Chapter 50

When the quinjet landed at Stark Industries, Barton was immediately rushed into the Med Bay for surgery. She'd had JARVIS call Helen Cho while they were in the air so that she would be prepped and ready to go for when they had arrived.

"I want you to get looked at too," Steve told her as he walked off the plane with her.

"I barely have a scratch on me," she protested and he gave her a look.

"Toni, something happened to you at that base," he told her. "That's bound to have some sorts of consequences. I know you hate being looked over but I'm going to have to insist that we take a look."

"I don't have time for this," she argued, "We need to examine the scepter. You yourself said you wanted to know what it had been used for before we sent it back with Thor off world. Do you have any idea what it's going to take to be able to fully get that information? Bruce and I are going to need as much time as we can possibly get for this."

"It can wait," he told her firmly, "Get examined first. Then you can take a look at it if you're feeling up to the task. I'm not going to put you straight to work after what you've been through."

"Lab's all set up, boss," Hill said, as she approached them while Steve attempted to steer her towards the Med Bay as well.

"Uh, actually, he's the boss," she said with a roll of her eyes, "Can't you see with the way he's manhandling me and insisting I go get checked up instead of doing some valuable sciencing with my Brucey Bear and Ava. I just pay for everything, and design everything and make everyone look cooler."

Steve shot her an unimpressed look and she pouted at him.

"We'll talk on the way to the Bay," Steve said as he continued to steer her. "What's the word on Strucker?"

"NATO's got him," Hill told them both, "Anything he knows, we'll find out soon enough."

"And the two enhanced?" he asked, "I want to know everything I can about them."

"Wanda and Pietro Maximoff," Hill said, as they arrived at the Med Bay. A team of doctors who weren't working on Clint came over to her then and insisted on making her take a seat on one of the beds as they moved through the room to get set up to take a look at her.

Hill showed them her StarkPad as Toni sat impatiently.

"Twins," Hill continued. "Orphaned at ten when a shell collapsed their apartment building. Sokovia's had a rough history. It's nowhere special but it's on the way to everywhere special."

"Their abilities?" he asked her, wanting to know what they were up against.

"He's got increased metabolism and improved thermal homeostasis. Her thing is neural electric interfacing, telekinesis, mental manipulation Hill informed them.

"Mental Manipulation," Steve repeated, "Such as giving someone visions of a traumatic experience?"

"Quite possibly," Hill noted. "Looking over the files Stark sent me, it appears as if Wanda Maximoff can cause her victims to feel severe cases of fear and anguish. The long lasting effects are not all that well known. But to sum it up, He's fast, and she's weird."

"That's an oversimplification," Toni rolled her eyes.

"We need to be prepared for when we see them again," Steve said to them, "So we know what we're up against."

He squeezed her hand and she shot him a gentle look. She was fine. Really.

"Agreed. File says they volunteered for Strucker's experiments. It's nuts," Hill said with a shake of her head."

Steve looked slightly uncomfortable at that, and she looked at him.

"It's not the same, Steve," she said to him, knowing exactly what they were thinking. "You signed up to save your country against the Nazis. They willingly joined HYDRA to help torment their own people. It's not the same."

"Only because we won the war," Steve said softly. "Would the situation be different if we hadn't?"

"No," she said gently, "You're still one of the good guys. Nothing will ever change that."

He nodded, but she wasn't sure he completely believed her.

"Toni!" Ava said as she rushed into the room, with Bruce following behind her. "I heard that you were hurt! What happened?"

"It's nothing," she said, glaring at Bruce, unhappy with him for selling her out. "Just a small case of mental manipulation. I'm fine, I promise."

Ava shot Steve a look asking for more answers.

"We're getting her looked at," Steve told her cousin, "If those enhanced we ran into did anything to her, we're going to know."

"I don't get why you guys keep making a big deal out of this," Toni sighed. "I'm fine."

Dr Cho came into the room then, and she looked up at her. "How's Clint?"

"He's fine," Dr Cho told them, "There's no possibility of deterioration. The nano-molecular functionality is instantaneous. His cells don't know they're bonding with simulacrum."

Steve looked a little confused, and Bruce explained, "She's creating tissue. To replace the tissue that was damaged in the fight."

"If you brought him to my lab, the regeneration Cradle could do this in twenty minutes," Cho said, "But instead, it's going to take a bit longer. Now, Dr Stark, let's take a look at what was done to you, shall we?"

She sighed, as her scanners gave her a once over to bring the results up on the screen.

"What does it show?" Steve asked, holding her hand gingerly as Helen and Ava looked over the results.

"You were right," Dr Cho said to Steve, "Something is in fact abnormal about her brain scans. Can you see this section here? This is her frontal lobe. And the neurons are firing abnormally quickly. As if she's running a hundred different scenarios in her mind right now."

"That's hardly abnormal," she protested, "At least for me. I'm always thinking about a hundred things at once."

"I was comparing it to your pasts scans," Dr Cho told her carefully. "Even for you, Toni, this is abnormal."

Ava hesitated for a moment, "It also looks very similar to the scans done for Barnes," she commented.

"Meaning?" Toni narrowed her eyes, "Do you honestly think I was brainwashed."

"I think whatever Maximoff did to you meant you were left in a state where you seem to be under her suggestion still," Ava said. "What did she do to you?"

The room turned to face her and she felt herself tense up.

"She showed me things," Toni said, evasively. "About a possible future outcome in which we lose. Which is why I have to get back to work. Forget about what she did to me. She didn't show me anything that I hadn't already been imagining happening before. I've thought about humanity getting wiped out for years, since the Chitauri invaded. This doesn't change that. All this did is remind me that we truly aren't alone out there."

"Toni," Ava whispered, "I thought you were getting better. You told us that the PTSD was getting better. Especially after the Mandarin. Did you lie about that?"

"I didn't lie!" she protested, "Some days are better than others. Some days I can sleep at night without waking up. And others I still see that wormhole and remember the feeling of what it was like to not be able to breathe."

"What do we do about this?" Steve said, bringing them back on track. "Can we undo the effects of this on her brain?'

"There's not a lot of precedent for mind control," Dr Cho told them, "Sergeant Barnes' case the first we've ever seen and his is a more extreme measure. Dr Stark doesn't current seem like she's being coerced so i think it's safe to say that we aren't in any risk of harm from her. However at the same time, we need to monitor the situation. Ensure her condition doesn't worsen. So we can see what kind of long term impacts there will be as a result."

"So am I cleared to go?" she asked the room and when no one had any immediate protests she stood, "Perfect. Bruce, Ava, we have work to do to examine the scepter."

"Is that really a top priority right now?" Bruce asked, rubbing his hands through his hair. "You were barely cleared to go."

"I'm fine," she rolled her eyes, "Besides, Steve wanted me to take a look at it anyways, didn't you, Steve?"

"I didn't mean right this very instant," he said, giving her an unamused look. "It's nothing that can't wait a few more hours, Toni."

"There's no time like the present," she said with a shrug. "The sooner we take a look at it, the sooner we can celebrate this. Besides, Rhodey is going to be back for the party. Along with Aunt Peggy and Uncle Daniel. And Peter and his aunt and uncle are even stopping by for a bit. So let's just take a look at it and see what's up."

Steve sighed, "Okay. But if you even remotely start to feel unwell I want you to stop, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah," she said, brushing him aside.

"Ava?" Steve said, looking at her cousin.

"I'll make sure she doesn't overwork herself," Ava promised him. "And that she doesn't stay up all night in the lab."

"Great, so time to science?" she said, clapping her hands together. And when no one immediately stopped her, she left the room, heading to her lab.

Ava caught up with her a few seconds later, getting her to slow down.

"Why are you pushing Steve away?" she demanded as her lab doors opened for her.

"What do you mean?" she asked her cousin cautiously.

"You've been distant with him ever since you got back," Ava told her. "Usually the two of you are so sickenly touchy feely. But since you got back from the base you're refusing to even look at him. You're pushing him away, verbally and physically, like you don't want him around. You practically ran away to your lab. Is there something you want to tell me, Toni? Are the two of you doing alright?"

"We're fine," Toni said in confusion. "I just wanted to take a look at the scepter."

"Really?" Ava said sceptically, as they walked over to where the scepter was placed in the centre of her lab.

"Really," she said firmly. "I love him. That hasn't changed. I just. I saw him die Ava. In the vision Maximoff gave me. Because of me. And I can't be the reason I lose him or the rest of you. I can't be the reason everyone I love dies. Not if there's something that I can do to stop it. So that's what I'm trying to do. I'm trying to stop it. I'm trying to make sure that Earth will be safe. That we'll never end up in another New York type situation. I don't want that happening to us ever again. Not if there's something we can do to stop it. And that's what I'm trying to do here. I think there's something with the scepter. Something that could be said for how it works. Something that we could use to our advantage."

"And that is?" Bruce asked, joining their conversation.

"J?" she said, looking at one of her AI's sensors. "Can you give us the rundown of what you've gathered so far?"

"The scepter is alien. There are elements I can't quantify," JARVIS told them.

"Meaning that there are elements that you can," she said with a nod. "Please continue Baby."

"The jewel appears to be a protective housing for something inside. Something powerful," JARVIS noted, before pausing.

"Like a reactor?" Ava asked curiously.

"Like a computer," JARVIS corrected, "I believe I'm ciphering code."

Alien code.

Well that was new.

She supposed she shouldn't be all that surprised; after all, they knew that there were other alien civilizations out there that were far more advanced than theirs. It stood to reason that some of them must have been able to come up with their own code and programs to get as far as they were today.

"That makes sense," she said with a nod, as she looked around the room "We were wondering how Strucker got so inventive. I've had JARVIS analyze the scepter so far while I was in the Med Bay, as you heard."

She looked at the screen then, "It can't be."

Ava and Bruce looked at her confused, and she pulled up a 3D image of JARVIS' code; or her AI's consciousness.

"JARVIS," Bruce said in acknowledgement.

"Doctor Banner," JARVIS responded in kind.

"You both know how JARVIS was created," she said, not needing to go over the facts with them. "And that he's been growing since then, getting more advanced with each passing moment. Now he runs the Iron Legion. He runs more of the business than anyone besides Pepper or I. He's integral to my daily life."

"And constantly impressing us with how far he's been able to come since then," Ava said, reaching out as if to stroke JARVIS' code.

"He's top of the line," Toni beamed with pride.

"But perhaps not for long," JARVIS noted, as she flicked her StarkPhone in the air and a new 3D image appeared. One that was far more advanced than JARVIS. And one that could change everything.

"Meet the competition," she said softly.

"It's beautiful," Bruce breathed.

"I can't believe this," Ava said in shock.

"If you had to guess, what's it look like it's doing?" she asked them both.

"Like it's thinking. I mean this could be a...it's not a human mind, it…" Bruce starked.

"Mmhm," she said in agreement.

"Are you guys seeing this?" Ava asked in shock, "I mean, look at this! They're like neurons firing."

"Which is precisely what we need to take advantage of," she said in agreement, "This is what Strucker was using it for. This is what he was trying to leverage to get ahead. This is how their weaponry was so far advanced. Even down in Strucker's lab I saw some fairly advanced robotics work. They deep-sixed the data, but, I gotta guess he was knocking on a very particular door."

"Artificial intelligence," Bruce said in agreement.

"This could be it," she said to the two of them. "This could be the key to creating Ultron."

The two of them looked at her in surprise. And she didn't blame them. It was a project she'd spoken about minimally over the years. She'd barely given it a name, given that it was so far out of reach. Because really, an AI that could help protect the world? It seemed far-fetched, even with her abilities. It seemed like something that would never happen.

But that was then.

"I thought Ultron was a fantasy," Bruce said in shock.

"Yesterday it was," she said with a shrug. "But what if this is it? If we can harness this power, apply it to my Iron Legion protocol."

"That's a mad-sized if," Ava noted, looking carefully at her. "Toni..."

"Our job is 'if'," she said simply. "Isn't that what scientists do? We sit here trying to figure out how we can constantly make things better. How we can make things more advanced. And how we can find the next big thing. We create, we build, and we make. This is exactly what we need to do. Can you imagine what would happen Bruce, if you were sipping margaritas on a sun-drenched beach turning brown instead of green? Not looking over your shoulder for VERONICA? We could make the world safer without having to worry about what would happen if we can't reach the place quick enough. Do you know what that could mean?"

"I helped design VERONICA," Bruce said, looking up at her.

She nodded, "You did. But as a worst-case measure, right? How about a best-case? What if the world was safe? What if next time aliens roll up to the club, and they will, they couldn't get past the bouncer? What if we could stop them from even getting close? We could keep us safe from what's out there. We could stop them from putting at risk ever again. We wouldn't need to worry about it anymore."

She took a deep breath, as she looked at the screen.

"The only people threatening the planet would be people?" Ava questioned her.

"Yes," she said in agreement, "The world would be safe again. Well except from us.I want to apply this to the Ultron program. But JARVIS can't download a data schematic this dense. We can only do it while we have the scepter here, and that's not for long."

"No," Ava said firmly.

"Ava," she started.

"We just went over this with Dr Cho," Ava said firmly, "You may be cleared because we don't know how to help you but you were just attacked today. You're not thinking rationally. In fact, you're driven by the scenes you just saw. And I'm not saying that it isn't a good idea. That there isn't a very real threat out there. But you are not going to work on it now. Not in this state. Let JARVIS keep gathering data on it. Let's find out how safe this artificial intelligence is. And if it's safe, then we'll get started. But if not, then we're not touching this. You need a break, Toni. This isn't healthy. Nor is this you."

She wanted to clap back and insist that she was fine. Because she was fine. She didn't need help. She didn't need anything other than to get this working. Why couldn't the others see how short they were on time? Why couldn't they see how important it was that they got this working?

"I agree with her," Bruce said with a nod. "Toni, it's already late. And you have the party tomorrow when you're expecting everyone over. Get JARVIS to analyze the scepter so we can collect all the data we need. And later, when you've rested, we'll take a look."

She stared at them both, wondering if she could possibly sneak back into the lab once they've left. But despite how annoyed she was with them, she couldn't bring herself to be truly angry. She knew she sometimes had unhealthy lab habits and her team didn't stop her unless she was bordering on extreme lengths of unhealthy. So for them to insist she take a step back meant that she must truly be in a bad state.

"Okay," she said finally. "JARVIS, can you examine the scepter in secure isolated environment? I want to know everything about how it works and what makes it tick. If there's an AI in the scepter then I want to know. Especially given that Strucker has been making use of it for so long. Whatever he's been doing with it can't be good. Let me know if you find anything interesting."

"Will do, Miss," JARVIS told her gently, "I have alerted Captain Rogers that you are heading up to bed. He is waiting for you in the common room."

"Thanks J," she said with a sigh. She may have disagreed with her friends, but maybe they were right. Maybe a break wouldn't hurt.


Steve paced anxiously as Toni worked in her lab with Ava and Brue.

It wasn't that he didn't trust her. Because he did. He knew she would never do anything to put others at risk. But he didn't trust her not to put herself at risk. Not if there was a chance she could work harder to achieve whatever it was that she felt she needed to achieve. No he didn't trust her to consider her own wellbeing.

"You didn't see her Bucky," Steve said as he plopped down beside his friend on the couch. "After Maximoff did whatever she did to Toni. She was shaking. She was so scared and I didn't know how to help her. What if that happens again? What if Maximoff attacks Toni again? She just shoved me down the stairs, but it was almost as if she wanted Toni to suffer. Wanted her to feel the pain."

"She's strong," Bucky told him. "Probably one of the strongest dames I've ever met. If anyone's capable of pulling through this, it'll be her. But that's not the part that concerns me."

"What does?" Steve asked him, brows furrowing.

"It took them years of conditioning to turn me into this," Bucky said, waving a hand over his body. "Years to get me to be complicit. To the point where there's a reason there aren't multiple Winter Soldiers running around, serum aside. Because gaining that level of complicity is difficult."

"But now they have someone on their side who can take over minds," Steve said, horror dawning upon him.

"And if she manages to take control over any of the Avengers?" Bucky asked him. "Then she has an entire army on her side of superpowered individuals. HYDRA has control over multiple enhanced. She's dangerous. Perhaps even more than her brother because of it. Today she gave Toni a vision. What happens tomorrow when you run into her? What will she do then?"

JARVIS alerted them then that Toni was heading up, and Bucky stood to leave.

"We need to contain her," Steve said, finishing their conversation. Bucky nodded, as he left the room then.

The elevator doors opened a few seconds later, and Toni came out of them. She looked worse for the wear, and his immediate concerns drew to her. "Sweetheart?"

He stood up as she walked over to him and he wrapped her in a hug.

"Did you find out anything?" he asked, curious to know the answer to that, but also if she'd decided to call it a night because she found something useful, or because Ava and Bruce had forced her to go to bed.

"There's some sort of intelligence in the scepter," she told him, "Beyond anything we've ever seen here on earth. And beyond anything I could even dream of making. But it's going to be a while before we can get anything discernable from it, so I've been sent to bed."

"Good," he said, kissing her forehead. "We have a long day tomorrow, especially given all the people you've invited over. And I know they're looking forward to seeing you. Harley's already called four times trying to figure out if he's allowed to bring any of his potato guns, his tasers, rocket launchers, and so on. And Peter is already trying to figure out if he and Harley can sneak off to the lab and conduct some experiments during the party. Then Mrs Rhodes wants to know if she can get into the kitchen beforehand to prep some food, despite Lieutenant Colonel Rhodes warning her that we're catering the event so no one has to do the cooking."

She laughed at that, and he smiled as the sounds filled his ears.

God, he loved this woman. He couldn't even begin to comprehend what his life would have been like without her.

He stroked her face tenderly and she wrapped her arms around his waist.

"Sounds like it's going to be an absolutely hectic day," she said, and Steve shook his head.

"You have no idea," he sighed. "It's going to be a long day."

"And yet all the people I love are going to be there with us," she said with a smile. "We've done good, Steve. You've done amazing. Since the fall of SHIELD, you've been out there constantly, trying to bring them down. And You've made amazing progress. It's time to celebrate that. And celebrate all that you've done."

He felt the weight of the ring in his pocket at that moment.

His mother's ring.

The one that she'd given to him on his deathbed. The one that he'd always intended to give to the woman he'd loved.

The one that had been with him when the Valkyrie went down, and one of the only things he still had from his life before the serum, and before the war.

The ring that he wanted to give to Toni, surrounded by her family; their family, and all their loved ones.

He stroked her face.

"Let's go to bed, Darling," he said and she let out a content sigh as she followed him. They would deal with everything else tomorrow. For now, they simply had each other, and that was enough.


A/N: So there already are some changes from the movies. I wanted to speed up the timeline, instead of having them work for three days straight, one because Steve never would have allowed her, given that her team knows about the visions Wanda gave her. I also wanted to explore the Wanda mind control angle more, given who Wanda currently is at this point in time, because Bucky certainly would have opinions on HYDRA mind control. Let me know what you guys think, and I'll see you next week!