《Tour Guide | Steve Rogers ✓》Chapter Ten
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The wooden paneling next to the elevator suddenly was smashed to piece, mangled Iron Legion bots, causing everyone to jump into action as the chaos broke loose.
The Avengers prepared themselves to fight, Maria Hill had thrown guns which were stashed under the coffee table towards Natasha and Keira, Steve kicking up at the table to use as a shield as the Iron Legion wreaked havoc on the room.
Natasha and Aquila went flying over the countertop of the bar, seeking refuge beneath it as the rest of the Avengers tried to shield themselves from the Iron Legion as best they could.
Quinn quickly looked around the room before finding Dr. Cho, and pulling her to find refuge behind the piano in the corner of the room.
Steve looked around in a slight panic when Quinn had disappeared from behind him only to find her with Dr. Cho in the corner of the room.
"Quinn! Get Dr. Cho out of here!" He called desperately, only to have Quinn shake her head at him in response, picking up a piece of splintered wood from the ground, preparing herself to use it to fight.
One by one the Iron Legion bots were slowly taken down, however, Quinn's effort to help with her small piece of splintered wood was quickly proved futile as one of the stray Iron Legion bots shoved it out of her hand, advancing closer towards where Quinn was, Dr. Cho cowering further behind her.
Another stray bot came at Quinn from her side, wrapping metal arms around her, pulling her into the air.
"QUINN!" Steve shouted panicked watching the blonde struggle against the metal clasped tightly around her body.
Steve quickly grabbed onto the original bot that had tried to attack Quinn and Dr. Cho throwing it towards Thor who smashed it to pieces with Mjolnir.
Tony shoved a random tool into the neck of a bot, both of them smashing into the broken glass beneath them.
Quinn continued to struggle before eventually prying the bot's arms off her, also sending her falling to the ground, the broken glass cutting slightly into her hands as she fell. Steve's shield soon flying ahead smashing into the bot that had held Quinn only a few moments earlier.
Quinn pushed herself up, wincing slightly when she pulled the two small pieces of glass that had been embedded in her palm out. However, she was soon hauled to her feet by Steve, who was looking at her in complete concern, his eyes flooding with worry.
"Are you okay?" Steve asked desperately.
"I'm fine," Quinn said with a smile brushing dirt off her dress only to catch Steve's still concerned expression. "Really, I'm fine."
"You really can't listen, can you?"
"Nope, not in the slightest," Quinn replied with a grin.
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"That was dramatic!" All eyes snapped back to the first Iron Legion bot which had Ultron's voice still flooding out of it. "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 it's not allowed to. . .evolve? There's only one path to peace. . . the Avengers extinction."
Thor suddenly threw Mjolnir across the room, colliding with Ultron, the mangled pieces of the suit falling to the ground, the metallic voice echoing through the room one more time.
"I had strings, but now I'm free."
After the chaos that had occurred so suddenly, the remaining Avengers gathered in the lab to assess the damage that had been done not only to the building but also to all their work.
"All our work is gone," Bruce announced from where he stood by the monitor. "Ultron cleared out, used the internet as an escape hatch."
"Ultron," Steve repeated, disappointment coating every last syllable.
"He's been in everything. Files, surveillance. Probably knows more about us than we know about each other." Natasha informed, sharing a small smile with Aquila who stood nearby.
"He's in your files, he's in the internet. What if he decides to access something a little more exciting?"
Quinn could only watch the exchange in front of her, she hardly knew what was going on, least of all what had just attacked them all.
"Nuclear codes," Maria realized.
"Nuclear codes," Rhodes repeated. "Look, we need to make some calls, assuming we still can."
"Nukes? He said he wanted us dead," Nat asked confused.
"He didn't say 'dead'. He said 'extinct'," Steve clarified.
"He also said he killed somebody."
"There's wasn't anyone else in the building," Maria spoke up.
"Oh god," Aquila muttered, everyone's eyes suddenly snapping to her.
"What?" Nat asked her.
"Yes, there was," Tony said answering for Aquila.
The conversation in the room grew silent as Tony brought up a 3D diagram of the AI Jarvis's mainframe which was destroyed.
"What?" Bruce asked sadly, walking around the diagram examining the severity of the destruction.
"Jarvis was the first line of defense," Steve said.
"He would've shut Ultron down." Aquila continued following Steve's thoughts.
"It makes sense." Steve finished.
"No," Bruce replied. "Ultron could've assimilated Jarvis. This isn't strategy, this is. . .rage."
Quinn jumped slightly as a tall blonde suddenly stomped into the room, his hand soon making their way around Tony's throat.
"Whoa, easy there,"
"Use your words, buddy." Tony choked out with Thor's hands pressing into his throat.
"I have more than enough words to describe you, Stark,"
"Thor!" Steve shouted at Thor as a distraction. "The Legionnaire."
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Thor dropped Tony to the floor. "Trail went cold about one hundred miles out, but it went north. And it has the scepter." Thor said as everyone sighed in disappointment again. "So now we have to retrieve it again."
Quinn was more than aware of all the time and effort that had gone into retrieving the shelter over the last year or so, it had forced the team to give everything they had and now they had to do it all again.
"The genie's out of that bottle," Natasha said, stepping forward at the end of her sentence. "Clear and present is Ultron."
"I don't understand." Dr. Cho spoke up distressed. "You built this program. Why is it trying to kill us?"
Quinn looked towards the source of laughter that filled the air coming directly from Tony. She was also quite confused with the whole situation and wanted an answer but all she got in return was laughter.
"You think this is funny?" Thor shouted.
"No." Tony quickly replied. "It's probably not, right? Is this very terrible? Is it so. . .is it so. . .it is. It's so terrible."
"This could've been avoided if you hadn't played with something you don't understand."
"No, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. It is funny. It's a hoot that you don't get why we need this."
"Tony," Bruce said. "Maybe this might not be the time to. . ."
"Really?" Tony asked in exasperation. "That's it? You just roll over, show your belly, every time somebody snarls."
"Well, I certainly didn't miss this," Aquila's sarcastic voice adding to the chorus of voices echoing through the air.
"Only when I've created a murder bot."
"We didn't," Tony replied. "We weren't even close. Were we close to an interface?"
"Well, you did something right. And you did it right here. The Avengers were supposed to be different than S. H. I. E. L. D."
"Anybody remember when I carried a nuke through a wormhole?" Tony boasted.
"No, it's never come up," Rhodes could only shake his head sarcastically
"Saved New York?"
"No, never heard of that."
"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?"
"Together."
"We'll lose."
"Then we'll do that together, too."
The remaining members of the team soon retired to their own quarters, the events of the night catching up with them all. In only a few hours it would be dawn, and a few hours sleep was better than none. Ultron was a problem that the majority of them would have to deal with in the morning.
Quinn and Steve were the only two left in the lab, the unspoken words between them adding to the awkwardness of the atmosphere.
"Hey," Quinn's slightly timid voice filled the air. "You guys are going to find a way around this, you always do."
"Yeah I know." Steve admitted after a few more moments of silence. "I'm just so annoyed with Tony and with what he did. He put us all at risk but most importantly he put you at risk."
Quinn's cheeks warmed slightly at Steve's honest confession but she continued to comfort Steve with the truth in any way she could.
"Tony didn't mean for Ultron to turn out the way he did. All of you often find yourselves in situations that you don't mean to turn out the way they do. But you guys always work as a team to solve problems and Ultron will be no different."
"I really don't deserve you, do I?" Steve replied with a smile.
"You do. You must just not know it yet." Quinn replied with a smile before a sudden thought came back to her. "Why were you freezing me out after the party?"
Steve's head snapped up at Quinn's sudden question before he rushed to explain himself.
"Just a lot on my mind, it was nothing really."
"Alright then. But you know that you can talk to me about anything if you want." Quinn replied with a soft smile, looking down at her watch only to frown at the time stamp blazoned across. "My train back to D.C leaves in five hours."
Even though Steve hated the thought of Quinn leaving so soon, he also knew that it was the best option with the threat of Ultron now on the horizon. He wouldn't put her in his harm's way again.
"You need to sleep."
"It's too late for me to go back to my hotel."
"No, I mean here, with me."
"Do you guys have another guest bedroom? I was talking with Clint earlier and he only mentioned the one that Dr. Cho is currently staying in."
"No I meant in my bed."
"Gee, Steve that's a little much don't you think?" Quinn teased.
"No. . . That's not what I meant. . ." Steve trailed off tripping over his words.
"I was only teasing." Quinn said with a grin at the flustered Captain before her. "It's fine, I'll take the couch."
"You will do no such thing." Steve suddenly replied, his previous embarrassed appearance disappearing in an instant. "I'll take the couch, you take the bed."
Alright, if you insist. It's not like I'm going to complain." Quinn replied with a yawn, her true fatigue and the toll of the night's events suddenly catching up to her. "Lead the way then."
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