I don't own The Avengers. Marvel Does. I only own my OCs.
During a moment of silence, Ultron, Carol, Thor and Loki simply stared at the elderly man with the eyepatch. What could he possibly want from them? He didn't give away any expression, not even anger. It was only then the thunder god decided to break the silence, so he took a few steps forward.
"Father," Thor proclaimed, "I can explain—"
The elderly man held up his hand, cutting off Thor's sentence.
"No need," he interrupted, "Heimdall told me everything."
Even Ultron found himself humbled by the presence of the King of Asgard himself, and refrained from making any cracks or comments that might anger the AllFather. Was he angered by the news of their mission? Ultron remembered hearing Thor and Loki share the tales of how Odin could be easily angered at times.
"Then you know why it was necessary," Loki responded to his adoptive father calmly, "we only barely beat Thanos's forces to the Soul Stone."
Odin merely nodded in response.
"Then I see no reason to continue your sentence, Loki," he commented.
Odin focused his eye on Ultron and Carol.
"And your friends here performed admirably in Midgard," Odin continued.
Carol blushed as she placed her hand behind her head.
"Aww," Carol chirped, "thanks!"
Thor looked hopeful at his father's words.
"Then…he can remain here to live with us?" he asked, "as my brother once more?"
Ultron would have sighed in relief, had he any lungs. Odin placed a finger on his chin.
"Considering Loki's encounter with Thanos, I could accept right away," Odin answered.
The AllFather stepped forward and placed his hand on Loki's shoulder.
"But you don't need to destroy Jotunheim to prove your worth, Loki," Odin continued.
Loki shrugged.
"Then do you have any better ideas than to prepare an axe?" mused Loki.
Odin hesitated for a moment, trying to come up with an answer, but…
"So, when was the last time you guys had some family time?" Carol interrupted.
Seconds later, all eyes locked onto Carol, including Ultron's optics. It was Thor who finally answered, a grin blooming on his face.
"Far, far too long," he said, and clapped one arm around Loki's shoulders, "and you, brother, are not going to avoid what I have planned to celebrate your full return."
Loki paled a bit.
"Oh no…" he murmured as Thor led him down the bridge towards the distant structures of Asgard.
"What's with him? He sounds rather…terrified," Ultron observed.
Odin let out a merry chuckle as he watched his sons fade into the distance, reunited after too long.
"Loki is not as prone to enjoying Thor's idea of a celebration."
"What's so bad about it?" Ultron asked.
"The last time Loki partook was to celebrate the end of a week long battle against marauding pirates on Niflheim," Odin explained, now following the bridge himself, "he drank so much that he almost triggered another battle with Niflheim."
Ultron looked down at Carol.
"I'm getting the sense that sorcerers and alcohol don't mix…god or not."
"Nope," Carol agreed.
Thus Odin, Ultron and Carol wandered down the bridge to the palace of Asgard, where they joined Thor, Loki, Volstagg, Fandral, Hogun and Sif for a nice luncheon feast. Carol was able to get a chance to try out lamb as Thor shared his story on his adventures to search for the Soul Stone. Once they finished lunch, Thor handed the Urn to Odin, who stored it into the vault before the AllFather escorted Thor, Loki, Ultron and Carol out of the palace and towards the Bifrost.
"Heimdall," Odin instructed, gesturing to Ultron and Carol, "send these guests back to Midgard."
Upon cue, Heimdall lowered his sword into its pedestal, triggering the Bifrost to activate and lock onto Earth.
"I guess I'll see you tomorrow," Loki said.
Odin and Thor exchanged confused glances before focusing their eyes on Loki.
"Is something the matter?" Odin asked.
Loki merely shrugged.
"I feel like spending some time with our friends here before we continue our search," Loki explained, gesturing to Ultron and Carol.
Thor nodded before turning his head at Loki.
"Take care, brother!" Thor called.
Upon cue, Loki followed Ultron and Carol to the Bifrost Bridge and they were whisked away across the cosmos. Once they landed at the platform of the base, the Bifrost dissipated, so Ultron, Carol and Loki stepped onto the elevator platform. Seconds later, it lowered itself deeper until they arrived at the hangar. It was then Carol tapped on Ultron's hip, catching his attention.
"Yes?" Ultron asked, tilting his head to the side.
"Can I get something from our room?" requested Carol.
Ultron nodded and gestured towards a hallway, so Carol and Loki followed him out of the hangar and through the hallway until they reached the door to Ultron and Carol's shared room. Ultron stepped closer to the door until it slid open before he escorted Carol inside. The teenage girl removed her backpack and her gauntlet before placing it in the closet. She gathered her clipboard case and her pencil case from her desk before emerging from the room.
"Well, I was wondering what she was trying to get," Loki commented.
"I have some sketches to work on," Carol replied.
"S-Sketches?" Loki paused, confusion filling his eyes as he tilted his head towards Ultron.
"She likes to draw," clarified Ultron.
"I see," Loki mused, "is there a library?"
Ultron shook his head, but just before Loki could lower his head…
"You can check the recreation room if you'd like," Ultron offered.
Ultron, Carol and Loki wandered through the hallways until they stepped into the recreation room. Carol sat down at the couch facing the entertainment center while Loki located a few bookshelves at the southeast corner and began browsing them.
"Interesting collection you have here, Ultron," Loki said, "how did you get your hands on them?"
Ultron approached Loki from behind.
"Simple," answered Ultron, "I asked each of the Avengers on what titles they like and I had a few of my drones purchase them and bring them here."
Ultron placed his hand on Loki's shoulder, sending a chill down the trickster's spine.
"But if none of these titles interest you," Ultron continued, "I could let you browse on Amazon and see what books you would like me to purchase."
Loki let out a sigh before he turned his head and glared at Ultron.
"I would appreciate it if you get your hand off me," Loki muttered.
Upon cue, Ultron quickly withdrew his hand.
"Well," chuckled Ultron, "I'll just leave you alone for a bit."
Ultron stepped away and headed for the entertainment system while Loki continued browsing the shelves. At the same time, Carol was working on her sketch on the clipboard case while her boyfriend sat down next to her.
"Hey, Ultron!" chirped Carol.
"Would you like to watch anything?" purred Ultron.
Ultron picked up the remote and turned on the TV, scrolling to Netflix and logging in. That was enough for Carol to pause in her tracks and set her clipboard case aside.
"There's this one show that I really like," Carol said, plucking the remote from Ultron's hand, "and I hope you'll love it."
Carol scrolled through the menu until it stopped at Futurama.
"Is that," asked Ultron, "an animated comedy?"
"One that takes place in the future," Carol nodded.
Carol started to play the first episode before handing the remote back to Ultron and grabbing her clipboard case. By now, Loki pulled out The Hobbit and ambled over to the entertainment center before he sat down and started reading. Maybe Ultron should ask Carol if she's hungry after the first episode?
Meanwhile, Natasha, Clint and Helen wandered through the streets of Queens, trying to reach an apartment building. They were lucky Vision helped them research Peter Parker and pinpoint the location of his home. Once they stopped at an apartment building, Natasha checked her GPS.
"We're at the right building," Natasha announced.
Clint tilted his head upwards, examining the apartment building in front of him. After a few seconds, he let out a sigh of relief.
"That's great!" he said, "it'll save us from going in circles."
Well, Clint did have a point, but Natasha reminded herself that they had an objective, so she led Clint and Helen through the front door into the apartment building. There, she checked her note, concealing it with her hand so no curious eye would peek at it. She stashed the note into her pocket seconds later.
"If the elevators aren't working," Natasha suggested, "then we could find a staircase."
"I probably should've taken a water bottle with me," muttered Clint.
Natasha, Clint and Helen wandered through the hall until they reached the elevators. The archer pressed on a button and waited until moments later, one of the elevator doors opened. They stepped into the elevator before Helen pressed on the button indicating a floor. Seconds later, the door closed itself and the elevator ascended the building on its cables. It may have stopped at a couple floors so a few more passengers could board the elevator, but soon, the elevator stopped at its destination and opened its doors, allowing Natasha, Clint and Helen to disembark. They wandered through the hall until they stopped at a door. Once Natasha checked the address in her note, she knocked on the door.
They soon heard the sound of someone moving around inside the apartment.
"Coming!"
After several moments of hurried steps and something scraping across the floor the lock on the door gave a 'click' before being opened to reveal a familiar, lanky teenager with brown hair.
"Uh, yes, can I help you?" he asked, looking as though he had just run a mile instead of ten to twenty feet to answer the door.
Clint and Natasha exchanged a look while Helen stepped forward.
"Peter Parker?"
"Yes, yeah," the boy nodded quickly, composing himself, "that's me…why are you asking me my name?"
Clint scratched his head.
"We were informed that you were bitten by one of the rare spiders at the insect exhibit," Natasha explained.
"We came here to obtain a blood sample," added Helen, "to ensure you aren't experiencing any health problems."
Peter tilted his head sideways while giving Natasha, Clint and Helen a confused stare.
"Well," admitted Peter, "so far, I didn't get sick."
"Not yet, and hopefully not at all," Helen nodded, "but you see, Mr. Parker, reactions to this particular species of spider and their venom tend to vary. It could occur within mere seconds of exposure or potentially days or even weeks. We just want to be certain that if your body is having a delayed reaction, we can identify it and take steps to prevent it before anything happens."
She was hoping to use a logical or at least reasonable explanation to convince him to cooperate. If worst came to worst then Clint or Natasha could sedate him and acquire the blood sample without any trouble or risk of harm to him, but Helen strongly preferred a less confrontational approach to this, given Peter's age.
Still, Peter wondered if he'll come across any effects later on, so he felt it would be best if he was notified about them ahead of time.
"I guess…I guess it wouldn't hurt," Peter answered.
As soon as Peter said that, he rolled up his sleeve.
"Why don't we take a seat for this?" Helen requested, but nonetheless reached into her bag with one hand and gestured towards a couch behind Peter, "it's advisable to be sitting down when having blood extracted."
Having donated blood at least once, and thankfully prior to potentially being exposed to spider venom, Peter saw the sense in this and sat down on the couch, keeping his arm outstretched as Helena set up a small bag connected to a syringe which she gently inserted into Peter's forearm. She instructed him to periodically flex his hand, clenching it into a fist and then unclenching it again as the bag slowly filled up.
"Peter? I'm home!" the voice of a woman called from the still open door, allowing the newcomer to spot Clint just inside, "pardon me, but what are you doing in my apartment?"
Peter looked towards the door.
"It's okay, Aunt May, they're here about that spider bite I told you about," he quickly explained.
Aunt May gave Clint and Natasha a confused stare.
"You…also heard of the bite?" she asked.
To break the silence, Natasha stepped closer to Aunt May.
"One of the volunteers informed us about it," answered Natasha.
A moment or so later, Helen finished obtaining the blood sample, so she removed the needle from Peter's arm and bandaged it before putting away the syringe and the bag.
"Thank you for your time," said Helen, "we'll notify you once we find any sudden changes."
Peter nodded and stood from the couch.
"No problem," he replied.
While Peter returned to his room, Aunt May stepped further into the apartment so as to allow free passage to the door.
"Are you sure he's not going to melt into a radioactive mess?" she asked.
"I'm sure people don't do that when they get bitten by spiders," Natasha assured May.
Aunt May sighed in relief. Just as Natasha, Clint and Helen left the apartment, Clint turned his head at Aunt May.
"You guys take care, ok?" Clint suggested.
"We will," Aunt May nodded.
With a wink, Clint stepped out of the apartment and followed Natasha and Helen out of the building. They wandered through the city, taking a subway car along the way before they returned to the Avengers facility. Once they stepped inside, they meandered through the hallway until they reached the medical lab, where Helen pulled out the bag of blood, preparing to analyze it. Any information they could find about such a mutation would soon be worth it.
I'm still open to suggestions on how to continue the fanfic.
Please leave a review, so Ultron and Loki would be happy.