It seems Tuesdays are getting busier and busier for me... I am very sorry to those who are waiting!
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.
"Banner, after everything that's happened…" Steve trailed off as Lowri stood in the doorway and took in the scene, she was stood just behind the Maximoff twins and Steve.
Both Tony and Bruce were clearly doing something to the cradle, something that wasn't good and it was clear that Steve wasn't happy about it.
"It's nothing compared to what's coming." Tony snapped.
"You don't know what's in there." Wanda protested.
"This isn't a game." Steve said sternly.
Lowri stepped further into the room and she looked around, Tony was stood by the computer screens and it was flashing with all sorts of information while Bruce was stood closer to the small monitor on the cradle, tapping on it.
Pietro suddenly sprinted around the room, pulling all of the wires out of the cradle and then he skidded to a halt just beside the cradle with a large wire in his hand.
"No, no. Go on." Pietro breathed, he threw the large wire to the side just as the cradle beside him and the machines surrounding the cradle began beeping like crazy.
Lowri stumbled backwards involuntary. It was as if something invisible pushed both her shoulders back and hit her chest, hard. She found it hard to breathe and it was as though she was sucked from the room and shoved into another.
This one she didn't recognise but she felt pain in her chest and feeling that familiar panicking feeling. She came back to the room when her back hit a pillar hard. There was black edging her visions and she struggled to see.
Suddenly, a loud gunshot sound echoed around the room and Lowri jumped at the sound, Pietro fell through the glass he stood on. Lowri's eyes cleared up but there was still a vice clamped onto her lungs, making it hard for her to breath.
"Pietro!" Wanda cried, she moved to the hole in the floor and peered through it.
Tony turned back to the computers and tried to stop the beeping.
"I'm rerouting the upload." Tony stated just before Steve threw his shield directly at the computer Tony was working on, the shield bounced off and onto another, cracking both screens.
Tony turned on Steve while simultaneously summoning his Iron Man hand, he shot Steve in the chest and Steve went flying backwards, taking Lowri with him.
They went tumbling backwards and Lowri hit her head pretty hard, she rolled away from Steve and tried to get a bearing on the room but everything was disorientated. Before she had even sat, up, he back was on his feet and heading for Tony.
Bruce had Wanda in a tight headlock, threatening her and Clint came running up the stairs with his gun loaded.
Lowri's mind was foggy and she reached for the walls numbly.
Wanda slipped out of Bruce's grip and turned on him as Steve was blasted away again and Lowri stumbled to her feet and looked around the room as Thor made a big entrance.
Clint was suddenly beside Lowri with his hands around her shoulders, supporting her partly. They both looked up at Thor as he stood on top of the cradle, Lowri clutched at Clint's arm as he supported her.
"Are you alright, Ri?" Clint asked in a low voice, so only she could hear. Everyone else was focused on Thor. Lowri nodded her head slowly.
"Wait!" Bruce yelled as Thor lifted his hammer into the air and summoned the lightening.
Thor directed the lightening directly at the cradle and all the lights in the room began blinking rapidly, all the monitors around the room began beeping once more and Lowri felt herself slip once more.
Clint kept a tight hold on Lowri as the silence grew around them and then all of a sudden, the cradle burst open and Thor was knocked backwards.
Clint and Lowri ducked as flying shrapnel was thrown outwards and then all eyes went to the figure that emerged from the cradle.
The skin was dark red and the eyes that peered around the room were slightly scary. There was a yellow gemstone in the centre of the figure's forehead. The scary eyes settled on Thor and the figure dove at Thor.
The two of them wrestled in the air until Thor shoved the figure through a glass pane and the figure tumbled out into the large space just outside the window.
The figure spun and spun until it came to a stop just before it reached the windows overlooking the large city. It paused mid-air, floating, as if it was admiring the view.
Thor jumped over the gap and through the hole in the glass wall, he landed on silent feet as the rest moved the old-fashioned way. Steve jumped over too and Thor held up a hand to stop Steve from advancing.
Clint kept his arm around Lowri as they headed over to the space where the figure was.
There was a silence as everyone kept their eyes on the lone figure, slowly, the red body became covered in a black suit and then the figure turned to face the group.
"I am sorry." The voice that came out of the figure sounded a lot like Jarvis, but yet, at the same time it didn't. The figure landed beside Thor and his scary eyes scanned the group. "That was odd." Then the eyes settled on Thor. "Thank you."
Thor eyed the figure carefully and seemed a little alarmed when the figure seemed to grow its own cape to match Thor's.
"Thor." Steve said as he stepped forward, authority rang in his voice. "You helped create this?"
"I've had a vision." Thor announced. "A whirlpool that sucks in all hope of life and at its centre is that." Thor said, he spoke to the group but he looked directly at the figure and gestured to the yellow gemstone in the centre of its forehead.
"What? The gem?" Bruce asked.
"It's the Mind Stone. It's one of the six Infinity Stones." Thor said, as soon as he said Infinity Stones, something triggered inside of Lowri. She straightened up and shook off Clint's arm. Her mind recognised the words. "The greatest power in the universe, unparalled in its destructive capabilities."
"Then why would you bring-" Steve began but Thor cut him off.
"Because Stark is right." Thor said.
"Oh, it's definitely the end times." Bruce said jokingly.
"The Avengers cannot beat Ultron." Thor stated.
"Not alone." The figure added.
"Why does your vision sound like Jarvis?" Steve asked.
"We reconfigured Jarvis' matrix to create something new." Tony said, stepping forward.
"I think I've had my fill of new." Steve muttered.
"You think I'm a child of Ultron?" The vision asked.
"You're not?" Steve asked.
The vision shook his head. "I'm not Ultron. I'm not Jarvis. I am… I am." The vision said, he trailed off and looked around at the group gathered around him.
"I looked into your head and saw annihilation." The witch said slowly.
"Look again." The vision prompted.
"Her seal of approval means jack to me." Clint scoffed.
"Their powers," Thor began, gesturing to the Maximoff twins, "The horrors in our heads," He continued, turning back to the rest of the group, "Ultron himself, came from the Mind Stone. And they're nothing compared to what it can unleash. But with it on our side-"
"Is it?" Steve asked sharply. "Are you? On our side?"
"I don't think it's that simple." The vision replied.
"Well, it better get real simple, real soon." Clint said, crossing his arms over his chest.
"I am on the side of life. Ultron isn't. He will end it all." The vision replied.
"What's he waiting for?" Tony asked.
"You." The vision answered.
"Where?" Bruce asked.
"Sokovia." Clint answered, he stepped forward. "He's got Nat there too."
"If we're wrong about you, if you're the monster that Ultron made you to be…" Bruce began his warning but he trailed off.
"What will you do?" Vision asked.
Bruce didn't answer the question, no one did.
"I don't want to kill Ultron. He's unique and he's in pain. But that pain will roll over the Earth. So, he must be destroyed. Every form he's built. Every trace of his presence on the net. We have to act now." The vision said. "And not one of us can do it without the others. Maybe I am a monster. I don't think I'd know if I were one. I'm not what you intended. So, there may be no way to make you trust me. But we need to go."
The vision finished speaking with his own flourish, without being noticed as he somehow had drawn all eyes to him, he picked up the hammer but now he lifted it with ease and offered it to Thor, leaving everyone present, speechless.
Thor took hold of the hammer silently and the vision walked off, leaving the group in silence.
"Right." Thor said, he gripped the hammer in both of his hands and looked at the rest of the group but turned to where the vision had walked off, then stepped after him and patted Tony on the shoulder as he passed. "Well done."
There was silence for a few moments as everyone took in the vision's last movements.
"Three minutes." Steve said firmly, he looked around the group and then his eyes settled on Lowri. "Get what you need."
Lowri turned on her heel and headed for the elevator as soon as Steve finished speaking. She felt trapped whilst she still wore civilian clothes that hadn't been treated with a fireproof chemical.
Steve followed her shortly, he put his hand through the closing doors and opened them, he looked at her with eyes full of concern and she said nothing.
"I thought we were on speaking terms." Steve noted as he pressed the button for his floor.
"There's not much to talk about." Lowri replied, she looked up at him with a gentle look in her eyes.
"How about a few minutes ago when Clint was holding you up? Are you okay?" Steve asked, tilting his head at her.
"It was a weak moment." Lowri replied smoothly. "A minor setback."
"What happened, Lowri?" Steve asked firmly.
"When all that beeping was going on in the lab, it set something off in the back of my head." Lowri said, "I was in a dark room. With one light and three men. One held my legs down, another held my hands in a vice lock with damp clothes wrapped around my limbs. Some sort of new torture method. The third held a set of pliers drenched in my own blood."
Steve looked at her with wide eyes but he said nothing, it was clear he was unable to.
"That noise somehow took me back to London, 1837." Lowri said, "I don't particularly like going back to visit those memories. I tend to push them far back."
The elevator doors opened and Lowri moved to step out, and as she reached the doorway, Steve gripped her wrist and she turned back to him.
"I'm sorry I asked. But you can talk to me any time you want." Steve said earnestly.
Lowri offered a small smile and then went onto her toes and hugged him tightly.
"Thank you, Steve." She said quietly, "I'll see you up there."
She turned away from him and stepped out onto her floor, she escaped into her rooms and quickly changed out of the civilian clothes and into one of her suits. She tied her hair back into a plait and tucked it away as she slid her guns into her holsters around her thigs, then she made her way back up to the main floor where most were already gathered.
Lowri felt back in control of her body, all early memories were pushed back into the back of her mind and she felt ready to fight once more.
Tony, Bruce and Steve were sat together in the locker room, talking together in almost jokey tones. As Lowri came up out of the lift, she heard what they were saying.
"No way we all get through this. If even one tin solider is left standing, we've lost. There's gonna be blood on the floor." Tony said.
"I got no plans tomorrow night." Steve said with a smirk.
Lowri saw the smirk as she walked towards them, she was adjusting the straps on her wrists. She stepped out with her next words already on the tip of her tongue.
"Yes, you do." Lowri said as she walked past, she looked directly at him and paused slightly. Steve looked up at her with a surprised look. "You and I are going out on our first date." She informed him, then she carried on walking out of the locker room.
She knew that he had a gormless look on his face now. Lowri grinned to herself as she entered their jet, crossed to the cock pit and strapped herself in before beginning the process of starting the jet up.
Clint joined her in the cockpit a few minutes later with a knowing smile on his face but when Lowri asked what was up, he refused to say anything until he had buckled himself in and turned his head to her.
"So, I hear you and Cap are finally going on a date." Clint said with a grin.
"I'm glad that news travels fast around here, at least I don't have to tell anyone now." Lowri joked.
Behind her, she heard Tony's voice loud and clear, teasing Steve practically mercilessly
"He told Nat and I when we got on board." Clint said, "Poor Steve blushed."
"Poor him." Lowri said, "Is everyone on board?"
"Yeah. All ready to go." Clint replied.
Lowri got the jet into the air easily and they were fast on their way to the final fight. Her stomach began churning at the thought of the coming hours, they're going up against an AI who has developed very quickly.
About an hour into the flight, Lowri looked over at Clint.
"Can you take the controls?" She asked, "I need to get another ear piece. I left mine in Oslo." Clint nodded his head and he smiled.
"Of course." Clint said, he put his hands on the control column and looked at her.
"You have control." Lowri said, releasing her hands from the control column in front of her. She slid from her seat and passed Steve, who was in his favourite place to be whenever he's on the jet, just behind the cockpit.
She headed into the right wing where the small box of un-activated ear pieces are kept and took one from the box, she slid it into her ear and pressed the button on her wrist to connect the ear piece.
Lowri turned and spied the Maximoff twins sitting side by side on the other side of the jet. She went over to them with the box in her hand and she knelt down in front of them.
"Here." Lowri said, she picked one ear piece up and held it out for Pietro Maximoff to take. "These are ear pieces, they go in your ear, if you hadn't already guessed." Lowri said. She held up another ear piece for Wanda Maximoff to take. "With these, you can talk to us and we can talk to you. We know where everyone is then."
They both looked down at the ear pieces with confusion in their eyes, but they were hesitant to ask.
"Press the small button on the side and it'll link with everyone on the jet." Lowri said, pointing to a spare one.
"Thank you." They said together.
Lowri smiled as she stood up and she closed the box, she looked down at them both.
"The jacket suits you." Lowri said with a smile. Wanda looked up at her slightly doe-eyed. "Look after it, it was a gift."
Lowri passed one of the ear pieces over to Vision, as he is now so named. He silently slid the ear piece into his ear, as if he already knew what to do with it. of course, he's running Jarvis' matrix, he knows everything to do with their tech.
Her phone rang in her pocket and she excused herself to the right wing once more to put away the box and answer her phone.
"Hello?" Lowri asked.
"What the hell is going on?"
Lowri was almost stunned into silence, but then she laughed.
"For a moment there, I thought you were Nick. You really take on the role of director well." Lowri said.
"Oh, not so much nowadays. But, I just need clarification. What have you done?"
"Uh, died." Lowri replied almost sheepishly. She turned her back on her team and faced the wall.
"Did you get shot in the head again?"
"Yeah. Hurt like a bitch. But uh, right now, we're heading to fight the AI." Lowri explained. "And we don't know what the outcome could be. This Ultron, he'll bring destruction to the world."
"Well, I want you to know that Theta Protocol is well underway."
"Brilliant." Lowri breathed out, she glanced behind her at her team and sighed. "We will need some old friends. I'm glad I can count on you."
"What are old friends for, eh?"
"I'm very glad I picked you up outside your college." Lowri said with a laugh, "Oh, I better go, Steve's got his serious face on again."
"Better not hold you up, Cap won't be happy."
"Oh, before I forget to tell you, Steve and I are off on a date as soon as this whole mess is over." Lowri said, trying to fight off her smile.
"No way."
"Way." Lowri laughed, "I kinda didn't give him a chance to turn me down."
"I'm happy for you. Anyway, I better let you go."
"Yeah. Alright, I'll talk to you soon." Lowri said, she hung up the phone and slid her phone into her pocket.
Steve watched Lowri carefully as she came back into the room. He was always curious about her strange and anonymous phone calls, since she never revealed the caller's identity.
Can anyone guess who Lowri keeps calling?
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