets out a humorless chuckle.
"Really?! That's it? You just roll over, show your belly, every time somebody snarls." he snaps, and deep down he feels guilty for snapping at his closest friend, knowing that Bruce didn't deserve it. But he didn't know what else to do, and he was very close to losing his facade to panic.
"Only when I've created a murder bot." Bruce spits, and Tony flinches internally at the tone.
"We didn't. We weren't even close. Were we close to an interface?" Tony shoots back, bringing up what he had been wondering from the beginning.
"Well, you did something right. And you did it right here. The Avengers were supposed to be different than SHIELD." Steve steps in, and Tony has to suppress the urge to throw up right there. He could just hear the disapproval and blame in his voice, and it was hard to hear, knowing what he knew.
"Anybody remember when I carried a nuke through a wormhole?" Tony says, unsure why he's bringing it up, because the familiar panic that accompanies that thought was now joining the already present anxiety.
"No, it's never come up." Rhodey says sarcastically, but Tony could hear the worry in his voice.
"Saved New York?" Tony kept going, feeling himself getting hysterical.
"Never heard that." Rhodey says again, moving to stand a bit closer to Tony. He distantly feels Natasha's hand on his arm, but he ignores it.
"Recall that? A hostile alien army came charging through a hole in space. We're standing three hundred feet below it. We're the Avengers. We can bust arms dealers all the live long day, but, that up there? That's...that's the end game. How were you guys planning on beating that?" he continues desperately, eyes finding Steve's, raising his eyebrows at the man in question.
"Together." Steve says, and Tony wants to laugh. He wants to start shouting about what a hypocrite Steve was being, but he stops himself.
"We'll lose." he says, feeling the fight leaving his body, and the panic slowly taking back over. Natasha seems to sense this, because she's suddenly stepping forward, wrapping her free arm around his waist. He focuses on her arm, and leans his weight into her, feeling her concern shifting to him.
"Then we'll do that together, too." Steve says, and Tony feels the last of his resolve slip away, he turns away and hides his face in Natasha's neck, ignoring the rest of what Steve has to say. He could feel Natasha saying a few more things, before she was pulling his head out of her shoulder.
"It's just us." she whispers, and that was all he needed before he feels his knees buckle underneath him. Natasha grips his arms and slows their descent to the ground, and soon he finds himself on the ground, half in his wife's lap. His chest tightens, and the panic attack finally makes itself known.
"It's okay, baby. Breathe. Please, baby, breathe." he could hear his wife's voice, but it sounds like it's underwater. Which is the wrong train of thought to go down, because he feels his chest tighten even more at the thought of water. His breathing starts getting more erratic, and he could feel hands on his face trying to calm him down, to no avail.
"Tony, come on. Shit." Tony feels arms wrap around him and begin rocking him back and forth, he focuses on the rhythm and lets his breathing sync to it, and soon he feels himself breathing easier, as he becomes more aware of his surroundings.
"There you go. Easy, easy. Are you with me?" he hears Natasha ask, and he nods slowly, looking around to take in his surroundings, grounding himself. Once he's sure he could, he sits up, leaning his back against one of the tables, Natasha settling in next to him.
"You're okay right?" he asks, voice hoarse, as he tilts his head to look at her. She turns to him with a furrow in her brows.
"What?" she asks, confusion lacing her voice.
"Ultron. Did he hurt you? Are you okay?" he asks again, voice a little more clear this time. Understanding fills her face and she nods.
"No, he didn't. I'm okay. What about you? What was all that?" she asks gently, and Tony drops his head to her shoulder.
"I didn't mean to Tash. I didn't. I just wanted to keep you safe. I promise. I didn't-" he rambles, his eyes heavy, before Natasha shushes him. She brings her hand up to rest in his hair.
"Shhh. We will talk about it later. You need to get some rest, just go to sleep okay? Everything will be okay." she whispers, as she runs her fingers through his hair. He wants to protest, but his panic attack drained him of all energy. And that paired with Natasha's calming presence, he could feel his eyes fall close of their own accord, and soon everything was black.
---
"The news is loving you guys. Nobody else is. There's been no official call for Banner's arrest, but it's in the air." Maria says as he sits down in the quin-jet. Natasha's leaning against his leg, shaking like a leaf. He starts running his fingers through her hair, trying to help in some way.
"Stark Relief Foundation?" he asks, eyes still on Natasha, worry filling his gut.
"Already on the scene. How's the team?" Maria asks sympathetically.
"Everyone's...we took a hit. We'll shake it off." he sighs, looking around quickly. Everyone was in their own world, and they looked worse for wear. The only one who seemed fine was Clint, who was piloting the quin-jet. He would say he was fine too, but he could feel the worry for Natasha balancing on the edge of panic.
"Well for now I'd stay in stealth mode, and stay away from here." Maria says, pulling him out of his thoughts. He lets out a snort.
"So, run and hide?" he asks incredulously, lowering his voice when he feels Natasha flinch against him. He shushes her quietly, before turning his attention back to Maria.
"Until we can find Ultron, I don't have a lot else to offer." she says apologetically, and Tony lets out a sigh.
"Neither do we." he says as a goodbye, and turns off the video chat. He stands up gently and helps lower Natasha down, covering her with a blanket. He waits next to her for a bit, until she falls asleep, before he heads over to where Clint was flying, jaw tight.
"Hey, you wanna switch out?" he asks in concern, resting his hand on the other man's shoulder. He could feel how stiff Clint was, and it was worrying him.
"No, I'm good. If you wanna get some kip, now's a good time, cause we're still a few hours out." Clint replies tightly, and Tony narrows his eyes in suspicion.
"A few hours from where?" Tony asks warily, already feeling like he knew what Clint was talking about.
"A safe house." is Clint's reply, and Tony knows his suspicions are right.
"You sure about this?" Tony asks quietly, and Clint turns to him quickly, sincerity in his gaze.
"Yeah, I'm sure." he replies, and Tony nods, hoping Clint knew what he was doing.
"Okay, why don't I keep you company?" Tony asks then, and Clint nods gratefully as he sits in the copilot chair.
A few hours later, Tony is supporting Natasha's weight with Clint's help as they walked up to the familiar farmhouse.
"What is this place?" Steve asks as they walk.
"A safe house." Tony replies casually.
"Let's hope." Clint responds from next to him, sending Tony a smirk. Tony just rolls his eyes as Clint opens the door and shifts all of Natasha's weight onto him.
"Honey, I'm home." Clint calls as they all file in, and soon Laura, a very pregnant Laura, is rounding the corner in surprise. She sends Tony a look before raising her eyebrows at Clint. "Hi. Company. Sorry I didn't call ahead." Clint responds weakly, and Laura narrows her eyes a bit.
"Hey." she replies, looking around at the group, before greeting Clint with a kiss. Tony sends her an awkward wave.
"Is this an agent of some kind?" he hears Thor ask Steve quietly. He watches in amusement as Steve just shrugs in confusion.
"Gentleman, this is Laura." Clint then introduces lamely, and Tony snorts as Clint sends him a glare.
"I know all your names." Laura then says with a stiff smile. Then they hear footsteps running down the hall, and Tony feels a smile fill his face, and Natasha stands a little straighter in his arms.
"Ooh, incoming." Clint says happily as Cooper and Lila come racing in, tackling him in a hug.
"Dad!" Lila squeals and Clint swings her up into his arms, and kisses Cooper on the head.
"Hey, buddy! How you guys doing? Ooh..." Clint is saying, and Tony has to stifle his amusement at the look on the others' faces.
"And these are...smaller agents?" Thor questions again, and Tony laughs before turning his attention back to the family reunion.
"Did you bring Auntie Nat and Uncle Tony?" Lila then asks, and Natasha moves out of his arms and into sight of the kids, with a shaky smile on her face.
"Why don't you hug 'em and find out?" his wife says, getting the attention of the kids. Lila rushes over to her, and Natasha scoops her into her arms with a smile. Cooper runs over to Tony and gives him a hug, ruffling his hair.
"Where's Pete?" Tony asks Cooper then, after Lila had transferred herself from Natasha's arms to his and has busied herself with pulling on his beard.
"He's in my room. He thought it was just Dad. I'll go get him! Come on, Lila." Cooper says then, pulling his sister's arm. Tony lets her down gently, before they rush out of the room. Steve is looking between everyone in confusion.
"Sorry for barging in on you." he starts, causing everyone's attention to turn to him.
"Yeah, we would have called ahead, but we didn't know we were coming until just now. Thanks for watching Pete." Tony said then, walking over and giving Laura a kiss on the cheek, Natasha following and pulling Laura into a hug.
"Yeah, well Fury helped me set this up when I joined. He kept it off SHIELD's files, I'd like to keep it that way, only Tony and Nat know. I figure it's a good place to lay low." Clint explains to the others, and Tony turns away to watch Natasha and Laura.
"Honey. Ah, I missed you." Laura is saying, squeezing his wife's hands. Natasha gives her a weak smile, and Tony can tell that Laura is worried, just like he is. But Natasha is the queen of deflection, because she turns their attention to the baby bump.
"How's little Natasha, huh?" she asks, placing her hands on Laura's stomach. Laura gives her a guilty smile.
"She's…Nathaniel." Laura says then, and Natasha frowns, and bends until her face is in front of her stomach.
"Traitor." Natasha whispers. And Tony lets out a betrayed noise.
"Wait why Nathaniel? Why not Tony?" he says then, earning a laugh out of Laura and a glare from his wife. He puts his hands up in his defense before he feels small arms wrap around him from behind.
"Dad!" Tony smiles, before turning around and returning his son's hug.
"Hey bug! Have you been good for Laura?" he asks, pulling away and brushing his sons bangs back from his face. Peter scrunches his face in embarrassment, and pushes Tony's hands away.
"Of course, Dad. Hey Mama." he says, moving away from Tony with a weak glare and walking over to his mother. He rolls his eyes at the teenage attitude as Natasha pulls him into a tight hug and they share some quiet words. He is broken from his thoughts as the door slams shut. He watches in concern as Thor storms out, with Steve hot on his heels, before he sees Thor disappear in a flash of light. He exchanges a look with Clint before he has Peter show them to where he's been staying.
---
"What happened? What did she show you?" Tony asks gently, a couple hours later as they were sitting in the guest room, freshly showered.
"Just...it was nothing." Natasha says quietly, running a brush through her hair. Tony sighs and stands up, placing himself behind her with his hands resting gently on her hips. He looks at her in the mirror.
"Tash." he urges gently, and her shoulders drop in defeat.
"The Red Room. And it just reminded me that I was lying to myself." she replies, voice hard. Tony brushes a kiss onto her cheek.
"Lying about what?" he presses gently, and he can feel the shakiness of the breath she lets out, turning around in his arms.
"That I was an Avenger. That I was anything more than the assassin they made me." she whispers, her eyes focused on her hands that were drawing absent patterns into the fabric of his shirt.
"Tash. How could you even say something like that? You know it's not true. If you were still what they made you, you wouldn't be married to me. You wouldn't be Pete's Mom. Look me in the eyes and tell me that I'm wrong." Tony said, gently pulling her chin up to meet his eyes. She looks at him for a moment, before nodding.
"I know. I'm sorry. I know." she says then, and he pulls her closer in his arms, her head tucked under his chin.
"Good." he says, and they stay like that for a while, slightly swaying back and forth before Natasha pulls away slightly to look at him.
"What did she show you?" she asks, and Tony stiffens slightly.
"What do you mean? I was with the Hulk." Tony says lamely, trying to deflect. She raises her eyebrow at him, face unamused. He sighs, leading them back to sit on the bed, Natasha settling herself on his lap.
"Everyone was dead. And it was my fault. I didn't do enough." he finally says, the fear from when he first saw it coming back. Natasha hums thoughtfully, her hands playing with the small hairs at the base of his neck.
"And that's why you were experimenting with Ultron." she says, the words coming out as a statement, rather than a question. He nods, burying his face in her neck.
"I get it. And it didn't go like we wanted it to. So now we fix it." she says then, and he feels grateful that she doesn't blame him for what happened. He nods, smiling up at her before placing a gentle kiss on her lips. They kiss slowly for a few minutes, before she pulls away and nods towards the window.
"Why don't you go help Cap chop some wood?" she says with a smirk. He sends her a fake glare before rolling his eyes and heading outside.
---
"Thor didn't say where he was going for answers?" Tony asks later, as he and Steve are chopping wood. He has to avoid watching Steve so he doesn't get frustrated at how easy this was for him.
"Sometimes my teammates don't tell me things. I was kind of hoping Thor would be the exception." Steve says, blame in his voice. Tony knew it was directed at him, for not saying anything about Ultron. Tony almost scoffs. He wants so badly to call Steve out, about how he wasn't telling Tony something very important either, call him a hypocrite. He reigned it in though, knowing they had more important things to worry about.
"Yeah, give him time. We don't know what the Maximoff kid showed him." he says instead, giving Thor the benefit of doubt.
"'Earth's Mightiest Heroes.' Pulled us apart like cotton candy." Steve says then, bitterly. Tony raises his eyebrow at him, before picking up a new piece of wood.
"Seems like you walked away all right." he says, swinging the ax around and effectively chopping the wood piece in half. It was satisfying. He heard Steve sigh.
"Is that a problem?" he asks, defensively, shoulders squared in a challenge.
"I don't trust a guy without a dark side. Call me old fashioned." Tony says, rising to the bait a bit. He takes a deep breath to calm himself as Steve lets out a sharp laugh.
"Well let's just say you haven't seen it yet." he spits, and Tony wants to say he has, but doesn't.
"You know Ultron is trying to tear us apart, right?" he says, trying to get Steve to calm down a bit, but that only seems to rile him up more.
"Well I guess you'd know. Whether you tell us is a bit of a question." Tony stops and looks at him incredulously.
"Banner and I were doing research." he snaps.
"That would affect the team." Steve spits back, and Tony wants to scream.
"That would end the team. Isn't that the mission? Isn't that the "why" we fight, so we can end the fight, so we get to go home?" Tony says sharply, hands gesturing to the farm around them. He had a family he was trying to protect, and he didn't understand why Steve didn't get that. He watches as Steve pulls apart a log with his bare hands before turning to look at Tony angrily.
"Every time someone tries to win a war before it starts, innocent people die. Every time." Steve says coldly, and Tony is about to spit back when he hears a soft voice behind him.
"I'm sorry. Tony, uh, Clint said you wouldn't mind, but, our tractor, it doesn't seem to want to start at all. I thought maybe you might..." she says, eyes worriedly flicking between him and Steve. Tony lets out a sigh, and gives Laura a reassuring smile, watching as she gives him one back.
"Yeah, I'll give her a kick." he says, reaching an arm out to assist Laura walking back. Before they get too far he turns around and points and accusing finger in Steve's direction. "Don't take from my pile." he says childishly, earning a snort from Laura, before he continues to walk away. They walk silently toward the barn for a few minutes before she speaks up.
"You doing okay? Nat told me he still hasn't told you." Laura asks quietly as they come to a stop in front of the barn. Tony shakes his head tiredly.
"At this point, I don't think he ever will." he says, before turning and heading into the barn.
---
"What the hell happened?" Tony screams the second Bruce and Clint walk in. "Where is she?" he shouts again when no one answers. He glares at Clint, who looks just as upset as he feels.
"He has her. We'll find her." Clint spits out. Tony clenches his fists for a minute before facing Clint again.
"Sorry. Any chance she might leave you a message, outside the internet, old school spy stuff?" he asks, and Clint looks up suddenly.
"There's some nets I can cast. Yeah, alright. I'll find her." he says mostly to himself, before rushing off. Tony forces himself to take a deep breath, before turning to Bruce.
"I can work on tissue degeneration, if you can fry whatever operational system Cho implanted." the man says, and Tony hesitates.
"Yeah, about that." he starts, and Bruce is already shaking his head.
"No." he says immediately.
"You have to trust me."
"Kinda don't." Bruce says, and Tony has to swallow down the hurt for a moment, before continuing.
"Our ally? The guy protecting the military's nuclear codes? I found him." Tony says, flicking his tablet, the familiar orange interface appearing in the room.
"Hello, Dr. Banner." JARVIS greets, and Bruce looks at him in surprise.
"Ultron didn't go after JARVIS cause he was angry. He attacked him because he was scared of what he can do. So JARVIS went underground. Okay? Scattered, dumped his memory. But not his protocols. He didn't even know he was in there, until I pieced him together." Tony says, pride filling him as he thought of his creation.
"So, you want me to help you put JARVIS into this thing?" Bruce asks warily. Tony shakes his head.
"No, of course not! I want to help you put another AI in this thing. I have another AI, just like JARVIS...if we can..." he cuts off as Bruce starts shaking his head, he lets out a sigh. "We're out of my field here. You know bio-organics better than anyone." Tony pleads.
"And you just assume that your AI's operational matrix can beat Ultron's?" Bruce asks skeptically.
"JARVIS has been beating him from inside without knowing it. This AI is an exact copy of JARVIS' interface. This is the opportunity, we can create Ultron's perfect self, without the homicidal glitches he thinks are his winning personality. We have to." he says, desperate for Bruce to believe him.
"I believe it's worth a go." JARVIS says then, and Tony gestures at him in gratitude, silently begging Bruce.
"No, I'm in a loop! I'm caught in a time loop, this is exactly where it all went wrong." Bruce says then, hysterical. But Tony knows he's succeeded in getting Bruce on his side.
"I know, I know. I know what everyone's going to say, but they're already saying it. We're mad scientists. We're monsters, buddy. You gotta own it. Make a stand. It's not a loop. It's the end of the line." he says, and slowly Bruce nods, and they get to work.
---
Natasha can hear some kind of commotion happening outside her cell, and she can only hope that Clint found her, and that Tony was on his way.
"Natasha! Natasha!" she hears, but it sounds nothing like Tony. It sounds like Bruce.
"Bruce?" she asks in confusion, looking around to see if Tony is anywhere to be seen.
"You alright?" he asks in response, walking closer to her cell. She nods.
"Yeah." she says and he nods.
"The team's in the city, it's about to light up." he says, and she feels fear settle in her gut for Tony, but ignores it.
"I don't suppose you found a key lying around somewhere?" she asks, and he nods sheepishly.
"Yeah, I did." he says, bringing out a gun. She nods in a approval and backs up as he blasts the lock.
"So what's our play?" she asks then, and he looks at her warily.
"I'm here to get you to safety." Bruce answers, and Natasha knows that Tony sent him.
"Job's not finished." she says, and he shakes his head.
"We could help with the evacuation, but I can't be in a fight near civilians. And Tony wants you safe. Our fight is over." Bruce says, trying to convince her. She shakes her head.
"Tony knows better than to try and bench me. Jobs not finished Banner, let's go." she says, and Bruce nods reluctantly, like this is what he expected the whole time, and hands her a comm.
"Tony, you know I don't like to be told what to do." she says as soon as it connects, Bruce laughing quietly behind her. She can hear her husband let out a small curse, before sighing.
"It was worth a shot. Why do you think he also had a comm?" Tony responds, and she rolls her eyes and heads to the fight.
---
"We're dealing with something new." Tony says, walking slowly next to Thor and Steve. He felt a little sore, but altogether relieved it was over and he could go home.
"Well, the Vision's artificial intelligence." Steve replies, bringing him back into the conversation.
"A machine." he agrees.
"So it doesn't count." Steve says like it's obvious.
"No. It's not like a person lifting the hammer." Tony adds, Thor chuckling between them.
"Right. Different rules for us." Steve says, a smile in his voice. Tony feels a smirk line his face.
"Nice guy, but artificial."
"Thank you." Steve laughs.
"If he can wield the hammer, he can keep the Mind Stone. It's safe with the Vision and these days, safe is in short supply." Thor says then, bringing a serious note to their conversation. Tony shakes his head.
"But if you put the hammer in an elevator..." Steve says, and Tony lets out a laugh.
"It would still go up." Tony finishes, earning a smug smile from Steve.
"Elevator's not worthy." the man responds with a shake of his head, as they finally reach the outside lawn.
"I'm going to miss these little talks of ours." Thor says, voice booming as always.
"Well, not if you don't leave." Tony says reasonably. Thor shakes his head.
"I have no choice. The Mind Stone is the fourth of the Infinity Stones to show up in the last few years. That's not a coincidence. Someone has been playing an intricate game and has made pawns of us. But once all these pieces are in position..." Thor says gravely, and Tony doesn't like how serious this conversation was getting.
"Triple Yahtzee?" he jokes, earning a fond eye roll from the super soldier, while the god just shook his head.
"You think you can find out what's coming?" Steve asks, ignoring Tony.
"I do. Besides this one, there's nothing that can't be explained." Thor says, patting Tony roughly on the chest. He makes a sound of outrage, but they both ignore him. Soon there's a flash of light, and Thor is gone, leaving an ugly mark in the grass where he had stood.
"That man has no regard for lawn maintenance. I'm gonna miss him though. And you're gonna miss me. There's gonna be a lot of manful tears." Tony says, turning around, pressing the button on his phone, watching as his car pulled up in front of him. Steve shakes his head in amusement.
"I will miss you, Tony." he says, and Tony thinks that he sounds sincere, but he can never be too sure anymore.
"Yeah? Well, it's time for me to tap out. Maybe I should take a page out of Clint's book and build Tasha and Pete a farm, hope nobody blows it up." Tony says then, placing his hand in his pockets.
"The simple life." Steve replies with a nod, a bit of a wistful tone in his voice. Tony smiles at him.
"You'll get there one day." he reassures him, but Steve is already shaking his head. He raises his eyebrows in curiosity.
"I don't know, family, stability. The guy who wanted all that went in the ice seventy-five years ago. I think someone else came out." Steve says, voice a bit sad. Tony turns and opens his door.
"You alright?" he asks as he gets in his car, and Steve nods.
"I'm home." Steve says then, looking around. Tony nods, and gives him a salute, before speeding away. He was glad this was all over and he could head home.
IRONMAN WILL RETURN