Chapter 4

Her brow was furrowed and her lips were pursed. This couldn't be happening. There was no way this was happening! Staring at the glowing screen of her computer was only making her even more furious. Everything. Everything was gone! All her work since moving into the tower. Gone! And it all vanished in one night. She couldn't believe this was happening. There had to be at least one file left!

"Anything on your end?" Barry asked as he walked over to his sister's corner of the lab.

"Nothing," Tracey sighed, grabbing fists full of hair as she hung her head in exhaustion. "Everything is gone. Everything from day one," she said, chewing her cheek. This was bugging her to no end. There has to be a way to get things back. It was all a prank. Everything was still there. All the files are just going to turn up any minute now.

"I think you need a break, doll," Bucky said, walking up to the two and placing a hand on Tracey's shoulder.

"It's all gone, Bucky," she said, still keeping her eyes on the screen. "Everything from S.H.I.E.L.D., Hydra, and every mission we've been on. Everything."

"You too?" Bruce asked, peering over at the three. "All our work is gone… Ultron cleared out everything. He used the internet as an escape hack."

"He's been in everything," Natasha confirmed. "Files, surveillance. Probably knows more about us than we know about each other," she stated, leaning against the window behind her and folding her arms across her chest.

"He's in your files," Rhodey said. He had a hand over his arm as he made his way across the room. Like everyone else, he got hit in some way during the attack. "He's in the internet. What if he decides to access something a little more exciting?"

"Nuclear codes," Maria said as she looked up from getting glass out of her foot. A look of concern washed over her face, matching the fear that swept over everyone at the thought.

"Nuclear codes," Rhodey restated with a nod. "Look we need to make some calls. Assuming we still can."

"Nukes?" Nat questioned, her brow furrowing. "He said he wanted us dead-"

"He didn't say dead," Steve interrupted, staring at the ground in thought.

"Just extinct," Bucky finished, a hard look on his face. His hands were clenched. What the hell was going on?

"He also said he killed somebody," Clint added in.

"There wasn't anyone else in the buidling," Maria stated, looking up at him.

"She's right," Barry said, stepping away from Tracey and leaning against a railing as he looked around the room. Everyone was a mess. Rhodey's arm was injured, Maria was picking glass out of her foot, hell, he could have sworn he was going to have a huge bruise on his back tomorrow. "Everyone at the party left. It was just us."

"Yes there was," Tony said, walking out into the middle of the room. He waved a small device in the air and immediately orange light filled the space.

It looked to be random shapes and lines as someone besides the Avengers would have seen. However, it was more horrifying than that. What should have been a circle made out of those shapes and lines was now pieces that were scattered, pulled apart. Their defense. Their friend. The hologram in front of them was a sign that things were about to get worse. It was silent as everyone stared at it, approaching it slowly to get a better look. The sight and new information sinking in.

"What?" Bruce breathed, standing next to the shattered hologram. He raised his hands, as if he was holding it. "This is insane."

"JARVIS was the first line of defense," Steve said, crossing his arms as he stared down at his feet. "He would have shut Ultron down. It makes sense."

"But if this is what happened to him then…" Tracey trailed off.

"No," Bruce interjected. "Ultron could have assimilated JARVIS. This isn't strategy, this is…rage."

Stomping could be heard behind everyone. Heads turned to see Thor, god of thunder get up and Mjolnir in hand as he stormed into the room. His eyes were trained on the bearded scientist in the middle of everyone and his path was set. Tony didn't have a chance to say anything before the god's hand was wrapped around his neck, lifting him up off the ground. The hologram of JARVIS disappeared as the two went through it.

"Whoa whoa whoa!" Rhodey exclaimed.

"Thor, what?" Bucky called out

"It's going around," Clint said, watching the two as Thor made his way through the room.

"Come on," Tony coughed out, "use your words buddy."

"I have more than enough words to describe you, Stark," Thor said, holding Tony against the wall.

"Thor!" Steve called out, stepping up to the two. "The legion air."

The god glared at Tony one last time before setting him back on his feet. Or rather, threw him on his feet. He continued to glare at him for a few more seconds before addressing the captain. "Trail went cold about a hundred miles out. It's headed north. And it has the scepter. Now we have to retrieve it, again."

"Genie's out of that bottle," Natasha said, looking up at the blond god. "Clear and present as Ultron."

"I don't understand," Helen spoke up from her spot where she looked at the destroyed robot body that Ultron had occupied during the fight. "You built this program," she said, looking at Tony. He remained silent and turned away. "Why's it trying to kill us?"

"You said you were done working on Ultron!" Tracey spoke up. She quickly stood up from her chair, pushing it back as she walked towards Tony, pointing a finger at him. "You told us you weren't going to try again after the failed attempts. So you lied?"

"Oh don't you start pointing fingers at me, Tracey, and saying I lied," the billionaire said, glaring at the blonde. "Let's not forget. Who's the one who didn't tell any of us that Michael Burnow had called them! You lied to us about that."

"Hey!" Barry snapped, stepping in front of his sister. His eyes furrowed as he shot daggers at the scientist. Never had he seen Tony raise his voice at either of them and he sure as hell wasn't starting now. Not at his sister. "What Tracey did was a mistake. She's never been on field missions before then and had never dealt with a situation like that. She was new. I've done plenty of lying while with S.H.I.E.L.D. I've had to lie to her and my mom about what I had been doing. Tracey was new and didn't know how to handle that sort of situation given to her. Back off! We've all been through stuff we aren't proud of. He gestured to everyone in the room. It wasn't a lie. They've done a few things they weren't proud of. But they were making up for it as they grew that was for sure. He turned back to the man in front of him, his glare still clear as day on his face. "But Tony, you should have told us about Ultron."

Tony turned around after the glaring match with the male Madison twin. He stared at the desk in front of him, remaining silent as everyone waited for him to say something. It wasn't what they wanted to hear though. Laughter could be heard coming from the bearded man, all eyes were on him as he did.

Bruce stared at him, shaking his head. "Mm," he hummed.

"You think this is funny?" Thor asked, a smile on his face in bewilderment.

"No," Tony said, turning around to face him. "It's probably not," he continued, looking around the room at the others, all the while a slightly confused expression on his face. "Right? Is this very terrible. Is it so?" Laughter coughed out of him, a smile now on his face. "Is it so… It is. It's so terrible."

"This could have been avoided if you hadn't played with something you don't understand," Thor stated.

"No! I'm sorry," Tony quickly interrupted, walking up to his teammate. "I'm sorry. It is funny. It's a hoot that you don't get why we need this."

"Tony," Bruce spoke out, "this might not be the time to-"

"Really?" Tony nearly yelled, looking at the other scientist with a look of disappointment. "That's it? You just going to roll over show your belly every time somebody snarls."

"Only when I've created a murder bot," he said, making a face of "of course I am".

"We didn't," Tony declared, holding his arms out in exasperation. "We weren't even close. Were we even close to an interface?" he asked him.

"Well you did something right," Steve said, glaring at the man. "You did it right here. The Avengers was supposed to be different from S.H.I.E.L.D."

"Tell us Tony," Bucky said, walking up to the rest of the team. He crossed his arms as he stared at the scientist in front of him. The man he thought of as a teammate, a friend. The man who created something that wanted to kill them was apparently created for a certain reason. "Why did you create Ultron? What reason do you have for creating this thing?"

"Does anybody remember when I carried a nuke through a wormhole?" Tony asked, pointing to the ceiling to show emphasis to the story.

"No of course not," Barry said, rolling his eyes.

"No," Rhodey said, shaking his head. "Never come up."

"Saved New York?" Tony continued.

Tracey took a deep breath, letting it out as she closed her eyes. Here it was. "Not sure what you're talking about," she sighed.

"Never heard that before," Rhodey said.

"Do you recall that?" Tony said, raising his voice. "A hostile alien army came charging through a hole in space, we're standing three hundred feet below it." There was a pause as he let it sink in. He looked at everyone. At his teammates. "We're the Avengers. We can bust arms dealers all the live long day, but that up there, that's…that's the end game. How were you guys planning on beating Ultron?"

"Together," Steve said, not missing a beat.

"We'll lose," Tony said, staring straight at him.

"Then we'll do that together too." Silence filled the room for a few moments as the two leaders stared at each other, waiting for the other to say something else. "Thor's right. Ultron's calling us out," the super soldier stated to the others. "And I'd like to find him before he's ready for us. The world's a big place. Let's start making it smaller."

ooOOoo

"He's all over the globe," Maria told Steve and Barry as the elevator's doors opened.

They walked off and onto the top floor. All around, glass covered the floor and furniture. The furniture was over turned or busted to pieces. Barry stared at it solemnly. It was a reminder of the threat from Ultron. It was a reminder of the start of it all. This would most likely be the hardest battle any of them have ever faced. They were going to pull through, he knew that much. As long as they stuck together like Steve said, they'd make it out of this mess.

"Robotics labs, weapons facilities, jet propulsion labs," she listed off. "Reports of a metal man, or men, coming in and emptying the place.

"Fatalities?" Steve questioned.

"Only when engaged. Mostly guys left in a fugue state going on about old memories. Worst fears and about something too fast for them to see," she reported.

"Maximoffs," Barry breathed, brow furrowing.

"Well it makes sense that he'd go to them," Steve pointed out. "They have something in common."

"Not anymore," Maria said, looking down at her tablet and pulling up a file. Handing it to Steve she showed a picture of Strucker, dead in his cell. The word "peace" was on the wall written in his blood.

"God…" Barry breathed as he took the tablet next. "This is insane."

"Negative. I'm more concerned about you."

Clint could be heard in a side room as the three passed by. Looking in they found the archer on his phone, back turned to them. He was talking low.

"Are they-"

"Barton," Steve called, interrupting his friend mid-sentence. "We might have something," he said, when the archer turned around.

"Gotta go," Clint said, quickly hanging up the phone.

"Who was that?" the super soldier asked.

"Girlfriend," came the one answered reply.

"I thought you said you didn't have a girlfriend," Barry said, a smirk on his face.

"Yeah, well I lied," Clint chuckled lightly.

"Seems like that's a theme this week," Barry said, trying to make light of everything.

"Well hopefully it will stop now that we're facing this," Steve said as the three walked into the lab where the others were.

"What's this?" Thor asked as Barry handed him the tablet. The image on the device wasn't a happy one and it definitely didn't help the god's mood. He quickly shoved it into Tony's chest, "passing" him the device to view the new information.

"Ultron killed Strucker," Steve announced for the rest.

"And he didn't bank seat the crime scene," Tony said, staring at the image. "Just for us."

"This is a smoke screen," Natasha said, taking the taking the tablet. "Why send a message when you've given a speech?"

"Strucker knew something that Ultron wanted us to miss," Steve observed, looking at his team.

"Not like he was going to give it to us," Bucky muttered, glaring at the tablet on the desk. "It would have taken a while to get information out of Hydra's number new leader."

"I bet he-" Natasha stopped herself as beeping came from the computer she was working at. "Yeah, everything we had on Strucker has been erased."

"I checked my files a few minutes ago," Tracey spoke up as she looked over the red head's shoulder. "All the information I had on him from the mission was erased. Ultron must have done it when he escaped through the internet." Knowing the fact that some robot peace program had gone rogue and destroyed all the files on her computer was making her mad. All the she had done with the team, gone. All for nothing.

"Not everything," Tony said, his eyes widening slightly in realization.

ooOOoo

Tracey trudged back into the lab, a large box of files in her hands as she followed the others in. Bucky followed behind, two boxes of his own in his arms. He gave her a smirk when he saw her roll her eyes at him as he walked by.

"Show off," she muttered to him.

"You love me," he whispered back, grinning when she tried to trip him only to have her nearly fall when he used his foot to trip her in her attempt. He chuckled when he caught her mumbling "You're annoying" under her breath. "You chose to say yes. Come on," he said, following Steve into the lab.

She followed the rest and set her box onto a desk. Looking around she could already see Steve, Thor, and Tony going through different file boxes of their own. Lids were tossed to the side, files with information they didn't need were placed away from everyone so as not to get mixed up with ones that hadn't been checked yet. Everyone was going through different files, skimming page after page after page. So far nothing was found.

"No associates," Steve muttered as he threw a box lid to the side. "Strucker didn't have a lot of friends."

"Well these guys are all horrible," Bruce stated from his spot on the ground.

"Wait," Tony said, making Bruce look up at him. "I know that guy," he said, pointing to the picture in the folder Bruce had in his hand. The billionaire took the file from the scientist, staring at the image of the man in the folder. "From back in the day he operates off the African coast, black market arms," he informed, passing the file to Steve to allow the soldier a look at it. Steve and Bucky stared at him, brows furrowed at this new information. "There are conventions, alright. You meet people there. I didn't sell them anything," Tony said with a bit of annoyance, trying to reassure them as the pieces of the file was passed around. "He was talking about finding something. Something new, a game changer. It was all really Ab."

"This," Thor said, pointing to something on the man.

"Ah, that's a tattoo," the billionaire answered. "I don't think he had it."

"No, those are tattoos," the god said, pointing to the top picture. "This is a brand," he stated, pointing to another picture.

"He's right," Tracey said from one of the computers next to Bruce. "It's some sort of brand."

"It's a word in African dialect," Bruce followed up, "meaning thief in a much less friendly way."

"What dialect?" Steve asked.

"Uh Wakanada," Bruce stumbled, "Wu-Wah-"

"Wakanda?" Tracey tried, her eyes squinting in confusion. "Wakanda?" she asked, turning to the others. "I've never heard of it."

Immediately Steve, Bucky, and Tony looked to each other, their eyes sharing the same look of knowing.

"If this guy got out of Wakanda with their trade goods," Tony mumbled.

"There's no way there's more," Bucky added in. "Is there?"

"I thought your father said he got the last of it?" Steve questioned.

"I don't follow," Bruce said walking up to them with Tracey following behind.

"Last of what?" Barry questioned from his spot at a desk. "What did he get from Wakanda?"

Tony pursed his lips as he looked at everyone before turning to look at Steve's shield. "The strongest metal on Earth."

"You mean to tell us," Tracey said, her mouth slightly open in shock, "that there is more vibranium than just the one that made Steve's shield. And worse, that Ultron is going after it?"

"Seems like it," Clint muttered, chewing his cheek. "If he's already gotten the information from Strucker, then he's already on his way there."

"And if he's after vibranium…" Barry trailed off. "We're going to be dealing with the strongest robot."

"We need to get out there," Bucky said, crossing his arms, "now."

"Alright then," Steve sighed, placing his hands on his hips. "Suit up."

I am so so so so SO sorry for the late update. I've been busy with work and I've been trying to find the motivation and inspiration to keep writing. I finally sat my butt down today and wrote. I really hope you enjoy this!

I tried my best to give Tracey, Barry, and Bucky more time in this chapter and tried to split it up. It's kinda hard when there's already set plot with dialogue. Next chapter and the farm house chapter (maybe chapters, depending on what I have happen at the farm house) there will be more with Bucky and the twins. I have plans for them, but I'm still pulling things together and figuring things out.

Either way, I hope you liked this and I would love to hear your thoughts.

If you have any questions for the Avengers and Madison twins, feel free to stop by my tumblr and leave a message. If you have any prompts for Life at the Tower, leave a message on my tumblr, PM me here, or leave it in a review. Or just say hi if you'd like. I'd love to get to know you guys :D

ALSO there's a reference to Falling Again about Tracey keeping the secret of her conversations with Burnow in this chapter. I wanted to make things a bit clear (I guess is the word). There were some people who didn't like the part where Tracey kept her phone calls with the bad guy from the team, which I get, it's frustrating. Why didn't she tell them? They could have stopped it. It was a thought that went through my head as I wrote the last story, but I went with her keeping it a secret. And some people really didn't like it. I get that. But I also went with that plot line because hey, people lie! People in Marvel lie! Tony didn't tell the others about Ultron until Ultron attacked. Yes, Tracey could have told the others, but she kept quiet because it was her first time dealing with that sort of situation. It was her first field missions. She didn't know what to do. She had her family's lives on the line and she was scared. So yeah, she lied. But how many other people have lied in the MCU verse? Steve lied about knowing why Fury was in his apartment, even to Natasha who was a teammate of his. Tony lied about making Ultron. Many others have lied and it's life. Sometimes people lie. I'm sorry if it made some of you mad, but I wanted to go with that story line.

Again, if you haven't read the last two stories to the Winter is Ending series, there will be things that don't make sense at all for you. Especially in future chapters. So please go read them just in case anything doesn't make sense in the story. But if you have read them and things haven't made sense, PLEASE feel free to let me know and I will clarify it or fix the chapter :)

I hope you liked it and please I would LOVE to hear your thoughts so leave a review. Thanks and have a great day (or night, depending on your time zone).