AN: First of all, sorry for the delay my laptop started to act weird last night. And second, thanks to the people who followed or favorite the story, you're the best.
The three days leading up to the party went quickly.
Tony and Bruce had spent most of their time in the lab, I barely saw them. I was starting to get suspicious, of what they were doing in there. Natasha had spent her days training or with a healing Clint. Thor and Steve were doing who knows what. And I caught up with Zahira as the victory/farewell party approached. An hour before the party started Zahira was in my room, helping me out. She was doing my hair while I was doing the final touches to my makeup and putting on my earrings.
"So who's the lucky man tonight?" Zahira asked playfully, as she curled the ends of my hair.
"No one, and you know that," I responded laughing, rolling my eyes.
"Oh that's right!" Zahria exclaimed dramatically, combing loose strands in place. "He's in Sokovia, silly me," Zahira reasoned, and lightly hit herself on the forehead.
"Very funny, Zahira," I deadpanned, and I looked at my reflection running my fingers through my hair fixing it just the way I liked it.
"I know, I'm a comedienne," Zahira retorted, going into my closet and grabbing my dress and shoes. It was a red halter top dress that dipped low showing my entire back and ended above my knees with a pair of black heels to finish my outfit.
"I'm sorry, but I just don't get it. You work with Steve and Thor," Zahria began, swooning at the mention of his name. "You never flirt with them, but you meet a stranger with a sexy accent and you flirt with him? How? Why?" Zahira questioned curiously, sliding my dress off the hanger.
"Ugh, I know!" I proclaimed, throwing my hands up in the air and standing up. "I can't stop thinking about him!" I added, grabbing the dress from Zahira's extended hand. I stepped into the dress, sliding it over my body, it hugged my curves in all the right places. "I think I'm cursed when it comes to relationships, Zahira," I lamented.
"Oh come on, don't be dramatic! There are plenty of guys of who would kill to have you as their girlfriend!" Zahira countered smiling.
"Yeah? Then why am I always attracted to men who are affiliated with HYDRA?" I inquired, letting out a humorless laugh as I smoothed out my dress.
~~~x~~~
Upbeat music was blaring from every corner of the room. Bottles of beer, glasses of champagne and wine, cups of scotch, and shots for vodka were on every table or in a hand. Voices were almost as loud as the music. I walked around the party with Zahira and Maria, James Rhodes, Thor, and Tony. Rhodey was telling us one of his War Machine stories.
"Well, you know, the suit can take the weight, right? So I take the tank, fly it right up to the General's palace, drop it at his feet, I'm like, Boom! You looking for this?"
Rhodey waited for our reaction, but nothing happened. I smirked a bit wanting to laugh, but didn't. Rhodes saw our unamused faces and tried again.
"Boom! Are you looking..." Why do I even talk to you guys? Everywhere else that story kills," He told us when we all looked at him unimpressed by his story.
"That's the whole story?" Thor asked curiously.
"Yeah, it's a War Machine story!" Rhodey stated justified.
"Well, it's very good then," Thor then laughed taking a sip of his drink while in the corner of his eyes looking over to Tony. "It's impressive," he added.
"Quality save," Rhodey retorted flatly. "So, no Pepper? She's not coming?" Rhodey asked.
"No," Tony replied.
"Hey, what about Jane?" I chimed in.
"Where are the ladies, gentlemen?" Maria asked and both men smiled widely.
"Well, Ms. Potts has a company to run," Tony replied casually.
"Yes, I'm not even sure what country Jane's in. Her work on the convergence has made her the world's foremost astronomer," Thor answered, now humble bragging.
"And the company that Pepper runs is the largest tech conglomerate on earth. It's pretty exciting," Tony fired at him.
I rolled my eyes at their behavior. Maria, Rhodey, and Zahira all looked at each other uncomfortable with the topic since it really didn't have anything to do with them. Men.
"There's even talk of Jane getting a... um, uh... Nobel prize," Thor boasted.
"Yeah, they...they must be busy because they'd hate missing you guys get together," Maria said, before letting out a cough. "Testosterone! Oh, excuse me,"
"Want a lozenge?" Rhodey played along.
"Um-hmm," Maria hummed, as Rhodey lead her away.
"Looks like that's our cue as well," Zahira stated, interlocked her arm with mine also leading me away. "So, see anyone interesting?" Zahira asked me, as we walked around the room.
I looked at her and scoffed, "We already had this discussion. Dating is a no- no," I explained, letting out a laugh.
"Not all men are bad, you know? Don't let one bad apple spoil the bunch," Zahira pointed out.
"You're right, but dating is not on the forefront of my mind. So, can we stop addressing my love life," I pleaded, putting my hands in a praying position.
"Fine," Zahira agreed, putting her hands up in mock surrender. "If only the Sokovian boy wonder were here, your whole attitude would change," Zahira teased.
I playfully hit her arm, "Not true," I replied laughing.
"So, Amara Sinclair. Eryss. With a pretty face like yours, don't you have a boyfriend already?" A rather old couple asked me, stopping in front of us.
"What is up with people in my love life?" I thought, annoyed how this keeps popping up.
A few young men who were drinking shots nearby turned around, looking interested.
Zahira opened her mouth to tell them off, but I placed my hand on her arm letting her know I could handle it.
"Maybe it's because, people are afraid that I'm manipulating their emotions and they're not sure if they truly like me or not," I explained, a smirk beginning to form. I felt the couple's heartbeats increase. "Like right now, you don't know if the fear that is creeping into your heart is because of your own doing, or mine," I finished, with a sickly sweet smile.
I interlocked my arms with Zahira and calmly walked away, turning my head to see that the couple were frozen by the implication I made and when I turned my gaze to men who were looking at me before they quickly averted their gaze away from me.
"Geez, what are you trying to do Amara? Stay single forever?" Zahira laughed, shaking her head.
The two of us walked to the bar and Zahira ordered drink for us and began talking about some of the partygoers, while I closed my eyes, and envisioned the man who wouldn't leave my mind. His beautiful blue eyes, his messy silver hair, and accent. God, was his accent sexy. I smiled as his face came into my mind before my eyes snapped open and shook myself. No, this wasn't happening. I can not think about the quick bastard.
Dreaming about him was one thing, but actually thinking about him when I was awake was mostly unacceptable.
~~~x~~~
Hours after the party had finished, we, the Avengers and a select few, Maria, Rhodey, Zahira, and Dr. Cho decided to have an after party. Everyone was gathered around the coffee table, Chinese takeout boxes were strewn everywhere with half-finished glasses of alcohol. Mjolnir rested on the side of the table. It's one of these rare moments that I feel all my troubles melt away.
Drunken laughter filled the penthouse, "Whoa whoa missy," Tony giggled and pointed to me as I sipped some champagne, "Who let the baby have a drink?"
Everyone laughed and I defiantly took another swig of my drink, "Come on! This is the first alcoholic drink I've had all evening!" I complained a pout on my lips, plopping down in the seat next to Zahira.
"I'm sorry, I can't allow it kiddo," Tony continued to tease. "You are twenty, not twenty-one,"
"Amara's a big girl, she'll be fine," Natasha flashed a smile to me.
"I can't even get drunk!" I exclaimed, waving my arms wildly.
Everyone laughed at my animated actions and I set my flute of champagne down on the table.
"So, Thor, what's with the hammer?" I asked, changing the topic, due to the haze of alcohol quickly all attention turned to the magical hammer resting on the coffee table mocking us. "I mean, there's a trick right?"
"Yes, it's a trick!" a slightly intoxicated Clint exclaimed.
I could tell Clint was on the edge of drunk, and a drunk Clint was always a pretty funny sight. Clint had procured a set of drumsticks from who knows where, Clint was leaning against the couch, twirling the drumstick in his hand.
"Whosoever be he worthy shall haveth the power," Clint he intoned in a mock accent of Thor, then tossed the stick in the air. "Whatever, man, it's a trick!" Clint said, matter-of-factly, pointing the drumsticks he was twirling towards Mjolnir.
Thor laughed and held out his hand in invitation to lift it, "Please, be my guest,"
The room grew quiet, suddenly everyone looked at the archer. "Really?" Clint asked, sounding surprised.
"Yes," Thor confirmed, motioning toward his hammer again.
Rhodey chuckled and we all watched as Clint got up and walked around the table to Mjölnir's handle, "Oh this is going to be beautiful," Rhodey chuckled.
Tony was next with the snarky comment, "Clint, you've had a tough week, we won't hold it against you if you can't get it up," Tony teased.
Clint laughed and spoke to Thor, "Y'know I've seen this before, right?" he pulled with one hand and grunted through his laughter. "And I still don't know how you do it!" Clint laughed in embarrassment.
"Smell the silent judgment?" Tony remarked, using his infamous sarcasm.
"Please, Stark, by all means," Clint motioned for Tony to come over and try.
Tony stood suavely, unbuttoning his jacket as he walked from his seat to the hammer.
"Oh, here we go,"
"Okay,"
"Uh-oh," I heard from different people in the room.
"Not gonna work Tony," I joined in chuckling.
"Never one to shrink from an honest challenge," Tony stated, over our murmurs of doubt. "It's physics," he explained, grabbing the band at the end of the hammer around his wrist. "Right, so if I lift it, I then rule Asgard?"
"Yes, of course," Thor answered.
Tony nodded and took a breath, "I will be re-instituting Prima Nocta," His face scrunched as he tried to lift the hammer. Tony pulled some more, grunting in exertion as he tries to move the hammer. It still did not move. We all giggled into our drinks as Tony looked around. "I'll be right back," Tony quickly dashed toward his armory, returning with his armored hand.
Pulling some more, even with the help of his suit, the hammer would not move, not even after activating his flight power. Enlisting Rhodey's help with his War Machine armor, the two try pulling together, the hammer not even budging an inch.
"Are you even pulling?" Rhodey asked
"Are you on my team?" Tony asked with a clipped tone.
Rhodey had a vein popping out of the side of his neck, "Just represent. Pull!" Rhodey cried.
"Alright!" Tony yelled.
Much to my amusement nothing helped the two. Bruce tried, even attempting to get angry so that he could turn into the Hulk. He couldn't lift the hammer, though we were all amused.
"Your turn, Steve," I called, as he stood up from his spot and wiped his hands on his pants.
Thor watched in amusement, taking another sip of his beer with a grin on his face as he watched everyone struggle in vain to lift Mjölnir with no luck. Steve rolled up his sleeves and positioned himself.
"You got this Captain!" Rhodey cheered and he gripped the hammer and pulled.
I watched on in anticipation to see if he can move the mighty hammer. The hammer squeaked, moving slightly and my jaw dropped. The smile on Thor's face fell almost instantly and his eyes grew wide. It seemed the Norse God stopped breathing as Steve pulled again. We made eye contact just as soon as Steve released his grip on the hammer once it didn't move again. Nobody else seemed to notice the slight movement from the hammer except for Thor and I, so our eyes stayed glued to each other for a moment.
Thor suddenly let out a forced laughed, grinning widely and shaking his head, "Nothing," he commented, though I think it was more for himself, because he was soon downing the rest of his beer.
"Widow? You want to try?" Bruce asked casually, but she shook her head.
"No, no. That's not a question I need answered. How about you Amara?" she smirked at me as she took a drink of her beer.
I knew that I wouldn't be worthy enough to lift Thor's hammer. I had done terrible things in the past, hurt innocent people and that you could not recover from. So I knew that there was no point trying.
I rolled my eyes and chuckled, "Yes, because an ex-HYDRA assassin would be able to pick up the hammer," I stated flatly.
"But, you're a changed person now," Zahira reminded softly. "Come on, you never know until you try," Zahira urged smiling.
I stood up, fixing my dress, I had already taken off my shoes, so my bare feet padded against the floor, "You know," I started as I readied myself. " I'm not even sure why I'm about to try this,"
"All for good fun, Lady Amara," Thor chuckled and I rolled my eyes at him.
I took in a breath and I tugged, my eyes widened when I felt the hammer move an inch and I heard the slight squeak of the table, before releasing the hammer.
"Guess it wasn't meant to be," I laughed airily as I glanced over at Thor, who had yet again went wide-eyed.
Tony stood next to Clint and Rhodey, "All deference to the man who wouldn't be king, but it's rigged,"
"You bet your ass," Clint agreed.
"Steve, he said a bad language word," Maria pointed to Clint in mock horror.
"Did you tell everyone about that?" Steve's tone was amused, but sightly embarrassed.
Tony chose to ignore Steve, instead focusing his attention on Thor, " The handle's imprinted, right? Like a security code. 'Whosoever is carrying Thor's fingerprints' is, I think, the literal translation,"
Thor stood up from his chair. "Yes," He started breathlessly. "It's a very, very interesting theory. I have a simpler one," Thor chuckled and picked up the hammer with ease throwing it in the air and catching it without struggle, "You all are not worthy,"
A collection of boos erupted from us when a a high pitched sound suddenly pierced the air, hurting my sensitive eardrums. I covered my ears instinctively, as Tony darted his attention to his master remote. As I was about to ask Tony what the hell that sound was, an eerie voice killed the words that were on the tip of my tongue.
"How can any of you be worthy?" A low metal voice accused. One of Tony's peacekeeper robots stumbled into the light. Electric sparks light up at the frayed wires and other mechanical equipment hung off the skeleton looking armor. Its face is damaged and deformed, resembling more of a skull than the familiar Iron Man mask. "You're all killers,"
Tony turned froze and the glass in his hand started to crack. His jaw dropped as if trying to say something, but no words came out and the robot stepped closer.
"Stark," Steve moved forward, his facial expression murderous as he watched the damaged robot approach.
"Tony," I called warily.
"Jarvis?" Tony called, but was only met with silence.
"I'm sorry I was asleep," The robot continued and Tony muttered about bugs in the system while fiddled with the remote. The suit acted as if it were drunk. Wobbly steps, slurred speech. "I was tangled in...string. Had to kill the other guy. He was a good guy," The voice continued, making my blood run cold.
Steve stood tall, "You killed someone," Steve shared a collective look of worry with us.
"Wouldn't have been my first call, but down in the real world we're faced with ugly choice," the robot explained, his glowing eyes seemingly alive.
"Who sent you?" I asked bluntly.
"I see a suit of armor around the world…"
Tony snapped up at the sound of his recorded voice. All eyes turned to Tony as the recording of his voice echoed through the room and I couldn't help, but feel a wave of fear, anxiety, and embarrassment coming from him. Tony didn't make eye contact with anyone, especially me, he promised me he wouldn't do anything rash.
"Ultron," Bruce breathed, making all of us look towards him.
"In the flesh...well not exactly..." Ultron muttered, eyeing his own gears and wires. "Not this chrysalis," Ultron said sounding disgusted by his current appearance.
"Tony, what did you do?" I muttered entranced by the glowing blue eyes. It clicked. The late nights he and Bruce were working. It all made sense now.
"I'm on a mission," Ultron continued to ramble and the tension grew among the group.
Tony and Steve stood at the front, squaring their shoulders with Ultron. Maria and Zahira had silently clicked off the safety on their guns and Thor's grip tightened on the hammer. Clint's eyes flickered to his bow in the corner and I could see the worry in Natasha's eyes as she looked at Bruce, hoping for no code green.
"What mission?" Natasha asked, fighting to control the quiver rising in her throat as she voiced the question we're all thinking.
Even I felt the panic rise in my chest.
"Peace in our time," He replied, making the word peace sound like the exact opposite of its meaning.
The wall behind Ultron burst into pieces and more peacekeeper bots flew out in attack. Steve kicked the table immediately shielding us from the flying bot, but it hit us with full force shoving us a few yards away. I landed on my back exhaling quick as all the remaining air left my lungs. I rolled aside seeking for some cover, Clint slid and hid under a table. Bruce and Natasha ran from the blasts, jumping over the bar table.
I reached into the plant pot next to me and pulled out a gun, that I hidden in there and aimed for the closest Iron Legion bot before pulling the trigger. Thor, with his hammer, swung at the flying suits. Maria and Zahira hid below the couch, shooting at the flying robots with their's gun. Rhodey and Tony slid down from the balcony, but just as they were about to hit the floor, a bot came flying at Tony, knocking him to the side, causing him to smash into a bookshelf. Glass flew and spread everywhere as Rhodey got thrown into one of the glass walls.
"Rhodey!" someone shouted.
I fired my gun again at two advancing bots, before running behind a couch for cover as more bots fired at me.
"Stark!" Steve yelled, an order to shut the things down.
I peeked my head out and saw Tony hanging on the back of one of the Iron Legion bots, Tony tried to clip some of the chords.
"One sec, one sec!" he called back.
"We don't have one sec!" I yelled, aiming and firing at another bot.
"We are here to help. We are here to help," Spoke the bot Tony hung onto.
Dr. Cho was hiding behind the piano when a dismembered bot came flying at her. It held out it's palm out, ready to blasting her, but just as it decided not to, Steve jumped and grabbed onto it from behind.
"Thor!" Steve shouted, as he flung the bot towards him, letting Thor smash it down with his hammer.
"Cap!" Clint yelled, swinging Steve his shield.
Steve caught it then flung it at one of the last Iron Legion bots hovering in the air. The bot fell to the floor in a series of sparks as it dismembered.
"That was dramatic," Ultron sniffed. "I know you all mean well..." He started again, turning to face us. "You want to protect the world, but you don't want it to change! How is humanity saved if it's not allowed to to evolve?" He reached down to a disembodied head of a peacekeeper bot, chuckling. "With these? These puppets?" He crushed it, the metal shrieked as he did before tossed the head down, Ultron stepped forward. "There's only one path to peace...The Avengers' extinction,"
Suddenly, Thor threw Mjolnir, it hit Ultron in the head, snapping it clean off the body. The body collapsed and the head slammed into the elevator door, shattering. As Thor stepped over to inspect the damage, and we all heard a low voice speaking.
Ultron started singing, "I had strings, but now I'm free. There are no strings on me, no strings on me,"
With that, the blue eyes faded into darkness.
AN: Let me know what you think!