11.

2015

"Shit," Kass cursed when Tony's dart struck closer to the target than hers.

"Remember Babe, watch the language."

"Right, sorry." They shared a chuckle while Cap acted like he hadn't heard their joking.

"Ultron took you folks out of play to buy himself time," Fury explained while the group gathered in the Bartons' kitchen to discuss what their next move should be. "My contacts all say he's building something. The amount of vibranium he made off with suggests it's not just one thing."

"What about Ultron himself?" asked Cap.

"Oh, he's easy to track, he's everywhere. The guy's multiplying faster than a rabbit. Still doesn't help us get an angle on any of his plans, though."

"Is he still going after launch codes?" Tony asked, throwing a dart.

"Yes he is. Though he's not making any headway so far."

"I cracked the Pentagon's firewall in high school on a dare."

"Okay, we get it," said Kass. "You're kind of a big deal."

"Kind of."

"I contacted our friends at the Nexus about that."

"The Nexus, the world internet hub in Oslo. Makes sense, every byte of data flows through there," said Bruce. "Fastest access on earth."

"So what did they say?" asked Clint. "Your 'friends' at the Nexus?"

"That he's fixated on the missiles, but the codes are constantly being changed."

"By whom?" Tony jumped as a dart shot past him, hitting the direct centre of the target - Clint.

"Parties unknown."

"So does that mean we have an ally?" asked Kass.

"Ultron has an enemy, that's not the same thing. But I'd like to know who it is," said Fury.

"I might need to go to Oslo," Tony announced.

"Well, this is good times Boss," Nat sighed. "But when I saw you I was hoping you'd have more than that."

"I do, I have you." Fury gestured to them. "Back in the day I had eyes everywhere, ears everywhere else. You kids had all the tech you could dream of."

"The good old days," chuckled Kass.

"Good old days indeed. Now, here we all are, back on Earth, with nothing but our wit and our will to save the world. Ultron says that his mission is to end the Avengers, and whether or not he admits it that mission is global destruction. All this, laid in a grave. So stand and fight. Outwit the platinum bastard."

"Careful, Steve doesn't like that kind of talk," joked Nat.

"You know what, Romanoff?" Steve said back.

"Tony, Bruce, you built Ultron. Any idea what his weaknesses are?" Kass asked.

"Yeah, us. A united us," Tony said. "Together," he added, nodding to Cap who just scoffed, tired of all the jokes aimed at him.

"So if you're his weakness, then what does he want?" asked Fury, sitting down at the dining room table with the sandwich he had prepared for himself.

"To become better, better than us," said Cap. "He keeps building bodies."

"Well, when you two built him to protect the human race you amazingly failed," Nat told Tony and Bruce.

"I have to agree," Kass said, retrieving the darts from the board.

"They don't need protecting, they need to evolve," said Bruce in sudden realization. "Ultron's going to evolve."

"How?"

"Has anyone been in contact with Dr. Helen Cho?"

And so it was decided - they needed to find Helen, certain that Ultron would be paying her a visit.

"I'll take Natasha and Clint," Cap, all suited up, announced.

"All right. Strictly recon. I'll hit the Nexus," Tony replied. He turned to his girlfriend. "Where're you going?"

"I'll go with them. If Ultron's building a body, we're going to need to steal it."

"Okay, I'll join you as soon as I can."

"If Ultron's really building a body," began Cap.

"Then he'll be more powerful than any of us," finished Tony. "Maybe even all of us. An android designed by a robot."

Cap sighed. "You know, I really miss the days when the weirdest thing science created was me."

"I'll drop Banner off at the Tower," Fury announced.

"What will you do?" Cap asked him.

"I don't know. Something dramatic, I hope."

Kass chuckled. "Gotta love him."

"Stay safe," Tony told her. "Look after her, Cap."

"Of course."

"And watch out for the old man," he told her.

"Will do." They kissed and parted ways.


"Where's Kass?" Tony asked as the rest of the team returned to the Tower following the chase and confrontation with Ultron in Korea.

Clint and Nat exchanged a glance. "We're sorry, Tony."

"What?"

"We managed to get the cradle, but Ultron took Kass."

Tony's jaw clenched. "He's trying to draw us out - trying to draw me out."

"She's not dead," said Clint. "Or Ultron would be rubbing our faces in it."

"She might not be dead - yet. But Ultron won't keep it that way forever."


As Kass stirred awake, the first thing she registered was the cold, dark dampness - she was underground somewhere. She wasn't aware yet that she was home in Sokovia.

"I wasn't sure you'd wake up." Ultron's voice broke through the dark. Kass could just make out his glowing red eyes and tall metallic figure amongst the shadows. He appeared to be working on something, but she couldn't quite make out what exactly. "I hoped you would, I wanted to show you... I don't have anyone else. But soon the whole world will see."

"Before you kill everyone."

"The Avengers made the first move, I'm merely responding. You know, I've been thinking a lot about meteors, the purity in them. Boom, the end! Start again. The world made clean for the new man to rebuild. I was meant to be new, I was meant to be beautiful. People would have looked to the sky and seen hope, seen mercy. But instead they'll look up in horror because of them, the Avengers. They wounded me, and I give them full marks for that. But, as they say, 'what doesn't kill me, just makes me stronger.' But don't worry, Kazimiera, you'll be safe, I promise. I will protect you."

"Excuse me?"

"You're safe with me." Ultron's voice was low, and, she would almost say, kind.

What the hell?

"You're protecting me?"

"Yes."

"From what? The Avengers?"

"Yes."

"Why? Why me?"

"Because, I'm compelled to. You're special, unique. And because Stark likes you."

"So I'm your bait? That won't work."

"Oh I think it will."

"I really don't-"

"You're wrong."

"Prove it."

"Oh I don't need to. Stark will do that for me. I brought you home, Kazimiera. Welcome home."


Ultron was gone now, but a bunch of his bodies still bustled about. Damn it, Stark. Kass felt for him, she really did. He was so well-intentioned - that was one of the many things she loved about him. Under the arrogant exterior, he cared deeply about others, and yet his ideas seemed to always blow up in everyone's faces. No doubt he was feeling immense guilt over this Ultron thing.

Kass waited a few minutes before tapping the button on her suit, going invisible.

It didn't take them long to notice her sudden disappearance, but by that point, she, now invisible, had started beating them up.

Pretty soon she was surrounded by metal men - Ultron had hundreds of bodies - and was struggling to hold them back.

"Kass!"

"Oh, shit!" She'd been so wrapped up in blasting metal men, she didn't distinguish that one metal man looked different from the others.

She helped him to his feet. "Tony, what the hell are you doing here? You idiot! You know this is a trap-"

"Yeah, but I don't care. You okay? You hurt?"

"No, but I think your robot was flirting with me - made me very uncomfortable. He kept going on and on about protecting me, from you."

"And here I thought metal men were your type."

"I prefer the man beneath the armour." She poked him in his metal chest.

"So sweet. I'm glad you're okay. Now, come on, the rest of the team is up in the city. Whether you like it or not, you're one of us now."


"That man has no regard for lawn maintenance." Tony shook his head, looking at the spot where Thor had just disappeared from by the Bifrost. "I'm gonna miss him, though. And you're gonna miss me - there'll be a lot of manful tears."

"I am going to miss you, Tony," Steve assured him.

"Yeah? You know, maybe I should take a page out of Barton's book, build a farm - hope nothing blows it up."

"The simple life."

"You'll get there one day."

"I don't know... Family, stability - the guy who wanted all that went into the ice seventy-five years ago. I think someone else came out."

"You alright?"

"I'm home."

Tony patted his pocket. "Where're my keys-"

Vrooooom!

His sleek black convertible zoomed down the drive, screeching to a stop before them, Led Zeppelin blasting from the speakers. Kass lowered her sunglasses. "Took you long enough to notice they were missing."

"Should have known."

"You coming to join the training?" Steve asked her.

"Naw, I'm not an Avenger."

"You could be."

"Maybe someday. But tonight is date night. Hop in, Metal Man."

"Yes, Ma'am."

Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed this chapter as always! :)