Happy Tuesday, my lovely readers!
Disclaimer: I do not own any Marvel characters that may be used or any Marvel storylines or arcs.
Claimer: I only own the character Elizabeth Jones (Lowri Jones and any other names she uses) and her story past, present and future.
Recap
The sky was dark and the air was thinner and laced with cold but Lowri didn't feel it. She walked down the steps and as soon as her feet hit the grassy front garden, she turned and looked at Nick.
For the first time since she laid eyes on Nick, she felt intimidated by him.
"What the hell is going on with you, Jones?" Nick asked, he crossed his arms over his chest and glared down at him with his one eye.
"I could ask you the same, Nick." Lowri replied, "You're supposed to be dead."
Nick's expression broke and he smiled. He didn't drop his defensive stance though.
"Tell me what's going on, Ri." Nick said, he sat down on the second step from the bottom and looked up at her. "Stark's got a death wish, Thor's off gallivanting away from the team, Banner's almost lost it and you and Rogers are off."
"Thor is looking for answers." Lowri said, she began pacing in front of him, seemingly to never meet his eye. "Tony's always had a death wish, pretty much since he designed the first suit. Bruce is struggling and coming to terms with different things. And Steve is off with me."
"I think that works both ways, Ri." Nick reminded her.
"Alright, so I'm angry with him. Can't I be angry?" Lowri asked, she still paced and she still didn't look at him.
"No. Because when you get angry, you set things on fire and I'm pretty sure that the Barton's won't be happy if you set their barn on fire." Nick remarked.
"So, Steve hasn't told you what he said to me?" Lowri asked.
"He doesn't tell me about your lover's tiffs." Nick said slowly, Lowri scowled at him and he only smiled.
"Steve blames me for us not being able to live as a family, because I'm not able to give him children." Lowri said, she turned from Nick and began pacing again. "But, I'm not focusing on that because we don't have time to focus on that."
"So, what are you focusing on?" Nick asked slowly.
"Recovering." Lowri said through gritted teeth. Just talking about what Steve said angered her, she clenched her hands into fists and tried so hard not to set things on fire.
"It's good to know that you're still on your game." Nick said.
"I've been in this game a lot longer than everyone else." Lowri said almost smugly.
"You and Rogers will work through this, and you know it." Nick said.
"It's just hard going through it right now. I've never let anyone into my heart but I let him in and so far, it's not working out for me." Lowri said, "Let's go back inside. I'm sure Clint and Bruce will have some questions as to why you're still kicking around."
Nick chuckled and smiled at her, he shrugged his shoulders and then pulled himself to his feet.
"You're probably right." Nick said with a smile.
"Aren't I always?" Lowri asked with a smirk, "Come on. Let's go in."
Lowri followed Nick back inside the house and instead of walking with him back into the kitchen to continue talking with the others, she took a seat on the couch beside Lila and helped her with her drawing.
"What are you drawing, Lila?" Lowri asked gently, leaning in closer.
"A butterfly for Auntie Nat. She needs cheering up." Lila said, she looked up at Lowri and smiled a girlish smile.
"You're very sweet, Lila." Lowri said softly, smiling at the girl's innocence.
"Well, you better finish it soon, sweetie. Your bedtime is coming up." Clint said with a smile, Lila nodded her head and then focused on her drawing and colouring.
Steve appeared in the doorway of the living room from the hallway and looked in, as soon as he saw Lowri, he stepped forward, walked right past her and stopped in the doorway leading to the kitchen and leant against the doorway, his eyes were unreadable.
Clint immediately turned to Lowri and locked eyes with her, he looked at her with a questioning look and mouthed 'What the hell?'
Lowri shrugged her shoulders at him and looked back down at the drawing Lila was proudly showing her.
"Oh, Lila it's beautiful. Auntie Nat will love it. Why don't you give it to her now?" Lowri said gently. Lila grinned up at Lowri, jumped to her feet and ran into the kitchen, darting past Steve in the process.
"Ultron took you folks out of play to buy himself some time." Nick began, Lowri could just about hear him from the living room. "My contacts all say he's building something. The amount of Vibranium that he made off with, I don't think it's just one thing."
Lila came running back into the room and Lowri began cleaning up the colouring pencils as Clint helped move the kids towards the door with Laura.
Clint picked Lila up into his arms and kissed her cheek.
"Goodnight, pumpkin." He said, he followed Cooper and Laura to the stairs, leaving Lowri in the living room.
"What about Ultron himself?" Steve asked, Lowri finished up tidying away the colouring pencils and then she headed for the kitchen but she stopped just short of the couch and she could just about see into the kitchen, just past Steve.
"Oh, he's easy to track. He's everywhere. The guy is multiplying faster than a Catholic rabbit. It still doesn't help us get an angle on any of his plans, though." Nick said as Clint passed Lowri, he nudged her shoulder and smiled curiously as he walked past.
"Is he still going after nuclear codes?" Tony asked, tossing another dart at the dart board.
"Yes, he is. But he's not making any headway." Nick replied.
"I cracked the Pentagon's firewall in high school on a dare." Tony stated. "How come he can't get the codes?"
"Well, I contacted our friends at the Nexus about that." Nick answered.
"Nexus?" Steve asked.
"It's the world Internet Hub in Oslo. Every byte of data flows through there. Fastest access on the earth." Bruce explained.
"So, what did they say?" Clint asked.
"He's fixated on the missiles. But the codes are constantly being changed." Nick said.
"By whom?" Tony asked quickly.
"Parties unknown." Nick answered.
Lowri frowned and crossed her arms over her chest. Who has the abilities to outthink an AI? Which one of their allies can do that?
"Do we have an ally?" Nat asked cautiously.
"Ultron's got an enemy. That's not the same thing." Nick said.
"But I reckon, if we find out who this enemy is, we can get him on our side." Lowri said, talking for the first time. Nick looked up at her and nodded.
"We probably can, as long as you turn on your charm." He remarked. Steve turned his head and glanced at her. "We just gotta find out who the guy is first."
"I might need to visit Oslo. Find our unknown." Tony said slowly.
"Well, this is like the good old times, boss, but I was kind of hoping when I saw you, that you'd have more than that." Nat said.
"I do." Nick said, he looked up and seemed to look at everyone at once. "I have you. Back in the day, I had eyes everywhere, ears everywhere else." Nick looked at Lowri. "You kids had all the tech you could dream up. Here we all are, back on earth, with nothing but our wit and will to save the world." Nick's eyes left Lowri and scanned the rest of the room. "Ultron says the Avengers are the only thing between him and his mission. And whether or not he admits it, his mission is global destruction. All this, laid in a grave." Nick said, he glanced around the kitchen once more. "So, stand. Outwit the platinum bastard."
"Steve doesn't like that kind of talk." Nat quipped, she smirked and looked up at Steve.
"You know what, Romanoff?" Steve began. Even from behind him, Lowri could tell that he was smiling too.
"So, what does he want" Nat asked, glancing back to Nick.
"To become better. Better than us." Steve said, "He keeps building bodies."
"Person bodies. The human form is inefficient." Tony said, "Biologically speaking, we're outmoded. But he keeps coming back to it."
As they all spoke, everyone in the kitchen began moving closer to the table, as if Nick was a magnet. Lowri moved too, but she remained out of the circle. She came to a stop in the doorway
"When you two programmed him to protect the human race, you amazingly failed." Nat said.
"They don't need to be protected. They need to evolve." Bruce said, he looked down at the drawing in front of Nat. "Ultron's going to evolve."
"How?" Nick asked.
"Has anyone been in touch with Helen Cho?" Bruce asked, looking up at the group.
"Do you think Ultron is going to target her?" Lowri asked.
"She has the Cradle at her research facility in Seoul." Bruce replied, he nodded his head.
"If Ultron wants to build the perfect body, he might go to her." Lowri said, a sinking feeling took root in her stomach.
"Suit up." Steve ordered, he addressed everyone and then everyone dispersed to suit up, leaving Lowri and Nick in the kitchen alone. She moved to the seat beside him.
"Are you going to go with Rogers to do recon?" Nick asked, he looked at her and tilted his head. Lowri shook her head and crossed her arms on the table in front of her.
"That won't be practical." Lowri said firmly.
"You two need to sort your drama out." Nick said, he leant forward on the table too and looked at her.
"Our drama." Lowri scoffed. "It's more than a drama. He's blaming me for something I can't control and I can't forgive him that easily."
She shook her head and then got to her feet abruptly.
"I'm going to suit up." Lowri said, Nick watched her leave the room.
Lowri quickly changed into her bullet riddled suit and stepped in the hallway where everyone else was already there. Clint and Laura were saying their goodbyes and Nick was grabbing his coat.
"I'll take Nat and Clint." Steve said entering the hallway with Tony beside him, they walked the length of the hallway and stopped just by the door. "Lowri can come with us too, she can fly the jet with Barton."
Steve barely glanced at her as he spoke.
"Alright. Strictly recon." Tony said, "I'll hit the Nexus. I'll join you as soon as I can."
Lowri pressed her lips together and then pushed off from the wall, she made for the front door and paused just beside Steve and Tony.
"I'll hit the Nexus with Tony. Clint can fly the bird." Lowri said sharply, she looked up at Tony. "I hope you can keep up." She said as she brushed past Steve. It gave her a little satisfaction.
There was silence behind her for a few seconds before Tony said something to Steve and they started talking again as Lowri passed through the front door. She leant heavily on the bannister on the front porch and over looked the front yard. She could hear what they were saying clear enough.
"If Ultron is really building a body…" Steve trailed off hesitantly.
"He'll be more powerful than any of us. Maybe all of us." Tony sighed, "An android designed by a robot."
"You know, I really miss the days when the weirdest thing science ever created was me." Steve said jokingly.
"I'll drop Banner off at the Tower. You mind if I borrow Ms Hill?" Nick asked.
"She's all yours. Apparently." Tony remarked.
"What are you gonna do?" Steve asked.
"I don't know. Something dramatic, I hope." Nick said with a laugh. "Where did Jones go?"
"Out there." Tony said.
Lowri heard Nick's footsteps approach her and she steeled herself for another lecture about sorting out her drama with Steve but instead, Nick leant against the bannister beside her.
"Got any ideas for something dramatic?" Nick asked, surprising Lowri.
"Uh, I'm sure you can think of something dramatic, Nick. That's more your language." Lowri remarked, earning herself a smile and a laugh from Nick.
"Need I remind you of the time that you belittled the first contractor we got to work with?" Nick asked with a laugh. "But true. I found that you're not like me."
"He called me doll and told, not even asked, me to get a coffee for him." Lowri said, "It's what he deserved."
"There's a reason why we kept you away from contactors." Nick said.
Lowri shrugged her shoulders and looked back over the front yard and then she turned back to Nick.
"We have a certain ally hiding the shadows. You know who he is. If you can get in touch with him, I'm sure he'll be more than happy to offer something to help." Lowri said.
"Theta protocol?" Nick asked under his breath.
"The very same." Lowri replied.
Nick smiled at her and then chuckled.
"I think drama is more your language." He said, he stepped backwards and chuckled again, "How long have you been funding that for? God, I hope this works."
Bruce came out of the house and he looked at Nick straight away.
"Ready?" Nick asked before turning away from Lowri and stepping towards Bruce, he headed down the stairs and Bruce followed him.
Tony came out of the house and stopped beside Lowri as Steve, Clint and Nat came out of the house and headed towards them.
"You ready to go?" Tony asked as Steve and the others passed by them. Steve never looked their way as he walked by and Tony looked at Lowri straight away. "Brrr. You can feel the ice."
"Shut up." Lowri said, she scowled at Tony but then she saw Steve turn around to look at her as Clint and Nat continued along the path. Steve's eyes locked on hers and she felt a tugging at her heart but then he turned and walked away.
She clenched her hands into fists and scowled at Steve's back. She followed them down the steps but she stopped just a few feet away from the steps, waiting for Tony.
"What's up with you and Cap?" Tony asked as he followed her down the steps, he gestured towards Steve's retreating back. "There's definitely something going on between the two of you."
"There is." Lowri replied, she crossed her arms over her chest and looked away from Steve and the others, she looked up at Tony. "Call your suit."
"Do you wanna tell me?" Tony asked gently, still not calling his suit.
"Nope." Lowri said, she summoned her fire and jumped into the air, flying off quickly and she left Tony behind. Maybe she should tell Tony, she shouldn't have left him there but she knew it was a long way to Oslo and she knew that Tony would be able to catch up with her in a heartbeat.
Which he did.
"Something's eating at you." Tony pointed out. "You can tell me."
"I know. It's Steve. He's being... I don't even know how to explain it." Lowri replied.
"Has he said something?" Tony asked.
"He's said something stupid. I don't think he meant it but it hurts." Lowri sighed. "He's angry at me over something I can't control."
"That doesn't sound like Cap." Tony said,
"It's what that witch showed him. She showed him a vision of a family that we had in the 1960's and now he blames me because I can't give him that vision." Lowri explained.
"That sounds far too happy. But it also sounds like him. you two need to talk it out." Tony said. "You both need to man-up."
"For a moment there, I thought you were being sincere." Lowri remarked with a smile.
"You know me too well, Ri." Tony said. "Come on, this pace is too slow. Grab hold and I'll speed up."
Lowri did what he said and grabbed hold, she kinda knew that she couldn't keep up with him.
The flight was cut short considerably and in no time at all, Lowri and Tony landed in the Hub in Oslo. The employees at the Hub was more than happy to admit them both into the hub and Tony was led to the centre of the network so he could begin his work while Lowri was shown to the staff shower block and one of the girls gave her some civilian clothes since Lowri's suit was riddled with bullet holes.
Thanks all for reading, I hope you enjoy
Read, Review, Follow & Favourite!