Loud explosions and gunshots echoed through the snowy forest as the Avengers burst through the defenses facing them. Captain America rode his motorbike through various groups of men while the Black Widow drove Hawkeye through the forest with exceptional skill. Iron Man and Jess flew through the trees and helped take down more people as Thor swooped past and destroyed an armed guard tower, soon passing a vehicle to the Hulk as he raged through the snow. Tony made a signal at Jess then, flying up to the building they were heading towards while she stayed to help the others, only for his suit to bounce off a force field.
"Shit!"
"Language," the Captain complained. "Jarvis, what's the view from upstairs?"
"The central building is protected by some kind of energy shield," Jarvis replied, looking through a satellite that Tony, Jess, and S.H.I.E.L.D had gotten set up. "Strucker's technology is well beyond any other Hydra base we've taken."
"Loki's scepter must be here," Thor pressed over the comms as he fought a group of men. "Strucker couldn't mount this defense without it. At long last."
"Oh, it's definitely here," Jess said, landing beside him and throwing a man away who had attacked his back. "I can feel it. Is it weird that I can feel it?"
"You did say you spoke with it before," Natasha replied. "Maybe you just have a connection with it?"
"Like I'm not special enough," Jess complained, her blue suit glowing red when one of the soldiers tried to grab hold.
Needless to say, he screamed as his hands were burned before Jess threw him away like the others.
"When am I getting a cool superhero nickname?" She complained.
"When you earn it," the Captain sighed.
"Oh, right. Cause I haven't done enough for you already," she scoffed. "Duck!"
Thor ducked down and she shot a blast over his head at the man aiming a bazooka at them. Thor, of course, smiled.
"I appreciate all that you do for us, Miss Jess."
"I told you. Just Jess, thanks."
"Of course, just Jess."
Jess groaned, pointing an accusing finger at him. "We're definitely having a spar when we get back, so I can pound my name into that thick skull of yours."
"I look forward to another spar!" He beamed, jutting a fist out and slamming it into an approaching man's face.
"'At long last' is lasting a little long, boys," Natasha complained, in the midst of a fight herself.
"Yeah, I think we lost the element of surprise," Clint sighed, destroying a bunker with an explosive arrow.
"Wait a second," Tony said. "No one else is going to deal with the fact that Cap just said 'language?'"
"I know," the Captain drawled, flipping off his bike and throwing it at an oncoming vehicle. "Just slipped out."
"Sir, Miss. The city is taking fire," Jarvis chimed in then.
"Well, we know Strucker's not gonna worry about civilian casualties," Tony drawled. "Send in the Iron Legion."
"And do what I said, please," Jess called out. "Herding them isn't going to work. Not in this country. They're dealing with enough shit already—"
"Jess," the Captain chided, but she ignored him.
"—Use the protocols for war-torn areas. Protect. Don't shoo with words. Use actions. They'll respect us more if we're keeping their homes safe without the need to remove them."
"Enacting your protocols, Miss Norris."
Jess sighed. "Honestly, am I going to have to scold you for the 'Miss' thing too?"
"We have an enhanced in the field," the Captain said then, drawing everyone's attention the same moment Natasha spoke up as well.
"Clint's hit! Somebody want to deal with that bunker?"
"Hulk's got it!" Jess chimed in. "I'm heading your way now to try and evac him. How's the wound?"
"He was clipped in the side."
"I can cauterize it if he wants."
Clint groaned. "Fine, fine. Just do it."
"Be there in a second."
"Stark, we really need to get inside," the Captain called out.
"I'm closing in… Jarvis, am I closing in? Do you see a power source for that shield?"
"There's a particle-wave below the north tower."
"Great. I want to poke it with something." And with a tactically aimed missile from his suit, Tony brought down the shielding around the building. "Drawbridge is down, people."
"The enhanced?" Thor questioned the Captain as they met up.
"He's a blur. All the new players we've faced, I've never seen this. In fact, I still haven't."
"Guys, Clint's hit pretty bad," Jess chimed in through the comms, wincing when Clint grunted in pain at her heated hand on his side. "We're gonna need evac for him. I've cauterized it, but he needs medical."
"I can get Barton to the jet," Thor replied. "The sooner we're gone the better. You and Stark secure the scepter."
"Copy that," the Captain hummed as a tank rolled in.
"Looks like they're lining up."
"Well, they're excited," he smiled as he lifted his shield for Thor to hit, sending electricity at the tank and people lined up before them.
"Thor, I can get him to the jet if you want," Jess said then.
"No. We might need you here."
"Big shocker," she mused as the Captain chimed in as well.
"No, he's right. You need to get in with Stark. Watch his back and get what you two can. We've already encountered an enhanced on the field. There might be more."
"Enhanced?"
"Like you," Tony replied. "Superhuman."
"Oh, joy. More fire people?"
"Not quite," the Captain said. "The one we encountered was just a blur."
"Super speed then? Isn't that exciting. I'll leave Clint with Natasha then for you to pick up, Thor."
"Coming now. Find the scepter."
"And for gosh's sake, watch your language," Tony teased the Captain, who sighed.
"That's not going away any time soon."
Tony flew through one of the building's windows and was immediately shot at, making him sigh as well. "Guys, stop. We gotta talk this through." He stunned them with blunt missiles. "It was a good talk."
"No, it wasn't," a soldier complained.
"Well, you shot first," Jess hummed, flying in behind Tony. "Better hurry. If they're smart, they're trying to wipe the records."
"Right." Tony moved further in and stunned the scientist trying to do just that, stepping out of his suit with the command to run on sentry mode.
Jess raised a brow, lifting her faceplate, but not stepping out of her own suit. "I am right here."
"Which is where I want you to stay, with me." He smiled, and she rolled her eyes as he moved to a computer and plugged in a USB drive with Jarvis. "Okay, Jarvis. You know. I want it all. Make sure you copy Hill at HQ."
"They'll be hiding more files," Jess mused, looking around. "You want me to…"
"If you would. Call me over when you find them. I'm still a better hacker than you."
"No need to rub it in. Jarvis, scan the room please."
"The wall to your right. I'm reading steel reinforcement and air current."
"Ooh, never mind, Jess. I want that," Tony chirped, bounding over to the door and pressing his hands to the stones. "Please be a secret door. Please be a secret door. Please be a secret door. Yay."
The stone gave way and Jess scoffed. "You're such a child."
"Secret basement? What's not to love?"
"We have a second enhanced, female. Do not engage," came the Captain's warning through the comms and Jess hummed.
"Good to know. Wish he gave more details though."
"Guys, I've got Strucker."
"Yeah, we got something bigger," Tony muttered as we stepped out into the lab and looked up at the large whale-like alien creature from New York's wormhole event.
Jess cursed. "Shit. I knew… God, I knew working with them through my business wouldn't be smart. Remind me to cut off all ties with any government agency unless I have a person I trust within them."
"I could have told you that from the start. I think Fury's your best option, though look where that's gotten us. And watch your language or the Captain's going to get all upset."
"I can hear you, you know."
"Exactly."
Tony moved further into the base as Jess eyed the equipment around them.
"Tony, I don't like this. This is a lot of tech. Dangerous tech."
Tony was only partially listening as he stepped up to Loki's scepter, informing Thor he'd found it. Neither of them seeing the woman who followed just behind him. She slipped him into a nightmare of his own making, a plan of action settled in her mind before sneaking away. She started to come up behind Jess, only for the woman to stiffen and whip around. It was only the quick thinking of her other twin that saved her from being spotted. Said blonde made a move to interfere, but she stopped him.
"We're just gonna let them take it?"
She just smiled though, allowing Tony to summon a part of his suit and grab Loki's scepter now that he was out of his nightmare. When her gaze shifted to Jess though, the smile fell. Surely, the woman hadn't known she was there. It wasn't possible. So, how was it that at just the right moment, Jess had turned around? Something about the woman unnerved her, and she didn't plan on sticking around to find out what.
Tony flew the jet as the others made sure Clint was stable and I yawned in my seat over by where Bruce was listening to opera music in order to remain calm after being the Hulk for a while. Natasha headed over soon enough though, and she sat across from us, making Bruce remove his headphones.
"Hey, the lullaby worked better than ever," she complimented him.
"Just wasn't expecting a Code Green," Bruce muttered.
"If you hadn't been there, there would have been double the casualties. My best friend would have been a treasured memory."
"You know, sometimes exactly what I want to hear isn't exactly what I want to hear."
"How long before you trust me?"
"Bit of a loaded question, don't you think?" I mused, peering open a tired eye to glance between the two. "He'll trust you when he gets around to it. Pushing him won't help that process."
"It's… It's not you I don't trust," Bruce muttered, though he gave me an appreciative glance.
"Thor, report on the Hulk," Natasha chimed, making the demi-God look to us with a grin.
"The gates of Hell are filled with the screams of his victims."
"Oh, how positive," I scoffed, making him try to make his statement better when we all shot him reproachful looks.
"But not the screams of the dead, of course. No, no. Wounded screams. Mainly whimpering, a great deal of complaining, and tales of sprained deltoids and gout."
"Nice save," I muttered with a roll of my eyes. "Don't worry so much, Bruce. People are going to get hurt no matter what. As heroes, they try to restrain themselves, but they can't save everyone. Innocent, bad guy, whoever. Thor might hit someone too hard and cause a brain aneurism. Clint might accidentally nick an artery. Even the Captain could end up causing someone to be paralyzed for the rest of their lives."
"Now who's being negative," Natasha scoffed, and I waved her off.
"All I'm saying is that everyone here is going to hurt someone in a way we don't want. The fact that you are able to recognize that and still feel bad about every injury? Every scratch and wound and death? That just means you're human. More human than those who turn a blind eye to the pain that they cause. No offense, guys." I offered. "But it's because of you feeling things like that—me feeling things like that, that I came up with this stupid sounding insurance business. Not to make money, but to ensure that the people out there can see that we are trying to help. We care about all those people who end up getting hurt in the process of our saving the world. Does that make sense? I'm not really good at these speeches."
"You did fine, Jess," Tony hummed from the front seat. "And Banner? Dr. Cho is on her way in from Seoul. Is it okay if she sets up in your lab?"
"Uh, yeah. She knows her way around."
"Thanks," Tony replied, giving Jarvis some instructions before stepping out of the driver's seat to move over towards the scepter, giving my shoulder a squeeze when he passed. "Feels good, yeah? I mean, you've been after this thing since S.H.I.E.L.D. collapsed," he said to Thor. "Not that I haven't enjoyed our little raiding parties, but…"
"No, but this… This brings it to a close."
"As soon as we find out what else this has been used for," the Captain argued. "I don't just mean weapons."
"You mean those enhanced we encountered," I supplied. "You think they were made with this."
"There's no way Strucker was capable of human enhancement before this was in his hands."
"Banner, Jess and I will give it a once over before it goes back to Asgard," Tony offered, and I rolled my eyes.
"He means Bruce and him. I'm no good with all this science chemical analysis stuff."
"But your opinion is always helpful," Tony countered. "Is that cool with you, Thor?"
The demi-God nodded as I muttered about Tony being a suck-up.
"Just a few days till the farewell party. You're staying, right?"
"Yes, yes, of course. A victory should be honored with revels," Thor agreed.
"Yeah, who doesn't love revels? Captain?" Tony hummed, looking over at said hero.
"Hopefully this puts an end to the Chitauri and Hydra," he muttered. "So, yes. Revels."
"I still think it's risky," I countered, drawing their gazes towards me. "Mind you, the staff and I have our issues anyway."
"Yeah, you've mentioned it doesn't like you," Tony agreed, remembering what I'd told him about my encounters of the staff and the cube from before.
"Still, my feelings about that aside, keeping it on Earth for any longer than necessary is a very big risk. We don't know about those enhanced we encountered in the field and what they think about us having this. Keeping it seems to be asking for it to be taken again, even with all of us guarding it. That one enhanced was speedy. Could be easy for them to find our building—what with the giant 'A' on the side and the entire world knowing who we are—"
"I thought you liked the layout," Tony complained.
"But not the publicity," I reminded him. "I'm just saying that this doesn't seem like the safest thing to do. I'd rather it get sent back to where it came from as soon as possible; our studies or not."
Thor eyed me with furrowed brows. "Does your connection with it bother you that much, Miss Jess?"
"I said connection aside, but yes, it bothers me," I muttered, shifting my gaze to the scepter. "More so than before. It's like… it's like it's watching me, judging me almost. Not that it's sentient, but the cube was, so maybe." I shook my head. "Look. I'm just saying that there's something off about it that I don't care for and whoever is still around and knows about the scepter—enhanced or not—will be coming for it. I'd rather we didn't give them the chance."
"We'll be quick," Tony offered and seeing as I was the only one this unnerved by it, I just nodded and went quiet for the rest of the trip back.
I knew it was a lie. If I knew anything from being around Tony and Bruce, it was that—as scientists—they don't like leaving anything unanswered. And the entire scepter was something loaded with questions. Quick as they'd like to be, they'd keep the scepter around forever if they could.
"Lab's all set up, boss," Maria Hill announced, looking to Tony, but giving Jess a brief glance.
It was rather obvious to her who made the big decisions in their relationship, and Jess could get Tony to do quite a bit. If the two themselves noticed that, they kept it to themselves, and Tony turned around in his chair and pointed to the Captain nearby.
"Oh, actually, he's the boss. I just pay for everything and design everything and make everyone look cooler, with Jess, of course."
Jess waved him off, getting up from her seat as she passed a hand through her hair. "What do you have, Maria?"
Maria cracked a small smile, seeing once again that she was right in assuming Jess was more in charge than anyone, showing her the tablet.
"Strucker is in NATO's custody and the two enhanced you had me look up are Wanda and Pietro Maximoff. Twins," she explained as the Captain stepped over to join them, accepting the tablet from her. "Orphaned at ten when a shell collapsed their apartment building."
"Who made the shell?" Jess asked as the Captain played the video of the twins during a riot.
"You're not going to like it."
Jess gave her a look that said she didn't care, and Maria gave in.
"Stark Industries."
"Great," Jess grumbled. "Tony, if they show up, you better have a plan. You'll be targeted first."
"Exciting," he chirped back, earning a roll of the eyes as Maria continued.
"Sokovia's had a rough history. It's nowhere special, but it's on the way to everywhere special."
"Their abilities?" The Captain questioned as they headed further into the building and Jess yawned.
She hadn't been getting much sleep lately and the others were beginning to notice.
"He's got increased metabolism and improved thermal homeostasis. Her thing is neuroelectric interfacing, telekinesis, mental manipulation."
The Captain gave her a look that said he had no idea what she meant, and she sighed.
"He's fast and she's weird."
"Rude," Jess commented, calling the elevator. "He's fast, as we already know, and quick to recover. She can lift objects with her mind, read and manipulate minds. So, we've got a speedster who hits hard, and a telepathic woman who can throw things and be potentially stealthy as hell depending on the distance needed to affect our minds."
"Well, they're gonna show up again," the Captain confirmed, and Jess sighed.
"I'll look into altering our security with them in mind. Infrared cameras with slow-mode and speedometers, motion sensor alarms, and whatever else I can think of."
"Agreed," Maria nodded as they stepped into the elevator and Jess tapped at her watch to make notes to Jarvis about the updated security changes. "File says they volunteered for Strucker's experiments. It's nuts."
"Right. What kind of monster would let a German scientist experiment on them to protect their country?" The Captain mused with a hint of bitterness.
"We're not at war, Captain."
"They are."
Jess rolled her eyes, equally unamused. "Get superpowers to get revenge when you have nothing else left? Oh, yeah. Crazy," she said sarcastically as the doors closed.
The Captain gave her a small look. "Why are you heading upstairs? I thought you'd be down in the lab with the others."
"I'm hungry," she shrugged. "I'm sure they are—or will be—too. You want anything?"
"No. I'm fine."
She stared at him for a while and he begrudgingly sighed, knowing she wouldn't let up.
"Fine. I'll take a sandwich."
"Ham, cheese, lettuce, mayo, no tomatoes. Right," she replied, surprising him.
"You remembered that?"
"That's the thing about having Tony as your boyfriend. He's so finicky about the foods he likes and doesn't. Keep you on your toes. I've learned to compartmentalize things, organize my thoughts, retain a lot of little information. It got me through law school, so even though I'm out of that, I've retained the ability to remember the minor details like superhero food preferences."
He eyed her a moment. "You're too good for him."
Surprisingly, she scoffed. "Please. It's the other way around, honestly. If anyone's too good for someone, he's too good for me. I've told you before, Steve, he really is a good guy despite how he acts at times. As much as I put up with his little nuances like pickiness of food or the late nights and odd tinkering, he puts up with mine."
"Like the nightmares."
Jess went quiet and Steve let out a soft sigh.
"Sorry," he murmured. "I didn't mean to point it out, it's just… We've all kind of noticed how tired you've been. I could only assume—"
"It's fine," she waved off with the slightest smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "You're right. I haven't been sleeping well. Tony's been trying to help, but… it's that stupid scepter."
"The scepter?"
"Ever since we started going after Hydra in search of it, the nightmares have started up."
"I thought it'd be because of New York."
"Every once in a while, sure, but Tony and I have mostly dealt with those. These ones are… different."
Steve frowned as the lift chimed, signaling they'd reached their stop. "Different how?"
Jess hesitated and Steve couldn't help but feel worried about the action, and the troubled look on her face. As someone who's somehow managed to take this whole superhero thing in stride as a civilian, he'd not once seen her openly displaying her worried feelings like this. This wasn't like in the ship where she mentioned being concerned about having the scepter around. This was something else. Something deeper. Like she's afraid of something.
"Jess?"
"Sorry. It's nothing. Forget I said anything," she waved off, making to step out, but he grabbed her arm.
"Jess, you can tell me. Tell Tony. If something is bothering you—"
"I want to try and make sense of it first," she cut him off, giving him a look before eyeing his hand on her wrist. "Now, please let me go."
He slowly did, remembering now that she had problems with people grabbing at her wrists and muttering a small apology, especially when he spotted her hand shaking slightly afterward. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean…"
She brushed off his apology easily, not too bothered thankfully, or Tony would have his head. "Just… let me think about them for a bit. Make sure I understand what's going on and then… then, maybe I'll say something. I just… It's bad enough I've got these whole fire abilities now. I'd rather not think that…"
"That you're becoming less human," he concluded, knowing the feeling himself. "Jess, have you spoken to Tony about—"
"No," she said shortly, stepping fully out of the lift so it could take him where he needed to go. "I just… need to figure things out myself for a bit."
"Jess, I—"
The lift doors started to close, and Jess gave him a small smile.
"I'll be fine, Steve."
And once the doors shut fully, he let out a heavy sigh and rubbed the back of his neck.
"That's what I'm worried about."
Tony stepped into the lab with Bruce, giving a quick look back to make sure Jess hadn't noticed.
"What's the rumpus?"
"Hold on. First… Jarvis? Update on Jess?"
"Asleep, sir. Though I suspect not for long. Her sleeping patterns have been rather irregular lately."
"I'll check up on her later. Now, the scepter. You see," he said to Bruce, "we were wondering how Strucker got so inventive. So, I've been analyzing the gem inside—you may recognize…"
A gold, swirling hologram appeared around Bruce and he stepped out of it.
"Jarvis?"
"Doctor."
"Started out, Jarvis was just a natural language UI," Tony continued, hoping to get through this before Jess woke up and interrupted. "Now, he runs the Iron Legion. He runs more of the business than anyone besides Pepper and Jess."
"Oh."
"Top of the line."
"Yes?"
"I suspect not for long," Jarvis added.
"Meet the competition," Tony hummed, adding another hologram.
This one was a swirling blue mass, not quite as neatly organized as Jarvis, but easily catching Bruce's attention.
"It's beautiful."
"If you had to guess, what's it look like it's doing?"
"Like it's thinking. I mean, this could be…" Bruce circled the blue blur. "It's not a human mind. I mean, look at this. They're like neurons firing."
"Down in Strucker's lab, I saw some fairly advanced robotics work. They deep-sized the data, but I gotta guess he was knocking on a very particular door."
"Artificial intelligence," Bruce concluded.
"This could be it, Bruce. This could be the key to creating Ultron."
They chuckled.
"I thought Ultron was a fantasy."
"Yesterday it was. If we can harness this power, apply it to my Iron Legion protocol?"
"That's a man-sized 'if.'"
"Our job is 'if,'" Tony argued. "What if you were sipping margaritas on a sun-drenched beach, turning brown instead of green? Not looking over your shoulder for Veronica."
"Don't hate. I helped design Veronica."
"As a worst-case measure, right?" Tony pressed, trying to get him to see. "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?"
"The only people threatening the planet would be people."
"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. That's three days. Give me three days."
"So, you're going for artificial intelligence, and you don't want to tell the team?"
"Right. That's right. You know why?" Tony eyed him seriously. "Because we don't have time for a City Hall debate. I don't want to hear 'the man was not meant to meddle' medley. I see a suit of armor around the world."
Bruce still wasn't quite convinced. "Sounds like a cold world, Tony."
"I've seen colder. This one, this very vulnerable blue one? It needs Ultron." He stepped a bit away. "Peace in our time. Imagine that."
"That's why you made sure Jess wasn't around. You haven't told her," Bruce realized, making Tony run a hand through his hair.
"I was going to."
"Then, why haven't you? Her insight on something this involved with peacekeeping would be…" Bruce's eyes widened. "Oh. Oh, you think she'll oppose it."
"She has a very… pessimistic view on the universe," Tony tried to explain. "I've discussed it without leading up to what I was ultimately thinking of, but she didn't sound thrilled."
"You mean, she had logical arguments that you couldn't refuse."
Tony rolled his eyes. "Doesn't she always? Look. I basically asked her what she would think of AI systems being in charge of things, and I asked if she wanted world peace."
"And her response?"
"I do believe she said, 'world peace would be great, but it's ultimately unrealistic.'"
Bruce chuckled, taking a seat as Tony leaned against a table with folded arms. "Sounds like her."
"But I didn't mention world peace from aliens," Tony argued.
"Okay, then what did she say about the AIs?"
Tony hesitated, looking away with a childish pout. "She doesn't believe in self-functioning intelligence systems."
"Really? She just… threw out the idea?"
"Not in so many words, but the implication was there," Tony grumbled. "She's convinced that even AI systems need a human there to monitor them. I believe she compared them to child geniuses. Said they could know everything there is to know about their job, facts, etcetera, but they still need someone to show them more complex thoughts and situations. A parent to teach them right and wrong. How to act when there are outliers that don't fit into the system. She even mentioned that, uh," Tony snapped his fingers a few times. "What's that test thing with people tied to train tracks?"
Bruce raised a brow. "The Trolley Problem?"
"Yeah! That's it. She's convinced there's room for error. Enough error that she wouldn't support this. I'm asking to build a legion of robotic AIs to protect the world and keep the peace so we wouldn't have to. She probably sees it as, as an army of robots who think they know better than everyone else and will act on their own."
Bruce eyed him silently for a moment. "So, you're not telling her because she's right?"
"She… She's not right, she just has a valid argument. But the percentage of that happening with our intervention is way low."
Bruce shot him a small, teasing smile. "You know you asked for this by getting with a lawyer, right?"
"I always did like a challenge."
"Right."