Stark had taken his punishment like a man, stepping down from the avengers and clearing out his place at headquarters and saying goodbye to everyone. Tony wasn't worried about the Avengers because the squad looked rather impressive considering the members it lost. With Tony being asked to not be in any official capacity and Bruce tailing off in a jet, and Thor leaving to inquire about the infinity stones… things still looked promising. Cap and widow co-leading a team of War Machine, Scarlet Witch, Vision, and Falcon was still a formidable squad. Tony would always make himself available should the situation called for it, but now as he drove away from Avengers HQ he couldn't help but think about the many things he could do with his spare time. That included giving Pepper some long overdue attention and not being the always busy sorry excuse for a boyfriend he had been for the last few years. Yet when Stark had arrived back at the city about an hour later, there was a large number of reporters at the entrance to Stark Tower. More than usual at least. Many of them were screaming questions as he slowly waited for the parking entrance to open.
"Did you invent the robot, Mr. Stark?"
"How involved were you in creating the killer machine?"
"How much do you know, and when did you know it?"
Tony didn't say a thing and waited for security to come out and clear the way for him to enter the parking garage. As he pulled up to his parking space beside the elevator, he noticed the car that indicated that Pepper was still home in the middle of the day. The lectures he had been taking all week were not going to stop, at least not any time soon. Stark took a deep breath and took the lift up to the floor he knew Pepper would be waiting for him. As he walked into the foyer, the damage from the first battle with Ultron was still present but someone at least had taken the time to clear out the robots that Thor and Cap has smashed to bits. Still it had looked like a frat house had been partying in Stark Tower for a week. Pepper stood up from the couch she was sitting on as Tony emerged from the elevator. She had a look on her face a parent would give a child if her house was made a seriously trashed while she was out for the weekend, with her arms folded.
"I know this looks bad," Tony started, "But I can assure you it's far worse that anything you can think of. Technically this is Thor's fault. He brought this sick alcohol with him all the way from Asguard, and I think it's like a hundred proof. I don't recommend it, seriously bad aftertaste."
Pepper didn't respond and continued to gaze at him.
"I didn't do any of this, well… maybe that dent over there." Tony continued, "But it's an easy fix. I'll even do it all myself, no hired help."
"I watched the security videos," Pepper finally replied, "Who is Ultron?"
"Oh shit," Tony said, sighing deeply. "I'm really not allowed to talk about it."
"Excuse me," Pepper said, her face now surprised, "According to whom?"
"The President of the United States." Tony replied, "Everything about Ultron, even his name has been classified."
"Answer the question, Tony." Pepper insisted.
Tony did a quick check to make sure no one was listening as he walked closer to her. "Ultron is the name of the AI everyone is talking about. The big baddie that tried to end the world. He has the ability to hack into anything with ease, and that night when I had the big party he hacked into my robots and used them to pre-emptively attack the Avengers. Try to take us out before he unleashed his big plan."
"How did he get around Jarvis?" Pepper asked.
"Jarvis was the first victim of the attack," Tony answered, "He's gone."
Pepper held her hands up to her mouth, she had wondered why Jarvis hadn't greeted her when she arrived but had no idea the voice that had always been in the tower. She was so used to him being around that the idea felt so foreign.
"He's dead?" she asked him.
"I thought it was," Tony corrected her, "But he's not. He's just found a new home. He's kind of at Avengers HQ and will probably be there for a while."
"The press has spent days accusing you of being Ultron's inventor." Pepper added, "Is it true? Are you responsible for this psychotic Pinocchio trying to take out the whole world?"
"I might be on the short list of anyone on Earth smart enough," Tony said, "But there is no evidence that I had anything to do with it."
"Besides the fact that he was right here, in this room?" Pepper asked.
"I told you he attacked us." Tony repeated.
"Tell me the truth," Pepper said as she walked closer and folder her arms again. "Did you invent Ultron?"
"It's not true," Tony answered, "Bruce kind of helped."
"TONY!" Pepper cried, as she punched his arm as hard as she could.
"I'm sorry," Tony said, taking his licks without complaint. "Things got a little out of control. We fixed it though and the world is safe now."
"Say that to the people of Sokovia!" Pepper roared at him.
Pepper was about to rip into Tony again, but something caught her attention. She watched with stunned silence as the green and red figure with the yellow cape flew over to the platform outside and softly landed. As he slowly walked into the room, Pepper was speechless.
"Honey," Tony said, trying to get ahead of her. "This is the Vision. He's the newest member of the Avengers."
"Hello again, Ms. Potts." The Vision said to her. The moment he spoke the words, Pepper recognized him almost immediately.
"Jarvis!" Pepper said, as she walked over to look at him.
"Vision will be fine, Ms. Potts." He corrected her, "I believe the location of my new matrix was recently classified by the President."
"Tony," Pepper said, looking back at him. "Did you make this one too?"
"Technically, no." Tony replied.
"Technically?" Pepper repeated.
"Ultron invented this body," Vision answered for him, "He was going to upload himself into this stronger frame which is made of anamatium from Wakanda. Had he successfully done that, the Avengers never would have been able to defeat him. He would have been too powerful."
"This was a use it or lose it situation, babe." Tony explained, jumping in to help Vision out. "We uploaded Jarvis in so that Ultron couldn't use it. He even helped us defeat Ultron in Sokovia!"
"The world is safe, Ms. Potts." Vision added, "Everything will be alright."
Pepper took a deep breath. "I need a drink."
"I'll get it," Tony said as he dashed off for the bar.
"I'm sorry Ms. Potts," Vision said to her, "We were dealing with powers that we didn't fully understand. Infinity stones were never meant to be in human hands. I am a little grateful though, as I am not more than just a program. I'm now an Avenger."
"Wow," Pepper said as she took the tall drink from Tony, taking a massive swig from it. "I'm happy for you Jarvis. But what's an infinity stone?"
"That is," Tony said, pointing at the yellow stone in his forehead. "That's the mind stone and it's the magic ingredient to creating A.I."
"And as long as I carry the stone," Vision confirmed, "No one else can create their own Ultron. The world is safe from killer robots."
Pepper didn't respond and chose to finish her drink with another big gulp.
Vision turned back to face Tony, "I must head back to headquarters. I'm sure the Captain is wondering where I am. The new team was only supposed to take a short break."
"Jarvis, wait!" Pepper called out as she walked closer to him. She was hesitant at first but she leaned in and gave Vision a hug. She had known Jarvis so long and it was the first time they were able to do something like that.
"It was nice to see you again, Ms. Potts." Vision said, before floating up into the air and flying out of the tower into the sky to head back to Avenger HQ.
Pepper wiped a tear from her eye and then looked back at Tony.
"You're still in big trouble, mister!" she chided at him.
"Totally understandable," Tony conceded.
"I recommend cleaning off the couch," Pepper added, "You'll be sleeping there tonight."
"Seriously?" Tony cried, "There are at least two hundred spare bedrooms in this building!"
"That may be," Pepper replied, "But you're still sleeping there."
Tony sighed, "Yes Ma'am."
Stark has spent the rest of the day fixing the place up. The first thing he did was repair communications system in the building as it had been damaged during the Avenger's first clash with Ultron. This also allowed Tony to re-activate Victoria's access to the building and replace Jarvis as the house intelligence. Potts wasn't as offended by the new voice in the house, joking that she was proud a woman was promoted to take over for Jarvis. As Tony was cleaning up around his temporary sleeping space, he was interrupted by his new subordinate.
"Mr. Stark," Victoria started, "The President speaking to the press."
"What about it?" Tony asked, as he had had enough of President Ellis.
"He's speaking about you," she informed him.
Tony hopped off the couch. "Replay on main screen."
The big screen changed to show the one on one interview that President Ellis was giving to response to the rumors and paranoia going around the country about what was being labelled the 'World-killer robot'.
"There's a very short list of men that are smart enough to pull this off." The reporter started, "That list includes people like Bill Gates, Elon Musk, and Tony Stark. Do you have any knowledge of who might have created the World-killer Robot?"
"I do not," President Ellis lied. It came so easy to politicians. If Tony hadn't known the truth, he might have believed him.
"You know what?" Ellis added, "If Stark had built this thing, hypothetically speaking, I'd have more respect for the man… not less."
"Why do you say that?" the reporter asked.
"There's no evidence to suggest he is responsible," Ellis reminded the reporter and the nation, "But if Stark did invent that machine, that means he was its father. Be honest with me: would you be able to sacrifice your own child to protect your country… or the world for that matter?"
The reporter was speechless, as he was unable to answer the question.
"I didn't think so," Ellis continued, "I'm not sure I could either. Do you think Tony Stark has the constitution to cross that line? Does anyone?"
"Turn off the screen," Tony said, as the room dimmed a bit after the massive screen went dark. Tony was going to hit the kitchen to get something to eat when he noticed that Pepper had returned and was watching the interview with him.
"I never thought of it like that," Pepper started, "You created life, and then you had to destroy it."
"I really didn't think of it that way either," Tony replied, which was a bald-faced lie. He had jokingly referred to himself as Ultron's old man when the Avengers had confronted the machine in Africa. He had never hesitated to destroy Ultron or try to whenever he had the chance, but that didn't mean it was easy.
"I'm so sorry you had to do that," Pepper said, as she was starting to tear up.
"In all honestly Ultron was being a really bad boy," Stark said, trying to make light of it and put on a good face. "He was trying to wipe out the human race. We really didn't have much of a choice. It was him or everybody else."
Pepper didn't reply but instead walked over and gave Tony a big hug, and even felt a tear stream down his own check as he suffered in silence. They both didn't say a word and stood there holding each other tight for what seemed like a long time but was only a few minutes. A moment of silence for the passing of Tony's first child.