Chapter 2
-Engaged ? Nah, Steve wouldn't propose to me.
-What ? But.... your rings ?
-What rings ?
-That golden ring on your finger and the only ring Steve ever wears ? They aren't engagement rings ?
-No... Mine is a birthday gift from Steve and his... I don't know he had it stashed in his drawer and then he started wearing it.
-He had a ring... in his drawer... That didn't make you suspicious ?
-Should it ?
-Tony...
-No, look, Clint, life isn't some kind of rom-com, people have plenty of reasons to store rings in their drawers, I mean it's not like Steve has a jewellery box or something, and he half-lives between his room and mine so...
-So ?
-So I should maybe refurbish part of the tower so we could have communicating bedrooms, why didn't I think of that sooner ? Do you think Steve would like that ? It would be a little like moving in together but it's still in the Avengers Tower, so it's just... you know, a practical decision for people who date each other.
-Tony, I think Steve would love it and he also would love you guys to have your own place and I'm pretty sure he would also love marrying you.
-Nonsense. Why would Captain America want to marry me ?
-For the same reasons he's dating you ?
-Be rational here, Clint, I know you're not used to use your brain but listen. Steve and I... We're just dating. He'll just.... He wouldn't marry someone like me, he's probably just waiting for someone to walk around the corner, you know. Someone like Peggy Carrter, for example.
-You....
Clint gave up and just put a spoonful of chocolate cereal in his mouth. Let Steve deal with his mess. He turned over the tabloid he had brought in the kitchen, the one claiming Iron Man and Captain America were planning a winter wedding in the Bahamas. Hehad thrown it on the counter, asked how he didn't even know they were engaged, got himself a bowl of cereal and now this mess of a conversation had happened. Tony had no confidence in himself and still put Steve on a pedestal and that was a whole knot of bullshit to untangle, one he didn't have time for. He had his own stuff to deal with, like the patch of new skin on his wound and the 2 missed calls on his phone. He put his empty bowl in the sink, stole the entire pot of fresh coffee from the machine and excused himself from the kitchen. Tony didn't even hear, already mumbling over 3D plans of a refurbishing of the tower.
*
Whoever had put Maria Hill on baby duty was an utter fool. The twins weren't exactly babies, but they were teens and that was worse. Traumatized teens angry at the world for treating them badly. Hearing people talking their hearts out wasn't really something she enjoyed. But the only reason she had accepted to watch the twins while the avengers were resting after their mission was so she could get information. Shield might need it.
Catching them had been an accident. Hulk was running, Pietro Maximoff hadn't been looking where he was going and they had ran into each other. Quicksilver's velocity paired with Hulk's masse was enough to knock the young guy unconscious. As for Wanda, she had been trying to manipulate Tony's thoughts. But he was closely followed by Steve, who knew his boyfriend wouldn't be completely focused on his surroundings and was at risk of getting distracted from potential threats by shiny new tech. She, too, had been knocked out, but by Cap's shield. And now, both teens were sitting in a room in the Avengers tower, hand and feet bound. And they weren't telling Maria anything, just starring at her while sipping their sodas through a straw.
-I still can't believe you guys volunteered to let Strucker experiment on you.
-Yeah, what kind of monster would let a German scientist experiment on them to protect their country ?
Captain America had just stepped inside the room and Maria was feeling both relieved and frustrated. Her chore was over but it all had been for nothing. He was already turning to the twins, smile all out.
-Steve Rogers, you might know me as Captain America. If you've never heard of me, what I just said might have sounded really insensitive and I apologize.
-We know who you are, finally answered Wanda.
-How... began Maria.
-Party's an hour, go get a rest, I'll see you there, said Steve with a smile and a little wave, as he sat in front of the angry teens.
She thought of protesting but he was right, the party was soon and she meant to enjoy it. As she – slowly – closed the door she heard a few more sentences.
-A party ?
-It's like... and old people hang out, I'm sure you wouldn't enjoy it. There's people like Falcon, you know Falcon ? Doctor Helen Cho might be there too. You know, old people. But, hey, maybe if you stick around long enough and you show us we can trust you... You might get an invite to see Thor get sloshed and War Machine tell jokes.
*
Tony let out an excited whoop and quickly stood up, hands in his hair. Bruce paused his whale songs, just in case. His lab partner waved at him so he also removed his noise-blocking head-set and his headphones. Tony was prone to rambling, cursing, whooping, and producing all sorts of loud noises when he was working on something. Which made sharing a lab challenging when being startled tended to turn you into a massive beast. But they had found ways to make the lab more accessible to Bruce so they could study together Loki's scepter during the three days Thor had allowed them.
-Look at that ! Was saying a very excited Tony. So, that's Jarvis, right ? Started as a language program and got more evolved. Top of the line.
Bruce nodded, waiting for the rest of the explanation.
-And that... is whatever's inside the scepter.
The projection of the modelization of the AI was infitintely more complex than Jarvis'. And Bruce already knew how complex Jarvis already was.
-This is incredible... It looks... Like it's thinking !
-Exactly ! Look at the connections, over here, how it's transmitting information... This could be it, Bruce, the answer I was looking for, look how quick it's thinking ! That's exactly what we need for Project Green Bean !
-Please don't call it that. Why are you still calling it that ?
-I work with what I have, you want me to change the name, give me something else to work with.
-Can't you just give it a file name, like for the suits, mark 3 or something ?
-Absolutely not, it's way more personal than a suit of armor, Bruce, you want me to treat your...
-Hey guys.
Thor had just entered the lab, coffee in hand. His hair was tied in a ponytail and he was wearing a very sensible crimson cloak. “My boyfriend is hot”, thought Bruce. “Thor is way too hot for this world”, thought Tony. After a minute of standing mouth-open like fishes struck by lightning, the two genius scientists opened their mouths :
-You look super good, started Bruce
-Look at that ! Cut Tony. Do you know what that is ? It's inside the scepter, do you have any asgardian tips for us, on what we're looking at ?
Their local norse god sat down and let one of Tony's machines draw his blood while he exposed them his theory, which involved something called infinity stones, that weren't actually stones but some kind of entities but also atoms but also not exactly like that. The three of them decided that this would be a conversation less headache-inducing if they had a drink so they headed to the party downstairs. Tony asked Jarvis to send him a message when the blood analysis would be ready and they wrapped up the modelizations, each AI in its own corner, right where they had found them, absolutely not mixed together.