"Speech"
"Thoughts"
"Video/phone"
Sound effects
Sokovia morning (Toni POV)
The down side about fighting in another country was I can't call the United States Military to help. International law stated that it was an act of war if a foreign military entered another territory without permission. Hell we are towing the line a bit just by us being here without permission especially Captain American the walking advertisement of unwanted American intervention.
"ETA to target?" Clint asks anxiously.
"Almost there civil evacuation is our first priority." Roger says.
"Which is stupid because if Ultron succeeds it won't mean shit if they are here or there." I say scanning the area.
"Stark they are first priority." Rogers scolds me.
"Ya ya don't worry speedy and spooky are on it. Go help them I'll stall for time." I sigh out trying to find Ultron.
"Boss lady I have Ultron, he's at the church." Friday informs me.
Flying to the center of the city were a church tower meets me it had an ominous feel to it. Landing I look around and notice how quiet it was like the calm before the storm.
"What a familiar feeling this was, a moment before the charge when soldiers wish they are anywhere else." I thought before a noise gets my attention.
"Here to confess your sins?" Ultron asks floating over.
"My sins could fill an ocean if you have time to hear them." I say with no trace of humor.
"Well that's something we can agree on." He says with the best smirk his robotic face can make.
"It's always amazing to see machine's evolve at such a fast pace." I comment seeing the Vibranium hum in his body.
"Flattery won't buy you more time." He says.
"Well they say it's best to treat the soon to be dead nicely." I say scanning the structure.
He didn't say anything as a pillar crashes up through the floor. Scanning it showed that it ran through a large chunk of land so I was beginning to see where this was going. Before I could do anything I began to hear screaming from below.
Flying down I can see Ultron's drones popping up through the city. Knowing Vision was dealing with Ultron I start to blast drones but there are a ton of them.
"Boss Vision has burned Ultron out of the net he can't escape through there." Friday informs me.
"Mam there is large energy surge coming from under the city." Jarvis adds.
Sure enough the ground begins to crack and rise conforming what the plan was. If Ultron drops a rock this size from high enough the impact will kill everyone on the continent then the dust cloud will blot out the sun for a hundred years.
"Wow this is one hell of a way to end all life." I mutter.
"Mam there are civilians trapped in the building tenth floor." Jarvis says highlighting a opening.
After saving even more people I rocket back up to fight but it was like an endless wave of drones. We are making progress but I need to deal with the whole flying rock of doom.
"Stark you deal with the how to bring the city back down safely, the rest of us destroy every last one of these things." Rogers says to everyone.
Flying down to the thrusters I keep thinking of some way to avoid impact.
"Boss the anti-gravs are rigged to flip. Touch them they'll go full reverse thrust." Friday says.
"The spire is Vibranium, if I can get Thor to hit it." I say.
"It will crack. But that's not enough the impact alone would be devastating." Friday adds.
"I'm hearing a whole lot of criticism and not many solutions." I say annoyed.
"If I double back the atomic action it will vaporize the city but that has the down side of killings all." I think aloud.
"Yes it will Mam." Jarvis says.
"What do you have Stark?" Roger says over the COM.
"I have a fantastic way to blow up the city and save the rest of the world but we would need to leave." I say.
"I asked for a solution, not an escape plan." He replies.
"Well the longer we wait the bigger the blast. So it's everyone here or everyone in the world." I say frustrated.
"Cap these people are going nowhere." Nat say.
"Oh hay Nat! how was getting captured?" I ask.
"Not as fun as you'd think." She says.
"We're not blowing this rock until everyone is safe." Rogers says ignoring us.
"Everyone up here versus everyone down there. The math doesn't add up." Nat says.
"That's what I said." I point out.
"We're not leaving anyone up here." Rogers say with resolve.
"Well there are worse ways to die." Nat say resigned.
"Speak for yourself." I say.
Like some deus ex machina bullshit fury comes out of nowhere with a Helicarrier seeming way to smug. Rhodey also hitched a ride with him to help. They can deal with the civilians while we make sure Ultron doesn't drop this rock before the evacuation it done. Gathered around the switch we square up for Ultron to meet us and it doesn't take long.
"This is exactly what I wanted, all of you vs all of me." Ultron says hovering with an army behind him.
The fight is brutal with attacks coming from all around us trying to grab the trigger but we held them off nicely. Finally we had the main Ultron body cornered with Thor, Vision and I blasting him at once.
"You know in hindsight." He begins but I redirect power to my chest beam with a boost from the energy storage and erase him.
"Well that's overkill." Nat says.
"The best kind of kill." I reply.
The drones begin to run but Rhodey shoots them down before they can get far. Now we just need to blow this rock up after everyone is off. Leaving the witch to guard the trigger I fly down to the core while Thor goes to the church. After I get the all clear I tell Thor to blow it. Weaving through the massive chunks of debris I make it out safely to open air.
"Mam I have tracked a signal it may be the last Ultron body." Jarvis says.
Going to the coordinate I see a half melted drone with red lights telling me this was Ultron.
"Come to gloat?" Ultron asks.
"Does it have to end this way? I could try and fix you. You could be with your siblings." I say but I already know his answer.
"And be a slave. Shackled. No I would rather end here than let that be my fate." He says.
"Fine." I say blasting him into scrap.
"You would have let him live?" Vision asks descending from the air.
"Wasn't his fault he was a psychotic. That was the gems fault." I say maybe relating a little to much.
He says nothing as we both fly off to the Helicarrier to get a ride home.
Stark tower office next day (Toni POV)
"Why should I give you a building?"I ask.
Rogers and fury are both standing in front of my desk as I get ready for the public relations shit storm that was about to hit because of Ultron. They scheduled a meeting with me to talk about the future of the team now they say they need a facility to train new recruits for future disasters. They even wanted an Avenger logo on the building.
"Stark we need this if we are going to be an affective team in the future." Rogers says.
"We just need somewhere secluded to train." Fury adds.
"Ok but what's in it for me?" I ask leaning into my chair.
Rogers was probably about start a speech about right and wrong but Fury raised his hand to silence him. He looks me straight in the eyes and leans over my desk.
"What is it going to take?" He asks.
I smirk because there is a lot Fury can still do despite Shield not being as big as it once was.
"I know there are files you kept to yourself on enhanced individuals. I want all of them and any information you get in the future." I say folding my hands.
"Fine you'll have them by the end of the day." Fury says.
"Great. Now you can have an old storage facility I keep in upstate New York. I'll even build you a state of the art base. But don't touch anything stored there it's still my stuff." I say pleased with this outcome.
They began to walk out but I remembered something.
"Oh and tell the twins there visas will be sent in about a week. Also tell Pietro to stop running through town I keep getting complaints!" I yell after them.
Stark tower penthouse 4 hour later (Natasha POV)
It was nice of Toni to keep me company after Bruce disappeared which was harder than I let on. I can see the stress radiating of her in waves as she read over an email. Her eye seemed to twitch when she reached the end.
"What's wrong Toni?" I say.
"You know a good lawyer Nat." She asks.
"Why?" I ask confused.
"I need to go before congress about Ultron but I can't use anyone from Stark industries legal team because I don't want to associate the case with the company." She says picking up a coffee cup and taking a massive gulp.
Thinking it over I do remember one lawyer but Bruce didn't want them mixed with any hero stuff. Well this is technically not any hero stuff just the aftermath.
"Plus it's not like Bruce can complain."
"I may know of one but I have never met her." I say.
"Well if you have a name I can look her up." Toni says.
"Jennifer Walters, she is Bruce's cousin and apparently one hell of a lawyer." I say.
Toni puts the name in to her system and lots of articles pop up. Jennifer Walters was a lawyer specializing in criminal law but does corporate law on the side. She also helped put away some real nasty mob types but got shot for her troubles, She made a miraculous recovery and finished the trial getting a conviction.
"She good enough I'll schedule a meeting." Toni says shrugging.
The rest of the day was spent eating ice cream and watching some trash tv while complaining about anything that popped into our heads.
Stark tower office 1 week later (Jennifer POV)
"This was the moment that can make or break a career" I thought with determination.
When you get a call from arguably the richest and most powerful person in the world saying they wish to discuss a business proposition you make the time to see them. Especially when they offer fifty thousand dollars just to meet with them.
"I had to check my skin tone to make sure it wasn't green from being nervous, which is becoming a problem because it's getting harder to change back." I thought mournfully.
I wasn't mad at Bruce for saving my life with a blood transfusion, far from it. But it was becoming harder to change back to normal so much so I think one day I'll be stuck as a 7 foot tall green skin amazon woman. Luckily I still retained my intelligence unlike Bruce but it's going to be difficult being a lawyer if I'm green.
"Sorry for the wait, but I'm glad you could make it." Toni Stark says walking into her own office.
"The pleasures mine." Was all I can say.
"Let's get right to the point, I'm sure you have seen the news about Ultron." She says sitting down.
"Ah yes I've seen the reports but you guys still saved the world." I say sitting a little straighter.
"Yes we did, but I am being asked to go before congress to discuss my involvement in the matter. I need a lawyer not affiliated with Stark industries." She says.
"Ah so that what this is."
It was not uncommon for CEOs and executives to separate themselves from there businesses to minimize the effects on stock prices. With her position it could be a huge hit if she is found responsible for anything.
"I can definitely help you, I just need anything you have on the case and we can get the ball rolling." I say holding out my hand.
"Thanks but there is one more thing." She say reaching into her desk.
Without warning she takes out a pistol and fires it into the ceiling startling me. I can't stop the shift as I grow and change shades now towering over the person who I now think is crazy.
"Oh I can tell we are going to be great friends." She say walking over and patting me on the back.
"What did I get myself into?" I ask myself very confused.
Stark industries research and development 1 month later (Toni POV)
I was right when I said Jen and I would be great friends. She did a fantastic job of representing me in front of congress, so good I was found completely innocent of anything. Now she was an independent contractor for me on legal matters and a good fourth poker player. Nat and her hit it off real well over there shared frustration on Bruce's frequent disappearing acts. So far everything was going good until I sat at my desk then Friday notified me of something.
"Boss lady someone has tripped the security system at the upstate New York storage facility." Friday say.
"Well tell Rogers to find which one of his idiots took something and put it back." I respond.
"Boss it wasn't one of the tenants." She says.
"Who has the balls to steal from me!" I shout getting up from my chair.
"Pulling up security recording now." Friday says pulling up a holographic screen.
The video starts with Wilson flying to check out a sensor trip and landing on the roof. His visor pick up something tiny before he confronts whoever it is.
"I can see you." Wilson says to tiny.
Suddenly the intruder grows into a man in a red suit that flips his helmet up.
"Hi I'm Scott" the dead man said.
What follows should have been a funny ass kicking but I was still seeing red.
"Friday search every database for this Scott." I grit out.
It didn't take long to find Scott Lang with a rap sheet like that. Multiple counts of breaking and entering and a stay in prison gave me this matching picture.
"How does a small time thief get tech like that? Jarvis open the enhanced files and look for anyone with shrinking technology." I say sitting back down.
"Mam the only prominent individuals that have the ability to shrink are Janet van Dyne and Hank Pym." Jarvis informs me.
"Well I know Janets dead so it has to be Pym." I say.
Hank Pym was a genius entomologist and physicist but hated anyone with the last name Stark. Howard would always complain about Pym and his attitude calling him many colorful names. He also had a company Pym Technologies which was a competitor in some areas that Stark industries were in.
Was this corporate espionage?
"No he's not even involved in his own company anymore." I remember.
But his daughter was the chairwoman in Pym technologies.
"But she doesn't strike me as corporate espionage kind of person either." I thought.
I have only been involved a handful of times with her due to business showcases but I don't think we have actually interacted much.
"Friday look for any connection between Scott Lang, Hank Pym and Hope van Dyne." I ask.
"I'm on it boss lady." Friday dutifully says.
"What is going on?" I said to an empty room.
Hank Pym home 5 days later (Hank POV)
Scott was an idiot.
That was just the plain truth but he was also earnest and with the correct motivation a wonderful successor to Ant Man. I still don't like how close he was to my daughter but I hardly have a say anything being an absentee father. Hope and I are just mending our relationship which I hate to admit was also done with Scott's help.
"I'll never say that out loud."
Darren Cross was a disappointment in so many ways and at one point I thought of him like a son. Hope and Scott helped me close that chapter in my life even if it was messy and probably destroyed the company I built from the ground up.
"At least I got to use the tank."
Now I have finally passed down Janet's wasp suit to Hope and let the youth take over because I'm to old for this shit.
Ding dong!
"If it's those damn Girl Scouts again I'm throwing a giant ant at them." I thought walking to the door.
Opening the door I see an average looking woman in business attire holding papers smiling.I didn't know who this was so I greet her like anyone else.
"What do you want?" I ask irritated.
"Hello are you Hank Pym?" She asks in a calm tone.
"Yes and I repeat what do you want." I say a little more suspicious.
"Well I'm Jennifer Walters and my client is looking for a mister Scott Lang. He recently broke into a property she owns and stole something. So before she proceeds to press criminal charges she would like to meet with him to clear up any misunderstandings." She says with the same smile holding out a paper.
Grabbing it I see it's a photo of Scott when we he broke into the storage building which was also the Avengers base.
"Who might I ask is pressing charges?" I ask but I already know the answer.
"My client is Toni Stark. She would also like for you and your daughter to be present at the meeting." She replied.
"And if we don't?" I ask now very angry that Howard's hell spawn would dare do this.
"She said and I quote -hunt this Scott down like a rabid dog and chop his nuts off.- I believe we're her exact words. So please be at Stark tower in two days at 10 am and thank you for your time." She says walking out of my front yard.
Seeing her leave then looking down at the photo I know they have Scott dead to rights so we will have to play ball.
"Yup definitely to old for this shit." I think as I make my way to the phone.
Stark tower 2 days later (Toni POV)
One of the best investments I made was a newtons cradle for my desk. The balls clack as I look at the three uncomfortable people in font of me waiting for something to happen. Hank Pym was angry and didn't even hide it, Hope van Dyne was the picture of a calm business woman, and Scott Lang was pissing in his seat from fear. They got here right on time and were ushered into my office where I sat with my hands folded in font of me.
"So why shouldn't I just have you tossed into jail and throw away the key?" I ask.
"Uh we did it to save the world?" Scott says sounding more like a question.
"Thank you for saying we, because now I know all three of you were in on it." I say with a smirk as I watch the other two glare at Lang.
"Ok Stark what do you want?" Pym asks glaring at me now.
"I was just wondering who had the nerve to steal from me and think they could get away with it. But to my surprise the plot thickens to milkshake consistency with a Hydra plot as a topping. So I guess the real reason we are here is to tell you what I can do for you." I say standing up and walking over to the window to stare at the city.
"And what exactly would that be?" Hope van Dyne asks suspicions.
"As of this mourning I have purchased a controlling share of Pym Technologies." I explain not looking away from the window.
"Why? Pym tech will collapse once all the information reaches the public." Van Dyne says.
"Not if my public relations team spins it properly. One rogue element doesn't ruin a business if you frame events just right." I say in a matter a fact tone.
Hank Pym seemed to be having a mild coronary at the idea of a Stark basically owning his company.
"I am willing to give you these shares of the company and help you rebuild." I continued turning to look at them.
"What's the catch?" Pym immediately asks.
"Well I'm glad you asked, the only thing I really want is for us to collaborate in the future." I say surprising them.
"I don't understand." Van Dyne says.
"And you probably never will but there is one more thing I want an apology from Pym for calling me a brat." I say in a flat tone.
Pym seemed to think back to when he could have possibly done that when he remembered a Christmas party that was thrown where his family and the Stark family attended.
"That was nearly 30 years ago!" He shouts.
"The principle still stands." I say strait faced.
This was more of a test to see if he could bring himself to apologize at all to a Stark.
"I... apologize for calling you a.. brat." He says though it was like pulling teeth.
Hand shaking was done and contracts were drawn that made Lang's head spin but all in all it was a productive day.
Stark tower penthouse 3 months later (Toni POV)
Poker night was getting interesting.
Jennifer was a great new addition, Clint came as always but now he showed off photos of his kids, Pepper was here making her rare appearance, Rhodey was shuffling the deck because he didn't cheat, and Nat was chatting with her guest.
The guest happens to be Wanda Maximoff listening intently to everything Nat had to say.
Apparently Wanda took a liking to Nat as she was the first strong female role model she's had in a long time. So Nat decided to invite the witch out because the girl has been stuck at the compound ever since she came to the United States. She had her brother but she was going stir crazy and Rogers was treating her like a little five year old girl and that grated on her nerves.
"Here this is a Long Island ice tea." I said walking over to Wanda and giving her a drink as a kind of ice breaker.
She looked at the drink then at me then at Nat which Nat just nods. She takes the glass and mutters out a quick "thanks".
Four hour later we all learned a small fact about Wanda. She is an lightweight drinker and had a lot to complain about.
"And Cap just stands there with that stupid disapproving look. I was just in the living room after midnight! I'm not a child!" She yells finishing her third drink.
"No your not but we are cutting you off." Nat says sliding the glass away.
Slowly everyone started to leave until it was just me sipping some wine into midnight. Suddenly an orange light illuminated the room and a portal open granting entrance to a familiar figure.
"Hello Hela are you behaving like a good girl?" The bald bitch asks.
"I don't know Ancient One your supposed to be watching me." I say Flipping her off.
We look at each other before laughing as she joins me on the couch.