"Right, well, nice talk… Really," Jess muttered, stepping back some more and pushing Bruce behind her. "We were just leaving."
Vision sighed. "I'm not going to harm you, Miss Jess."
"Right, because I'm supposed to believe that coming from someone who—as far as I know—has hated me since we met? At least Ultron was polite enough to admit he hated me."
Vision eyed her injured arm and the bruising around her neck, eyes meeting her cautious, vibrant blue ones. "I do not hate you. The Mind Stone simply denies your existence and hates the idea of you."
"How comforting," Jess scoffed. "Look. I'm assuming you're a decent person since Bruce here hasn't tried to smash you yet, but I'm a bit busy. You know, the whole Ultron trying to destroy the world? So, I don't really have the time to deal with someone who hates me—Oh, sorry. I mean hates the idea of me."
Vision sighed in exasperation. "I am simply here because Tony wished for me to ensure your safety."
Jess grit her teeth. "I swear to God if he's trying to smother me again, I'll—"
"You are in no condition to fight," Vision pressed.
"And you're all going to figure out sooner or later that there are other ways to fight than just beating people to a pulp. Do you have comms at least?"
"I have the Mind Stone, which is connected—"
"That's a 'no,' smart guy. I need comms."
"What are you going to do?" Bruce questioned.
Jess pushed past Vision, back tense and resisting a shiver at being so close to him. "Use my head. Something all of you should try at least once in your life. Ultron is still just an AI."
"With a legion of robots," Bruce muttered.
"Yes, which is what I'm hoping to deal with, if I could just get my hands on a set of comms."
Vision floated back in front of her. "What do you hope to achieve?"
She ran her eyes up and down him once, before brushing past him again. "He's using a network to control the bots. If I can hack into that, spread a virus that will short-circuit them, overload them, or something, then that's one less thing we have to worry about. It will give the rest of you a chance to focus on the evacuation and dealing with Ultron himself."
She found a computer console and tried to get it working, clicking her tongue in annoyance when it refused to power up and moving on.
"Sorry, you want to hack Ultron?" Bruce questioned. "What makes you think you can do that? He'll notice the moment you try. Shut you out."
"I know Tony's systems inside and out. He made sure of that the moment I wanted to help him with his business and his suits. Ultron isn't able to hack his suit because of a code he ensued was in it and the War Machine, but it's more basic than that. Tony and Rhodes' suits are ran by people, assisted by AIs. The Iron Legion was strictly made for AI compatibility. That's why Ultron was able to control them so easily. If I can get into the network he's using and shut it down, I should be able to take out the bots," she explained, wincing when she faltered on a step and Vision grabbed her good arm to steady her.
"He's not using the internet to control them," Vision informed her as she pulled out of his grip. "As it is, I plan on erasing his presence from the internet to prevent his escape. He uses an isolated system to control the Legion."
Jess's brows furrowed for a moment as she considered this. "Then, if I give you a virus, a code, could you place it in his system somewhere? Ultron is ultimately the one thing connecting all the bots. If I can get to him, get through his own outer security when you go to erase his presence in the internet, then I should be able to work on his control of the bots."
"It might work," Bruce mused. "But why do you need comms to do that?"
Jess gave him a look. "I need comms because Ultron is planning something much bigger than just his bots. He's going to crash a meteor into the Earth."
"A what!"
Jess ignored him, eyeing Vision. "How far out is the evacuation perimeter? Does it reach past all of Slorenia?"
Vision shook his head. "Just inside the outer edge of the city. From the church outward."
"That's not far enough. They need to be completely out of the city. Even further, if possible," Jess bit out with a curse. "Shit. How far is the Quinjet?"
"Maybe five minutes' walk."
"Not enough time. Ah! A working computer!" Jess hurried over, typing as fast as she could and grimacing—using the fingers of her injured arm too. "It's already mostly set up. Making a virus using this technology should be easy. Give me a moment, then I just need to find a way to give it to you—"
"I can redirect it directly from the computer," Vision said, glancing upward. "But you need to hurry."
"Going as fast as I can, but it's not exactly easy when there's a bone sticking out of my arm."
Bruce's eyes widened. "You have an open arm fracture? Jess, you could get an infection without immediate—"
"No, offense, Bruce, but I'm not going to get immediate medical attention in this situation. I did what I could the moment it happened, and that's as good as it'll get until we do something. Now do me a favor and tell me why you hate the other guy so much."
"Jess, what does that have to do with—"
"Just answer the question before I—Ah! Done!"
Vision closed his eyes, placing a hand on the computer before nodding. "I have it. I trust you'll be able to deal with the Legion if I transfer this directly into Ultron?"
"I'll need to get my computer from the Quinjet, but yes. Until he notices I'm in, I'll be able to do some damage. And, if I'm lucky and he fails to notice me for long enough, I'll be able to shut them down." She glanced at Vision, eyes narrowed. "I still don't trust you though."
"And you have every right not to," he replied. "Though I do hope we will speak again and come to a better understanding of one another. Perhaps when the situation is less dire."
"I'll think about it," she grumbled before waving him off. "Now, go. We've got people to help save."
He hurried off and Jess looked to Bruce, cradling her arm to her chest once more.
"You going to answer the question, or not?"
"Jess, I-I don't hate him."
"Don't you? He seems to think so. The only reason he lashes out, you know, is because he's afraid of you," she explained as they started to leave once more.
"Me? He's afraid of me?" Bruce laughed. "You are kidding, right?"
"If Tony put you in a box, and the only way you were let out of the box was when he needed you to do something for him, you would do it, right?"
"Well—"
"Now, say the first time you were let out of the box, you got a bit carried away and made a mistake—one you didn't know would upset Tony. Now, Tony keeps you in the box, is scared to let you out. Refuses to let you out unless he has no choice and someone else lets you out instead. Wouldn't you start to be afraid of him? When you get let out again, wouldn't you be scared he'll force you to go back into that box?"
"Jess, he's killed people."
"We've all killed people," Jess argued, shooting him a glare. "Natasha was forced to kill people her whole life. Steve was a soldier who killed people for his country. Tony was a weapon's manufacturer. Clint's a government agent who was picked for his skills in killing people. Hell, Thor's probably killed people, but I don't know him that well. Even I—" Jess grit her teeth, looking away for a moment before facing him with a cold expression Bruce never expected from her. "I killed my own father. If you can condemn him for making one mistake, for being scared and lashing out in self-defense—in defense of you—then you'll have to condemn all of us too."
Bruce was quiet, struggling to think over what Jess was telling him.
"You need to forgive him, Bruce," she muttered. "And forgive me for this."
"Wha—" Bruce's eyes went wide when Jess shoved him back into a large hole, only for the Hulk to jump back up with a roar.
"Hey, big guy. Sorry about the whole… pushing Bruce off."
The Hulk scoffed, cracking a smirk.
"Yeah, so think you can give me a lift?"
"Do you see the beauty of it?" Ultron asked as the ground cracked and split, lifting the city of Slorenia, Sokovia up into the air. "The inevitability. You rise, only to fall. You, Avengers. You are my meteor—my swift and terrible sword—and the earth will crack with the weight of your failure. Purge me from your computers, turn my own flesh against me. It means nothing. When the dust settles, the only thing living in this world will be metal."
The Hulk threw himself up and onto the falling boulders, lifting him and his passenger back up onto the flying city. He landed haphazardly and Jess cursed, getting thrown off his back and into the dirt. It took her a moment to get up, pain making her vision swirl dangerously as the Hulk stood over her in uncertainty.
"J-Just give me a second," she breathed out, making sure the computer in her arms was unharmed and then cringing at the sight of the blood that soaked her make-shift splint. "Y-You know what? Just go. Go save people. I-I'll figure it out."
The Hulk hesitated, but soon grunted and rushed through the forest they'd landed in as Jess let out a heavy breath.
"Church… Right. Got to get to the church. Closer I am, better shot I have."
Meanwhile, Tony hovered uncertainly as he watched the city rise into the sky.
"The vibranium core's got a magnetic feed," his new AI Friday informed him. "That's what's keeping the rock together."
"If it drops?" He asked.
"Right now, the impact would kill thousands. Once it gets high enough? Global extinction."
"Well, that's not good. Can you locate Jess? Is she safe?"
"I am unable to locate Jess without a visual. She is not wearing her watch or her suit, which has been offline since she was taken."
Tony cursed under his breath, just as he flew towards a collapsing building on the edge of the flying city.
"That building's not clear. The 10th floor."
While he went to save the huddled family from the building, Steve was thrown off his feet and began to get everyone back on track.
"Stark, you worry about bringing the city back down safely. The rest of us have one job, tear these things apart. You get hurt, hurt them back. You get killed… walk it off."
"Well, aren't you Mr. Cheerful today."
"Jess?"
"Alive and well, though my arm could be better."
Tony rolled his eyes. "Jess, you were supposed to get back to the ship with Bruce."
"Or, I could work on helping you guys out, seeing as you've only just realized that Ultron was planning to use the city as a make-shift meteor. Would have told you earlier, but somebody decided that giving Bruce a comm wouldn't be useful."
"His priority was getting you out of there and safe. You can't fight in your condition," Steve replied, knocking a bot with his shield.
"I swear if someone says that to me again, you're all going to regret it. I might go on vacation. And then what? Nobody around to babysit you. You'll probably start a fight, and everyone will head underground."
"Jess just get back to the ship," Tony pressed.
"I was just at the ship, thanks, and I found something I can still do to help without having to physically fight. How isolated are these comms?"
"Ultron can't hear, if that's what you're asking," Tony replied. "You have a plan?"
"I think I know enough about your systems and computers that I should be able to get a virus around to the Legion bots. Vision helped me out by placing the starting virus inside Ultron. Now, I just have to stealthily work it through to whatever network he's using on the bots. I should be able to shut them down, but it'll take time."
"You're a genius," Tony smiled.
"Would be useless without all those stupid computer coding classes you made me take. Now, there's just a few problems."
"You mean other than the robots trying to kill everyone and the city flying in the sky?" Clint said sarcastically.
"I can't think of any way to help with the city. Shutting it down no matter how high it is will cause casualties. Only way to minimize that is blowing it up."
"Not helpful," Steve muttered.
"Like I said, I've got nothing on that aspect. I… have a way to help get the people off, but I've been informed that it may take a while. We need to hold out until then and get as many people towards the edges of the city as possible. I've also got blueprints on the bots."
"Any weak points?" Tony asked, hopeful that she'd found something.
"Not really. Same as with most bots. Aim for the joints. The head and chest have main components that will ensure they're down for good. Any wiring cut will either stop lubricant flow or power to whatever it's connected to. Basically, just power through them. There's not much, to be honest. Whoa!"
"Jess? Jess!" Tony called out, worry filling him because she was helpless out there.
No suit, a broken arm and who knows what else Ultron may have done.
"I'm fine! Thank God I haven't taken suppressants in a while."
He let out a sigh of relief, having forgotten about her most recently gained fire abilities. "Jess, you should still get somewhere safe."
"Yeah, well… The thing is, I kind of need to get as close to Ultron as possible to get the best possible connection to his Legion network."
"Oh, no. You're not. Please tell me, you're not."
"Well, sorry to say it, but I am heading for the building across from the church. Nobody knows I'm around, which is the plus to not having my suit right now. And the bot I just dealt with was melted before it knew who attacked it."
"All right, we're all clear here," Clint chimed in—him and Wanda having defeated all the bots in their section of town.
"We are not clear here!" Steve said, throwing his shield into one of more than two dozen bots in his section. "We are very not clear!"
"All right. Coming to you."
"Uh, I think Thor just got thrown into the church by Ultron," Jess muttered over the comms.
"He'll be fine. Vision is still there," Tony replied, finally getting a lock on where Jess was after changing Friday's search for high-temperature living cells. She's not far. "Just stay out of their way."
"Oh, trust me. I plan on it."
"Jess, how long until you've got something with these Legion bots?" Steve asked, throwing his shield to Natasha to help her out before taking it back and destroying the bot hassling them.
"Uh, not sure. Thing is, I could take out some right now, but it'll alert Ultron what I'm up to. I was hoping to get the maximum number of bots before I give myself away. He'll be able to backtrack me the moment I do it, so it'd be nice to actually not be a sitting broken-armed duck when I get around to it."
"Is there anything you can do about the evac?"
"They should be close."
"What have you got, Stark?" Steve questioned, hoping to have better information from his end as far as stopping the city from wiping out the Earth.
"Huh? Nothing great," Tony murmured, looking at the one option he had and not being thrilled. "Just what Jess mentioned. I've got a way to blow up the city. That'll keep it from impacting the surface if you guys can get clear."
"I asked for a solution, not an escape plan," Steve snapped, hoping for anything better.
"Impact radius is getting bigger every second. We're gonna have to make a choice."
"He's right. Everything I'm seeing is a bust. Ultron planned this out well. Can't reverse the thrusters or anything. Try, and it'll send it down even faster."
"Cap, these people are going nowhere," Natasha pressed, stepping up beside Steve. "If Stark finds a way to blow this rock—"
"Not till everyone's safe."
"Everyone up here versus everyone down there? There's no math there."
"I'm not leaving this rock with one civilian on it."
"I didn't say we should leave," Natasha informed him, making him glance at her. "There's worse ways to go. Where else am I gonna get a view like this?"
"Glad you like the view, Romanoff," A familiar voice chimed in through their comms. "It's about to get better."
"About time you got here, Fury," Jess huffed. "I almost thought you weren't gonna show."
"Oh, ye of little faith."
"Don't start with me, Fury. I gave you access to these comms, I can just as easily take it away and flood your ship with 'Baby Shark' on repeat instead."
"I'd rather you didn't. Nice though, right? Pulled her out of mothballs with a couple of old friends. She's dusty, but she'll do."
"Fury, you son of a bitch," Steve grinned.
"Ooh, you kiss your mother with that mouth?" Fury teased as lifeboats were deployed and Pietro stared in amazement.
"This is S.H.I.E.L.D.?"
"This is what S.H.I.E.L.D. is supposed to be," Steve corrected, and Pietro let out a small chuckle.
"This is not so bad."
The group got to loading the lifeboats while Rhodes and Tony dealt with the Legion bots attempting to stop them.
"Jess, can you make it to a lifeboat?" Tony asked.
"Sorry, but I'm still working on the bots. I need a bit more time. I'm just outside of the church now. Thor and Vision are dealing with Ultron, so I'm going unnoticed, so one of them can get me out when things get to that point."
"I'll get you out if needed," Tony pressed, not happy to have her out in the middle of it and too far from an escape route, but knowing at this point, there was no changing her mind. "We're having a talk about this later."
"Get in line. I think Bruce will want to be first. I pushed him off a cliff to get the Hulk out. He's got priority. Do you have a plan on blowing up the city?"
"Create a heat seal. I can supercharge the spire from below. Thor, you listening?"
"We're out of time," Thor replied. "They're coming for the core."
Tony resisted a curse. "Rhodey, get the rest of the people on board that carrier. Avengers, time to work for a living."
The Avengers all began to convene on the church, taking out Legion bots as they went.
"Romanoff, you and Banner better not be playing 'hide the zucchini,'" Tony chimed in, landing in the church as well and not seeing them.
"Relax, shellhead. Not all of us can fly," Natasha scoffed over the comms, currently making her way over in a snowplow dump truck.
"Jess? Where you at?"
"Sorry!" Jess panted out, coming around a pillar and leaning heavily on it. "I-I've only got one hand and was kind of in the middle of something."
"You look like shit," Tony remarked as she made her way into the center of the group, opening her laptop again and sitting on the floor. "How's the arm?"
"Our big robot friend broke it again," she explained, eyes whipping across computer code in front of her. "Open arm fracture. I covered it up as soon as I could and splinted it, but it's been bleeding for a bit. Riding the Hulk up here didn't help that and I don't want to heal it improperly so no cool lava tricks unless it gets chopped off."
"Jesus Christ, Jess," Natasha huffed, having finally made it. "So, what's the drill?"
"This is the drill," Tony remarked, gesturing to the core in the center. "If Ultron gets a hand on the core, we lose. Jess how are you holding up. Nearly done?"
"I'm trying." She glanced up at him. "Should I find a different place? I feel a bit pathetic sitting here while you're all going to be fighting."
Even Thor shook his head at that. "You are also fighting and being near the core means protecting you as well."
Steve agreed. "He's right. If you leave to another building, there's no way to make sure you'll be safe. We need you to finish that code."
"All right," she replied, rolling her neck a bit. "I'll only need a few more minutes."
"Easy enough," Tony hummed as Ultron drifted down and Thor held out his arms.
"Is that the best you can do!" He bellowed and Ultron called all the remaining bots.
"You had to ask," Steve grumbled.
"Yeah, we're really going to need that code now, Jess," Tony murmured.
"I'm trying," she pressed, brows furrowed in concentration. "Have to not get caught too, you know."
"This is the best I can do," Ultron said, holding out his arms in a display of his grand Legion. "This is exactly what I wanted. All of you against all of me. How can you possibly hope to stop me?"
"Well, like the old man said… together," Tony replied and as the Hulk roared, the Legion attacked.
Tony, Thor, and Vision flew around, taking out as many as they could while the Hulk plowed through multiple at a time, tearing them apart. Ultron brought a hand to his head then as many of the bots fell over—lights going out.
"Yes, yes!" Jess grinned, typing away as quickly as her digits would allow.
"You," Ultron bit out, throwing himself into the fray and directly at Jess.
His hand easily crushed her computer and just as she'd looked up in shock, his other hand swung around only for it to fall short as Vision slammed into his side.
"Jess!" Tony called out, rushing to her as she breathed heavily and grimaced at the long, bleeding marks that now ran across her chest and abdomen.
"I-I'm fine," she bit out, pushing him away. "They're not that deep. Keep fighting."
"No. I'm getting you out of here right—" Tony was cut off as she suddenly stood, placing a fiery red hand onto a bot that had been aiming for his back.
Said bot wailed as its head melted and it fell to the floor, and Jess shot him a look.
"I said, I'm fine."
"I, uh, still don't believe that, but I suppose you won't give me a choice."
She cracked a small smile. "Not on your life." She looked out at the others. "Sorry I couldn't take them all out. He locked me out partway through."
"You took out almost half of them," Steve said, grunting as he swung his shield around to destroy another. "Better than I could have hoped for."
Ultron was then thrust out of the building by the Mind Stone and Thor and Tony teamed up to stop him even further. With all three of them, Ultron was brought to his knees and he grunted as he stood.
"You know, with the benefit of hindsight—" His thought wasn't finished before the Hulk charged forward and knocked him out of the park.
He turned to the other bots standing about and they hastily retreated.
"They'll try to leave the city," Thor declared.
"We can't let them, not even one. Rhodey," Tony called out and between him and Vision, the spares were destroyed.
"We've got to move out," Steve commanded then. "Even I can tell the air's getting thin. You guys get to the boats. I'll sweep for stragglers. I'll be right behind you."
"What about the core?" Clint asked.
"I'll protect it," Wanda declared. "It's my job."
Clint nodded, looking to Natasha as she wrapped an arm around Jess's waist. "Nat, this way."
He helped them into a car he'd gotten working and gave Jess a look from the rear-view mirror.
"How are you holding up?"
"N-Not the first time I've had a broken arm," Jess cracked out with a grimace. "T-Though I could do without the lightheadedness."
"You've lost too much blood," Natasha confirmed, before eyeing the wounds on her chest. "Did you cauterize those?"
Jess managed a smirk, though with how pale she was and the sweat sliding down her face, it was a poor shot at confidence. "B-Better than losing more blood."
"You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were a glutton for pain," Clint commented, shooting her a look. "Getting hurt, hooking up with Tony—"
"Oh, not this again," Jess grumbled. "I know he can be a dick sometimes—"
"Sometimes?"
"He's not a bad guy, you know, and I'm not a child. I can hook up with whomever I want, okay? If he was honestly a piece of shit, I wouldn't be around. Then, what would you do, hm? Could you all deal with Tony without me?"
"She has a point," Natasha commented with a smile, not minding the easy-going banter in a rough situation like this.
It was honestly Jess and Tony's calling card. They both tended to joke and make sarcastic comments when things get heated. It was how they coped, and how they helped others cope.
"I know what I need to do," Clint suddenly announced. "The dining room."
Natasha and Jess both shot him a look.
"If I knock out that east wall, it'd make a nice workspace for Laura, huh?"
"Or, you could save her the trouble of looking at a mess for an unknown about of time and just leave it," Jess quipped, getting ignored.
"Put up some baffling. She can't hear the kids running around. What do you think?"
"You guys always eat in the kitchen anyway," Natasha shrugged indifferently.
"No one eats in a dining room."
"Can't argue with that," Jess murmured. "Tony and I tend to eat in the lab or watching something in the living room. He got rid of the dining table ages ago. Replaced it with the bar counter in the kitchen."
They finally pulled up to where the lifeboat was, hearing the Hulk roaring nearby as well.
"We don't have a lot of time," Clint warned Natasha, who he knew was going to go and try to calm the Hulk down.
"So, get your asses on a boat."
Clint nodded, helping Jess out of the car and into the lifeboat, leading a medic towards her to get her arm looked at a bit better just as a woman cried out. Clint spotted her kid and started out to get him as Jess stiffened.
"Clint? Oi, Clint!"
"I'll be right back, Jess!"
"But we don't know where Ultron is!"
"I'll be quick!"
Jess groaned, making to get up but her vision shifted, and she crumpled back to the ground with a shake of her head. She'd lost too much blood and could only watch as Clint rushed out into the open to save the young boy. Gunshots rang out then and her eyes flew to the sky where the Quinjet was firing down on the Avengers.
"Clint!" She shouted, stumbling to try and get up as the bullets rained down and a blur rushed towards him.
The dust settled and Clint's heart sank as Pietro fell to the ground riddled with bullets.
"You didn't see that coming…" Pietro quipped before he lay on the ground, dead.
Jess hauled herself up, trying to get off the lifeboat, but a man held her back as Steve picked up Pietro and carried him onto it. Jess sagged back to the floor as Clint too sank onto some of the seats, waving off a medic. He wasn't hurt too bad, just in shock and trying to cope with what had just happened. He was just a brat… just a kid…
The last of the people were put on the lifeboat just when the city began to fall. Jess again, pushed herself up, hoping beyond hope that between Tony and Thor, they'd be able to stop the city. Then, it exploded in a flash of light, sending chunks of it down into the sea.
Tony stared out the window as he drove, expression serious.
"What are you thinking about?" Jess asked, sitting in the passenger seat with her eyes closed, a sling holding her arm close to her body.
"How reckless you are."
"Pot calling kettle," she murmured, peering an eye open to look at him. "Are you scared?"
"Why would I be scared?" He scoffed.
She shrugged, closing her eyes once more. "The world is changing, Tony. Superheroes, AIs, demi-gods, aliens and…"
"You?" He questioned, eyeing her and her expression pinched for a second as she turned towards the window with a sad look.
"…me… I understand if you don't… I mean, if what I know is…"
"Jess, I—"
"Look. All I'm saying is that if you want something to, to change between us—with… us… that's fine."
"I don't." He reached over, taking her hand and running his thumb over the back of it. "I don't want anything to change. Well, not in the way you're thinking, anyway. I could do with a bit less stubbornness and—"
"Tony," she grumbled, turning back to him as he smiled, lifting her hand and kissing it softly.
"We're all going to change," he said, parking the car by the new Avengers facility. "And I'm not afraid of you, your fire powers, or whatever weird connect you have with these stones. What I am afraid of, is losing you because I'm not capable of keeping you safe."
"You can't keep everyone safe," Jess muttered.
"No, but I can try my best with you, but I need you to try too."
"I've been trying."
"Well, we'll need to make a few altercations. Can't have you without any help like you were this time."
Jess sighed, leaning back in her seat, but not yet pulling her hand away from his. "If you all just listened to me sometimes…"
Tony chuckled, giving her hand a squeeze and getting out of the car with her. "I'll talk with Steve about it."
"Seriously, though," Jess pressed. "I keep telling you guys not to jump into things without thinking it over first."
"We could give you a full-time position!" Tony beamed, getting a kick out of the expression she made as he teased her. "Jess Norris, the Avengers Planner. No, that sounds stupid. Jess Norris, Avengers Coordinator."
"You are not putting me on another desk job. Just give me a real position! I have powers too, you know."
"Jess Norris, Plan Overseer. Eh? Eh? That one's a play on words too since you can literally see the future."
"I swear to God, I'm going to strangle you," she complained, but Tony was glad to see a small smile on her face.
She had been so down lately, it was nice that he could cheer her up even a little.
"Ae you upsetting Jess again?" Steve called out, raising a brow with a smile at the duo as Thor beamed beside him.
"It is good to see a smile on your face, Just Jess!"
"My God, it's Jess, Thor!" Jess complained as the others chuckled.
"Perhaps if you attempt to lift my hammer again, Just Jess, I will acknowledge that you are worthy of a name change."
Jess punched him in the shoulder with her good arm, earning a hearty chuckle from the demi-god as he pressed down on her head and messed up her short hair.
"Yeah, about that…" Tony stated.
"The rules have changed," Steve said definitively.
"We're dealing with something new."
"Yeah, I'm a bit lost here," Jess muttered, and Thor smiled.
"Vision raised my hammer."
"Seriously? How am I supposed to be suspicious of the guy when he does that?"
"Oh, the Vision is artificial intelligence," Steve tried.
"A machine."
"So, it doesn't count?"
"No. It's not like a person lifting the hammer."
"Right. Different rules for us."
"Nice guy. Artificial."
"Thank you."
Jess snorted. "Please. He's hardly a machine. He's got a mind of his own. I think that goes a little beyond your atypical AI."
"I agree with Just Jess," Thor nodded. "He can wield the hammer, he can keep the Mind Stone. It's safe with the Vision. And these days, safe is in short supply."
The group was silent of only a moment.
"But if you put the hammer in an elevator…" Steve muttered.
"It would still go up," Tony mused.
"Elevator's not worthy."
Thor smiled, patting Tony on the back. "I'm going to miss these little talks of ours."
"Not if you don't leave," Tony tried.
"I have no choice. The Mind Stone is the fourth of the Infinity Stones to show up in the last few years. It's not a coincidence. Someone has been playing an intricate game and has made pawns of us. And once all these pieces are in position…"
"Triple Yahtzee?"
"You think you can find out what's coming?" Steve asked, more seriously.
"I do," Thor mused, patting Tony on the chest. "Besides this one and Just Jess, there's nothing that can't be explained. Though, should you discover what it is before I, feel free to prepare, Just Jess."
Jess rolled her eyes. "Only if you stop calling me that."
Thor cracked a smile. "I think not."
And with a crack of lightning, he was gone—leaving a patch of burnt grass that Tony frowned at.
"That man has no regard for lawn maintenance."
Jess slapped his arm playfully as they turned to head back for the road near where they parked.
"I'm gonna miss him though, and you're gonna miss us," Tony teased Steve. "There's gonna be a lot of manful tears."
"I will miss you, Tony," Steve admitted.
"Yeah?"
"Jess more so."
Jess snorted as Tony let out a short scoff, wrapping an arm around her waist.
"Well, it's time for us to tap out. Maybe I should take a page out of Barton's book. Build you a farm, Jess, hope nobody blows it up."
"You wouldn't dare."
"The simple life," Steve mused.
"You'll get there one day."
"I don't know. Family, stability… The guy who wanted all that went in the ice seventy-five years ago. I think someone else came out."
Jess walked by him, giving his shoulder a fond pat and getting into the car. Tony opened his door as well but paused.
"You all right?" He asked, a little uncertain about the look in Steve's eyes.
"I'm home."
Tony cracked a smile and climbed in the car, kissing Jess's temple briefly before giving Steve a wave as they drove off.
"So, what do you think? Fiji? Bahamas? We're due for a vacation."
"You know what, Tony?" Jess gave him a soft smile. "I think I'm ready for a night in."
Tony raised a brow. "Like, movies, popcorn, cuddling on the couch?"
"Something like that."
He grinned, revving the engine and speeding up. "Sounds like a plan."