A/N Hello people! I know that I updated recently, but I wanted to surprise you guys! Also: As I've already said, I'm going to make a series out of this, next book will be Captain America Civil War, and then we're going to make another book for Infinity War! Now, I'm hoping to finish those two books BEFORE Endgame comes out, which means almost daily updates! Yay!

Percy P.O.V

After the siege on the HYDRA base, the Avengers had successfully retrieved the scepter. Percy had wanted to come on the quinjet, and he knew that it would be necessary to fly occasionally with the Avengers, so he and Annabeth decided it was time for desperate measures.

He'd told the Avengers that he needed a minute and he and Annabeth grabbed some hamburgers that they'd gotten on the road, burned them, sacrificed them to Zeus, and asked the gods if they would please be kind enough not to strike Percy out of the sky when he was flying on Avengers business.

That hadn't really gotten a response, so Zeus didn't say yes but he didn't say no which Percy took as a good sign. Tony looked confused when Percy started boarding the quinjet as well, but he didn't make a comment.

Now they were flying over the Atlantic Ocean, and Percy couldn't help glancing upwards for storm clouds. So far so good, however. Natasha walked over to Bruce who was listening to music. "Hey, the lullaby worked better than ever." She said.

Percy let their voices trail off as he thought about his vision. When he'd seen Annabeth again after the mission, he'd hugged her so hard she couldn't breathe. "What happened?" She asked, studying him. "Tell you about it later." Percy muttered, and kissed her. Tony started wolf-whistling, but he was shaken to, Percy could feel it. Whatever that woman had shown Tony had affected him badly.

Percy walked over to Annabeth and murmured to her what had happened. She hugged him. Percy kissed her forehead and took a deep breath, trying to expel all of the fear and anxiety. Tony was watching them closely, but looked away when Percy glanced back.

"Thor, word on the Hulk?" Natasha said suddenly. "The gates of hell are filled with the screams of his victims." Thor said, punching the air. Natasha glared at him while Bruce put his face in his hands. Percy wasn't the best with social skills, but he was pretty sure that wasn't what Bruce wanted to hear.

Seeing how his reply didn't exactly help, Thor tried to amend his statement. "Um, but not he screams of the dead of course, no, no. Quiet screams, mainly whimpering. Mostly complaining and tales of sprained ankles, ah," Thor stammered to a halt and looked at Steve for help.

"Hey, Doctor Banner?" Tony said from the pilot's chair. Bruce looked up. "Helen Cho is coming, is it okay if she uses your lab?" Bruce nodded. "Um, yeah she knows her way around."

"Thanks," Tony walked over to Thor. "Feels good, yeah? I mean, we've been looking for this thing since S.H.I.E.L.D. collapsed." Thor, Tony, and Steve talked in low voices. When they stopped, Percy called out, "I'd like to find out how that lady played with our minds when all that's in that scepter is a blue rock."

Everyone looked at him. "What?" Annabeth walked over to the scepter, studying it. "This is the strongest magical power I've felt since…" She seemed to realize everyone was staring at her. "Ahem, what I meant to say was, this doesn't look like it's from Earth, and the power I'm feeling… well, let's just say this thing isn't meant to be a nick knack."

Steve looked surprised. Tony grinned. "I told you, she knows her stuff." Percy walked over to Bruce who was still massaging his brow. "Hey," Percy said. "I hear Thor." Bruce inclined his head slightly. "Who didn't?" He muttered.

Percy decided to jump right into his pep talk. He wasn't good with words, but Bruce looked seriously down.

"I knew a guy," Percy began. "Well, you know the saying, 'with great power comes great responsibility?" Bruce nodded. "My friend didn't take it so well." Percy continued. "His father… sort of neglected him, I guess. He turned bad and some good people-" His voice cracked accidently.

Annabeth glanced over and seemed to guess Percy was talking about Luke. She folded her arms and stared out the quinjet window. Percy cleared his throat. "Well, anyway, my point is, you aren't the Hulk. You're different. And the way you're handling it, how you actually wish you weren't the Hulk- well, it's impressive. There are a lot of people who'd do anything for that power, good or bad. The fact that you don't like the Hulk, that you're fighting him… that's just amazing."

Bruce seemed to think about that. "That's true. Th-thanks, Percy."

"Anytime." He replied. Natasha looked at him, slightly impressed. "You started, I finished." Percy muttered, nodding to her, and then walked back over to Tony.

"-Just a few days with it until the farewell party. You'll be staying, right?" Tony was saying. Thor nodded. "Yes, yes, of course. A great victory deserves revels."
"Yeah," Tony said. "And who doesn't love a good revel. Captain?" Steve nodded. "Hopefully this brings an end to the Chitauri and HYDRA. Yes, revels."

"What about you, kid?" Tony asked. Percy, caught off guard, stared at him. "What?"

"You and Annie. Will you be staying at the tower?" Percy raised his eyebrows. "First off, Annabeth will severely injure you if she hears you call her that. Second, probably, yes. My instincts tell me there's a battle coming and we want to stay close in case you need us. Third, I'm not old enough to drink, my mom will kill me."

"All right, fine." Tony put his hands up in surrender.

"Anyway," He went back to talking with the guys. Soon after, the quinjet pulled onto Avengers tower. Clint was pulled off the plane to a Chinese women speaking rapidly in Mandarin to her helpers.

A woman whom Percy recognized from S.H.I.E.L.D walked on the plane. "Lab's all set-up, boss." Maria Hill said. Percy suddenly realized she was the lady he'd punched in the nose while trying to escape from S.H.I.E.L.D. She must have remembered that too, because she looked at him coldly. "Hey," Percy said, grinning at her. "How's that nose clearing up?"

Hill turned back to Tony. "Oh, actually, he's the boss." Tony said, turning around and indicating Steve. "I just pay for everything, and design everything, and make everything look cooler."

Steve got up and walked off the plane. "What's the word on Strucker?" He asked. Annabeth got up quietly and followed the two.

Annabeth P.O.V

Annabeth started following Steve and Hill out of the plane. She noticed that this was usually the best way to get information. The Avengers, purposely or not, usually didn't tell her the whole plan. "NATO's got him." Hill said. "Two enhanced?" Steve asked. Hill handed him an Ipad. "Wanda and Pietro Maximoff. Twins. Orphaned at ten when a shell collapsed their apartment. Sokovia's got a rough history. It's nowhere special but it's on the way to everywhere special." Steve studied the IPad for a second and then handed it back to her. "Their abilities?"

"He's got increased metabolism and improved thermal homeostasis. Her thing is neural electric interfacing, telekinesis, mental manipulation." Steve looked at Hill funny. She elaborated: "He's fast and she's weird."

Steve nodded. "Well, they're going to show up again." Steve said. "Agreed." Hill said. "File says they volunteered for Strucker's experiments. It's nuts."
Steve stepped in an elevator and Annabeth joined him. They both jumped. Hill put a hand on her gun but quickly took it away when she saw who it was. "Right," Steve said. "What kind of monster would let a German scientist experiment on them to protect their country?"

Hill looked at him. "We're not at war, Captain."

"They are." The elevator doors closed.

Steve P.O.V.

Steve noticed Annabeth's knuckles were white on the handlebars and her face was tight, like she was repressing a painful memory. "You all right?" Steve asked, concerned. Annabeth took a shaky breath. "Fine. I just don't do well with elevators. It'll pass." She looked at Steve. Again he was struck at how different she was from a normal teenager. Her posture was relaxed, yet her body was alert like a soldier.

Her grey eyes were full of determination and intelligence. Eyes that should not belong to a teenager. "You know you didn't have to talk to them about me." Annabeth said suddenly. It was a statement, not a question. Steve started. "What?"

Annabeth looked him full in the face. "I know you talked to everyone about Percy and I. We didn't ask to join you, and I like to earn my own respect." Steve was caught off guard. "I didn't-"She cut him off. "Don't apologize. You meant well." She smiled and her eyes sparkled. For once she looked like a regular teenager.

"You're a good person, Rogers. You all are. You don't meet a lot of mortals like that." The elevator dinged, and Annabeth walked out. All Steve could think was: 'mortals'?

Percy walked up to the floor where Barton was getting healed. He was a bit on guard. All this technology, it was only a matter of time before a monster found him. "How's he doing?" Bruce asked Tony, nodding to Percy. "Oh, unfortunately, he's still Barton." Bruce grinned. "That's terrible."
"He's fine. He's thirsty. Alright, JARVIS…" Tony and Bruce walked into his lab together. A minute later Annabeth walked in right after. She waved at him and Percy waved back.

Percy then walked into the room where Clint was lying on the bed.

(Annabeth)

Annabeth walked into Tony's office where the scepter was being held. "You called me, Mr. Stark?" She poked her head in. She still had her internship job, after all, and she was working at the moment. Tony motioned for her to come over. "Yes, thank you Miss Chase. Bruce and I need help dissecting this thing."

"We do?" Bruce said, walking over and looking surprised.

Annabeth walked over and raised her eyebrows. "I'm guessing this isn't a simple, 'bring me some coffee' thing?" Tony shook his head. "No. Also, you're promoted. You're now Pepper's personal assistant, which means you're also my personal assistant while she's gone." Annabeth nodded. "Yes sir. What did you want?"

"You were right, Miss Chase." Tony said. "JARVIS confirmed your theory. The scepter is protecting something powerful inside." Tony checked his watch. "Oh, Barton wants his drink. I'll inform you later, Miss Chase."

Percy watched as Dr. Cho healed Barton. It was impressive, but he didn't really have an eye for this sort of stuff. If Will Solace was here, however, he'd probably have a stroke.

"You sure this guy's gonna be all right?" Natasha asked Dr. Cho. "Pretending to need this guy really has an impact on the team."

"There's no possibility of deterioration. The nano-molecular functionality is instantaneous. His cells don't know they're bonding with simulacrum." Dr. Cho said. "I'm sorry; I lost interest after the fourth word." Percy said. "Is he gonna be fine or not?" Dr. Cho gave him a scathing look. "She's creating tissue." Clint said. "Now that I can understand." Percy said, just as Tony walked in with some drinks.

"Oh, he's flat lining. Call it. Time?" Tony said, checking his watch. "No, no, no, I'm gonna live forever!" Clint groaned. "I'll be made of plastic."

Dr. Cho smiled at him. "You'll be made of you, Mr. Barton. Your own girlfriend won't tell the difference."
"Well, I don't have a girlfriend." Clint replied. "That I can't fix." She faced Tony. "This is the next thing, Tony. Your clunky metal suits will be left in the dust."

Tony shrugged. "Well, that is exactly the plan. I expect to see you at the party, Helen." Dr. Cho looked down at her scientific equipment. "Unlike you, I don't have unlimited party time." She hesitated. "Will Thor be there?"

Annabeth walked into Tony's office where Bruce and Tony were waiting for her. "You called me, boss?" She asked, setting down her pen and paper. Tony nodded at it. "You came prepared?" Annabeth grinned. "When Tony Stark calls you into his lab with a scientist, you can be prepared to bet there will be math involved."

Tony raised his eyebrows. "Since when were you so observant?"

"I've always been observant, Mr. Stark. You just haven't noticed until now." Bruce snorted. "So, what's the rumpus?" He asked. Tony walked over to the scepter. "Well, the scepter. You see, we were wondering how Strucker got so inventive, so I've been analyzing the gem inside you may recognize."

Tony pulled out a remote and a picture of JARVIS's conscience. "JARVIS." Bruce and Annabeth said at the same time. "Doctor. Miss Chase." JARVIS replied. "Started out, JARVIS was just a natural language UI." Tony said. "Now he runs the Iron Legion. He runs more of the company than anyone besides Pepper." Annabeth grinned. She'd always like Pepper Potts.

"Top of the line." Tony said, pointing to the yellow imagine. "Yeah," Annabeth said. "I suspect not for long." JARVIS said. "Yes, but this doesn't explain why-"Annabeth started saying but was cut off.

"Meet the competition." Said Tony, and pulled up a different pulsating sphere, this time blue. Annabeth and Bruce both stared at it. It was significantly more complicated then JARVIS. "It's beautiful," Bruce said, and walked closer to it. "If you had to guess, what does it look like to you?" Tony asked them.

"Like it's… thinking. I mean, this could be…" Bruce said. "It's not a human mind." Annabeth said, also walking closer to it. "No," Bruce agreed. "But something remarkably close to it. I mean, look at this! It's like neurons firing."

Tony nodded. "Down in Strucker's lab, I saw some pretty advanced robotics works. They deep sized the data, but… he was probably knocking on one particular door." Bruce took off his glasses and looked at Tony. "Artificial Intelligence."

Annabeth felt a chill go down her back. Tony stepped closer to them. "This could be it. This could be the key to creating Ultron." Tony had pitched the idea two weeks ago, there was a long discussion, and eventually decided that it wasn't possible. "I thought Ultron was a fantasy." Bruce said, and Annabeth nodded in agreement. "Yesterday it was." Tony agreed. "But if we could harness this power, apply to my Iron Legion…"

"That's a mad sized if." Bruce said. "Our job is 'if'. What if you were sipping margaritas on a sun-drenched beach, turning brown instead of green?" Tony said, and turned to Annabeth. "And you… what if wherever you got your training wasn't needed anymore? What if whatever you had to fight was gone?" Annabeth was silent, but she had to admit that it sounded nice. No worrying about fighting monsters? A chance to be a normal teenager for once? She had never admitted how much she'd always longed for that.

"What if you didn't have to be always looking over your shoulder for VERONICA?" Tony asked. Bruce seemed to shrug that off. " Don't hate, I helped design VERONICA."

"As a worst case measure right?" Tony said. "But what if there was no worst case? What if the world was safe? What if the next time aliens roll up to the club-and they will- they couldn't get past the bouncer?" Annabeth knew the idea was too good to be true. There was no such thing as a perfect world. But the idea was tempting.

"The only people threatening this planet would be people." Bruce said, obviously still doubtful. "I want to apply this to the Ultron program, but JARVIS can't download a data schematic this dense." Tony continued, now seeming to plead with Annabeth and Bruce. "We can only do it while we have the scepter here. That's three days. Give me three days."

Annabeth was on the edge of agreeing, but could still see flaws in the plan. "If this thing is so smart, then what if it becomes self-aware?" She asked. Tony waved an impatient hand. "You've been watching too many sci-fi movies, kid."

"So you're going for artificial intelligence and you don't want to tell the team." Bruce said, almost angrily. "That's right." Tony said. "And you know why, 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." Tony said this with a new intensity that Annabeth had never heard before.

"Sounds like a cold world, Tony." Bruce said calmly. "I've seen colder." Tony's face hardened. "This one, this very vulnerable blue one? It needs Ultron." Tony walked out of the lab. "Peace in our time. Imagine that."

Annabeth and Bruce looked at each other and came to a silent agreement.

Over the next few days, Annabeth worked harder then she'd ever worked before. She'd even gotten more used to technology, and had stopped from cringing every time she tapped the screen. Tony and Bruce seemed to get more respect for her as she solved algorithms even they couldn't. On the third day, Annabeth was lying on the ground staring up at the ceiling, wishing that a new idea would come to her from sheer force.

"What did we miss?" Tony muttered, staring at the screen as well. Annabeth checked her watch. "Hey, it's party time. Pardon the pun." Bruce groaned but grinned. "You know, I've heard that you work better after a break." She said. Tony barely even look at her. "Mmm-hmm." He said.

Annabeth sighed and walked out of the lab, Bruce on her heels.

Percy was prepared for awkwardness. After all, he and Annabeth were easily the youngest people at the party, and, unable to give satisfactory answers for being there, eventually they walked into the corner of the room at stayed there. "So, what were you and Tony doing, stuck up in there for so long?" Percy finally asked. Annabeth started. "Mmm? Um, you know. Just work."

"That was a highly unspecific answer." Percy said, only half kidding, but he didn't pry. She would tell him when she wanted too. Bruce walked over to Natasha. "So, how did a girl like you end up working in a dump like this?" He asked.

Annabeth leaned over and muttered to Percy. "I wonder how long they've liked each other." She said. Percy stared at her. "What?" Annabeth laughed. "You're so clueless." She walked over across the room to get a drink, and Percy was sure he heard her mutter, "Boys."

After a while, everyone left and it was just the Avengers left in the tower. Percy and Annabeth walked over to the couch were they were gathering. "About time!" Tony said. "You party animals have been staying in the corner this whole time? What do the words 'social gathering' mean to you?"

Percy and Annabeth perched on the end of the couch. "It's a trick!" Clint said, obviously continuing their conversation. Percy glanced at the hammer on the table and grinned. Thor laughed. "Oh no, it's much more than that." Clint rolled his eyes and made a dramatic voice. "Uh, whosoever be he worthy shall haveth the power! Whatever man, it's a trick!" Thor winked at Percy and Annabeth. "Well, please be my guest." Clint stared. "Really?"

"Yeah." Thor said. "Oh, this is gonna be beautiful." Rhody said. "Clint, you've had a tough week, we won't hold it against you if you can't do it." Tony mocked him. Everyone laughed. Clint rolled up his sleeves, tried, and failed to lift the hammer. "I still don't know how you do it!"

"Smell the silent judgment?" Tony said. Clint gestured to him. "Please, Stark, by all means." Tony shrugged. "Never one to shrink from an honest challenge. It's physics."

Everyone laughed and muttered. "So if I lift it I rule Asgard?" Tony asked. "Yes, of course."

"I will be re-instituting Prima Nocta…" Tony tried to lift it but failed. "I'll be right back." He went and put on the arm of the Iron Man suit.

And so it went. Most Avengers tried it. All of them failed. Steve moved it an inch, which made Percy's respect for him increase even more. Percy was asked once, but didn't want to increase suspicion even more, so he and Annabeth declined.

"Widow?" Bruce said. Natasha grinned. "Oh, no no no. That's not a question I need answered."

"All deference to the man who wouldn't be king, but it's rigged." Tony said. "You bet your *censored*." Clint said. Maria Hill looked at Steve. "Um, Steve, he said a bad language word." Steve sighed and said to Tony, "Did you tell everyone about that?"

Tony ignored him. "The handle's imprinted. It's like a security code, right? 'Whosoever carries Thor's fingerprints' is, I think, the literal translation?" Thor stood up. "Well, that's a very, very interesting theory, but I have a simpler one," He picked up the hammer and spun it. "You're all not worthy." There was a murmur of complaining.

Percy and Annabeth grinned and it seemed they were finally having a good time. They should never have even thought that, because then the Fates were all like, 'HAHAHA! NOOBS!"

An ear-piercing sound vibrated around the room. They all cried out and put their hands over their ears. When it stopped, a metallic voice echoed around the room. "Worthy? No. How could you be worthy?" A disfigured robot with glowing blue eyes became apparent on the front of the room. "Stark." Steve said, staring at it. Tony tapped his phone. "JARVIS." Annabeth was looking at it with dawning horror. "What is that?" Percy asked.

"I'm sorry, I was asleep." The robot said. "Or was I a-dream?" Tony tapped his ear. "Reboot. Reboot. OS. We've got a buggy suit."

"No," Annabeth murmured. "No, it can't be." Percy had no idea what that was about, but they had bigger problems. "There was a terrible noise, and I was tangled in like… strings on me. Had to kill the other guy. He was a good guy." That was when Percy started getting a bad feeling.

"You killed someone?" Steve asked. "Wouldn't have been my first call." The robot said. "But then, down in the real world we're faced with ugly choices."

"Who sent you?" Thor asked. Hill cocked her gun. The robot's voice played a recording of Tony's. "' I see a suit of armor around the world.'" Annabeth gave a low groan. "Ultron!" Bruce said. "Who the heck is Ultron?" Percy asked.

"Not now, Percy." Annabeth muttered and drew her knife. Typical Annabeth. Never without a weapon. "In the flesh," Ultron confirmed. "Or rather, not. Not yet. This is the chrysalis. But I'm ready. I'm on a mission."

"What mission?" Natasha's voice was deceptively calm. "Peace in our time." Ultron said, and out of the walls exploded the Iron Legion.

A/N Yay! We finished! Thanks to all my great reviewers. Shout outs too:
NinjaFang1331
Symbylosis
anikabagnell05
Gottalovebooks14
mayito 300
DaughterofAthena223 (twice-double shout out!)
ShadeFireDragon

And of course, special thanks to Sparksofrandomness for alerting me to an issue in my writing. I wasn't aware of these so thanks so much for helping me! After I saw this review, I went immediately and fixed it.