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 Tony's liquor cabinet. Thor talked to some war vets, and Clint chatted with the nurse who healed him. 

Alex was with Steve, who was playing pool with a friend of his. 

"Sam, this is Alex, newest member of our initiative," Steve introduced. "Alex, this is a friend of mine."

"It's nice to meet you," Alex smiled. 

"So you're the one that can take all my energy," Sam grinned. "Women have said that I can do the same,"

"Oh, come on," Steve rolled his eyes. 

"I'm sure they do." Alex laughed. 

She walked over to Tony and Thor, who were listening to someone tell a story. 

"--drop it at his feet. I'm like 'Boom. You looking for this?" He finishes. 

Neither Thor nor Tony laughed. 

"'Boom. You looking for--why do I even talk to you guys?" 

"I didn't hear it all, but I'm sure it was funny." Alex said politely. 

"It wasn't," Tony jabbed. "This is Alex. Protegé, experiment, whatever you wanna call her."

"Right, well you can call me Rhodey."

"Nice to meet you, Rhodey." 

"So, no Pepper?" Agent Hill chimed in. Tony shook his head. 

"What about Jane?" Alex inquired. 

"Ms. Potts has a company to run,"

"Yes, I'm not even sure what country Jane is in. Her work in the Convergence has made her the world's foremost astronomer,"

Hill and Alex locked eyes, both scoffing at their ego contest. 

"And the company that Pepper runs is the largest tech conglomerate on Earth," Tony pointed. "Pretty exciting," 

"There's even talk of Jane getting a, uh, Nobel Prize,"

"Thor, I am shocked you even know what that is." Alex said, earning a chuckle from Rhodey. 

"They must be busy, because they'd hate missing you guys get together." Hill said, then coughing obnoxiously. "Testosterone," 

"Oh my, do you need a lozenge?" Alex played along.

Hill and Rhodey walked off, leaving Alex with the two men. 

"So, you enjoying yourself? Get a little frisky with the whiskey?" Tony said. 

"I hope to God you're drunk and did not actually say that to me." Alex rolled her eyes. 

"No, but really, meet anyone nice?"

"Are you trying to set me up?"

"You're single, aren't you?"

"Last time I checked, she was with my brother." Thor argued. 

"Are you seriously rooting for her and Rock of Ages?" 

"Really, you two?" Alex chimed in. 

"What's wrong with him?" Thor said defensively. 

"Do I need to make a list?" 

Alex simply walked off, leaving the two to bicker. She sat at the bar by herself, sipping on her drink. She was happy that they all were relaxed, as it had been a while since she felt that way. She sat there until Bruce grabbed her hand, leading her to the area where all the Avengers were crowded around Mjölnir. 

Each man took turns trying to pick it up, making different efforts. She could've sworn she saw it move a bit when Steve tried, but she was also three drinks in. 

Then, they heard a high pitched noise. 

"Wooooortthhyy," A deep, animatronic voice drawled. 

They all turned their heads to see a demented robot-looking thing, hobbling toward them. 

"No, how could you be worthy? You're all killers."

"Stark," Steve stood up. 

"Jarvis," Tony spoke. 

"I'm sorry, I was asleep, or, was I a-dream?" 

"Reboot Legionnaire OS. We got a buggy suit," Tony spoke calmly. 

"There was this terrible noise, and I was tangled in..in..strings,"

Alex's heart was beating out of her chest. She had never seen something like that except unless Tony was inside of it. 

"I had to kill the other guy. He was a good guy,"

Steve was in full Cap mode. "You killed someone?"

"Wouldn't have been my first call. But, down in the real world, we're forced to make ugly choices."

"Who sent you?" Thor spoke up. 

Then, an audio clip played. "I see a suit of armor around the world."

Alex looked to Tony, who now looked panicked. That was him on the audio clip, talking about creating--

"Ultron," Bruce spoke. 

"In the flesh! Or, no, not yet. Not this Christmas," Alex scoffed. He had Tony's attitude that's for damn sure. Thor gripped Mjölnir, and Hill cocked her gun. 

"I'm on mission." It spoke. 

"What mission?" 

"Peace in our time."

Suddenly, robots flew out from behind the wall. Everyone took cover, and Steve blocked himself with a table. Thor hit one with his hammer, and Hill shot her gun. One of the bots took Tony out, throwing him against a bookshelf. 

Alex followed Rhodey down the stairs, but he was thrown by Ultron. 

"Rhodey!" Alex exclaimed. 

Nat fired at a bot, and Steve launched himself on top of one in attempt to bring it down. It threw itself back into a wall, crushing Steve. Everyone fought hard against the bots, and one by one, they were all defeated. 

"That was dramatic." Ultron drawled. "I'm sorry, I know you mean well. You just didn't think it through. You want to protect the world, but you don't want it to change. How is humanity saved if its not allowed to evolve. With these puppets," He held up a broken bot. "There's only one path to peace: the Avengers extinction." 

Thor aggressively threw his hammer at the center of Ultron, smashing him into pieces. 

Later that night, they all gathered in the lab to discuss what they should do about Ultron. The tension in the room was incredibly thick. Everyone who wasn't aware seemed to be pissed at Tony. 

"The Avengers was supposed to be different than S.H.I.E.L.D."

"Does anybody remembered when I carried a nuke through a wormhole?" Tony asked sarcastically. 

Everyone either scoffed or rolled their eyes. 

"No, it's never come up." Rhodey said.

"Anyone remember New York?"

"You locked me in a closet for that, so, no." Alex chimed in, pursing her lips. 

"A hostile alien army came charging through a hole in space. We're standing 300 feet below it." Tony said to Steve. "We're the Avengers. We can bust arms dealers all the live long day, but, that up there..that's the endgame. How are you guys planning on beating that."

Steve stood tall, looking at Tony. "Together."

"We'll lose."

"Then we'll do that together, too."

Tony looked at Steve, then slowly nodded. Everyone relaxed as the tension slowly subsided. 

"Thor's right," Steve paced. "Ultron called us out. And I'd like to find him before he's ready for us. The world's a big place, let's start making it smaller." 

<>

Days passed, and they were still searching for Ultron. Hill came in with a report, talking to Steve and Alex as they walked. 

"Reports of a metal man, or men, coming in and emptying the place." She held her iPad. 

"Fatalities?" Steve asked. 

"Only when engaged. Most of the guys left in a fuge state, going on about old memories, worst fears, and something too fast to see."

"Maximoffs." Alex spoke. 

"It makes sense he'd go to them, they have someone in common." Steve said. 

"Not anymore," 

She showed them a picture of Strucker dead in his cell, the word 'PEACE' painted in blood on the wall behind him. Steve passed the picture around, as everyone commented on it. 

"This is a smoke screen. Why send a message when you've given a speech?" Nat asked. 

"Strucker knew something that Ultron wanted us to miss." Steve replied. 

Nat typed on the computer, but it beeped. "Yep, everything on Strucker has been erased." 

"Not everything." Stark spoke. 

He brought out boxes upon boxes of records, and everyone sifted through them. 

"I know that guy," Stark pointed to the file Bruce held. "He operates off the Black Market coast. Met him at a convention. He was talking about finding something new, a game-changer."

"What's that on his neck?" Alex asked. 

"Some sort of tattoo,"

"No, no, he's branded. Bruce look that up,"

Bruce typed on the computer, making a match to the symbol on the man's neck. "It means thief in an African dialect, in a much less friendly way.

"Wakanada--no, Wakandan?"

Steve and Tony looked at each other. "If he got out of Wakanda with those goods,"

"I thought your father had the last of it." Steve spoke anxiously.

"What comes out of Wakanda?" Bruce asked. 

"The most powerful metal in the world." Tony nodded to Steve's shield. 

"Well, what are we waiting for?"

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𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚊 𝚕𝚘𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚖𝚘𝚟𝚒𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚛𝚗 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚒𝚗 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕 𝚜𝚘𝚘𝚗

𝚝𝚑𝚡 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚟𝚘𝚝𝚎𝚜!!