And here we go onward and away with Age of Ultron! Whoop Whoop! Not keeping you guys long this time. Just here to throw out that mandatory reminder that I hold no rights or ownership over anything Marvel. Now I'll send you on your way! Enjoy! Xoxo-NickyLynn
The next three days went by faster than Tessa could keep track of. Her, Tony, and Bruce had spent endless hours working on trying to transform the gems properties into a workable coding sequence. But yet, no matter how hard they tried, and no matter how much sleep they sacrificed, it never seemed enough. Tessa currently had her cheek pressed down onto the glass tabletop in front of her, staring over at the display that J.A.R.V.I.S. had pulled up of their latest failed attempt. "What are we missing?" she groaned out, growing increasingly more frustrated with every failed attempt they made.
"There's an answer to this Tess." Tony said with a sigh. "We just have to figure it out."
"We're running out of time." Tessa said then, lifting up her head to rub her eyes with the palms of her hands. "Thor wants to take the scepter back to Asgard. We can't keep it here any longer without telling the others why."
"Yeah, well, let's just get through tonight and worry about that bridge when we get to it." Tony responded, running a hand down his own face.
"I'll continue to run variations on the Interface." J.A.R.V.I.S. told them. "But you should probably prepare for your guests."
Tessa looked over at Tony, both of them knowing they were running dangerously low on time if they wanted to get this done without the other's knowing. With a sigh, she pushed herself up and walked over to where Tony was standing. "Come on." She told him, bringing a hand down on his shoulder. "Let's go enjoy tonight. Maybe this is what we need to clear our heads."
And with that, they both left the lab, leaving J.A.R.V.I.S. to run the variables while they got ready for the big party. Tessa went back to her own apartment where she showered and got ready. Seeing as she never had time to get herself dolled up, she took her time, painting her face with just enough makeup to make her feel like a whole new person, and styling her hair in large curls that fell over her shoulder. She then slipped into the little grey dress that Natasha had picked out for her. It hugged her curves snugly and fell just above her knees. She zipped herself up before pulling out the necklace Frigga had given her, draping it around her neck as well. She let her fingers run over the smooth shimmering surface, being pulled into the memory of when her mother had passed it onto her.
She pulled herself out of her quicky spiraling thoughts before glancing at the clock. It was already getting pretty late into the evening, and she was sure the party was well underway by now. So, pulling in a deep breath to prepare herself, she vanished from her apartment, bringing herself to the common area where everyone was congregating for the party. When she appeared in the room, her senses were greeted with overwhelming information. There were hundreds of people gathered there, everyone off in separate groups drinking and laughing together as soft music filled the air around them. It looked like everyone was enjoying themselves as Tessa swept her eyes over the large, open room, noting her friends here and there, everyone engaged in their own conversations.
Tessa noticed Steve standing at one of the pool tables with Sam, so she dropped herself down beside them. Sam jumped when Tessa appeared next to him, splashing the drink in his hold onto the side of his hand. "Would you stop doing that!" he told her, shaking off the liquor from his hand.
"It's not my fault you're so jumpy." She told him with a smile, this not having been the first time she had managed to scare him with her sudden appearances. "I'm glad you could make it."
"Yeah, well, you get invited to a party with the Avengers…that's not really something you turn down." He told her as Steve slammed his stick into the cue ball, sending the balls rolling around the table with several clacks. "So, how have you been doing?" he asked her as he stepped towards the table to take his turn.
Tessa shrugged a shoulder at him. "Could be better." She told him honestly. "Anything turn up from that last lead?" she asked him, not having had a chance to check in yet on the last rumor about Bucky they had him track down.
"Nothing." He responded as he took his turn. "Just another dead end."
Tessa let out a sigh, crossing her arms. "What about those twins?" she asked then, directing to question to Steve who was moving forward as Sam stepped back from the table. "Have they turned up anywhere yet?"
"There's been no trace of them since Sokovia." Steve told her as he lined up his shot. "But I'm sure they'll pop up on the radar sooner or later. They're a couple of kids, they don't have the skills or resources to hide like Bucky does."
Tessa went silent as she was pulled away by her thoughts. "You know," Sam said next to her, pulling her back out to reality as she looked over at him. "You keep frowning like that and sooner or later your face is going to get stuck like that." He told her with a smirk.
"He's right you know." Steve said, walking back over to her after sinking a few balls. "Why don't you just enjoy tonight and stop worrying about things." He told her, wrapping his arm around her shoulder, and pulling her up next to him in a hug. "You look beautiful by the way." He told her, pressing a kiss against the side of her head.
"You can blame Natasha for that." She told him, letting out a sigh as she knew they were right; she had to stop worrying so much. "She picked out the dress. I'm fairly certain she's made it her life's mission to enhance my dating life." She said with a roll of her eyes.
"Well good to know I'm not the only one." Steve said with a laugh. "I caught her trying to set up an online dating profile for me the other day."
Tessa couldn't stop the smirk that pulled up her lips. "That woman needs a hobby." She said with a laugh.
"Well, I'm on her side on this one." Sam told them as he struck out at the cue ball again. "You both need to get out more."
"Well, I can't speak for Steve, but I've no desire to drag anyone else into my shit-show of a life." She told him honestly. "I can hardly handle the chaos that never seems to end. I don't think dragging someone else into it would be fair. Besides, I'm not even human. My dating life was pretty much doomed from the start." She said, letting out a sigh. In truth, Tessa had put thought behind dating. But as complicated as her life was…and knowing she would only ever stay young as everyone around her grew old…well, that pretty much put a nail in the coffin to her love-life.
"I'm not saying you've got to go out and marry the first guy you come across." Sam said in retort. "I mean, jeez, when's the last time either of you have just been laid?"
Tessa and Steve's faces both turned bright red at that. While Tessa had time over the years to adjust to the drastic difference in the times when it came to the nonchalance of sexual promiscuity, she and Steve both grew up in a time when someone's sexual encounters were not something openly shared with others. And besides that, Tessa didn't actually have any sexual encounters to share, and she doubted Steve did either. "Right, well, I need a drink." She said, completely ignoring the question. "I'll catch you guys later." She said before flashing away.
She flashed herself over to the bar where she grabbed a couple of drinks, before catching sight of Thor talking to a group of the World War II veterans that she and Steve had invited. She made her way over to them, coming to a stop beside the chair Thor was sitting on, resting her hip on the large arm rest of it. "Gentlemen." She greeted the group of men. "You all look dapper tonight." She told them before bringing her glass up to lips to take a drink.
"Oh, I'm sure we don't look half as good as you." The one on her left said, flashing her a wide, wrinkled smile.
"Ah, well, I wanted to look extra sharp for you boys." She told him with her own grin.
"You know, my grandson, Benjamin, thought I had gone crazy when I told him you invited us to a party in the Avengers' Tower." One of the men told her, drawing her eyes over to him. "He wanted to send me into a home when I told him. That kid's been itching at the chance to get rid of me."
"Well of course we had to invite you!" she told him, feeling bad that his own family had doubted him. "Do you happen to have a phone?" she asked him then, moving off of the chair and stepping towards him.
"Uh, yeah…it's right here." He said, digging into his pocket and pulling out an older-style flip phone and handing it over to her.
Tessa pulled the phone from his fingers, before flipping it open and scrolling through the contacts. "This him?" she asked, coming across the name he had given her, turning the device around for him to see.
He squinted his eyes over at the phone before nodding. "Yeah, that's him."
Tessa pressed down on the button before pulling it up to her ear. The older man gave her wide eyes and the line rang a few times before a masculine voice picked up. "Hey Gramps, I thought you were supposed to be partying with the Avengers." Came the grandson's sarcastic greeting.
"Oh, don't worry he is." Tessa snarked back.
The line was silent for a minute before he began stumbling over his words "Uh-wha…who…who is this?"
"Hi Benjamin, my name's Tessa. I'm sure you've heard of me." She told him, a wide smile on her face.
"Is this a joke?" he asked.
"Afraid not. See, your grandfather was just telling me how you were threatening to put him in a home. I just don't think that would be a smart move on your part Ben, because I would hate for to have to plan a nursing home breakout." She told him.
"W-wait, this is seriously Tessa Rogers?" he asked her in disbelief.
"The one and only. Now, perhaps from now on you could avoid threatening sweet Lionel here. He's not crazy, he doesn't belong in a home, and he's got friends in high places. Okay, champ?" she said sickly sweet before snapping the phone closed and tossing back down at the elderly man's lap. "There. That should get him off your back for a while." She told him with a smile.
Lionel grinned up at her, the group around them cracking up in a round of laugher. "Hey, you think you could give my ex-wife a call and get her off my back?" one of the men asked her, garnering another round of laughter.
Tessa didn't end up calling any ex-wives, but they did all end up sharing old war stories after that. Thor even told the group a few of his own, which turned out to be more interesting than any of the stories that anyone else could come up with. They laughed into the night and soon Tessa's drink was gone, and she and Thor excused themselves from the group of veterans to get a refill on their drinks.
Once they had new drinks in hand, Thor pulled a metal flask out of his pocket with a smirk. "Care for some of the good stuff?" he asked her, shaking the container of Asgardian liquor.
"Absolutely!" Tessa told him excitedly, holding out her cup towards him. As silly as it was, Tessa had really missed Asgardian drinks, and the buzz she could achieve with them. Thor pulled off the lid with a smile and poured a little into her cup. Tessa swirled the liquid around, mixing it together before bringing it up to her lips and taking a large gulp. "Wow." She said, as a shudder rolled down her spine. "That is good stuff."
He chuckled as he poured some out into his own cup before replacing the lid and sliding it back into his pocket. "To family." He said, lifting up his cup with a smile.
Tessa brought her own cup up to his. "And to holding onto what little we have left." She said, clanking the side of her glass against his own before lifting it up to her mouth and gulping a good portion of it down. She was genuinely very happy to get to spend time with Thor that didn't involve vanquishing some threat. It brought her back to simpler times and she found that she truly had missed her brother.
"Well, look at you all dolled up." Tessa heard from behind her, causing her to pull her glass down and spin around to find Tony walking up with Rhodey in tow.
"Hey Rhod." Tessa greeted as they came to stop in front of them. "Haven't seen your charming face in a while."
"War Machine's been busy." He told her before leaning over to the bar and orderign his own drink.
"Yeah, I just bet." Tessa told him.
"You know, just last week I was on a mission in Uganda." He told them as the bartender worked on making his drink. "Group of rebels had been tormenting the local villages, under orders from General Durma. They were after their raw resources and got their hands on a tank somehow, just wreaking havoc. So, the locals called in for our help. Show up, take out the rebels in a minute flat, and you know, I was just gonna leave the tank, but the suit can take the weight, right?" he said, reaching over and swiping up his glass as the bartender handed it over to him once he was finished. "So, I take the tank, fly it right up to the General's palace, drop it at his feet and I'm like 'Boom. You looking for this?'" he said, finishing with a wide grin.
Tessa, Thor and Tony just stared over at him, silently watching him as they waited for the rest of the story. Rhodey's smile dropped as the silence stretched on. "Boom. You looking for…" he began saying again. "Why do I even bother talking to you guys?" he asked them then, throwing his hands up in the air. "Everywhere else, that story kills!"
"That's the whole story?" Thor asked him with a lifted brow.
"Yeah, it's a War Machine story." Rhodey said, offended.
"Oh, it's very good then." Thor told him, looking over at Tessa with a wide grin. "It's impressive." He said chuckling.
"Sorry Rhod." Tessa told him, bringing her glass up to her lips and taking a swig. "We've all had to literally save the world….some of us on more than one occasion. You'll have to up the ante a little if you expect a round of awe." She told him with a smirk.
"Yeah, well, sorry that no body ever invites me in on the good stuff." He told her with a scoff.
"Oh, you didn't get the memos?" Tony asked him with a smirk of his own. "Could have sworn we sent those out. Maybe check your spam folder next time." He told him, bringing his hand down on his shoulder with a laugh.
The rest of the party went by in a blur. Tessa tried to split her time up with everyone she could, enjoying herself more than she had thought she would. Between the friends surrounding her, and the drinks in her belly, she found herself smiling and laughing more than she had in what felt like years. The hours passed by quicker than she realized and soon the guests had all made their exit, leaving Tessa, Steve, Thor, Tony, Rhodey, Natasha, Clint and Maria alone in the large space, all sitting around the group of couches they had pulled together around a table outside on the balcony while they all ate some take out, drank some more, and just enjoyed each other's company.
Tessa was currently sitting on the floor, with her back pressed up against the couch in between her two brothers. "But it's a trick." Clint was saying as he twirled around a set of drumsticks between his fingers, referring to Thor's hammer that he had left on top of the table before them.
"No, no. It's much more than that." Thor told him.
"Ah! Whoever shall be worthy shall haveth the power!" Clint shouted overly dramatically. "Whatever man! It's a trick!"
"Please." Thor told him, holding his hand out towards Mjolnir. "Be my guest."
"Come on." Tony encouraged him.
"Really?" Clint asked him, sitting forward excitedly.
"Yeah." Tony told him.
"Oh, this is going to be beautiful. Someone record this." Tessa said with a laugh, as Clint jumped up from the couch, walking around the table eagerly.
Tony pulled out his phone and swiped at the screen, pulling up the camera. "Now, Clint, you've had a tough week, so if you can't get it up we won't hold it against you." He joked, causing the group to erupt in a fit of laughter.
"You know I've seen this before." Clint said to Thor cockily as he reached over to the hammer and wrapped his hand around it. He pried up on it with a grunt, but the hammer refused to budge. He strained against it for a moment before letting out a chuckle and releasing his grip. "I still don't know how you do it." He told Thor, admitting defeat.
"Can you smell the silent judgment?" Tony asked him.
"Please, Stark, by all means." Clint told him, motioning down to the hammer he couldn't move.
Tony jumped up from his seat, undoing his suit jacket with a sigh as he came to stand. "Never one to shrink from an honest challenge."
"Careful Anthony, don't go hurting yourself." Tessa shot up to him before taking another drink. Tony responded by slipping off his jacket and throwing it down at her. It landed on her face and Tessa let out a laugh as she pulled it off and threw it back onto the seat he had vacated.
"It's simple physics." Tony said, slipping his fingers through the leather strap, pushing his arm through it until it was resting on his forearm. "Right, so if I lift it, then I rule Asgard?" he asked Thor.
"Yes, of course." Thor told him, finding everyone's attempts amusing.
"I will be reinstituting prima nocta." Tony said as he spread out his feet is a balanced stance.
"You rule sounds wonderful historic already." Tessa told him with a roll of her eyes.
Tony wrapped his fingers around the handle before pulling up with all his might, letting out a grunt of exertion. "I'll be right back." He said as he let go and stepped away, only to return in a minute with one of the Iron Man stabilizers wrapped around his hand. He grabbed onto the hammer with his metal-clad hand before prying up again, this time with its added strength. When it didn't budge still, he readjusted his grip before trying again. "Okay, you know what." He said, letting go. "Rhodey, get up here and give me a hand pulling on this thing."
"Ohh. This is turning into one of those parties, is it? Kinky." Tessa said, unable to help the inuendo from taking over her mind.
"You, shut it." Tony told her as she grinned up at him. "You." He then said, pointing to Rhodey who was standing up. "Get your suit glove and help me." Rhodey did as asked and they both gripped onto it, pulling up as hard as they could.
"Are you even pulling?" Rhodey asked Tony.
"Are you on my team?" Tony shot back to him.
"Just represent! Pull!" Rhodey yelled at him.
"Alright, let's go!" Tony yelled back before they put more effort into their pull. They both strained in effort, their faces burning red as they pulled up as hard as they could, yet the hammer wouldn't budge. After a moment they relented, dropping their hold with heavy sighs. "Well, I guess Asgard's throne won't be mine after all." He said in defeat.
"And all the realms are better for it." Tessa said back to him.
"What about you Banner?" Tony said, motioning over to the doctor. "Get up here and Hulk out on it."
Reluctantly, Bruce stood up and walked up to the hammer. He, too, tried lifting Mjolnir with all his might. He let out a roar as he pulled against it, almost as if the Hulk was about to burst forth, yet nothing happened, and everyone just watched with raised eyebrows. He let go of the hammer and stepped back as the road died on his lips and he looked around the group, everyone finding it entirely anticlimactic.
"Okay." Tony told him, patting his chest. "Why don't you sit down before you hurt yourself, Doc."
"What about you Steve?" Tessa asked, smacking the back of her hands against his shin. "You gonna give it a go?"
"Why not." He said, finishing the drink in his hand that had also been spiked with the Asgardian liquor before standing up and moving towards it.
"Calling it now, if Mr. AllThatIsRighteous himself can't lift that thing, then it's rigged." Tony called out as Steve stepped up to it and wrapped his hand around the hilt.
"Come on Steve. No pressure." Maria told him.
"You can do it Cap!" Barton cheered.
Steve pulled back on the magic weapon and Tessa swore she could see it move. She leaned forward, watching it closer, but it didn't move again, and he gave up after straining against it for a moment. Steve took a step back with his hands raised up in surrender, backing away from it as Thor laughed.
"What about you Black Widow?" Bruce asked Natasha.
"No, no…that's not a question I need answered." Natasha told them all, leaning back into the couch and pulling her bottle of beer up to her mouth.
"Tess?" Tony asked, motioning towards her.
"Oh, I've already been there, done that." Tessa responded, reaching forward with her powers, and wrapping them around Mjolnir before raising it a few inches off the table. The laughter around the group subsided as Clint's drumstick fell to the ground with a clank, everyone struck silent in surprise. "Honestly, guys it's not that hard." She told them all before letting it drop back down to the table with a thud.
"Does that mean she gets to rule Asgard now?" Tony asked with a wide grin. "Because if so, I have a laundry list of ideas for your first decree as queen."
"No." Thor told him, crossing his arms. "And I'll restate what I told you the first time you did that." He said to Tessa. "It doesn't make you worthy. It just makes you a cheater."
"Yeah, I'm sorry, Tess. I'm gonna have to side with Thor on this one." Clint told her. "I don't think it counts unless you actually lift it."
"Says the guy who was just claiming that it was rigged." Tessa scoffed. "Fine. You want me to lift it?" she asked pushing herself to her feet and stepping over to it. "But I'm warning you now." She said, pointing at Thor. "The first I demand I'm making as queen is to have you grovel at my feet for forgiveness for calling me a cheater!" she told him before pointing over to Tony. "And I will not be reinstituting prima nocta!" she then said before reaching out for Mjolnir.
"Come on Tess!" Nat called out to her encouragingly.
"Prepare to bask in my worthiness." She told Thor with a smirk as her fingers brushed against the hilt.
Suddenly a high-pitched ringing filled the air, causing Tessa to draw back her hand and hold it up over her sensitive ears. She wasn't the only one who heard it either. The whole group tucked down their heads down as the painful sound hit their ears. They all swung around, looking for the source of the strange sound before a voice drifted over to them from inside the tower. "Worthy…" the deep voice bit out in disdain.
Tessa and the others all whipped around to find a strange robot-like creature stumbling towards them, its broken and disfigured body shuffling along like a zombie. The hair on the back of Tessa's neck stood on end and she suddenly found herself wishing she had not drunk so much. "No, no, no, no." the robot said as it crept closer. "How could you be worthy when you're a killer?" it asked, sending a shiver down Tessa's spine. "You're all killers." It said, sweeping its arm out at them all.
"Stark?" Steve asked, his senses telling him something was very wrong.
"J.A.R.V.I.S.?" Tony called out, but no response came from the A.I.
"I'm sorry." The machine continued. "I was asleep. Or I was….a dream…"
"Jarvis, reboot Legionnaire OS. We've got a buggy suit." Tony tried again.
"There was this terrible noise." The robot said, bringing it's arm up to its head, spinning around like it was confused. "And I was….I was tangled in….in strings." It said, stumbling backwards as it looked down it itself. "I had to kill the other guy….he was a good guy."
"You killed someone?" Steve asked it, the revelation further fueling their worry.
"Wouldn't have been my first call. But down in the real world, we're faced with ugly choices." It responded.
"Who sent you?" Thor asked.
"I see a suit of armor around the world." Tony's voice echoed through the room, being broadcast from the metal suit, casing the back of Tessa's throat to go dry with realization.
"Ultron." Tessa gasped out, a cold dread washing over her.
"In the flesh." It responded. "Or, no, not yet…..not this….chrysalis." it said, looking down at it's body once again. "But I'm ready. I'm on a mission."
"What mission?" Natasha asked it as everyone slowly came to a stand, bracing themselves for things to go to hell.
"Peace in our time." Ultron said before several of bots from the Iron Legion came bursting through the wall behind him, heading straight for the group. Tessa brought up a shield around herself just as the bots dove at them. One of them slammed into her, sending her flying back into Steve and the two went flying back as the rest of the room erupted into chaos.
Tessa and Steve crashed into the floor, but quickly pushed themselves back up. With the exclusion of Thor, the others were practically defenseless against the bots, so Tessa sprung into action as quick as she could. She caught sight of one of the robots slamming into Rhodey, sending him crashing through the glass window of the balcony. Knowing there was nothing but open air below him, she took off in a run and teleported herself past the wall of windows. When she appeared in the dark night sky, she could see Rhodey falling, his limbs flailing out wildly as he screamed and fell helplessly. She jumped through the distance separating them and latched onto him before dropping them both back down on the balcony of the tower.
"Thanks." He breathed out as he stared up into the sky, having dropped back down on the balcony on his back, Tessa on top of him.
"Stay here." She ordered as she scrambled back to her feet and brought herself back into the tower where the others were busy fighting the deranged drones. She came back in to find Steve latched onto the back of one of them, doing his best to try to take it down with brute strength. The machine flew them both backwards, slamming Steve into the wall behind them, eliciting a grunt from him. As his grip loosened, it reached around ad pried him off its back, throwing him down to the ground as Natasha fired a round of shots up at it from behind the bar.
Tessa grabbed hold of it with her powers, tightening her hand down into a fist as tight as she could, bringing the metal crumpling in on itself. The machine's body began sending out a shower of sparks as Tessa crushed it, damaging all the wiring and circuits within, until it was rendered inoperable. She let it fall to the ground once it was destroyed and swung around at the sound of Tony's yell to find him swinging around on the back of another one, trying to dig a screwdriver into the side of it's neck. She went to grab onto it, before the torso of the robot Thor had just attacked flew into the air in front of her. She instead targeted it, grabbing hold of it with her powers next. "Batter's up Thor!" she called over to him as she threw the torso back towards him. Thor reared back with his hammer before slamming it into the robot again, fully demolishing it this time.
With that one handled, Tessa spun around to face the one Tony was clinging to, just as he jammed his tool into the machine's neck, causing it to malfunction and drop to the ground. Tessa latched onto Tony, keeping him from falling painfully to the floor. He whipped his head over to her direction as his feet dropped gently to the ground before she retracted her powers and turned to the last bot that Natasha had been firing up at as it, in turn, was firing down at everyone else.
She grabbed onto it too and sent it flying across the room as fast as she could send it. It slammed into the wall and it exploded out in large chunks of metal pieces and sparks before dropping down to the ground in a pile of broken parts. She looked around the damage of the room before her eyes fell on Ultron. "Well, that was dramatic." It said, walking away. "I'm sorry. I know you mean well. You just didn't think it through." It said, coming to a stop and turning back around to face them again. "You want to protect the world, but you don't want it to change. How is humanity saved if it's not allowed to evolve? With these?" it asked, picking up one of the ruined Legion bots. "These puppets?" it bit out, crushing its head before throwing it down to the ground again. "There's only one path to peace….the Avengers' extinction."
With that statement, Tessa's fear exploded inside her, and she used that fear to fuel her powers and lashed. She sent a powerful burst of energy out at Ultron. The wall of power hit him and sent him soaring back against the wall, exploding out in several broken pieces when it collided. Tessa took a step forward, coming to stand over its destroyed body as its blue eyes flickered up at her. "I had strings…" its voice said in an eerie sing-song way. "but now I'm free." Tessa brought her foot down on its face with a roar, slamming her heel into it, crushing it, and cutting off the unnerving song.
She slowly turned around to face the others, her breathing coming in and out rapidly. "Is everyone okay?" she asked, sweeping her eyes around the room to assess if anyone had been injured.
"What in the hell just happened?" Steve asked, taking a step forward as he looked down at the destroyed robot under Tessa's feet.
Tessa's eyes dropped down to the metal corpse beneath her. She swallowed down the large lump that had formed in her throat before bringing her eyes back up to Steve's. "A mistake."