Let me just say I am so sorry for how long it took me to update, it took me forever just to start writing it then the chapter got so long that it took me forever to get it too where I actually felt it was good enough to post. It was so had to write! Thankfully I had my wonderful sister, my beta, to help me and proof read everything (crowd applause). So I was watching a lot of Psych why I was writing this chapter and apparently it shows in my writing, or so my sister says, if you haven't seen that show then I suggest you get your shit together and watch it because it is hilarious. Anyways hope you guys like the extra long chapter that
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Except for Rose, she is mine.
"Does everyone remember the plan then?" The Captain asked in full soldier mode.
Tony groaned loudly at the Captain's constant nagging. "Yes just like the last 3 times you made us go over it."
Steve chose to ignore Tony, like usual, and continued to speak to the rest of the people in the lab.
"Then I suggest that you be ready and get some sleep because tomorrow we are going to end Strucker's game of hide and seek." After hearing everything that Rose told them they were all ready to put an end to this game.
Rose had went above and beyond the team's expectations for her and had not only found the current location of the scepter but also much more, with the help of some of her contacts all over the world that owed her a favor or two and were willing to share some of their information and resources with her.
Two years ago, around the time the scepter was taken, it was being held at SHIELD STATION where it was being studied by a SHIELD scientist by the name of Nicholas Cooper. Copper was apparently more than enthusiastic about examining the specification of the scepter and was even able to look into some of Erik Selvig's old notes about the Tesseract. Rose had looked through some of SHIELD's old files and found out the station had a guard by the name of Mark Smith who had worked hard in field assignments for 3 years in hopes of being assigned to the Helicarrier but was considered 'unfit' when Maria Hill, who had joined the Avengers in the lab at this point, had Smith undergo a 'random' psychological assessment that deemed him 'unfit' and he had then been assigned to SHIELD STATION much to his very vocal disagreement as Hill put it. It wasn't long after Smith had been assigned that both he and another HYDRA operative, Mark Basso, decided to take the scepter and kill Copper in the process. The scepter was then delivered to Stucker as per his orders so they could then conduct their own experiments on it.
From that point on Rose had had to dig deeper in order to trace the steps of the scepter. Apparently it had been bouncing around the black market for a while now but before anyone could try to make an offer for it some mysterious buyer from far away would snatch it up only to have the process be repeated months later. It didn't take a genius to figure out that the 'mysterious buyers' was just HYDRA trying to use the black market to move the scepter around incognito. Rose had to admit it was a rather well thought out plan, at least for them. They knew the Avengers and the new SHIELD, under Phil Coulson, would be looking for them so they wanted to move the scepter around separately from them in case they were ever attacked. So they placed the scepter on the black market making it look like they never even had it in the first place while able to hide it from the eyes of SHIELD and the Avengers. They even set up shell companies to buy and sell the scepter whenever it needed to be moved. Like Rose said it was a very well thought out plan, and yet still not enough to hide them from her eyes and ears. They had unknowingly left a virtual trail that only people like her can track. So after following their trail for a couple of days she was finally able to come to the end of the line and find the last place the scepter had been moved to, Sokovia. But she wasn't going to give the Avengers half assed information so she decided to do some reconnaissance of her own by hacking into Tony's satellites and found not only the exact location of the base but also a report on the bases defenses.
The room was silent for a number of reasons after Rose finished explaining everything, the first being they were trying to process all the information just given to them and the second because they were all surprised by how Rose was able to obtain all that information, but then again Tony did say she was one of the best so they shouldn't of expected anything less. The only one not fazed at all was Tony who wore a grin like a proud older brother as he went to ruffle Rose's hair playfully and tell her she did good, not that she even needed him to tell her anything she is very confident in her own abilities. Rose already knew she was one of the best and she wasn't bashful about it, which was one of the reasons why her business was so successful.
So after Rose brought up satellite imaging and laid out a holographic diagram of the base the team put together a full proof plan of attack: Attack. Rose almost fell out of her chair at the simplicity of the plan but since all of them were such power houses the team rarely went for the stealth option, and why would they when they have teammates that can just break through a cement wall.
Rose let out a sigh of relief when they at least suggested landing the ship in the far woods and coming in from that side of the building as it was a less trafficked area and they would have the element of surprise. They all nodded their heads in agreement before calling it a day and everyone filled out of the lab to prepare themselves for tomorrow.
Rose turned back to her computer as everyone started filing out of the lab. She really didn't see a need to be social with the team; it was obvious they still didn't trust her. Maybe once they actually saw the scepter and knew it was put away where no one else could use it, maybe then they would be a little bit more approachable.
"Hey Rose how about you put the toys away and join me for a snack. I know a shawarma joint a few blocks from here." Tony called to her.
"Well actually I was going to finish working on-" Before she could even protest Tony had already grabbed her by the arm and was dragging her out of the lab.
"Come on Rosebud, we haven't seen each other for years, I mean sure we talk on the phone but no physical interaction for years. So we are going to eat together, have a nice chat about what you've been up to these past years and then I can show you all the remodeling we've been doing since the invasion."
She sighed knowing she wasn't going to win this battle against Tony and getting out of the lab did sound amazing. She had been cooped up in the lab for the past week doing research and some sun and fresh air would help her clear her head. Besides hanging out with her favorite millionaire would be refreshing after the cold shoulder the rest of the avengers gave her. "Ok, ok, it's not like I could actually say no to food anyways, I'm starving. Do Avengers meetings usually last that long?"
Tony chuckled still pushing her towards the elevator "You have no idea kid; usually he makes us recite the pledge of allegiance before we start."
She laughed out loud as they entered the elevator and listened to Tony continue to make fun of his team as the elevator started to descend. Thank the lord Tony didn't have any of that crappy elevator music. When the doors finally opened they were in an underground parking garage reserved specifically for Tony. Of course, Tony had at least eight different sports cars parked in the garage because one can never have enough toys.
"Alright kid, you know the drill. Pick one." Tony said with a smug grin on his face.
She couldn't help her own excited smile from showing as she looked over his row of cars. She had always loved driving with Tony mostly because both of them had the same driving technique: fast and loud music.
"That one" She said pointing to a slice dark red Lamborghini.
"Wonderful choice milady" Tony said with a mock bow before both of them climbed in. Soon enough they were strapped in and speeding up a ramp onto the road.
It was obvious Tony just wanted to get away from the rest of the team, or 'freeloaders' as he dubbed them, because he did say the restaurant was only a couple bocks and they could've easily walked it, yet he decided to take a car. Rose knew this meant he planned on staying out for longer than it would take just to get food. Like he said earlier, they hadn't seen each other for a while and there are some things that can't be said over the phone, in case of listening ears.
"So what exactly is shawarma?" She asked genuinely curious.
Soon enough the conversation was flowing easily and they were cracking jokes at the expense of his team and one another. The back and forth banter between the two of them was one of the reasons they had become such good friends in the first place, Tony would make a crude joke, she's have a clever comeback, he would dish out more sass, and she threw it right back at him. Tony told her about the repairs and updates they made to the tower since the invasion, the Iron Legion, the updated satellite system, and he even told her about his contingency plan in case the Hulk went on a rampage that he cleverly named Veronica.
She had to give it to Tony. He always thought of everything. That was probably why they got along so well. They both had a high capacity for technology and thinking outside of the box. She could take apart a hard drive, and maybe a car, and make it better, but Tony could build machines and contraptions with his ideas. She could only wonder what else was going on inside that head of his.
They had long since gotten and finished their shawarma, it was surprisingly good, and were now taking a leisure drive around the city, to see all of the reconstructed buildings, before heading back to the tower to face the rest of the team and back to all the suspicious and distrusting looks directed her way every time she entered a room.
She really couldn't blame them though. Heck she would be suspicious of herself if she was in their shoes. Besides she was used to that kind of treatment. She distracted herself by asking Tony a question.
"So how's Pepper doing? I haven't seen her in forever and she's been stuck with you the whole time, poor girls probably just about lost it!" Rose asked. Rose was happy when she heard that Tony and Pepper had finally gotten together, they were perfect for each other. Pepper was sweet, smart, kind, funny, and after what happened with all that Mandarin business Rose heard she was super strong now too! And Tony, he was, well...at least Pepper can handle him.
"Good, good! Away on business right now but she'll be back soon enough and I know she will be happy to see you. In fact, I think she's already got her hopes up that you two will go on a little shopping date. It'd be a real shame if you skipped town before she was even able to see you. There goes you BFF position."
Rose laughed hearing Tony trying to guilt trip her into sticking around longer. She knew she had a habit of leaving suddenly without telling anyone, but she wasn't used to staying in one place for a long period of time, it wasn't safe.
"That's the best you got? Please, Tony, be serious, it's the Maid of Honor position at your wedding I'm fighting for." Rose laughed again as she watched Tony's eyes go wide with shock. Typical male reaction, as soon as you mention tying the knot they clam up. Tony probably still liked to call himself a bachelor, at least to the media, instead of a taken man, hell, he still thought of himself and acted like a teenager. But Rose would bet money Pepper could knock that kind of thinking out of him real quick, maybe even make him settle down for a change.
Tony recovered quickly and directed the conversation back to her asking about her own nonexistent love life.
"Sorry Tony, no juicy gossip there. Afraid I've been keeping to myself more than I was last time we meet." She told him looking out at the buildings they were speeding past.
"Really, not even a little harmless flirts every now and then? You aren't getting any younger Rose." He asked not taking his eyes off the road.
She frowned at him and smacked his shoulder making him laugh. She was only 23 for crying out loud! She was a baby fawn compared to Tony; the man is in his 40's and still acts like a child. She still had plenty of time to meet a nice guy...well not in her line of work.
Rose sighed loudly, disappointed a bit. Or a lot. "Nope not even a little. I've been to busy these last few years since the invasion."
Her declaration was followed by a long silence as Tony continued to drive, they both listened to the purr of the engine since neither of them had bothered to turn on music for a change. She knew what he was about to say next. She had been expecting this conversation since her plane landed in the country.
"You're getting closer to him aren't you?" Tony finally said.
And there it was. She Tony wouldn't be able to hold off asking for long, he never was very patient.
"No actually, I'm no closer than I was the last time we meet. I'm in exactly the same place." Rose said through her teeth as she glared a hole through the front windshield. A deep frown was plastered on her face and her hands clenched into fists as she remembered flashes of burning embers and the one person responsible.
Suddenly she felt a firm hand on her shoulder calling her back to the present. Tony had pulled the car to the side of the road and shifted in his set to look directly at her. His usual cocky smirk was replaced with his own frown and his eyes were full of steel and promise as he looked at her.
"You'll get him Rose, one day you'll get him. And I'm going to do everything I can to help you until then."
The frown vanished from her face finally to be replaced with a small smile and her eyes softened back to cool green. She patted Tony's hand on her shoulder with her own and nodded to him in thanks.
"Good, now let's get back to the tower before Mother Steve calls us and starts complaining about us being out past curfew." Tony joked, turning back in his set and flooring the gas sending them once again flying onto the road and making Rose laugh in excitement.
Somewhere along the line it was agreed upon that Rose would monitor communications and direct the team to the base. So using satellite imaging, radar, Rose's own (better than Tony's, but don't tell him that) tracking and scanning system, and three well placed tiny cameras on Tony's suit, Cap's helmet and a hidden one she was able to hide on the Hawk because he complained about not wanting to wear one and messing up his aim, she was able to track the team wherever they went and warn them about approaching threats. At the moment she was staring down at her computer screen that showed the Sokovian terrain and 6 blinking dots that represented the team.
She was just happy she got to stay in the lab instead of going with the rest of the team to confront Strucker. Not that she wasn't used to dangerous situations, she just wasn't very well taught in the art of hand to hand combat and preferred to stay behind the safety of her computer screen. So here she sat in Tony's lab watching the team from above like some weird all seeing god. Of course a god wouldn't have Maria Hill constantly asking for updates every five minutes and looking over her shoulder to see the computer screen. Guess Hill's not used to being left out of the action.
She watched through the camera as the team had already confronted some of Strucker's guards and more were already heading their way. Turns out their element of surprise didn't last that long so now they were just barreling through enemies making their way towards the base.
Natasha and Clint hijacked an all-terrain vehicle from some of their fallen foes and were making a fast pace of their own taking down enemies as they went with some cover provided by Tony and Thor. Steve had a ride of his own that he was using, a motorcycle that Tony took the liberty of putting some of his own personal touches on to make it more battle worthy. And the Hulk was doing what he did best: smash.
Rose watched as Tony flew ahead of the rest of his team, probably hoping to find the scepter first, it always was a race with him. Suddenly her screen started to flash a warning at her and beep loudly.
"Tony I'd watch out the base has a-"
"Shit!" Tony cursed loudly ramming into an invisible shield.
"Energy shield." Rose finished a little too late but couldn't help a small laugh at Tony's expense.
"Language! What's the view look like from upstairs?" Cap asked her over the hum of his motorcycle in the back.
"The building is protected by some type of energy shield that my sensors couldn't detect until Tony got close enough, and I mean real close. Strucker's tech is well beyond any other Hydra base you guys have taken so far." Rose said into her headset as she listened to the sound of explosions and gunfire from the other end.
"Loki's scepter must be here. Strucker couldn't mount this defense without it. At long last." Thor said sounding satisfied.
"At long last is lasting a little long boy's" Rose heard Natasha say through the comms as she shot down more soldiers.
Rose watched as Clint ducked behind a tree swiftly to avoiding the shot fired from the bunker in front of him. Clint loaded his bow and sent one of his arrows flying towards the bunker and watched it explode a moment later.
"Yeah. I think we lost the element of surprise." Clint said continuing to use the tree's as cover.
Tony continued to fly around the building taking down guards as he went. "Wait a second. No one else is going to deal with the fact that Cap just said 'language'?"
Rose chuckled listening to the Avengers banter glad she was finally able to see them work as a team instead of them being cooped up in the tower acting like drug addicts waiting for their next hit.
"I know." Steve said followed by a grunt and the sound of an explosion. "It just slipped out."
More of Strucker's men continued to filter out of the base to fight off the Avengers, or try to fight the Avengers since the chances of them winning were slim to none. Tony had to dodge fire from another one of Strucker's big guns as he flew around the base some more trying to find an opening.
"Sir, the city is taking fire." Rose heard JARVIS say into the comms.
"Well we know Strucker isn't going to worry about civilian casualties. Send in the Iron Legion." Tony commanded.
Rose had hacked into the Iron Legions systems as soon as her and Tony had gotten back to the tower yesterday and because the droids had cameras on them as well she was able to watch as the five droids dropped down into the city. All five of them began moving the crowd away and warning the people to move back as 'the quadrant was unsafe'. But the people were already riled up from all the damage and one man threw a bottle of chemicals at one of the droids even though it kept repeating they were only there to help. Thankfully the Iron Legion could be dismantled and replaced so whatever damage the people of Sokovia did could easily be remedied.
"Mankind's greatest threat is itself" Rose muttered turning her attention back to the battle. Well not really a battle that would suggest both sides had an equal chance of winning.
"Clint there's a bunker to your left," Rose tells him scanning over the footage in front of her.
"I see it" He says back as he sneaks through the trees and ducks behind one for cover. He lets an arrow fly towards the bunker and ducks behind the tree again expecting to hear an explosion only for nothing to happen. He loads another arrow quickly and aims only to be knocked off his feet and fall to the snowy ground. Rose watches as the camera is jostled out of position so all she could see was a few trees and the snowy forest floor.
"You didn't see that coming?" Rose suddenly hears an accented voice taunt Clint. A blur passes in front of the camera for a second before Clint gets up and the boy is gone before Clint could shoot him.
"Clint the bunker!" Rose yelled through the mic once again to late as a blast hits him in the side and he falls down to the snowy forest floor with a groan of pain.
"Clint!" Natasha yelled running over to his side.
Rose heard Steve grunt through the comms as he was also hit from the side, but not by a bullet.
"We have an enhanced in the field" Rose heard Steve say before making his way towards the base again. Rose would bet anything that it was the boy she heard taunt Clint over the comms, but how the hell was he able to get all the way over to Cap so fast? She should've been able to track him on her systems but he only showed up for a second before vanishing.
Rose groaned in frustration not able to find any problem with her systems. "Sorry, Cap. I can't track the little shit, you guys are on your own."
"Clint's hit!" Natasha yelled finally making it to Barton's side and starting to patch him up which was hard to do under fire. "Someone want to deal with that bunker?" She yelled as the Hulk came barreling through demolishing the bunker. "Thank you."
"Stark we really need to get inside." Steve yells knocking down more soldiers with his shield.
"I'm closing in." Tony blasted more guards down that tried to fire at him. "Uh Rose, am I...closing in?" Tony questioned sounding unsure of himself. "Do you see a power source for that shield?"
"The northern tower Tony." Rose said to him then continued to gnaw on her bottom lip, a nervous habit of hers. The enhanced was an uncalculated variable that could quickly change the tides of this battle, especially if there were more of them. She might not be able to track the enhanced but she could still watch over the rest of the team, and by Clint's groans of pain she was doing a dandy job of that as well.
"Great I want to poke it with something." Tony said like a child and barreled through more guards and trucks flying up to the stone building and shooting a small missile into the northern side of the building. Immediately the shield began to drop. "Drawbridge is down, people."
Out in the woods Steve was moving to meet up with Thor who had just knocked down the surrounding guards.
"The enhanced?" Thor asked the question on everyone's mind.
"I was just about to ask the same question seeing as Barton's in no shape to answer." Rose said.
"He's a blur. All the new players we faced, I've never seen this. In fact, I still haven't." Steve said looking around him in case the enhanced came back.
Rose rubbed her head in frustration. No wonder she couldn't get a lock on his position early enough to warn anyone, he was moving too fast for her to track. By the time her system was able to transmit a signal he was already in a different place, and with all the other moving bodies around even if he did slow down enough it would be impossible to pick him out from the crowd.
Luckily Rose had placed that camera on Clint and if her eyes weren't playing tricks on her then that blur in front of the camera was the little shit himself; maybe they would get a chance to see the mystery man yet.
"Clint's hit pretty bad, guys. We're gonna need evac." Natasha said.
"I can get Barton to the jet. The sooner we're gone the better. You and Stark secure the scepter." Thor said to Steve trusting them to get the scepter.
"Copy that" Steve sighed.
"Guys, you got more soldiers coming your way" Rose told them.
Steve and Thor (and Rose) watched more Hydra soldiers come over a hill towards them followed by one of Strucker's supped up tanks. "It looks like they're lining up" Thor laughed.
"Well, they're excited." Steve lifted his shield up between them and braced his arms as Thor struck down on it with his hammer sending a shockwave towards the oncoming soldiers, knocking them and the tank sideways.
"Find the scepter" Were Thor's parting words to Steve before flying off to assist Barton.
"And for gosh sake, watch your language!" Tony mocked over the comms.
Steve sighed loudly "That's not going away anytime soon."
Rose chucked at Steve. "Nope" She said popping the p. "Now get your ass moving, Tony's closing in on the scepter but you need to go after Strucker. This whole things was for naught if we can't catch him."
"Rose, language!" Tony chastised her over the comms making her laugh again.
"Tony what's your position?" Rose asks not seeing him on her screen.
"Just entering the building." Tony says followed by the clanking sounds of bullets hitting his suit. "Guys, stop, we gotta talk this through" Tony says only to shoot down all the soldiers at once using his suit. "It was a good talk."
"No it wasn't" Rose says at the same time one of the Hydra soldiers does.
"Um, is there an echo in here? Whose side are you on, Rose?" Tony says with fake anger.
Rose doesn't get a chance to respond as Tony fires his repulsor at the scientist Doctor List, who was trying to erase the files on the computers. Tony steps out of his suit putting it on 'Sentry Mode' and moves towards the computers to start downloading all of the files.
"Okay JARVIS. You know I want it all. Rose make sure Hill is getting all of this." Tony says as he starts the download.
Rose looked over her shoulder to Hill who was looking down at her designated Stark tablet. Maria only nodded at her in confirmation and began to look through all of the files.
"Ya Tony, she's getting all of them." Rose says into her mic and turns back to the battle.
"We're locked down out here" Natasha said.
"Then get to Banner, time for a lullaby" Steve said giving her further orders as he continued to fight his way to Strucker. Rose could help him very little in that endeavor as she couldn't tell the difference between regular Hydra soldiers and Strucker himself. But she could give him a few pointers on where to look, cowards were all the same.
"I know you're hiding more than files. Hey, J, give me an IR scan of the room, real quick." Tony asked looking around the room as JARVIS performed the scan.
"The wall to your left...I'm reading steel reinforcements and an air current." JARVIS said.
"I bet it's a secret door." Rose said excitedly.
"No fair that's what I was about to say!" Tony said back childishly.
"I bet it's a secret dungeon where he keeps all the people he experiments on." Rose said humorously.
"Nah, I bet it's where he keeps his secret tech, like the scepter." Tony bantered back.
"Only one way to find out." Rose cooed excitedly.
"You're on. Please be a secret door, please be a secret door." Tony pushed in the wall and watched as it slides open to reveal a secret passage down. "Yay!" Tony exclaims before making his way inside.
Rose once again checked back to make sure the rest of the team was okay and saw that Natasha and Banner were already making their way back to the jet to meet up with Thor and Clint. And just like she suggested Steve had found Stucker trying to escape through one of the back exits.
"Baron Strucker. Hydra's number one thug." Cap said staring the man down.
"Technically, I'm a thug for SHIELD." Strucker says obviously nervous because he knows he's outmatched.
"Well then technically you're unemployed. Where's Loki's scepter?" Steve asks him intently.
"Don't worry, I know when I'm beat. You'll mention how I cooperated, I hope."Strucker said trying to plead for his own life. It made Rose sick to her stomach. In her line of work she met many men like him, when things started getting hard they tried to opt out and save their own skin.
"I'll put it right under illegal human experimentation. How many are there?" Steve didn't have time to react as he saw a burst of red and was thrown down a flight a stairs. Steve ran up the stairs and made it to the top just to see the second enhanced back away and slam the heavy metal doors in front of her. "We have a second enhanced. Female. Do not engage." Steve said to the team before returning his attention back to Strucker.
Rose slammed her hands down on her desk in frustration. "You have got to be shitting me" Rose cursed. It was bad enough the first one got through her sights but for another one to do the exact same thing just ticked her off. "Now how the hell was this one able to get through?"
"You'll have to be faster than-" Strucker didn't get to finish as Cap kicked up his shield and Strucker got a face full of vibranium.
"Guys, I got Strucker." Steve told the team.
"Yeah, I got...something bigger." Tony said back anonymously making Rose turn her attention back to Tony to see had had made his way down the passage.
"Tony, I can't see. Turn on your video fed" Since the other camera was on Tony's suit he had another one on him he was able to turn on incase he ever had to leave it. Rose waited as the video screen popped up on her computer. "Whoa" Was all Rose could say at what she saw. Aliens. The ones from New York, and one of the giant whales Tony said he flew through. Robots too, like they were trying to build their own form of the Iron Legion. "Ok, so we were both wrong."
"Or, we were both right." Tony says as he moves through the basement. "Thor, I got eyes on the prize." Rose sees the scepter on her video screen for a moment until the video suddenly buffers and goes dark.
"Tony, I lost the video fed. Are you still there?" Rose called confused on why the video cut. She typed away on her computer trying to bring it back with no success. When no response from Tony comes she calls to him again, probably a small glitch in the signal. "Tony? Tony, can you hear me?"
She pauses waiting to hear his voice over the mic, but none comes. Rose starts to panic as her instincts or woman's intuition start yelling at her something is wrong, and she always trusts her instincts, it's what's kept her alive thus far. She quickly starts checking all of her signals and transmitters to find the source of the problem. Finding nothing wrong on her end she decides that whatever shut the video fed happened on Tony's end.
Because Tony's comm was completely down she couldn't get a lock on his position, something was jamming her signal. Were the steel reinforcements JARVIS had said were in the basement messing with her signal? Either way she had to find Tony.
"Steve, Tony isn't respondi-"
"Rose, I'm here" Tony's voice finally came through the comms filling her with relief. "Sorry kid, this place must be messing with our comms. I've got the scepter and I'm on my way up."
"Tony are you okay?" Rose asked noticing the slightest tremor in his voice.
"I'm always okay, Rosebud. We'll be home soon okay." Tony said confidently.
Rose was not fully convinced, but decided not to pressure him. "Alright, well, come back safe, you crazy bastard." Rose mumbled the last part before turning her mic off and leaning back in her chair and lets her head rest on the back of it.
It was a comfortable reclining leather office chair that Tony had gotten for her when he saw that her back was aching from leaning over the table all the time and she had been using one of the simple metal ones around the lab making her butt hurt. He didn't ask her if she needed it, just silently switched out the chairs and continued on. That's how it always been between them. The silent understanding they had with one another, being able to communicate without words, knowing one another's little quirks, like a family would. It helped that they were practically the same person too.
Which was how she knew something wasn't right with him. He might have covered it up right away but she was sure something had spooked him. After the invasion Tony had gone off the deep end. Rose had some business she couldn't walk away from but she was able to hear about all of it from Pepper. She had said he was prone to hysterics and had a bad case of insomnia. He kept making suit after suit and that was the very reason both him and Pepper almost got killed. Thankfully he was able to snap out of it and his and Pepper's relationship actually bloomed out of all the destruction, go figure. Rose wasn't able to be there for him then but she was here now and she was going to make sure to watch his back.
Yeah, she decided not to pressure Tony, but that didn't mean she was going to let the subject drop.
"JARVIS." Rose called to the ei.
"Yes Miss McQueen" The interface responded instantly.
"You keep a record of all of Tony's vital signs right?" Rose asked.
"Yes ma'am."
"Can you give me the records for the last five minutes? Bring it up on screen."
"Of course ma'am, please realize that this is restricted information and I am programmed to keep Mister Starks information confidential from outsiders but Mister Stark has you as one of his emergency contacts and therefore allows you to have access to this information." JARVIS said as he brought up Tony's vital signs to holographical project in front of her.
"Thank you JARVIS, and don't worry no one but me is going to be seeing this." Hill had long since left the lab to go over more of the files and hopefully find more information on our two enhanced.
Rose watched the replay of Tony's vital signs and heart rate. There was an unnatural spike in his heart rate and breathing for a short time and unusual amount of brain activity. Now she wasn't a master biologist like Doctor Banner but if she had to guess she would give her right foot saying something scared Tony, bad. This is the man that fought off aliens in New York and deals with freaky shit on a daily basis. What could have scared him?
"JARVIS keep a close watch of his vital signs, particularly at night. If he was scared by something odds are it's probably going to come back to haunt him in his sleep. Alert me if there are any irregular spikes."
"Yes ma'am. The team is now loading onto the jet and will be due back in one hour. And Doctor Cho is making her way from Seoul to treat the injured Mister Barton." JARVIS responded.
"Doctor Cho, huh?" Rose said thoughtfully as she leaned back in her swivel chair and bit her lip. "JARVIS, pull up all the files on Doctor Cho. I'm a quick study."
"JARVIS take the wheel" Tony said as the pilots set started to slide backwards so he could stand up.
"Yes, sir. Approach vector is locked."
Stark made his way to the back of the jet where Thor and the Captain were standing over the scepter.
"It feels good, yeah? I mean you've been after this thing since SHIELS collapsed. Not that I haven't enjoyed our little ragtag parties, but…" Tony said.
"No, but this...this brings it to a close." Thor said obviously pleased to have the scepter out of enemy hands.
"As soon as we find out what else this has been used for. I don't just mean weapons. Since when is Strucker capable of human enhancement?" Steve input.
"Banner and I'll give it a once over before it goes back to Asgard. Is that cool with you? I mean, just a few days until the farewell party. You're staying right?" Stark shot off with his fast mouth and slick words, he could out talk anyone.
"Yes, yes, of course. A victory should be honored with revels." Thor said nodding his head in agreement.
"Yeah who doesn't love revels? Captain?" Tony asked seeing the serious look on Steve's face.
"Hopefully this puts an end to the Chitauri and Hydra, so. Yes, revels." The Captain smiles at them all of them obviously tired from all the fighting, not just from today but from all the work they put into finding the scepter.
"You know, I'm still waiting." Tony says.
"For what?" The Captain sighs anticipating another one of Stark's antics.
"For you to say I was right for bringing Rose in and for you to say 'thank you Tony for showing us we were wrong and humbling us'." Tony said his cocky grin back on his face.
"I will admit, Lady McQueen did quick and efficient work." Thor said.
"There you see, now was that so hard?" Tony patted Thor on the back before turning to the Cap with an expectant look.
Steve sighed deeply and hung his head. "She did very good work." Steve said looking back up to meet Stark's eyes. "But there's still the matter of her profession that we've been ignoring until now because you said she could help us find the scepter."
"Which she did, so don't you actually owe her your thanks." Tony retorted. "Listen, you don't even know the girl. None of you do. So how about you try and use the time between now and the party to try and get to know her a little bit. Then you can make all the judgments you want." Tony spoke loudly enough that he gained the attention of both Romanoff and Banner who had stopped chatting.
"He's right you know." A deep gravelly voice said from the back of the jet gaining everyone's attention.
Natasha quickly went over to Barton's side seeing he was once again awake and told him not to talk and get more sleep. Her concerns were only to be shooed away by the uncaring Barton as he looked over at Tony.
"How old is that girl Tony? What, like, 19? 20?" Clint asked.
"Twenty-three actually. Why? Your girlfriend not cutting it anymore?" Tony laughed even though he would never let Rose date someone as old as Clint.
Clint groggily chuckled. "I don't have a girlfriend. Just figured she looked a little young to be involved in that kind of work. Kind of reminds me of someone else I know." Clint said looking at Natasha. "She must of had it rough and had to grow up pretty fast to survive that kind world."
Everyone saw the dark look cross Stark's face for a moment but no one commented on it knowing it probably had something to do with Rose's past and they would get no information about that from Tony who had been dodging their questions since she arrived.
"Yeah, she did." Tony said hauntingly before shaking out of his somber mood and plastering his carefree grin back on his face. "Well better rest up, Barton. We still have a while until we land and once we go you are being carted off to Doctor Cho who will have you fixed up in no time."
Tony took one last thoughtful look at the scepter before reaching up and slamming the case shut.
Rose had been in the lab, like always, when Doctor Cho and her team had arrived, escorted in by Hill. The good Doctor didn't even seem to notice her as she quickly started prepping the room for surgery. Helen Cho, as it turns out, was a world renowned geneticist who made new discoveries in the rebinding or regeneration of human tissue using a machine called the Cradle. Doctor Cho's lab was stationed in South Korea where she did most of her work and research.
Rose was just itching to see what kind of toys the good doctor brought with her today. She really wanted to see all the equipment that they brought with them, maybe they were planning on making Barton half robot!
Being as quiet as possible, Rose stood from her chair and snuck over to the glasses off area where Cho and her assistants were setting up. Rose entered the room unnoticed by anyone, or even if they did notice they didn't say anything, and started looking over the shoulders of everyone to see what they were working on. She looked over all the specs of the equipment and was itching to take something apart and tinker with it. Some people might call her nosey, but she preferred the term curious.
"Excuse me, who are you?"
Rose looks up to see that the doctor finally realized there was another person in the room and decided to address her.
"Who me?" Rose points to herself acting like she didn't understand what the doctor was asking. "Oh, I'm nobody important. I'm just here visiting a friend. I saw you guys walk in and got curious so I decided to investigate." It wasn't technically a lie. She was here to visit Tony and she was curious how this Cradle thingy worked.
She was a programmer/hacker/many other illegal things one can't put on a resume, she didn't know that much about genetics but from what she did know Doctor Cho's work was very new and very exciting. Cho and Banner must get along wonderfully when they start geeking out together.
Helen looked over the girl in front of her and deemed her non-threatening but still untimely as she was still preparing for Barton's arrival.
"Well as you can see we are dealing with very delicate and expensive equipment here, so if you could please step away." Helen said very professionally and motioned to the exit.
Rose could tell when she was being dismissed and underestimated. People naturally start making judgments about others when they first see them and sadly that's always what gets them killed. But Rose could understand why this sophisticated and intelligent lady was already making judgments about her; she really didn't look very threatening at the moment with her faded jeans, Bon Jovi t-shirt, and her chucks sneakers. That still doesn't mean Rose liked people thinking of her as incompetent or just another dumb blonde, Rose was used to playing into that role and using it to her advantage.
Besides it looked like this Doctor Cho could loosen up a bit. Rose wondered for a moment if Tony always felt like this when he was messing with or agitating the Captain. It was thrilling to watch people's calm fasad unravel.
"What's this?" Rose asked side stepping Cho and picking up a piece of equipment. Helen tried to grab it from her hands but Rose once again side stepped her and went around the other side of the table.
"That is a very important piece of equipment that I am going to have to ask that you put back down." Cho said not taking her now wide eyes off the device in Rose's hand in case she had to make a dive for it.
"What does it do? It doesn't look that imp-" Rose cut off as she faked dropping it and nearly caught it before it could hit the ground and break. "Wow. That could have been bad!"
Rose laughed as she looked over at the good doctor that had gone pale and looked like she had just lost years of her life. But it didn't last long as Cho face turned wild and she let out a small battle cry before racing around the table for Rose yelling at her to put the device down.
All of Cho's assistants exited the lab without looking back at the two women as they raced around the table; one trying to catch the other and the other taunting her as she continued to run away.
"What are you doing?" Maria Hill yelled making the two women pause.
"Hill, the doctor and I were just getting to know each other. What up? How close is the team?" Rose asked once again dodging one of Cho's swipes for the device.
Maria sighed loudly and tried to rub away the cress in her brow, she was finally seeing why Rose and Tony got along so well. They were both children, sadistic children.
"That's actually why I'm here. The jet will be landing in five. Doctor Cho, I suggest you finish any last minute preparations and, um, maybe fix your appearance a bit."
Rose couldn't help but laugh at that and looked over at the doctor. It's true, the good doctor looked like she just got into a wild tousle, her face was flushed from all the yelling and running, her hair was in disarray falling out of it perfect bun, and uniform scrubs were disheveled. Helen blushed with embarrassment at Hill's words and quickly started to right herself.
"Better freshen up Doc. You wouldn't want Prince Thor to see you like that now would you? Then again maybe he likes that kind of thing. I mean, he is dating the girl who hit him with her car twice, so it's hard to say what his type is." Rose laughed and watched Helen turn even redder.
Apparently that was the wrong thing to say as it turned Hill's attention back to herself.
"And you!" Maria said sending a chastising glare Rose's way. "Don't you have more work to do?" Maria said like I was one of Tony's employee's instead of doing him a favor.
"I got bored." Rose said simply. "Are you going down to the landing bay? Tell Tony I'm in the lab will you." Rose said before turning around and throwing the device towards Cho who fumbled with it for a moment before catching it and releasing a deep sigh of relief.
Maria sent Rose one more disapproving look as she passed before Hill made her way down to the jets landing area.
The jet lands in its designated area and Barton is carted off for treatment circled by Cho, her assistants, and Natasha. Maria Hill walked up the ramp of the jet to address Tony.
"Lab's all set up boss. And Rose is already there waiting for you."
Tony turned around in the pilots set and pointed at Steve. "Uh, actually, he's the boss. I just pay for everything, and design everything, and make everyone look cooler." Tony sassed making his way off the jet.
Steve ignores him and turns to Hill. "What's the word on Strucker?"
"NATO's got him."
"The two enhanced?" Steve questions and moves to look down at Hill's tablet with a picture of the two as she starts to verbally report everything on the two.
"Wanda and Pietro Maximoff. Orphaned at ten when a shell collapsed their apartment building. Sokovia's had a rough history. It's nowhere special but it's on the way to everywhere special. Rose was able to find some past footage of them before Strucker's experiments and she was able to get the footage of the girl after she attacked you, but it seems the boy keeps eluding her. You can imagine how happy she is." Hill said dryly.
"Their abilities?" Steve questioned as they walked into the building.
"He's got increased metabolism and improved thermal homeostasis. Her thing is neuro electric interfacing, telekinesis, and manipulation." The Captain paused and gave her a blank look as they stopped in front of the elevator. "He's fast and she's weird." Hill said simplifying everything.
"Any idea why Rose couldn't track them?"
"She says it's because the boy was moving around too fast for her computer to keep up and she thinks the girl's powers are interfering with any electronic signal. She's already working on a new program to fix the holes." Hill says leaving out the part where she walked in on Rose taunting Doctor Cho, the Captain would find out soon enough that Rose was a miniature version of Tony, but no less trouble.
And besides the girl was starting to grow on her, just like Tony did.
"Well, they're going to show up again." Steve nodded and handed her back her tablet as the elevator dinged its arrival.
"Agreed. File says they volunteered for Strucker's experiments. It's nuts." Hill says shaking her head.
"Right. What kind of monster would let a German scientist experiment on them to protect their country?" Steve countered and pushed one of the elevators buttons.
"We're not at war Captain." Maria said.
"They are." The Captain said before the elevator doors closed.
"Honey, I'm home!" Is the first thing Tony says as he stunts into the lab after checking up on Clint.
Clint was already being worked on by Doctor Cho in the small room off to the side. He really did look worse for wear, by the time they had rolled him in he had gone pale from the major loss of blood. He was lucky we had Doctor Cho on stand by and that Natasha was always watching his six. Banner had immediately come to the lab after landing (and finding a shirt) and started setting up his and Tony's area so that they could start running some tests on the scepter. Rose had seen pictures of the scepter before but finally being the same room with it, she could tell why the team was so worried about it getting into the wrong hands. That thing was giving off some major bad vibes making her skin crawl if she just looked at it for too long. There was no way she was moving any closer to that thing than was absolutely necessary.
So she busied herself with her own work ignoring the big pointy object in the room.
Rose was sitting in front of her laptop typing away trying to figure out how to upgrade her systems so she would be able to track the wonder twins. She might be able to find a way to get around Wanda's powers since it seemed she gave off a weird energy signal, but the fast one, Pietro, he was the problem. A computer can only run so fast without it over loading and frying all the circuits, but where other people saw a wall Rose saw a challenge.
"Oh Darling! Did you bring home the bacon?" Rose plays along as she spins around in her chair.
"Sadly, no. We weren't able to make any pit stops on our way back thanks to someone" Tony says ominously looking over at Clint.
"How's he doing?" Banner asked making his way over to Tony.
"Unfortunately, he's still Barton." Tony said as Rose turned back to her computer.
"That's terrible," Banner joked making Rose laugh. She didn't know the doctor had a sense of humor; it was refreshing to see he wasn't all doom and gloom.
"He's fine. He's thirsty." Tony said as he began walking over to stand in front of the scepter ready to get to work. "Alright. Look alive, JARVIS. It's play time. We've got a couple days with this joystick so let's make the most of it. Update me on the structural and compositional analysis."
"The scepter is alien. There are elements I can't quantify." The ei's voice came from above.
"So there's elements you can." Tony said more to himself as he walked over to make a protein shake for Clint.
"I'll have a milkshake if you're taking orders." Rose called to him, her only response being a hand wave back.
"The jewel appears to be a protective housing for something inside. Something powerful." Rose stopped typing as she listened to what the ei was saying to once again look over to the glow stick of doom.
"Like a reactor?" Tony questioned pouring some nasty looking green drink in plastic cups, making Rose's lips curl in disgust.
"Like a computer. I believe I'm ciphering code." Even JARVIS sounded a bit awed at what he was saying.
Seeing as that was all JARVIS could tell them at the moment Rose decided to get back to work on her programming and she still had more boxes of papers she needed to properly scan and file away. Yes it was secretarial work and Tony could find someone else to do it but she liked how it kept her busy and how it kept her mind from wandering to less happy things.
Ten minutes later Tony walked back into the lab practically having to pull Banner away from his Doctor Cho's work.
"What's the rumpus?" Banner asked making Rose halt once again in her own work as she watched the two curiously.
"Well, the scepter. You see, we were wondering how Strucker got so inventive." Tony swiped up his own little pad as he continued to talk. "So I've been analyzing the gem inside you may recognize." Tony flicked the pad into the air and a golden sphere shape appears.
"JARVIS." Banner acknowledges the ei, knowing what it is immediately.
"Doctor." JARVIS says back in greeting.
"Started out, JARVIS was just a natural language UI. Now he runs the Iron Legion. He runs more of the business than anyone besides Pepper." Tony turned to Banner trying to get his point across.
"Oh" Is all Banner says not at all impressed. Rose snorted at that, it was good to know that Tony was around more people who didn't take any of his crap or his boasting, in fact it seemed they were actually humbling Tony bit by bit. Of course, he was still a cocky asshole.
"Top of the line." Tony stressed his point once more.
"I suspect not for long." JARVIS says making a smile come to Rose's face knowing that comment that about her.
"Don't worry, J-man. You'll always be number one." Rose says trying to sooth the ei.
Tony ignored them as he flicked the pad at the scepter collecting some data onto the small device.
"Meet the competition." Tony says ominously as he once again flicked the screen out into the air making another 3D image appear in the middle of the lab. Both Rose and Banner stared in awe at the blue sphere in front of them. The same creepy blue as the gem in the scepter, the same creepy blue that reports say people's eyes turned after they were brainwashed by Loki. Rose didn't even know when she had stood up but she was already making her way over towards the image to stand next to the Tony and Banner.
"It's beautiful." Banner said in awe.
"If you had to guess, what's it look like it's doing?" Tony barely even got to finish his question before Banner was answering it.
"Like it's thinking." Banner still didn't take his eyes off the image in front of them. "I mean this could be a...it's not a human mind, it…"
"Um-um" Tony encouraged him to keep talking.
"I mean, look at this? Their like neurons firing," Banner said looking over the image as he walked around it. Rose couldn't help but walk closer to the image as she watched it move and shift. If this was what the rest of the universe was able to accomplish then maybe Loki was right. Humans are ants. Suddenly she had an overwhelming feeling like she was trapped in the ocean and she was the tiniest of sea creatures.
"Down in Strucker's lab I saw some fairly advanced robotic work. Rose even you saw some of it." Tony said to her making her snap out of whatever trance she was in and look at Tony. She didn't miss the haunted look in his eyes before it was covered up again by a look she knew all too well. Tony had an idea. And things rarely worked out well when he got ideas. Rose continued to listen as he spoke. "They deep-sixed the data, but...I gotta guess he was knocking on a very particular door."
"Artificial Intelligence," Both Bruce and Rose say at the same time. They both look at each other surprised they were on the same train of thought.
"This could be it, Bruce. This could be the key to creating Ultron." Tony excitedly said to the Doctor.
"Wait, am I missing something? What's Ultron?" Rose asked looking at both of them confused.
"I thought Ultron was a fantasy." Banner laughed, both of them ignoring her question.
"Yesterday it was. If we can harness this power, apply it to my Iron Legion protocol." Tony said trying to convince Bruce still ignoring Rose.
"Will someone please tell me what Ultron is!" Rose yelled frustrated at being left out of the loop.
Tony quickly turns to her and begins to explain. "I had a thought a while back; I couldn't help but wonder what's going to happen to the world if we aren't there to save it. That's where Ultron comes in. Ultron is artificial intelligence peacekeeping program. Rose think of it, if we were able to make a program that could do 10x the work we do now. It would make the Avengers obsolete."
Rose shook her head at what Tony was saying. It was impossible. There was no way one program would be able to do all that work, and even if it could, should they really give that much power to one person, or program. America has a democracy for a reason. Oh, crap, she saw starting to sound like the Captain now. Miss America to the rescue!
"I don't know, Tony. Your ideas always have repercussions, remember the jock strap incident." Rose said once again gnawing on her bottom lip.
"That was an accident and you know it." Tony said humorously. "Rose, you're the best programmer, next to me, and Banner no one knows science like you do, except for once again me. I know that if the three of us work together Ultron won't just be a fantasy anymore."
Banner was shaking his head obviously not wanting to be a part of this.
"This is a mad-sized if, Tony." Banner said as he started to pace around the lab with Tony hot on his heels.
"Our job is 'if'. What if you were sipping margaritas on a sun-drenched beach turning brown instead of green? Not looking over your shoulder for Veronica."
"Don't hate, I helped design Veronica."
"As a worst-case measure, right? How about a best-case? What if the world was safe? What if the next time aliens roll up to the club, and they will, they couldn't get past the bouncer."
"The only people threatening the planet would be people."
Rose couldn't help but remember what she had said earlier, when the people of Sokovia attacked the Iron Legion. Man kind's greatest threat is itself. Rose hadn't necessarily lost faith in humanity, but she did know the world was a cruel place with cruel people. Cruel people that even she didn't do business with, and people that she would rather be six feet under. Maybe Tony was right, maybe the world did need Ultron.
"I want to apply this to the Ultron program. But JARVIS can't download a data schematic this dense. We can only do it while we have the scepter here, that's three days, give me three days."
"So you're going for artificial intelligence and you don't want to tell the team." Surprisingly Banner didn't sound as accusing as she thought he would've, instead he looked a little bit...excited.
"Right. That's right, you know why, because we don't have time for city hall debate." Rose knew he was referring to Captain when he said that. "I don't want to hear the 'man was not supposed to meddle' medley." And look, he even just quoted Thor too. "I see a suit of armor around the world."
"Sounds like a cold world, Tony." Banner said making a shiver go up Rose's spin with just the idea of it.
"I've seen colder." Tony said making Rose pause as she once again saw that haunted look in his eyes, this time it was there longer as he continued to try and persuade Banner. "This one, this very vulnerable blue one? It needs Ultron.
Peace in our time. Imagine that." Tony said walking away from Banner back to the holograms to continue working on the scepter.
"Banner, he's going to do this with or without you. You might as well hope on bored and make sure it at least done right." Rose said to the Doctor and ignores the offended look Tony sends towards her. "Well, I got nothing better to do so I guess I'm in. Plus I'll always help you Tony, even if it's literally the worst idea you've had since Madrid." Rose laughed remembering that incident, the people in Madrid certainly still do.
Banner shook his head and fisted his fingers through his hair with a groan of frustration. "Fine, fine! I'll help!"
Tony and Rose high-fived happy with their successful tag team routine, when both of them work for something, no one can ever say no.
"Alrighty team! Let's get cracking; we've only got three days. Hope neither of you were planning on getting any sleep."
Rose laughed as Banner stomped over to his work station.
"Bruce, you can pout all you want, but I know you're secretly excited to see where this will lead, it's the scientist in you." Banner looked at her silently and saw the excitement and wonder reflected in her green eyes that he knew were in his own. "I know because I'm excited too."
Rose practically bounced back to her desk and all three of them began working none stop for hours, only taking small breaks to shove some food down their throats as they went over all the data. Rose was especially tired since she had been working none stop the week before. Thankfully Tony let her take extra time to rest since he said he didn't want her dying in his lab and getting in the way of his work.
The next three days were trying, literally, they tried everything. Tony even blew up a few things, but no matter what they did it just wasn't enough. They were obviously missing something but none of them could figure out what and it was driving them mad; teeth grinding, hair pulling mad.
The only thing they could think to do at this point was to take a step back and look at it from a different angle. Lucky the party was tonight and they were being forced to get out of the lab and be social. Oddly enough, no one else from the team had tried to drag them from the lab so Rose could only assume they were used to Tony and Banner locking themselves up in the lab for a few days. Rose had found out that Bruce and her got along wonderfully. They both loved to talk about the places they traveled to and the people they met, that is, when they weren't talking about the equations and neurons.
Rose had thrown in the towel around noon, much to Tony's protest claiming they were almost there, and she went back to her room for some much needed rest before the party and to freshen up and get dressed.
She wanted to make a good impression on Tony's friends and the rest of the team since this would be one of the first times that would actually have time to socialize. Tony would be too busy entertaining guests and Pepper couldn't make it to the party so she wouldn't have either of them there as a buffer. It was either talk to people at the party and make new friends or not go at all, and Tony would be pissed if she didn't go so that left only one option.
She made sure she dressed appropriate for the party and didn't show up wearing jeans and band t-shirt to a black and white event. She had to careful not to look like a child in a swarm of adults and a dress seemed too fancy for tonight. She ended up with a pair of floral black, silver and, and dark red leggings, her matching knit dark red sweater (one that didn't swallow her whole), and her pair of silver point toe heels. She matched it with a big silver necklace that dangled around the collar of the sweater and put on her black leather jacket for badass effect.
She left her hair to fall down her back in the usual long waves; trying to style her hair was far too tedious of work for her. She would much rather save that kind of detailed work for her programs. She didn't really wear any eye makeup because of her glasses and because she thought it got in the way of her everyday life, but she did love lipstick. It made her already lovely pouty lips that much more noticeably and paired with her more than generous chest men didn't know where to look let alone what to say. Yet another thing she used to her advantage.
So with a coat of deep red on her lips and her black square glasses perched on her nose she winked at herself in mirror and she left her room in search of Tony.
After a quick chat with JARVIS she found out Tony was still in the lab working on the project and trying every variable known to man. The man was nothing if not persistent.
Sure enough, once she walked into the lab there he was going over all the data over and over. She knew Tony had heard her enter thanks to her heels but he didn't acknowledge her in the least and kept working.
Rose looked him over and saw he hadn't left the lab to even get ready for his own party yet. Well since Pepper wasn't here that meant Rose would have to be the one to put her foot down and drag him away. And she would literally drag him if need be.
"Come on Tony, shut it down." Rose finally said putting her hands on her hips in her 'no bullshit' pose.
"Just a few more minutes," Tony called over his shoulder not wanting to look away from his work.
"That's what you said a half hour ago Tony. JARVIS back me up here, please." Rose called to the ei.
"I'll continue to run variations on the interface, but you should probably prepare for your guests. I'll notify you if there are any developments." JARVIS said.
Tony sighed loudly before giving up. "Fine you guys win, like always. Thanks, buddy, keep me updated."
"Enjoy yourself, sir."
Tony smiled and let Rose grab his arm to drag him out of the lab. "I always do, buddy."
"Come on, Tony. You only got 30 mins to get ready. Then you can introduce me to all of your adorable friends."
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