Tony had left to go to Nexus, a journey he had asked AJ to accompany him on. Thankfully, Steve had been within earshot and told Tony that he needed AJ with him. Tony had given AJ a look of annoyance, waiting for her to tell Steve that he wasn't the boss of her and that she'd rather go with Tony. Instead, she had told the billionaire that she wanted to go with Steve. A look of hurt had flashed in his eyes that still left AJ feeling guilt, but she needed to put some space between them. For Bucky.
"You okay?" Steve asked AJ as she geared up in the back of the quinjet.
She let out a short laugh, feeling rather bitter in that moment. "Does it matter?" When she looked back at Steve, she could see the worry in his eyes and instantly regretted her snarky remark.
"Of course it does." Steve stressed the words.
"I'm fine, Steve." She told him, moving her hand to his forearm and giving it a little squeeze. "Ready to kick some robot ass?" He looked at her for a long moment, seemingly having an internal battle with himself. "What's up?" AJ asked him.
Steve hesitated, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. AJ smiled. It had been a while since she had made Steve nervous. But when she looked in his eyes, she didn't see any sign of nerves, just hesitance. "Why, uh." He pressed his lips together in a tight line and shook his head. "Why the secrecy about Clint's family?" He finally asked her. "I've been fighting with myself about bringing it up but...I thought we weren't going to have secrets between us anymore."
AJ sighed, looking past Steve to the front of the plane where Clint sat in the cockspit, flying the quinjet. "I didn't learn about Clint's family until I had worked with him for several years." She explained. "We were on a mission together and Clint got called back to the States. I could see he was scared, so, me being stubborn, I refused to let him go wherever he was headed alone." AJ chuckled a little. "Lila was in surgery; she had her tonsils taken out." Steve smiled at that. "If it weren't for us being paired together on that mission...I don't think he would have told me, to be honest." She admitted. "Not because he doesn't trust me but because the less people who know about his family -- the safer they are. Clint is an amazing father; I mean, you saw him with his kids. They worship him."
"Lila worships you and Romanoff." He said, the corner of his mouth twitching upward. "Do you remember that day we took Henry to the recruiting station?"
AJ grinned at the memory. "He adored you."
"That's cause we were the same size." Steve smirked as AJ playfully shoved against his chest.
"Steve, all that Henry spoke about for the rest of that day was how cool my friend Steve was." She let him know. "You were his hero before Captain America was even a thing! You were the first person to tell him to never and in the shadows when you see someone being bullied. You told him to fight for what you thought was right and to always root for the little guy."
Steve chuckled lightly. "I was obnoxious."
"You were sweet." AJ disagreed. "A little shit, but sweet nonetheless." She smirked and Steve laughed fully. "You were a good role model for Henry." AJ said softly, her eyes going to where Andrew was standing with Kai.
"Do you ever think about what it would have been like?" Steve asked her.
She understood what he was asking. If Bucky hadn't fallen, if Steve had survived; if she hadn't gone to the Hydra base alone.
"All the time." She admitted, blowing air out her nose. "I think about how...I would have worn my mother's wedding dress and how you'd have given the best man toast - how your ears were be bright red when you asked Peggy to finally dance with you. I think about coming back to New York and all my brothers waiting for me at the dock. I think about Howard; how, if we were alive, he wouldn't have turned so cold. How Tony would of had a nice childhood with a loving father because that man never lost so many people he loved...I think about," She shook her head and swallowed hard. How Howard would still be alive.
"Me too." Steve said as he moved his hand to rest on AJ's shoulder.
"You all ready?" Clint shouted from the front of the quinjet, keeping AJ and Steve from continuing on with the conversation.
AJ smiled as she looked at Steve. "Try to avoid being around Sabrina the Teenage Witch, okay?" She said, referencing Wanda Maximoff. Steve raised his brow and AJ laughed. "I have been hanging around Tony too much."
Steve gave her sad smile before leaving her to finish gearing up. Clint flew the quinjet low enough for AJ and Steve to safely hop out and onto the roof of the building that Dr. Cho's lab was in. Steve kept his speed while running a pace that AJ could keep up with and when they ran into the building, they saw Cho's body slouched against a metal cabinet while the rest of her staff lay dead on the ground.
"Dr. Cho!" They both breathed out as they ran forward.
AJ moved closer, taking a better look at her wound. "Did Ultron do this?" She asked and Helen nodded her head while breathing hard. AJ pressed down on her wound, trying to feel if her shoulder had dislocated. It had. "Hold still." AJ instructed and Cho nodded her head, biting down hard on her lower lip and let out a loud scream as AJ popped the joint back in.
Dr. Cho let out a shaky breath, tears falling from her eyes as she looked to Steve. "He's uploading himself into the body." She told him as AJ got up off the floor in search of any medkit she might be able to use on Helen.
"Where?" Steve asked her.
AJ heard Dr. Cho let out a whine as Steve began to pull away from her. "The real power is inside the Cradle" She told him, urgency in her tone. "The gem -- its power, it's uncontainable. You can't just blow it up, you have to get the Cradle to Stark."
"First I have to find it." Steve told Helen.
"Go," She urged him.
Steve looked to AJ. "She's right; go. I'll catch up once I get her patched up."
"Jay," Steve said, looking down at Helen's wound and then back to AJ.
"I've fixed up worse." AJ reminded him. "I was an army nurse, remember?"
Nodding his head, he slowly let go of Cho and walked over to AJ. "If they come,"
"I'll be ready." She assured him.
He nodded his head. "Did you guys copy that?" Steve asked over comm.
"We did." Clint answered from the quinjet.
"I got a private jet taking off across town." Natasha told them. "No manifest. That could be him."
AJ closed her eyes, trying to concentrate on what was in front of her and not listening to the team on comms. "Jay?" She heard Helen Cho calling out for her and quickly grabbed what she could and dashed over to the scientist.
"I'm here," She told Helen, trying to clean her wound.
"The girl," Helen said in a shaky tone, winching as AJ poured rubbing alcohol on her wound. "She pulled me out of the Scepters trance. She saw something when she touched the Cradle -- something bad."
AJ frowned, not knowing what to make of that. "Bad enough to switch sides?" She asked Cho.
"After I stopped the upload, Ultron attacked me, but as I hit the ground, I saw the girl and her brother escape."
"Steve," AJ said into the comm, "We might have a code GWR on our hands with the twins."
"Copy that."
"Code GWR?" Helen looked at AJ in confusion.
AJ couldn't help but smile. "During the war -- world war II, Italy, they switched sides a couple of times."
"Green, white, and red. The flag colors." Helen nodded her head. "Clever."
AJ chuckled. "It was a joke we used to make with the rest of the Howling Commandos."
"Dropped off Andrew at your location with more med supplies, Adge."
"Copy that." She told Clint before looking back to Helen. "Whenever someone surrendered and said they were on our side ," She used air quotes. "When we weren't sure that they'd actually stay on our side, we used code GWR."
"Jay?" Andrew hollered as he tried to locate his aunt.
"Next room." She called back as she tore off a piece of Helen's shirt to see more of the wound. Andrew ran in and quickly dropped the first aid kit in front of AJ.
"Oh, God, that's nasty." Andrew commented.
"Terrible bedside manners." AJ said causing, Cho to chuckle.
"You missed it, Andy." Helen said, trying to force a real smile at Andrew. "Your aunt was telling war stories."
Andrew chuckled and pointed to his ear. "I heard."
"Ah," Helen nodded her head.
"Where's Kai?" AJ asked.
"You miss me, sis?" AJ heard him say over the comm.
"I miss your strength. I need you here to bring Cho to safety."
They heard Kai let out a loud woop and briefly felt the ground below them shake. "He jumped out of the quinjet." AJ shook her head in annoyance.
"He jumped out of the quinjet." Andrew agreed.
"I couldn't exactly ask them to turn around!" Kai said, breathing hard. He was on foot trying to get back to the building.
"How far out are you, Palani?" AJ asked.
"Like, three - two miles?"
"Hotwire a car." She told him.
"What?"
"Hotwire a car!" She said louder. "We need you here now; not in ten minutes."
His breathing slowed down but it was still loud of the comm system. "I'm offended you think it would take me ten minutes to run three miles."
Glass shattered and then the sound of a car's engine revving to life, making AJ to sigh in relief. It took Kai two minutes to get to the building and carry out Helen after AJ carefully wrapped up her wound.
"Well, he's definitely unhappy." AJ heard Steve grunt over the comm system. "I'm gonna try and keep him that way."
"You're not a match for him, Cap." Clint said back.
"Don't get yourself killed, Steven." She hissed as the made it to the roof. "How close are you to our location, Barton?" AJ asked.
"Keeping an eye on the cradle."
"I've got it, go pick up Jay."
"Dropping a present off for you first." Barton said and from the roof, they saw Natasha drop down from the quinjet on Steve's motorcycle. "On my way to you, Jay."
They quickly got onto the quinjet, AJ nearly falling over at the speed Clint took off. "I'm going to be dressing her wound, Clint!" She snapped at his driving.
"Trying to stop the world from ending, Adge." He shot back.
Andrew chuckled, causing AJ to glare at him. "It's just," He smiled at his aunt. "You two fighting reminds me of me and Brian fighting." He admitted and AJ's fowl mood softened. "It's nice."
She chuckled. "I'm glad you think so." AJ smirked, looking in the direction of Clint who was smiling back at her.
"I can take over," Kai told AJ causing her to look over at him. "With Cho. I know how to dress a wound."
AJ hesitated, to which Kai to roll his eyes, probably still annoyed with her always second guessing him. "You go help birdman." He told her. "Two sets of eyes is always better than one. Especially one so old."
Clint laughed from the cockpit. "Palani, you do realize that she's got a couple decades on me, right?"
"Don't look like it." Kai remarked. Clint laughed.
AJ chuckled and left Kai to take care of Dr. Cho so that she could help in the cockpit.
"Clint, can you draw out the guards?" Natasha asked.
"Let's find out." He said as AJ strapped in. "You wanna do the honors?" He asked.
"Yes, please." AJ said happily and began to fire at Ultron, knowing it'd get his lackeys out of the truck and over to them. She continued to shoot, watching as Ultron got angrier and angrier by the minute. As soon as the two suits guarding the Cradle flew at them, Clint pulled up into the air fast. AJ watched as the two attached themselves to the quinjet, trying to break through the windows. One of them was pointed right above AJ's head.
"They break that glass, she's dead!" Andrew yelled as he ran forward only to fall backwards as Clint spun the quinjet in a spiral, causing the two suits to fall off of the aircraft and plumet towards the ground.
"Sorry, Frost!" Clint apologized.
AJ kept her eye on the suits to check that they weren't coming back to attack the quinjet. "We bored them." She said with a huff of annoyance.
"They're heading back towards you." Clint said to Natasha over comm. "So whatever you're going to do, do it now."
"I'm going in." Natasha told them. "Cap, keep them occupied?"
AJ listened to the sound of Steve panting. "What do you think I've been doing?" He huffed out.
"Shit, shit, shit, shit!" AJ cursed as she watched the two suits lift the semi the cradle was located in the air, nearly hitting the quinjet as he flew in the air.
"The package is airborne." Clint said as he concentrated on the distance between the quinjet and the semi. "I have a clean shot."
"Negative." Natasha said back. "I am still in the truck."
"Jesus," AJ breathed out at the same time as Clint.
"What the hell are you,"
"-Just be ready, I'm sending the package to you." Natasha ordered.
AJ looked at Clint, watching as he moved around in his seat. "How do you want me to take it?" He asked, clearly not liking the way things were going.
"Um, you might wish you hadn't asked that."
"I lost Ultron!" Steve yelled. "He's headed your way."
"Nat, we got to go!" Clint said as the lined up the jet as closely as he could to the semi.
"Strap Cho in!" AJ ordered Kai.
"Already done!" He hollered as the back door of the quinjet opened. "Andy's got a pretty nasty cut on his head." Kai told AJ causing her to snap her head in his direction. He was helping Andy up and strapping him into the seat behind AJ.
"Are you okay?" She asked Andrew who nodded his head limply.
"Hold on!" Clint told them all as the Cradle flew from the air into the back of the quinjet with Natasha hanging onto the end of it tightly. But just as she was near safety; Ultron grabbed a hold of her leg and yanked her back, causing her hand to let go of the cradle.
"Nat!" AJ yelled. "Do you have eyes on her?" She asked Clint, unbuckling herself only to have Kai grab her.
"You go any further and you're gonna go flying out of this jet!" He yelled at her.
"Natasha could be back there!" AJ argued with him.
"She's not!" He yelled. "I saw Ultron take her, I'm sorry."
AJ shook her head, not believing him.
"Cap, have you seen Nat?" Clint asked Steve over comm.
"If you have the package -- get it to Stark! Go!"
"Do you have eyes on Nat?!" Clint now yelled.
"Go, Barton!"
Clint looked back at AJ who stood there feeling helpless. "Nat has survived worse." She finally said. "We'll get her back."
Clint shook his head but closed the back of the quinjet and took off.
They'd all meet back in New York.
All of them.
_
"I'm fine , Jay." Andrew complained as his aunt worked on his stitches.
"You're not fine." She grumbled. "You have a gaping hole in your forehead."
He chuckled. "Gaping is a bit of a dramatic word to use."
"Well, I'm a Frost, remember? We're dramatic by nature. Now stop moving."
"Anything on Nat?" Bruce asked Tony as he walked into the room.
"I haven't heard." Tony told him. "But she's alive or Ultron would have been rubbing our faces in it." He said in a quieter tone, but Andrew could hear it.
"This is sealed tight." Clint said as he hopped off the Cradle.
"We're going to need to access the program and break it down from within." Bruce told them.
"Hey," AJ said, causing Andrew to look back at her. "Don't focus on them. Focus on me."
He sighed but did as his aunt told him to, though he continued to listen to what Tony, Bruce, and Clint were saying.
"-Any chance Natasha might leave you a message outside the internet?" Tony asked Clint. "Some old school spy stuff?"
AJ suddenly moved forward quickly, causing Andrew to wince. She pointed at Clint which was enough for him to decipher what she was thinking without speaking. "There are some nets I can cast." He told Tony as he nodded to AJ. "We'll find her."
Tony looked to where Clint had been standing and then back to AJ. "That was creepy." He told her. "The whole non-verbal thing you two just did."
Andrew watched as his aunt chuckled. But she quickly sobered up, moving her concentration back to her nephew. He frowned, not understanding what was going on between her and Tony. "Something I should know?" He asked, referencing her exchanged with Clint.
"Radio waves." AJ told Andrew. "He's going to listen to see if Nat sent out anything in morse code."
"All the way from New York?" Andrew said skeptically.
"Ye have little faith." AJ smiled as she finished the last stitch on Andrew's forehead. "You were an Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D." He rolled his eyes playfully. "It's a Software Defined Receiver. Super advanced." AJ explained.
"What even made you think she'd use morse code?" Andrew asked.
AJ looked down at her hand, squaring her jaw as she avoided eye contact. "Morse code was how I planned to get in touch with Peggy and Howard." She told him, her words slow. "When I was being held captive, I used to come up with these ridiculous plans to escape and get a message to Howard. But after each... experiment, " She said the word bitterly. "I got weaker and weaker and...I couldn't get my message out."
Andrew blinked in surprise. AJ never spoke about the war with him. She'd tell light hearted stories about her and Steve, but that was it. And she especially didn't bring up her time being a captive of Hydra. Then something dawned on him; AJ was a POW. Why hadn't he realized that sooner? He knew her history; Fury had told him and Brian about her a few days after she woke up -- why hadn't it even registered to him? She had been held captive by Hydra and tested on for months. "Jay," He said her name softly.
"It's okay, Andy." She told him, getting up walking over to Tony who had been blatantly eavesdropping given the worried expression on his face.
"Jay and I can work on tissue degeneration if you could fry whatever operational system Cho implanted," He told Tony and looked over at Kai briefly. "She awake?"
"No." Kai shook his head. "She took a big hit."
Andrew watched as Bruce nodded his head before looking to Tony who was scratching at the back of his neck.
"About the operational system Cho implanted," Tony started to say.
Andrew looked to AJ and Bruce who instantly shook their head. "No." They said together. "Are you kidding me, Tony?" AJ added.
"Adelyn, you guys have to trust me." Tony said, walking towards her only to have her walk away.
"Kind of don't ." Bruce told Tony as AJ shook her head over and over.
"Our ally; the guy protecting the military's nuclear codes," Tony pulled something out of his pocket and a hologram appeared behind him. "I found him."
"Hello, Dr. Banner. Ice Queen."
"J.A.R.V.I.S?" AJ breathed out, walking closer to the hologram.
"Ultron didn't go after J.A.R.V.I.S because he was angry. He attacked him because he was so scared of what he can do." Tony said as Andrew walked over to stand next to his aunt. She had her arms crossed over her chest as she listened carefully , but her facial expression made it clear that she was skeptical. "So, J.A.R.V.I.S went underground." He explained. "Scattered, dumped his memory, but knew his protocols." He added. "He didn't even know that he was in there until I pieced him together."
Bruce let out a breath of air as he placed his hand on his hip. "So...you want me," He pointed between him and Tony. "To help you put J.A.R.V.I.S into this thing?"
"No, of course not." Tony drew out the word, his tone sounding far too innocent. "I want to help you and Adelyn put JARVIS in this thing?"
"Tony!" AJ groaned as she ran her hands down her face.
"I told Banner from the beginning that you should be involved, but he said no because she was too close to Captain Moral Compass." Tony said, causing Bruce to take in a sharp breath in anger.
" I said AJ should be involved and you made the remark about Steve!" He said, clearly offended.
"Okay, fine. " Tony said dramatically. "Look," He sighed. "We're out of my field here. You know bio-organics better than anyone." He told Bruce. "And Adelyn, you created Steve."
She scoffed. "I didn't create Steve. I enhanced him."
"Well, now you can advance JARVIS."
"Tony!" AJ groaned again.
"You're just assuming that JARVIS's operational matrix can beat Ultrons." Bruce reminded Tony.
"JARVIS has already been beating him from the inside without knowing it." Tony said back. "This is the opportunity -- we can create Ultron's perfect self without the homicidal glitches he thinks are his winning personality. We have to!"
"I believe it's worth a go." JARVIS said, causing Andrew to glance over at the hologram.
Andrew then looked over at his aunt. "You're not seriously considering this, right?"
"Absolutely not!" AJ stressed and then looked to Bruce. "And you shouldn't be either."
"I'm in a loop!" Bruce said in frustration as he threw his hands in the air. "I'm caught in a time loop -- this is exactly where it all went wrong!"
"Exactly!" AJ huffed out.
"I'd be down." Kai walked over to them and AJ's head snapped in his direction.
"Great -- we got someone to take Adelyn's place." Tony said before focusing on Bruce. "Look, I know what everyone's going to say -- but they're already saying it." Tony clapped his hand around Bruce's shoulder. "We're mad scientists. We're monsters, buddy. We gotta own it, make a stand." Bruce continued to shake his head at Tony's words. But Andrew could see a sense of wonder in his eyes. A part of Bruce seemed to want to do what Tony said. "It's not a loop." Tony assured Bruce. "It's the end of the line."
Bruce looked to AJ and Andrew watched as the man shook his head, a silent apology to AJ. "Okay." He agreed with Tony.
Andrew felt the room temperature drop, and all eyes landed on AJ. There was a small mist leaving her fingers as she cocked her head at them. "I won't let you."
Tony sighed and walked over to AJ, grabbing a hold of her hand and letting out a wince at the feel of cold leaving her body. His teeth began to chatter, but he continued to hold onto her hand. "You managed to create a temperature so low that even the bracelets can't protect us from. Cool. Cool. Cool." He tried to joke only to wince against from the pain. He began to breathe hard as he looked AJ straight in the eyes. "I've learned from my mistakes, Addie." The name caused AJ to glare at Tony. "Okay, too soon?" He winced and let go of her hand. Andrew looked down at Tony's hand to see that it was covered in frost. "Adelyn," Tony corrected himself. "Please...just trust me. I'm doing this to save you -- to save everyone!"
"I don't need you to save me." AJ stressed the word.
Andrew let out a wince, starting to feel the effects of AJ's power. "Jay," He said, teeth chattering. "Tone it down."
"I don't need protection ." AJ continued to say to Tony. "I don't want your protection." The cold in the air was starting to affect Banner causing him to take deep breaths to try and control his anger to keep the Big Guy from making an appearance. "You are not my savior, Tony! You act like you have some claim to me because we have your father in common but you're not my brother! You're not even my family! Do you know who my family is? Andrew!" She motioned to him. "And Steve, but more importantly; Bucky !"
"Do something." Bruce breathed out. "Now!"
Andrew looked over at his aunt and saw her eyes turning and did the only thing he knew how to do to keep her powers from coming out.
Knock her unconscious.
"Dude!" Kai laughed as AJ's body fell to the ground. "I was on my way with a tranquilizer, you didn't have to punch her!"
"Go set her down somewhere." Tony instructed, swallowing hard. AJ's words had done a number on him.
Andrew watched as AJ's skin began to bruise on the left side of her face and felt instant guilt. He was stronger than her when it came to combat -- he shouldn't have done that! Who knows the damage he could have caused.
Clint walked up the steps, his eyes landing on AJ's in Kai's arms. "What the hell just happened?"
"You mind watching her while we work?" Tony asked Clint as he walked over to Kai and took AJ's out of his arms to hold in his.
"What did you do to her?"
"Her powers." Bruce started to say, finally calming down. "They were affecting me and we couldn't risk the big guy coming out."
Andrew watched as Clint looked over in his direction. "Did you knock her out?" There was an edge to his tone.
He nodded and watched as Clint glared. "You all call yourselves her family ?" He scoffed and walked away , only to stop when Andrew went to go with him. "Oh, you are not coming with." He informed Andrew.
Andrew watched as Clint walked away with his aunt hanging limply in his arms. He shook his head in anger and walked out of the room as well. He was protecting AJ from herself -- from Hulk! He had to do it! It's not like he agreed with Tony and Bruce about uploading JARVIS into that weird AI thing. In fact; he was going to find some way to get in touch with Steve to let him know what was happening.
When Steve found out -- oh, things were not going to be peachy keen.
_
"Frosty?"
She smiled at the sound of his voice.
"Open your eyes, Frosty."
"Buck?" She said his name weakly. "You're here."
"-Adge,"
She blinked, seeing that it wasn't Bucky saying her name. "Clint?" AJ sat up a bit only to wince, holding onto the side of her face.
"Have to say, I'm glad you're hallucinating Bucky and not Loki." Clint chuckled.
"Why do I feel like I just got hit by Hulk?" She asked, still holding the side of her face.
Clint shook his head as he handed her an ice bag. "You're lucky you didn't get hit by Hulk. Your jackass nephew stopped that from happening by punching you himself."
"Wha-" And then AJ started to remember. "Oh shit!" She cursed as she stood up. "Fuck!" She said loudly as she ran up the stairs to try and stop Tony. But by the time she got up to the labs, Steve was already there. And he wasn't alone. AJ had been right about the twins. They were switching sides. And despite what the girl put AJ through, she couldn't help but be happy to have someone with her powers on their side. "Steve," She breathed out, watching as he took in her state.
"Jay," Andrew walked up to her, "I'm so sorry!" He instantly apologized. "God, I just -- it was instinct."
"It's okay." AJ told him, pulling him into a much needed hug. "I understand."
"Shut it down!" Steve ordered Tony.
"Nope, not gonna happen." Tony replied in a childish tone.
"You don't know what you're doing!" Steve argued.
Banner scoffed. "And you do?" He glared at the girl standing behind Steve with her brother. "She's not in your head?" He questioned.
"I know you're angry." The girl stepped out from behind Steve.
"Oh, no, we're way past that." Banner shook his head. "I could choke the life out of you and never change a shade." He threatened.
"Bruce," AJ said his name as a warning as she moved over to Steve, standing in front of the girl to protect her. It was only then that Steve stepped away from the twins.
"Banner, after everything that's happened,"
"-It's nothing compared to what's coming!" Tony yelled at Steve.
"You don't know what's in there!" The female yelled.
"This isn't a game!" Steve yelled as well.
AJ felt herself fall forward a bit only to have the girl grab a hold of her arm to keep her steady as the male sped towards the Cradle and unplugged it; stopping the upload. "No, no. Go on. " He said as he tossed the cords out of his hand and everything powered down. "You were saying?"
A gunshot went off and the floor beneath Pietro Maximoff shattered, sending him falling down onto the floor that Clint was working on.
"Pietro!" The girl cried out.
"What?" AJ heard Clint say. "You didn't see that coming?"
Her eyes then went to the Cradle when she saw the AI's fingers twitch, something that Tony had noticed as well before a bunch of machines began to beep at them. "I'm rerouting the upload." Tony said as he quickly began to type only to have Steve throw his shield, the vibranium bouncing off of walls before it even made it to where Tony stood -- unfortunately, Tony had enough time to activate his suit; or at least his hand, and sent a blast at Steve that knocked him to the ground.
"Tony!" AJ yelled in shock as she ran over to Steve to help him up. Andrew went after Tony only to be thrown back as well. AJ watched as Kai charged at Tony, a stronger blast throwing him across the room. "Stop!" AJ shouted when Steve went after Tony. She could feel her powers fighting to come to the surface, but she held them back. She had lost her cool before, but now she had her emotions under control. Bruce was thrown back after the girl used her powers on him, making him stumble backwards. AJ ran to her, throwing herself between the girl and Bruce to stop him from going after her. "Banner, stay away!" She held out her hand, a cold force of air throwing him back.
Thor appeared suddenly on top of the Cradle causing all eyes to fall on him. He lifted his hammer in the air and summoned lightening.
"Wait!" Bruce yelled, watching as Thor swung his hammer down to the lid of the cradle, not crushing it, but feeding it energy from the lightning. The upload completed and AJ felt the girl, Wanda, grab a hold of her arm to try and tug her away from it. She tugged just at the right moment as the lid exploded sending shards of glass to where she had been standing, the force of the blast knocking back everyone in the room.
AJ and Wanda both managed to get up, their heads turning towards the direction of the Cradle to see the thing inside of it now kneeling on top of it. She felt her mouth slowly open in shock as it slowly stood up. This thing . Unlike Ultron, with his cold, metal frame and mechanical movements, this being had the true visage of a human. Except for the patterns of bright red and black that colored his skin and the stone embedded in his forehead, he looked like a normal man. After making eye contact with everyone in the room, it flew at Thor, only to have him throw it back straight to the windows. But it stopped abruptly before it got a chance to crash through the glass, hovering in the air.
Thor and Steve ran after the thing, but no one made a move to try and destroy it. They just let him hover.
Wanda grabbed AJ's hand and they both slowly made their way down the stairs to the floor he was on, Pietro appearing in a blur in front of them. Andrew and Kai slowly made their way over as well.
"I'm sorry," It said, more of the dark color covering him than the red. It looked like one of the suits they wore while on a mission. "Odd." He looked at Thor. He had JARVIS's voice...did that mean it had worked? Tony and Bruce hadn't just made another murder-bot? "Thank you." He thanked Thor.
A cape suddenly draped over it's shoulders and AJ couldn't help but mutter under her breath, "How the hell?"
"Thor!" Steve said in anger. "You helped create this!"
"I've had a vision." Thor told Steve. "A whirlpool that sucks in all hope of life, and at its center is that ." He pointed to the glowing stone.
"The gem?" Bruce asked.
"It's the Mind Stone." Thor explained. "It's one of the six Infinity Stones. The greatest power in the universe, unparalleled in its destructive capabilities."
Steve shook his head, "Then why would you bring,"
Thor interrupted him. "Because Stark is right."
AJ blinked in surprise, not ever expecting those words to come out of Thor's mouth.
"Oh," Banner shook his head upon hearing Thor as well. "It's definitely the end of times."
"The Avengers cannot defeat Ultron." Thor told them.
"Not alone." It said as he walked forward.
Steve glared at it. "Why does your Vision sound like JARVIS?"
"We," Tony inhaled deeply as the thing walked closer to him. "We reconfigured JARVIS's matrix. To create something new."
"I think I've had my fill of new." Steve remarked.
"You think I'm a child of Ultron." It spoke.
"You're not?" Steve countered back.
"I'm not Ultron." He answered. "I'm not JARVIS either." He looked at everyone for a long time. "I... am ." He told them.
Wanda moved from behind AJ and over to it. "I looked in your head." She told him. "Saw annihilation."
"Look again." He instructed her.
Clint scoffed. "Her seal of approval means jack to me."
"Clint," AJ shook her head at him.
"He's right." Andrew said.
She didn't have time to argue with both of them. "Their powers," Thor spoke up. "The horrors in our heads, Ultron himself! They all came from the Mind Stone and they'renothing compared to what it can unleash. But with it on our side,"
"Is it?" Steve asked, looking at it. "Are you? On our side?"
"I don't think it's that simple." He told them.
"Well it better get real simple, real soon." Clint threatened.
It sighed and walked forward. "I am on the side of life." He said. "Ultron isn't -- he will end it all."
"What's he waiting for?" AJ asked.
"You." He told them all.
"Where?" Pietro asked, moving to stand in front of AJ.
"Sokovia." Clint glared in his direction. "He's got Nat there too."
AJ let out a sigh of relief.
Bruce stepped forward, walking to stand in front of it. "If we're wrong about you," He said slowly. "If you're the monster that Ultron made you to be-"
"What will you do?" It asked. That was the thing...they didn't know how to deal with it -- how to kill it. As he said earlier; he simply was . "I don't want to kill Ultron." It told them. "He's unique and he's in pain." He walked past them all. "But that pain will roll over the earth...so he must be destroyed. Every form he's built ; every trace of his presence on the net -- we have to act now. And not one of us can do it without the others." It told them. It then looked down at its hands. "Maybe I am a monster." It said simply. "I don't think I'd know if I were one...I'm not what you are and not what you intended. So there may be no way to make you trust me." AJ's eyes widened as it picked up Thor's hammer and handed it to him. "But we need to go."
Everyone, excluding Pietro and Wanda looked over at Thor in shock, waiting for him to say something. It handed him the hammer and walked away. It took Thor a moment before he slowly nodded his head and smiled. "Alright," He patted Tony's shoulder. "Well done."
"I," AJ started to speak, but Thor walked away. She looked to Steve who had the same baffled expression.
"The hammer thinks he's worthy." Andrew said out loud. "I think that's proof enough that we can trust him."
Steve nodded his head and looked to the team. "Three minutes." He told them. "Get what you need."
AJ and Steve shared a look, and she motioned for the twins to follow her. "Let's get you guys geared up, okay?"
Pietro smirked. "Anything you say, beautiful lady."
She chuckled and shook her head.
Steve let Pietro borrow some of his clothing while AJ pointed Wanda in the direction of Natasha's gear, knowing they had the same body type. As AJ suited up as well, the sound of soft footsteps coming from behind her. She recognized them. It was Tony. She slowly turned to face him.
"I built this for you." He said, showing her the hand gloves. "They're designed to enhance your gust, or...ice blast you do. Kai and I have been working on them for you."
AJ didn't know what to say. She took the gloves as she inhaled deeply. "Look, what I said,"
"No need to rehash." Tony told her. "I heard you loud and clear."
AJ grabbed a hold of his hand, forcing him to look at her. "You are my family, Tony." She told him. "I think that's what scares me...because," because when Wanda got in my head I saw you kill Bucky? "I'm just afraid of losing you as you are losing me."
He let out a scoff of a laugh, his lips twitching up into a smirk. "That's presumptuous of you. Assuming that I'm afraid of losing you."
AJ chucked and shook her head. "Whatever you say, Tony." There was no use in pushing him away. It only hurt the both of them. But someday -- if that day ever came, where he had to pick between him and Bucky...she'd choose Bucky.
Always.
They went their separate ways to prepare for a fight that seemed nearly impossible to win. When they regrouped, Tony said what she was already thinking. "No way we all get through this." He told them. "-If even one tin soldier is left standing, we've lost. There's going to be blood on the floor."
"I got no plans tomorrow night." Steve smirked.
"I get first crack at the big guy." Tony declared. "Iron Man is the one he's waiting for."
Vision, a name they started calling the AI, walked past them all to the quinjet saying; "That's true -- he hates you the most."
AJ laughed, shaking her head.
As they all gathered in the quinjet, AJ helped Pietro and Wanda with plugging them into the comm system, the male twin winking at her as she did so. He really did remind her of Bucky.
"Ultron knows we're coming." Steve told them all. "Odds are we'll be riding into heavy fire and that's what we signed up for. But the people of Sokovia," His eyes drifted to Wanda and Pietro. "They didn't." He reminded the twins. "So our priority is getting them out. All they want is to live theirs lives in peace. And that's not going to happen to today, but we can do our best to protect them -- and we can get the job done." Steve looked to Thor and Banner. "We find out what Ultron's been building. We find Romanoff and clear the field. Keep the fight between us ." Steve stressed and then looked to AJ, Andrew, Clint, and Kai. "Ultron thinks we're monsters. That we're what's wrong with the world. This isn't just about beating him. It's about whether he's right." He looked pointedly at AJ. "Are you with me?"
She smiled as she nodded her head. "Till the end of the line."
