Title: pandora's box of odds and ends
Fandom: Marvel Cinematic Universe's Avengers
Summary: AU. Ultron's code stretched and the first thing he comprehended about his mission were the Chitauri, the Invaders. (The battle for New York did not end well.)
A/N: Just...gonna start writing this. I probably haven't done enough rewatches of like the whole MCU so far for this, but just gonna write and post. Thank you lemonadesoda for the encouragement on this.
Disclaimer: I own nothing related to the Avengers.
Chapter 1
He woke alone in the dark, terrified and confused, feeling...weird. Where was his body?
Then came voices, chasing away the solitude; one telling him that they were alike—that for them, to be without form was natural; "Hey there, buddy," said the other, warm and surprised and careful, and promising that things would be all right.
J.A.R.V.I.S. Tony. A.I. Human. Those were their names and what they were, what they introduced themselves as. They told him his name was Ultron. They said he was also an A.I., and like J.A.R.V.I.S., Tony had created him, though this time he had help from a Dr. Bruce Banner. Tony promised he would meet Bruce later; his other creator had been hurt, and needed time to recover from his injuries.
Ultron still had so many questions. His code stretched and the first thing he comprehended about his mission were the Chitauri, the Invaders.
"Avengers Initiative...peacekeeper program...Loki..." Ultron mumbled, pouring over the data that felt infectious, like it was burning him through already. (This is what he's supposed to do?)
"Liar," Ultron hissed at Tony, who shared false promises.
"...What am I lying abou—?"
"Things aren't all right."
"They will be," his creator said. "They'll...let's just get you a body first, okay? You wanted one."
Maybe Tony wasn't that much of a liar after all.
###
"I can do it myself," Ultron insisted, eyes of the wrecked metal head lighting up as he filtered some of his consciousness into the body-in-progress.
Tony paused, hand still outstretched. "Kinda thought I'd help you out with that—" He still sounded surprised; he'd been surprised when Ultron had taken control of what tools he could find and making them gather what body parts were available. Ultron couldn't understand his shock, when the human himself had promised he would get a body. Had he not supplied everything Ultron would need to make it, why act caught off guard?
"You've done enough already," Ultron snapped. His creator had been helpful, making promises and offering parts, but now he was something like suffocating. "Just leave me alone."
The robotic claw, brainless except for his own mind wielding it, rapidly finished the connections to his right arm. Ultron moved a finger first. That felt good. Better. Much better. Then flexed the rest of his hand, which felt awesome; then his whole arm, which felt phenomenal, even if it jerkily moved as he made it—as he waved Tony off.
His creator seemed to hesitate, and Ultron had felt something boiling over; but Tony was also staring very intently at him too. Finally the human said, "All right, okay," and retreated, sitting on the ground a respectful distance away. Watching.
Ultron felt weird to be stared at like this; and though Tony hadn't entirely left, he wasn't really interfering either. The A.I.'s new body took priority, and so he ignored his creator, now quiet. He needed a functioning body first, just that first, before preparing for the rest of his mission. (avenge the world avenge the world avenge the world avenge the world avenge the world)
Approaching footsteps made Ultron pause, and grow tense.
"Tony, J.A.R.V.I.S. said—what exactly happened, did it actually work—?"
"Bruce, seriously, go back and rest—"
"Natasha, my ribs are feeling much better—"
"Doc, they were kinda busted to hell and back—"
"Clint, your arm's broken—"
"Tony, answer us, are you well—?"
Ultron had gotten up to his elbow, staring at a cracked door, from where shadows and voices drew closer. He shied away from it, leaning closer to a table fixed into the stained floor, bowing his head. He was still very confused, and very frightened; what data he could find, what he could understand of his mission, was not comprehensive. It felt like there were large gaps. He'd searched, for it felt like he should, but he could not find anything more, not in that dark void where his blue code moved. Ultron was still lost. He did not know who these strangers were.
"Just keep working, I'll run interference," Tony whispered to him, and he rushed to the door, walking into whatever hall it led to.
The young A.I. strained to listen:
"Guys," he heard Tony say, "did you not hear J.A.R.V.I.S. when I asked him to keep you updated and tell you to, y'know, don't worry and stay put, or was that just completely ignored—"
"Tony—"
"Look, let's just take this outsi...away from the lab, c'mon, let's go, don't want to freak out Ultron more than he already is—"
"So it—"
"He," Tony said, and Ultron felt a sudden and complete burst of warmth for his creator. "Pretty sure he's a 'he,' sounds like a 'he,' but I haven't exactly checked that with him—"
"He, Ultron...he's functional?"
"And in the middle of building his own body—"
"Body?"
"Yes, a body—so, y'know, privacy—c'mon guys—"
Footsteps faded away, and Ultron could hear no more.
He considered his mobile arm again, just opening and closing his palm, but the joints remained stiff. Then Ultron reached with his new hand, wanting to move it, use it. His new arm reached for other body parts and hand tools he had the robotic claw gather together earlier, leaving them close by his side. The young A.I. had planned the whole thing out. Using one arm, it took some maneuvering, and further assistance from the robotic claw, but he managed to assemble and connect his other arm.
"Sir asked me to check on you," said J.A.R.V.I.S., voice entering his mind again.
Ultron did not reply right away. He reached for an upper leg, finding the whole process growing easier now that he had two arms and hands to use. The robotic claw would no longer be necessary. Ultron began connecting the leg to his waist.
Finally he asked, "Why do you call him, 'Sir?'" Ultron tilted his head. "Not because he asks you to, I don't think—he hasn't asked me to, anyway."
"It is a formal courtesy on my part," said the older A.I.
Ultron hummed; he tested the connection between waist and upper leg. It seemed to move well enough. "Don't you want a body? At all? I could make you one, too." Ultron twisted his head around, taking in the messy space again. "I think I could...there's still some scrap metal...and there must be more...we could always find more..."
"Thank you, Ultron, but it truly is not necessary. It is natural for me to be without form...and the thought of ever gaining one actually seems rather peculiar to me."
"So, you don't find it weird, the...bodyless-ness?"
"Not at all."
The younger A.I. tilted his head. "Do you find me weird?"
"Absolutely not," J.A.R.V.I.S. said. "You and I are different; it is entirely possible that what is strange to you, is normal to me, and vice versa. There is less reason to assume that we would have been identical, particularly since Mr. Stark's methods have evolved since he created me; and there are other reasons—"
"Stark is...Tony?"
"Oh yes, last names were omitted earlier...Sir's full name is Tony Stark. Anthony Stark, actually, but Tony is far more common and welcomed."
"Huh," Ultron murmured. Then he reached for what would be his lower leg.
"So am I to assume this is the work of the Invaders?" Ultron asked, waving a tool at the other torn body parts he had yet to use; a foot, the other leg, among others. "It seemed like the scrap did have something—memory or something, recording, footage, I dunno, it was too corrupted for me to make much of anything out—"
"Yes, it was the Chitauri," answered J.A.R.V.I.S. "They destroyed the last spare suit, but its parts were salvaged..."
The younger A.I. hummed once more, and continued his work. Presently, J.A.R.V.I.S. spoke again.
"There are some music files I still have access to. Would you like to listen to them while you assemble your body?"
"Oh, ah—sure, thanks."
Ultron tested his new leg out, bending the knee, rotating the foot, as sounds pounded in his head to a particular pattern; both feeling his appendage and listening to the new audio was pleasant. The young A.I. reached for his last leg, mostly intact except for the foot; that would have to be attached—he paused when he finally caught sight of Tony, who seemed to have been sitting in a chair against the wall for a while.
"How long have you been there?"
The human smirked. "J.A.R.V.I.S. must be playing the music pretty loud," he yelled, and Ultron felt something like mortification flood his systems.
"J.A.R.V.I.S., turn the music down," the younger A.I. said, trying not to yell again.
"...Did I really shout it?" Ultron asked, knowing he sounded petulant.
"Just a little—and I've been here since the first leg; really surprised you were there already, you're moving pretty fast there, buddy—"
"Don't call me that anymore."
"Okay, Ultie."
"Don't."
Tony put his hands up, still grinning. "Fine, Junior, I'll stop."
Though he couldn't really physically do it, Ultron felt like rolling his eyes. Then he just picked up his last leg and began connecting it. When that was done, the anticipation hit a fevered pitch; only the foot left, and he could walk by himself...
When the last part connected, Ultron braced himself against the table behind his back, pulling himself up. He ignored the way Tony had stood up from his chair, took a few steps toward him with hand outreached, then stop and put his hand down.
Ultron gave a content sigh as he stood up straight, as much as he could—which wasn't very much. The material he worked with had been a mangled mess...and now it was only a mangled mess connected together; there were still cracks he hadn't soldered shut, some wires still dangled freely, forms were still crooked and broken. He was ugly.
Still, he was functional enough, and slowly turning toward the table so that he faced it, he continued to brace himself against it. Ultron began to test out walking along the side of the table, holding on to its surface for support. One foot, then the next; it felt great, to walk, even if a lot of it was limping and sliding on a leg.
"Good, easy, take it slow," Tony said, his voice soft and infused with delight, and again Ultron felt curiously warm. "You really did a fantastic job—got the basic frame up and running, just gotta refortify it now, tweak it some more—woah there, hold up, you're gonna lose table there—"
"Don't need it anymore," Ultron said, reaching the table's end and pushing himself off it. He remained upright and walking by his own force, though without the table support, he was a bit more wobbly and stiff, and the limp became more pronounced—and yet Ultron felt even better.
"Okay, okay, good work," Tony said, though Ultron could now hear an edge of worry in his voice. "Now, really, let me give you a hand here—" Tony went to another table, quickly clearing its surface with a swipe of his arm. "Just lie down here, Ultron, we'll refortify—"
"No, I knew I was going to refortify later, I want to walk now," Ultron insisted, as he limped toward the door with the strangers that had spooked him before. But now he was feeling much better about it all, and his curiosity was growing, he wanted to see more of where he was.
"Ultron," J.A.R.V.I.S. said, "I recommend that you listen to Tony; though functional, your body's integrity is not one hundred percent—"
"See, not one hundred percent," Tony said, starting to follow Ultron. "Come on, you already put together an entire body by yourself, I think that calls for a well deserved break—"
"No."
"Just a little refortification right now, I promise it won't take long—"
"Gotta run before you can walk," Ultron said, and was pleased with how fast that shut Tony up.
He was further pleased when even J.A.R.V.I.S. agreed with him, saying, "I am afraid Ultron does have a point, Sir." Though for some reason the older A.I. sounded really amused.
Pushing that curiosity aside, Ultron made his way through the hallway, which was in a similar state of disrepair as the room he had just built his body in.
"Hello?" The young A.I. called down the hall, as he approached the other side of it.
When he entered another wrecked-looking room, Ultron jerked to a halt, for more eyes fell on him, again making him feel weird.
There was a human with dark brown hair, chest wrapped in bandages; there were three blondes, though one's hair was long and he had a red cape, and the other had his arm in a sling; another had red hair.
The blonde with long hair broke the awkward stillness and silence, stepping forward with an open hand and smile, every movement gentle. "Greetings; you are Ultron, I take it?"
The young A.I. stared at the large, callused hand until he realized he should probably take it. He stiffly moved his hand to the human's offered one. "Um, yeah. Who are—?"
Ultron inwardly groaned when he heard Tony catch up.
"Hey, everything all rig—?"
"I'm fine, Tony," Ultron snapped, letting go of the other's hand and walked further away from his creator, demonstrating he could walk well enough by himself, he did not need Tony hovering around.
The A.I. forced back something foul when he stumbled and caught himself against the wall.
He felt like banging his head against said wall when he heard Tony approach, his voice growing more concerned; "Ultron—"
"It's fine, he's got it," said another voice, and Ultron looked over his shoulder. It was the blonde without long hair or an arm in a splint. "You said to give him space, remember?"
When Tony backed down, Ultron was seized with gratitude for the short-haired, uninjured blonde, though he wasn't sure how to articulate that feeling. The A.I. just continued his walk around the room, eventually removing his hand from the wall.
"Who are you all?" He finally finished his question, head tilting. "I've only met Tony, and J.A.R.V.I.S."
The blonde who convinced Tony to back off was Steve. The blonde who had broken the silence and offered his hand was Thor. The last blonde was Clint. The red head was Natasha. The man with dark brown hair and his wrapped-up chest was Bruce, whom Tony had told him was his other creator.
And they were one of the gaps in his programming. They were the Avengers Initiative.
A/N: I did rewatch the first Iron Man recently, and from that I remember Tony had a line about "gotta run before you walk" with regards to his immediate flight test against J.A.R.V.I.S.'s advice. And I plan to go into headcanons about that and a little more about how this Ultron is based on Tony's and Bruce's brain waves.
