"What do we miss?" her dad asked thoughtfully.

It had been three days, and they had failed. Bruce had gone to his room to get ready for the party, and Thor would take the Scepter to Asgard tomorrow morning.

"Perhaps this is for the best," Ana said softly. "I still don't think any good can come from that Scepter."

He looked at her with a smile that didn't reach his eyes. The Maximoff girl's attack had messed him up so much that he still hadn't recovered. "Perhaps… You're showing up at the party, right? You're not planning to hide in your room all night?"

"Of course I'm showing up. It's going to be fun."

"Wow… I look that miserable, huh?"

She laughed. "No, Dad, you don't look miserable. I'll never like parties, but I can handle them now."

"What about Coulson's team? Are they coming?"

"Skye wanted to come, but I haven't heard from her since she vanished. I think Coulson is hiding her from someone, but no one's telling me anything."

JARVIS had found out that the Retreat had been attacked, but that was all they knew.

"I'm sure she's fine. From what you told me, she's tough."

"Dad?"

"Yeah?"

"You've done everything you could. Don't beat yourself up."

"I'll continue to run variations on the interface," JARVIS said. "But you should probably prepare for your guests. I'll notify you if there are any developments."

"Thanks, buddy."

"Enjoy yourself, sir."

"I always do."

They left the lab, and went to their respective apartments. Only then, it occurred to Ana. They had been so busy with Ultron that she had forgotten to do shopping for the party. She was going to have to wear an old dress. The fashion critics would go berserk. How dare Ana Stark could wear something twice? But then, what would they know about being in charge of the R&D department of a leading tech company, dealing with an emotionally unstable father whose PTSD might have been triggered by an enhanced HYDRA psychopath, and working part-time in espionage at the same time? Not to mention her little side projects…

But there was a box waiting for her on the couch when she entered. A large box wrapped shiny golden paper, with a golden ribbon on it.

"I hope you like it," JARVIS said.

"Thank you!" she gasped. "It totally slipped my mind."

"I noticed. That's why I didn't give you any reminders. I wanted it to be a surprise. It's quite embarrassing, though, having to use your money to buy you a gift…"

"Come on, JARVIS, who cares? Besides, technically, we're all using Dad's money."

"Aren't you going to open it?"

"Oh, right." She unwrapped the box carefully, to reveal a cream, chiffon cocktail dress. It was indeed something she would wear. And the heels could be the most comfortable pair she had ever worn. "Wow…"

"I probably shouldn't take all the credit…"

"You asked Pepper for help, didn't you?"

"Ms. Potts' advice was quite helpful."

"Speaking of, do you think we should tell her? About Dad?"

"What can she do?"

JARVIS was right. There was nothing she could do, at least until she returned from her latest business trip. "Any nightmares since Sokovia?"

"Yes, but he was able to fall asleep again afterwards."

"Damn… We really have to make time-travel a thing soon."

"Without the gravitonium—"

"We don't need the gravitonium. There're other ways, other theories…"

"Do you want me to look into them?"

"Right now? Aren't you busy with Ultron?"

"I can multi-task. And I don't get tired. But you do. Please, Ana. Try to enjoy this party. For me."

She smiled. "Okay."

Ana was looking at herself in the mirror one last time as she told JARVIS, "You know what, it wasn't so bad, to live with the Avengers. I guess a part of me will even miss them after tonight."

"I had my prejudices, too. Perhaps we were too harsh on them. Besides, they make Mr. Stark happy. He loves being an Avenger."

"Yeah, I've noticed that, too."

"Does that mean we're doing this, then? We're telling the rest of the team?"

She shrugged, smoothing the dress. "Even if they don't like it, what are they going to do? They can't ask us to shut you down after everything you've done for them."

"When are you going to make the announcement?"

"Probably during the after-party."

"In that case, I'll join you after the guests leave. Until then, enjoy yourself. Oh, and you look lovely as always."

"Thanks, J. I love you."

"I love you, too, Ana."

She was feeling incredibly lucky as she left her apartment and locked its door. Yes, not everything was perfect. They had no idea where the gravitonium might be. The Maximoff twins were still out there. But she wasn't as paranoid about those things as she would have been in the past. Being in a relationship with JARVIS had changed a lot of things.

The party had already started. She spotted her dad with Rhodey, Hill, and Thor near the bar.

"…Boom! You looking for this? Boom, you looking for… Why am I even talk to you guys? Everywhere else that story kills."

Rhodey was telling his War Machine story again, but the other two men didn't seem impressed. Ana walked directly up to him and kissed his cheek. "Don't worry, Rhodey, I love your stories."

He tugged her closer and kissed her back. "Hey, sweetie."

"I'm glad you made it. I missed you so much."

"Yeah, I missed you, too… Speaking of, where's Pepper?" Rhodey asked. "She's not coming?"

Hill added, "What about Jane? Where are the ladies, gentlemen?"

"Oh, Ms. Potts has a company to run," her dad boasted.

"I'm not even sure what country Jane's in. Her work with the Convergence has made her the world's foremost astronomer."

"And the company that Pepper runs is the largest tech conglomerate on Earth. It's pretty exciting."

"There's even talk of Jane getting a Nobel prize…"

Rhodey and Hill looked at each other and rolled their eyes.

"Yeah, they must be really busy," Hill said. "Because they'd hate missing you guys get together—" She gave a mock cough.

"Are you okay?" Rhodey asked, again, with mock concern.

"Testosterone… Excuse me."

She walked away, and Rhodey went with her.

"But Jane's better," Thor added.

"Great, now I'm feeling totally useless," Ana teased.

"Nonsense," her dad said, taking her arm. "You're my chaperone, which is the toughest job there is."

Thor nodded to them politely, and went to a group of WWII veterans. Cap was there as well. The Asgardian probably wanted to exchange more war stories with more people.

"You look lovely," her dad commented.

"Thanks. You don't look so bad yourself."

He sulked. "Not so bad? You were supposed to tell me I'm the most handsome man in the world. But yeah, I guess that's JARVIS now."

"Dad, you realize JARVIS doesn't even have a face, right?" He was being jealous for the sake of being jealous.

"Yeah, but it still hurts."

"If I called you the most handsome man in the world again, would you at least try to stop being worried about Ultron?" she asked sweetly.

He grinned. "There's only one way to find out."

Ana looked at him. On the surface, he was still Iron Man. No one else knew how hard the last three days had been for him. Not even Bruce, or Rhodey. He was trying so hard to look strong, unbreakable. She hugged him tightly. "You're the most handsome man in the world, and I love you," she whispered. "Now, I'm going to stop embarrassing you, and go hang out with Helen."

"I love you more. And you can never embarrass me," he whispered back before letting her go.

Helen was chatting with Barton in a rather quiet sitting area.

"Is this the introverts' corner?" Ana asked them.

Barton nodded. "Yeah. Join the club, kid."

She plopped herself down next to Helen and asked Barton, "How's your wound?"

"Oh, it's fine, thanks to Dr. Cho. Though it was probably Thor she was trying to impress with her skills."

Helen blushed a little. "I was merely joking, Barton. I know Thor has a girlfriend."

Ana patted on her shoulder. "There's still plenty of fish in the sea."

"Maybe you'll get lucky, too."

Barton laughed. "Not a chance. I don't think anyone wants to get nuked into oblivion by Tony Stark. Sorry, kid, but looks like you're going to remain single forever."

At that moment, Ana decided to start dropping hints. Why not? What was she scared of? The world was changing. A tech company heiress in a relationship with an AI wasn't any crazier than aliens invading New York, or a Nazi death cult secretly taking over the biggest intelligence organization in the world. By the end of tonight, the Avengers would know about her and JARVIS. As for everyone else… Well, that depended on the reaction she was going to get tonight.

"Sorry to disappoint you, Clint, but I do have a boyfriend. He's actually here."

He didn't believe it at first, but Ana kept staring at him with a serious look on her face, until he ceased laughing. As for Helen, she seemed intrigued. "Tony—"

"He knows."

"And he's cool with it?" Barton asked skeptically.

"He trusts him."

"Who's this guy?"

"You all know him quite well, actually."

Barton and Helen swapped looks, but they both seemed clueless.

"You keep thinking," Ana told them. "If you can't figure it out by the end of the night, he's going to reveal himself."

Parties were exhausting, even if she didn't do much other than chatting with a limited number of people.

"You tired?" her dad asked when Ana yawned.

"It's okay. I want to hang out with you guys."

"That's right," Barton said. "She's not going anywhere before telling us who the boyfriend is."

Her dad gave Ana a questioning look, but he seemed pleasantly surprised.

She shrugged. "Okay, one last clue: He's still here."

"Now this is getting interesting," Helen commented.

"Wait, what boyfriend?" asked Rhodey. He must have been offended that they had left him in the dark. Now that she thought about it, she should have told him. He was family.

"I'm sorry, Rhodey. I wanted to tell you, but… It took some time for me to figure things out, and I didn't know how you'd react."

He scanned the room. "Okay, who else knows about this boyfriend?"

Bruce raised his hand timidly. "I found out three days ago."

Rhodey seemed even more offended now.

"We needed his scientific opinion… on something, "Ana quickly explained.

He scanned the room again, this time probably for a "candidate." There weren't too many options. Thor was with Jane Foster, Barton seemed as curious as Rhodey, Bruce had just said he had found out three days ago—besides, everyone had seen him and Romanoff flirt tonight—so there was only one option left.

"Rogers?" he cried.

Rhodey was probably only half-serious, but that was more than enough to make her dad visibly uncomfortable. He would probably never complain about JARVIS again. "The 100-year-old dude? Come on! What's this, Twilight?"

Cap seemed pretty uncomfortable, too. "It's definitely not me, I swear. No offense, Ana, but—"

"I know, it's cool."

The thing was, Cap had mostly been indifferent to Ana, and Ana was even more distanced to him, knowing what he meant for her dad. Those two had been getting along fine now, but some wounds would never truly heal. Captain America would always be a sour spot for him. Not that Ana blamed Cap anymore. He had never claimed to be perfect, and she highly doubted if he would want anyone to become obsessed with searching the ocean for him and ruin their kid's life with that obsession. The grudge she held was against her grandfather.

The only personal conversation she had had with Cap was when she had asked him if she really reminded him of Howard Stark. Much to her relief, Cap had said no. But he had added that Sigyn knew him much better than he did.

"I might have an idea," Romanoff winked at Ana, and Ana knew Romanoff had figured it out a long time ago.

"You know what, I think there's no boyfriend," Rhodey said. "You guys are just messing with us."

"I know, right?" Barton agreed, twirling the drumsticks in his hand. "Tony's just trying to fend the boys off from her… Like Thor fending us off from his hammer."

"What?" Thor cried.

"Come on, it's a trick."

"No, it's much more than that."

"Whosoever be he worthy, shall wield the power of…" Barton mocked. "Whatever, man, it's a trick!"

"Please, be my guest."

"Come on," her dad urged Barton.

"Really?"

"Yeah."

Barton stood up, accepting the challenge.

"This is going to be good," Rogers said.

"Clint, we had a tough week. We won't hold it against you if you can't get it up."

Ana sighed. Even her presence wasn't enough to stop him from making subtle dirty jokes, but she was used to it.

"I've seen this before, right?" Barton said, and grabbed the handle of Mjolnir. He pulled, but nothing happened. After a brief struggle, he gave up. "I don't know how you do it."

"Smell the silent judgment?" her dad commented.

"Please, Stark, by all means."

"Ah-oh," some people said. Ana's mysterious boyfriend was forgotten by now. They were convinced that it was just a joke. JARVIS must have been a bit offended. The possibility had occurred to no one, except a very observant ex-spy, although Ana had made it clear that he was here. People didn't even remember JARVIS unless they needed something from him. She wondered if he would reveal himself at all tonight.

"Never shrink from an honest challenge…"

"Go, Dad!" she cheered.

"It's physics."

"Yeah, physics," the others sneered.

"So, if I lift it," he said, wrapping his fingers around the handle. "Do I rule Asgard?"

"Yes, of course," Thor replied.

"I will be reinstituting prima nocta."

She wasn't sure if everyone got the reference, but she had. She sighed. He was hopeless. "Pepper's going to hear about this, you know."

"Hey, I'm trying to make you girls royalty here," he said, and pulled the hammer, but he couldn't lift it either. Of course, he wouldn't give up so easily. "I'll be right back."

A minute later, he returned with an Iron Man gauntlet, and tried again, but to no avail. They thought he would give up after this, but instead, he asked Rhodey to go get his gauntlet.

While they were waiting for Rhodey to return, he asked Ana to give it a try.

"I don't think I'm worthy, Dad."

"Come on, you're the most decent person I know."

That's setting the bar too low, she thought. The truth was, she knew she couldn't lift the hammer. She had tried. She had snuck into Thor's apartment while he wasn't there, and tried to lift it. JARVIS was the only one who knew. He had asked her why she hadn't simply asked Thor for permission to try, and she had said because she was too embarrassed to do such a thing. That was a lie, though. She had done it in secret because… She liked having secrets. It made her feel safer, gave her a sense of power over these extraordinarily powerful people. Perhaps this was why she would never be worthy.

But her dad insisted, so she tried again, and failed as expected.

Even with Rhodey, her dad still couldn't lift the hammer. He returned to sit beside her, disappointed. "Sorry, kid. I was going to make you a princess."

"I'm already your princess."

A collective "Aww…" came from the crowd as a response.

Ana knew this was more than just a game for him. He really had wanted to be able to lift that hammer, and his reasons were probably same as hers.

"What about me?" Rhodey asked jealously, flinging himself down on her other side.

She put an arm around each of their backs. "Okay, you're both my heroes."

Bruce was next to try. He pretended like he was turning into the Hulk when he failed, but he wasn't very good at imitating the Other Guy's rage. After him, Cap gave it a shot, and the hammer actually budged. For a second, everyone thought he was going to do it, but he failed, too. Romanoff refused to try.

In the end, her dad came up with a theory that the handle was imprinted; that the hammer responded to Thor's fingerprint. He had shared the theory with Ana before. She knew this theory of his was wrong, because she had tried dusting Thor's things and replicating his fingerprint as well. She just hoped JARVIS wouldn't tell anybody. No one needed to know how desperate she was to keep up with aliens.

"That's a very, very interesting theory," said Thor, flipping the hammer casually. "I have a simpler one: You're all not worthy."

Suddenly, they were interrupted by a sharp, mechanical noise that pierced their ears. Ana looked around and saw a broken Iron Legion drone walking in, leaving a trail of motor oil behind.

"Worthy… How could you be worthy? You're all killers… I'm sorry, I was asleep. Or, I was in a dream. This terrible noise… I was tangled in… strings. I had to kill the other guy. He was a good guy."

"You killed someone?" Cap asked.

A drone gone rogue? Maybe it had gone rogue in Sokovia, and killed one of the civilians it was supposed to protect. But its voice was different. It wasn't the voice of the drones. It didn't sound familiar at all. And where was JARVIS? Why wasn't he responding to her dad? Why wasn't he rebooting the drone?

"Wouldn't have been my first call. But down in the real world, we're faced with ugly choices."

"Who sent you?" Thor asked.

"I see a suit of armor around the world," the drone played a record. It was her dad's voice.

Bruce was the first to connect the dots. "Ultron…"

"In the flesh," he confirmed. "Or, no, not yet. Not this Christmas… But I'm ready. I'm on a mission."

"What mission?"

"Peace of our time."

More drones burst out of the wall behind him. Before Ana could react, her dad pushed her behind the couch and shouted, "Stay down!"

But staying down wasn't an option. She knew who Ultron had killed. JARVIS. Ultron had killed JARVIS. And now, Ana was going to kill him.