They all stood in the main lab. Trying to figure out what happened with the robots. Jennifer was removing the glass from Maria's foot getting ready to bandage it up. It wasn't serious, but every so often Maria would wince slightly when she pulled out a more significant piece.
"All our work is gone. Ultron cleared it out. He used the internet as an escape hatch." Bruce explained, looking over the data.
"Ultron," Steve asked, remembering Bruce mention the name earlier.
"He's been in everything, files surveillance. Probably knows more about us than we know about each other." Natasha said to the group. Jennifer looked over at Clint, and he shook his head so slightly that only she could see it. She let out a small sigh of relief.
"He's in your files, he on the internet. What if he decides to access something a little more exciting?" Rhodey said, holding on to his arm. Dr. Cho had looked at it and said there wasn't bad. Since it was more concerning than glass in the foot, they had asked her to look at it instead of Jennifer. Tony didn't see what the problem was having Jennifer do it, but the others thought it best. Steve had stayed out of the discussion. Natasha and Clint being the one that didn't want her to do it. Clint had seen what happened during the fight. He saw her mind locking up, and he wanted her to do something simple. So she was removing glass from Maria's foot.
"Nuclear codes," Maria said, looking down at Jennifer's work.
"Look we need to make some calls assuming we still can," Rhodey said.
"Nukes? He said he wanted us dead." Natasha argued, but Steve cut her off.
"He didn't say dead he said extinct." Steve corrected her.
"He also said he killed somebody," Clint said, walking over to them.
"There wasn't anyone else in the building," Maria explained as Jennifer finished bandaging her foot.
"Yes, there was," Tony said, walking to the center of the room. He activated a system showing the destroyed program of Jarvis.
"What! This is insane," Bruce said, looking over it.
"Jarvis was the first line of defense. He would have shut Ultron down. It makes sense." Steve said, crossing his arms.
"No, Ultron could have assimilated Jarvis. This isn't strategy; this is rage." Bruce explained as Thor stormed in grabbing Tony by the throat. He had gone after one of the robots that had taken the scepter.
"It's going around," Clint said, seeing the anger on Thor's face. Jennifer got to her feet, walking over to the sink to wash her hands. Then heading over to stand next to Natasha.
"Come on, use your words, buddy," Tony said.
"I have more than enough words to describe you Stark," Thor said to Tony.
"Thor the Legionnaire," Steve said, walking over. Thor set Tony down with some reluctance.
"Trail went cold about 100 miles out, but it's headed north. And it has the scepter," Thor spat the last part out. "Now we have to retrieve it again."
"Genie's out of that bottle," Natasha said. "Clear and present is Ultron."
"I don't understand. You built this program. Why is it trying to kill us?" Dr. Cho asked from the corner of the room. Jennifer watched Tony as the disruption unfolded there was something off about him. She knew that he had anxiety, but this was something different. He started to laugh; it was a slightly crazy laugh.
"You think this is funny," Thor said.
"No, It's probably not right. This is very terrible is it so…is it so…it is it's so terrible." Tony said, fighting back laughter.
"This could have all been avoided. If you hadn't played with something, you don't understand." Thor said, walking over to him.
"No, I'm sorry. I'm sorry it is funny. It's a hoot that you don't get why we need this." Tony said to his face.
"Tony, maybe this might not be the time," Bruce said from the side.
"Really that's it. You just roll over show your belly every time somebody snarls" Tony said, looking at him.
"Only when I've created a murder bot," Bruce said, holding up his hands.
"We didn't we weren't even close. Were we close to an interface," Tony explained to them.
"Well, you did something right. And you did it right here. The Avengers were supposed to be different than S.H.I.E.L.D." Steve said from where he stood watching it all unfold. Jennifer shivered slightly at the mention of S.H.I.E.L.D. Natasha bumped her with her elbow, causing Jennifer to look at her.
"Are you alright," Natasha whispered in her ear while the others continued to argue.
"Yes, I just don't like the idea that he was able to read my file. That why Clint left things out of it." Jennifer said her voice raspy, Natasha gave a small smile.
"Well, at least the whole world didn't get to read yours. Since I didn't dump yours on the internet like I did mine," Natasha said. That was something Jennifer still couldn't believe that Natasha had done that a year ago. When she released all of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s files. Clint had done his best to destroy most of her files after the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D. wanting to keep as much as he could a secret.
"How were you guys planning on stopping it," Tony shouted out, drawing Jennifer and Natasha back into the conversation.
"Together," Steve said. Tony walked up to him.
"We'll lose," He said.
"Then we'll do that together too. Thor's right Ultron calling us out. And I'd like to find him before he's ready for us. The worlds a big place let's start making it smaller," Steve said. Jennifer looked in the corner spotting the Monster. It winked at her before disappearing again. Jennifer had a feeling this wasn't going to be as easy as Steve made it sound.
Steve walked with Maria as she explained everything that Ultron had gotten a hold of before disappearing. From some of the descriptions, the victims were giving it sounded like the Maximoffs were working with him. Some of Stucker's latest creations. Their powers, however, were different than Jennifer's. They seemed more controlled.
"It makes sense he would go to them they have someone in common," Steve said.
"Not anymore." Maria corrected, handing him the tablet. It had a picture of Strucker dead, and the word "peace" written on the wall.
"Does Jennifer know about this," Steve asked, looking down at the picture.
"No, I couldn't bring myself to tell her." Maria looked down at the screen. "I didn't know how she would react." Steve thought about how she was at the party.
"You're probably right; it would just bring up more bad memories." That was the last thing he wanted to do. If he could protect someone of unnecessary pain, he would.
"Captain, I'm sorry about what I said about the Maximoffs being crazy for volunteering," Maria said. Steve waved her off. She had made an offhanded remark about them. Steve had pointed out that he was just like them.
"It's fine." She nodded, leaving Steve alone in the hall. He glanced to the side, spotting himself in the refection of the glass. It was still after all this time a shock to see him like this. Part of him always expected to see that small kid from Brooklyn. He closed his eyes, thinking back on the night before everything changed.
Dr. Erskine sat across from Steve. He wanted to make sure Steve was ready for what was going on tomorrow.
"The serum amplifies everything that is inside, good becomes great bad becomes worse. This is why you were chosen. Because a strong man who has known power all his life may lose respect for the power, but a weak man knows the value of strength. That is why you were chosen."
"Thanks, I think," Steve said, looking down at his small frame.
"Whatever happens tomorrow, you must promise me one thing. That you will stay who you are. Not a perfect soldier, but a good man."
Steve shook his head. That was the last conversation he had with Dr. Erskine before he murdered. A good man Steve didn't know if he could still call himself that. Sure he was doing his best to protect people. He had failed before he wouldn't do it again. Even if he had to keep a secret. A voice down the hall pulled him from his thoughts. Looking, he saw Clint talking to someone on the phone. Steve could deal with his problems later.
"That's a negative. I answer to you. Yes, ma'am." Clint said, spotting Steve looking at him.
"Banner Might have something," Steve called out to him. Clint hung the phone up and walked over to Steve.
"Who was that," Steve asked letting his curiosity get the best of him.
"Girlfriend," Clint explained as they walked into the study where the others were. Steve wanted to ask more, but Clint had always kept his personal life very private. Only ever letting Natasha and Jennifer into his inner circle. They entered the room where the others were looking over what Ultron did. Steve handed the tablet to Thor, so he could see the picture of Strucker. Jennifer sat next to Natasha, who was looking at things on the computer. She seemed to be doing better. The way she screamed during the battle had caught him off-guard. Sure she would get a headache here and there or get weak. If she used her powers too much. But he had only seen a response like that once when she used her powers on Bucky.
"What is this," Thor asked as he looked at the image. Steve glanced at Jennifer.
"A message," Steve said. Thor passed it to Tony and before Steve could stop him. He handed Jennifer the tablet, and she glanced at it before needing to look away. That man was her last chance at knowing why they took her, and he was now dead.
"Ultron killed Strucker." She said. Steve was glad that her voice had returned to normal. And from the small twitch in the corner of her lip so was she.
"And he did a Banksy at the crime scene, just for us," Tony added as Jennifer handed the tablet over to Natasha. Not wanting to be near the thing.
"This is a smoke screen. Why send a message when you've just given a speech," Natasha asked, looking over the image?
"Strucker knew something that Ultron wanted us to miss," Steve said, looking over at Jennifer.
"Yeah, I bet he…" Natasha said her fingers flying over the keys. "Yeah. Everything we had on Strucker has been erased." Steve snapped his fingers.
"Not everything."
During the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D., they had collected several old paper file. Some that involved Strucker. Jennifer was looking through the paper files with the other. Hoping to find some information that might explain why Ultron killed Strucker. They were talking, but she wasn't paying attention. Jennifer stopped when she came to one with her name on it. She thought that Clint and Natasha had destroyed all of her files. They must have missed one of them. She quietly turned her back to the group so that no one would see her reading it.
1993
The subject has proven more resilient than anticipated. Unfortunately, her young age has prevented us from determining if the final experiment was a success. We will release her and monitor her from afar.
2003
The subject showed signs of her abilities; it is suggested that she be removed from the home. This will allow closer monitoring. Care must be taken as the subject's victim after 6 months is still showing no indications that they will ever recover. Looking for a way to counteract the subject's powers is the number one priority.
2010
The subjects powers seem to have settled. No future powers are likely to appear. However, there seem to be strange side effects. The Subject's cells seem to be locked. In addition, the subjectisn't handling the powers very well. There seem to be unforeseen side effects because of how young the subject was when they received them. Older subjects will be used in the future. The known side effects are…
Jennifer didn't realize she was crying until Clint pulled the file out of her hand. She wiped her face and went back to looking through the boxes.
"Are you alright," Clint asked, blocking her off from the others. His voice low, not wanting the team to hear. Jennifer wanted to lie and say she was fine, but her shaking hands gave her feelings away.
"I just wonder what my life would be like if this never happened." She pointed at her blue eyes. Clint smiled, grabbing her arm.
"I like your eyes the way they are." He said, smiling at her. Jennifer shook her head. "I think your parents would like them too."
"You have to say that," She said. Clint laughed, putting the file behind the desk so no one else would see it.
"No, I don't" He opened his mouth to add something but was cut off by Tony.
"Wait, I know that guy," He said. Jennifer and Clint walked over to the rest of them. They were looking at a picture of a man. It looked like he dabbled in unsavory business. "From back in the day. He operates off the African coast black market arms." Tony said, earning a look from Steve. "There are conventions. All right? You meet people. I didn't sell him anything. He was talking about finding something new, a game-changer. It was all very Ahab," Tony explained.
"This," Thor asked, pointing at a mark on the back of his neck.
"It's a tattoo, I don't think he had it that last time I saw him," Tony said glancing back at the picture.
"Those are tattoos this is a brand," Thor explained, pointing out the difference. Jennifer walked over so she could see it better.
"We should try looking up the shape. Maybe it was entered into the database," Jennifer said. Bruce snapped his finger, walking over to a computer.
"Yeah, it's a word in an African dialect meaning "thief" In a much less friendly way." Bruce read.
"What dialect," Steve asked.
"Waka…Wakanda" Bruce said. Steve and Tony snapped their heads up looking at each other.
"If this guy got out of Wakanda with some of their trade goods…" Tony said.
"I thought your father said he got the last of it," Steve said his voice growing serious.
"I don't follow what comes out of Wakanda?" Bruce asked, walking over to them.
"The strongest metal on earth," Tony said, and they all looked over at the shield. Jennifer looked back at them.
"Well, this just gets better and better," she said, shaking her head.
"Where is this guy now?" Steve asked, looking at Tony.