Drumstick in hand, Eleanor returned to the circle of her friends and practically dropped back onto the sofa next to Natasha. "You found one?", she asked in amusement.

Eleanor smiled back and started spinning it like Clint was doing, it was quite therapeutic focusing on the movement of the stick and getting the correct movements done with her hands.

Whilst the others were engaged in conversation about something that didn't interest her, she noticed that the few people who had been passed out had made their exit whilst she was on the drumstick hunt. It was a relief as it was really awkward trying to find enjoyment in what was happening when strangers were sleeping a few paces away.

"So, you're the only one who can lift the hammer?", Tony turned to Thor, changing the conversation to something that she was interested in, and not something that Steve had mentioned about investments.

"Yes", Thor laughed as he had been asked that question many times by the Iron Man, and each time Tony just looked at him as though he was lying.

"But it's a trick!", Clint piped up from another sofa.

"No, no, it's much more than that".

"Ah, whosoever be he worthy shall haveth the power", Clint lowered his voice a few octaves to try and match Thor's, but he still didn't succeed then. Eleanor shook her head, she believed Thor, he was a God. It made sense for him to have some unique weapon that only he can yield. "Whatever man, it's a trick!", he went back to his normal voice.

"Please, be my guest", Thor gestured to the hammer, making both Eleanor and Natasha roll their eyes. This was guaranteed to start some stupid contest between the guys, which happened pretty much on the daily. Just a day previously they had walked into the parking garage to find the men seeing who could push a car the farthest whilst holding their breath simultaneously.

"Really?", Clint stood up with his drumsticks and made his way over to Mjölnir.

"Oh, this is gonna be beautiful", Rhodey spoke for the first time in a while, Eleanor had honestly forgotten that he was there, so when he spoke she jumped ever so slightly. No one else noticed other than Natasha who nudged her slightly to tease her for being so jumpy.

"Clint, you've had a tough week. We won't hold it against you if you can't get it up", of course Tony would say something like that. Eleanor scoffed as she shook her head for what felt like the hundredth time that night, the people that she lived with were interesting.

"You know I've seen this before, right?", Clint spoke down to a seated Thor before wrapping his hand around Mjölnir's handle and grunting as he tried to lift it. She was pretty sure that she heard his back cracking when he stretched to lift it. He chuckled in slight embarrassment as he continued, "I still don't know how you do it!".

Tony was very much judging him, also believing that like Thor, he himself would be able to lift it, "Smell the silent judgement?".

"Please, Stark, by all means". Yep, Clint had just turned it into another Avengers competition. Just what they needed again. Though Eleanor was curious about whether anyone would be able to lift it.

"Never one to shrink from an honest challenge", Tony took Clint's place next to the hammer. "It's physics".

"Physics?", Banner added on.

"Right, so if I lift it, I then rule Asgard?", Tony wrapped both hands around the handle.

Thor nodded, very confident in knowing that no one else would be able to lift it. "Yes of course".

"I will be reinstituting prima nocta". Both Eleanor and Nat scrunched their faces up in disdain, that wasn't an appropriate joke to make.

"I expect a lot of money in the screwups jar for that one, Tony", Eleanor pointed at him before he had a chance to lift the hammer.

He rolled his eyes but reluctantly agreed before promptly attempting to lift the hammer, but also failed. "I'll be right back". They all watched as he left the room, having no clue where he was going or what he was getting.

"Do you think you'll have a go?", Eleanor mumbled to Natasha as she placed her head on Nat's shoulder. It was getting late and she was getting sleepy. Besides, Natasha's shoulder was comfortable.

"Probably not, you?", Nat mumbled back whilst wrapping an arm around Eleanor and tugging her closer into her body.

"Maybe". She let out a loud yawn making Natasha laugh and tell her that after the guys have stopped seeing whose muscles are bigger that they were going to bed. Eleanor happily agreed to that, being in her warm bed sounded good.

It wasn't long before Tony walked back in with the hand of one of his Iron Man suit on. Eleanor thought that it was clearly cheating, but didn't mention anything as he still failed to lift it. He soon got Rhodey to join in with his own suit that he had kept from Tony, but still, even together they both failed.

Bruce stepped up next, but no words could describe the second-hand embarrassment that Eleanor would feel for what was about to happen. He placed both feet on the edge of the coffee table as he tried to yank Mjölnir up, and screamed out whilst doing so. When he failed he backed up and continued the scream whilst he raised his hands, mimicking his alter-ego, the Hulk.

The room went a bit silent after that as people did not know how to react to that display. Eleanor kept her eyes trained on the coffee table as she focused on maintaining a blank face to stop herself from laughing out loud. It proved to be a difficult feat when she looked over to Maria whose eyes were wide as she stared at Bruce.

Nat gave him a tight-lipped smile of politeness out of habit when he met her gaze, but when she remembered the incident from a few days prior she quickly looked down at Eleanor to make sure that she was okay. When she saw an unusually blank face for this situation she smiled knowing that she was on the verge of bursting out into loud laughs.

When Bruce sat down it was decided that it was Steve's turn. "Go ahead, Steve. No pressure", Tony encouraged him even though it was a lot of pressure, he was the one with muscle.

When Steve tried, Eleanor could have sworn that it shifted ever so slightly, though she could have been going crazy. But when she looked at Thor and saw his face had gotten serious she knew that he had seen it as well. So, Steve was... nearly worthy?

He was in his worthiness arc.

When it refused to lift Steve stepped back and smiled graciously, not being a sore loser like the others had been, and Thor seemed to laugh out of relief more than anything.

"And, widow?", Tony again spoke, getting into the competition clearly as he was ordering people to try as well. Eleanor lifted her head up and looked at Natasha's side profile to see what she would do.

"Oh no, no. That's not a question I need answered".

"Okay", Tony then turned his gaze to his next prey, Eleanor. "Infinity Spy! Care to have a crack at it?". Eleanor must have looked hesitant to have a try because he almost begged next, "Come on, one of you has to try".

Cursing his persistence, she caved. "Fine". Nat squeezed her arm in reassurance before she got up and placed herself next to the hammer.

She was incredibly nervous about having everyone's expectant gazes on her, so tried to act like she was in a room alone. Placing both hands on the handle she took a deep breath and swiftly lifted.

No one expected it to happen, but Mjölnir in Eleanor's hands lifted about an inch before crashing down onto the table again. Though she wasn't sure if she imagined it, but when she looked up to see everyone with gaping mouths and Thor looking like he was on the verge of a breakdown she knew that there had definitely been lift. With Thor's reaction she didn't dare see if it would happen again if she tried a second time, so took a step backwards as she stared at the hammer.

She rubbed the back of her neck and let out a nervous chuckle, "Uh... I'm just gonna- yeah I'm just gonna sit down". She made her way back to Natasha's side, who was looking at her wide-eyed but with a small smile on her face.

"You're worthy", Nat dragged out in a sing-songy voice directly into Eleanor's ear so that no one else would hear it.

"Come off it", Eleanor lightly shoved her away and laughed. Meanwhile, everyone else was still looking shocked. Eleanor didn't really know what to think. Sure, it had moved, but it had also immediately slammed back into the table. Maybe it had thought that she was someone else momentarily before going 'Oh oops my bad!'.

"No", Tony started which brought the attention back onto him as people were confused about where he was headed. "Noodle arms over there can lift it, but Michellin man over there can't?", he referred to Eleanor and Steve. "It's rigged".

"Hey!", both said at the same time. Eleanor was on the skinny side but she was definitely toned from her job, she didn't think her arms were noodles, at least she hoped that they weren't.

"You bet your ass", Clint agreed with Tony as they stood.

"Steve, he said a bad language word", Maria said in a serious tone and pointed over to Clint. Eleanor smirked, knowing that the Captain would not appreciate being laughed at.

"Did you tell everyone about that?".

"The handle's imprinted, right? Like a security code", Tony avoided Steve's question. "Whosever is carrying Thor's fingerprints, is I think the literal translation". Though Eleanor frowned at this, her fingerprints were hers, not Thors, and something had happened, so that couldn't be it.

"Yes. It's a very, very interesting theory", Thor stood with a drink still in his hand, "I have a simpler one". He then lifted Mjölnir with ease, "You're all not worthy! Well maybe except for you, mini Midgardian, you're confusing".

"Thanks", Eleanor grumbled at being referred to as small twice in short succession. Though there was no time to think of a comeback because suddenly an awful high pitch screech rang through the room, and almost everyone placed their hands over their ears in pain. It made Eleanor's entire nervous system cringe, like the sensation of nails on a chalkboard but worse.

Tony pulled out a device to see if it was a dodgy piece of technology, but couldn't see anything which was odd. The screeching went away which was good for everyone's eardrums, but the sound was replaced by a scraping noise that seemed to be getting closer.

This once again caught everyone's attention as the ominous sound kept getting ever closer, and it seemed to be coming from the entrance to the room. On instinct, Natasha grabbed Eleanor's hand as they turned to face where the sound was coming from.

A broken-looking robot that was leaking oil revealed itself by walking into the room. It was more shuffling than walking due to the damage, and it looked terrifying. "Worthy?". Eleanor got goosebumps at the scratchy robotic voice, it was like sandpaper. "No. How could you be worthy? You're all killers". It continued walking closer to the group.

"Stark", Steve stood, wanting to know, like everyone else, what the hell was going on.

"Jarvis?". There was no response from the AI which was very unusual.

"I'm sorry, I was asleep". As it moved closer Eleanor recognised the colouration and patterns of the busted-up bot, the Avengers symbol was as clear as day on its chest, it seemed to be a damaged Iron Legion bot, but they shouldn't start up on their own. "Or, I was a-dream".

"Reboot Legionnaire OS. We got a buggy suit", Tony spoke into the device but there was once again no response. Eleanor sharply inhaled in anticipation of what was coming next. It was one thing for a horror movie like, buggy suit to walk in, but for Jarvis to not be responding too, something was seriously wrong. Nat and Eleanor both stood up as well so that they weren't in such a vulnerable position, Nat still clutching the others hand.

"There was this terrible noise. And I was tangled in... in... strings", the bot moved around more with its hands in the air, "I had to kill the other guy. He was a good guy".

"You killed someone?", Steve voiced the thoughts of everyone else in the room. Who the hell had this bot killed? Eleanor did a quick headcount and everyone was accounted for, and she was pretty sure that all of the guests had left the building by now. She thought that maybe the bot was talking about one of the staff, but there would be no reason to kill one of them.

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

"Who sent you?".

The bot responded to Thor with a voice recording of Tony, "I see a suit of armour around the world".

"Ultron", Banner audibly realised. Ultron? Eleanor had no clue what the man was talking about, but the bot clearly did. Eleanor looked between the two men, wondering what they had done to unleash a killer robot. They looked incredibly nervous, so they had clearly not meant for this to happen, which meant that they had lost control of some sort of sentient machine. Many movies had proved that this was never a good thing. Natasha looked nervous as well whilst looking over at them but her facial expression mainly showed that she was trying to figure out what they had done. It looked like she was trying to read their minds.

Eleanor briefly scanned the room to get her bearings on the situation if it went awry, and one of the first things that were noticed was Maria now holding a gun. She wished she had hidden one on her person as well but when attending a casual party it isn't the first thing that is usually thought of.

"In the flesh. Or no, not yet. Not this chrysalis. But I'm ready. I'm on a mission".

"What mission?", Nat spoke, having had enough of not being in the know.

"Peace in our time".

More Iron Legion bots proceeded to smash through the glass walls at the front and flew towards them at an alarming speed, and these ones were not broken so they could do some real damage. "Shit!", Eleanor yelled and dragged Natasha over to the bar so that they could get cover.

They ducked as one flew directly over their heads but it seemed to be flying over to Thor who easily smacked it away with Mjölnir. Eleanor and Natasha leapt over the bar at the same time, though Eleanor jumped with a bit more force to get Nat over as well, so when they let go of each other she harshly crashed into the drinks on the other side, and then flopped on top of Natasha.

"Ow", they both groaned at the same time before Eleanor sat up off of her and looked down at her jumpsuit that was now drenched in alcohol. "Fuck sake". There were also some cuts on her arms from the broken bottles but that was an issue for when they were not being attacked.

The two promptly grabbed a gun each from under the bar. They had hidden some weapons around the Avengers portion of the tower as an old habit, but it clearly proved to be a necessary one. Once the guns were easily removed from the case holding them to the underside of the bar, the safety was quickly clicked off and they gave each other a curt nod of reassurance.

The sound of glass smashing and furniture being broken was sounding out into the air constantly, so they weren't surprised to see people being thrown around the room when they popped their heads up from the bar. Eleanor grimaced at seeing Rhodey being thrown through the glass floor that was over the quinjet hangar.

They both started taking shots at the flying legionnaires, and Eleanor thought how unlucky she, Tony, and Natasha were for having to deal with yet another set of murder bots.

Eleanor managed to down one that was flying at them by shooting directly through one of its eyepieces, making part of its head explode and send oil flying everywhere. "Remind me to pay Dennis a hefty overtime bill", she shouted toward Nat. Dennis was one of the lovely janitors who took care of the Avengers' floors, this was going to be a tough job for him and his team.

When the coast was clear, Natasha grabbed her arm and pulled her towards the stairs. They watched as Tony was launched onto the floor by one of the bots and Eleanor visibly cringed at seeing him land directly on broken glass. Though shards were all over the floor so it was hard to avoid.

Unfortunately, as they continued their ascent one of the bots spotted them and started sending a hoard of blasts toward them, prompting Natasha to send a hoard of bullets back at it. Though it was deemed useless because the bot was not backing down, or dying.

As they hid behind a pillar they could feel the impact of the blasts being hit at them through the concrete. They occasionally poked their head and arms around the side to send more shots but they could blast faster than the two could fire bullets. At this rate, the pillar would definitely cave in on itself if the blasts continued.

But, luckily for them, Clint tossed Steve's shield to him, and he expertly frisbeed it and chopped the bot near the two in half. It had been the final one, and there were no more deafening blasts occurring, though that only made the ringing in Eleanor's ears all the more noticeable.

'Ultron' drew attention back to itself and walked forward, Eleanor had hoped that that specific bot would have gotten caught in the crossfire, "That was dramatic. 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?".

It picked up a Legionnaire that had been ripped in half by its head, which was a pretty gruesome sight in Eleanor's opinion. "With these? These puppets". It was an even more gruesome sight when it squeezed the head and its face popped off before throwing it to the floor. "There's only one path to peace. The Avengers' extinction".

Eleanor's face dropped and she felt Nat tense next to her. This bot doesn't just want to stop them, it wants to end them.

Before it could elaborate, Thor launched his hammer directly into its torso and sent it flying back, oil flying everywhere whilst it shattered into pieces.

"I had strings, but now I'm free...", was all that Ultron said in a creepy song-like way before powering down, leaving a very confused and nervous group of Avengers, and a very busted up party room.