Make You Feel My Love
~Book III~

Disclaimer: I do not own the Avengers nor do I own the plot of Age of Ultron. All rights go to Marvel.
All I do own are my own characters and their stories.

~Chapter 14~
Ultron's Recruiting

"All our work is gone," said Bruce as he stepped away from the main computer in the lab. "Ultron cleared out. He used the Internet as an escape hatch."

"Ultron…" repeated Steve to himself in an irritated voice, to which both Sam and Maria looked at him with the equal amount of irritation mixed in with worry.

"He's been in everything. Files, surveillance. Probably knows more about us than we know about each other," said Natasha.

"I hope not," said Maria, indicating the fact that they were a team and shouldn't keep secrets from each other to which Natasha only offered her an unreadable look.

"He's in your files, he's in the internet," said Rhodey. "What if he decides to access something a little more exciting?"

"Nuclear codes," said Hill, earning a nod of Rhodey's head.

"Nuclear codes," repeated Rhodey. "Look, we need to make some calls. Assuming we still can."

"Nukes? He said he wanted us dead," said Natasha.

"He didn't say 'dead'. He said 'extinct'," said Steve, his eyes glancing softly at Maria once before looking back at the others with a more determined look. Obviously, he was worried about her safety, though probably not as worried as Maria was for his safety.

"He also said he killed somebody," said Clint.

"There wasn't anyone else in the building," said Hill, shaking her head.

"Yes, there was," said Tony, finally speaking up again as he walked over to the center of the room, his PAD in his hand.

With a flick of his PAD, a holographic picture appeared in front of him, making everyone take a step forwards to get a better look at it. Maria only saw orange lines and dots, not understanding why Tony had sounded so grave and saddened.

"What is it?" asked Maria quietly, wondering if she was the only one confused as hell.

"Jarvis…" breathed Bruce as he went to stand next to Tony, putting his glasses on.

Although she was still confused about how an AI could be killed and seen with her eyes in such a way, she stayed quiet and simply watched the scene before her. Deeming it inappropriate to ask for a clarification when Tony and Bruce both looked rather distraught at the sight of Jarvis' distraught 'body'.

"This is insane," said Bruce, glancing once at Tony before looking back at Jarvis.

"Jarvis was the first line of defense. He would have shut Ultron down. It makes sense," said Steve.

"No, Ultron could've assimilated Jarvis. This isn't strategy. This is… rage," said Bruce.

"But how can Ultron feel rage if he's an AI like Jarvis?" asked Maria.

"He's an AI… But a much more complex AI. Made out of the power from Loki's scepter," explained Bruce.

"You experimented on it?" asked Steve at the same time as Thor appeared again, now fully wearing his armor and cape again.

Tony was about to defend himself, though Thor didn't stop walking. Instead, he walked straight up to Tony and placed a hand around his throat, lifting him up.

"Thor!" exclaimed Maria.

"Come on, use your words, buddy," croaked Tony.

"I have more than enough words to describe you, Stark," said Thor, obvious anger directed towards Tony.

"Thor," said Steve quickly. "The Legionnaire."

At Steve's demand for a report, Thor let go of Tony who stumbled backwards, grasping his now sore throat and exchanging a worried look with Maria who afterwards, when she realized he was okay, simply shook his head at him disappointed.

"Trail went cold about 100 miles out, but it's headed north," said Thor. "And it has the scepter. Now we have to retrieve it, again."

"Genie's out of that bottle," said Natasha. "Clear and present is Ultron."

"She's right, if Ultron is the 'AI' that came from the scepter - with a little bit of help from Stark and Banner over here, retrieving the scepter isn't our first priority," said Maria.

"Unless Ultron uses the scepter to make more like him," said Sam to which Maria bit her lip in worry.

"I don't understand," said doctor Cho. "You built this program. Why is it trying to kill us?"

Tony's only reply to that, was laughter. Which shocked not only Maria. The others all watched him as he laughed, Bruce trying to quietly tell him that it wasn't the best of times to laugh about the situation at all.

"You think this is funny?" asked Thor, voicing what everyone was thinking.

Tony turned, his laughter having died down; "No. It's probably not, right? This is very terrible. Is it so… Is it so… It is. It's so terrible."

Maria raised an eyebrow at him, showing her obvious disdain towards his reaction to the situation at hand as he looked at her.

"This could have been avoided if you hadn't played-"

"No. I'm sorry, I'm sorry-"

"- with something you don't understand," said Thor, ignoring Tony's attempt to cut him off.

"It is funny," he said, earning a shake of Maria's head. "It's a hoot that you don't get why we need this."

"A murdering AI? Yeah, we don't quite understand why we need it," said Maria sarcastically, earning a worried look from Bruce – who for obvious reasons never had liked conflicts.

"Tony, maybe this might not be the time," started Bruce though was cut off by Tony.

"Really?" he asked Bruce. "That's it? You just roll over, show your belly every time somebody snarls?"

"Only when I've created a murder bot," replied Bruce.

"We didn't," replied Tony. "We weren't even close. Were we close to an interface?"

"Well, you did something right," said Steve. "And you did it right here. The Avengers were supposed to be different than SHIELD."

Tony sighed. "Anybody remember when I carried a nuke through a wormhole?" he asked to which most people sighed and groaned as though they had heard the story a thousand times.

Only Maria, Steve, Thor and Bruce stayed quiet, watching Tony. They knew how much Tony had struggled to get over the fact with aliens and for him to mention it, although it did sound a little bit arrogant, must mean that he had a very good reason to do so.

"No, it's never come up," said Rhodey sarcastically.

"Saved New York?" asked Tony.

"Never heard that," continued Rhodey.

"Recall that? A hostile alien army came charging through a hole in space. We're standing 300 feet below it," said Tony. "We're the Avengers. We can bust arms dealers all the livelong day, but… That up there, that's… That's the endgame. How were you guys planning on beating that?"

"Together," replied Steve, earning somewhat of a shocked look from Tony.

"We'll lose," he said.

"Then we do that together too," replied Steve determined. "Thor's right. Ultron's calling us out. And I'd like to find him before he's ready for us. The world's a big place. Let's start making it smaller."

Maria watched Tony turn his back on the team, his head lowering slightly as though he was struggling with something after what Steve had said. For a couple of seconds, she wanted to go up and ask him what was wrong. Though then it struck her that it must be quite obvious. He had just created a murder bot, as Bruce so kindly called it. And the team was mad at him. At least, she assumed that was what was wrong.

Sokovia

Three years ago, the thug who now was Erik's right hand had been called in by Hydra to work on the laboratory Erik ran. Throughout the years, they had become better and better friends, and now, he was where he was now, always following Erik's orders and never actually disobeying. When he did, he did it because he fought it was going to be one of Erik's bad decisions. Luckily, Erik appreciated this and never got mad with him.

His name was Harry; born and raised in Mississippi. His parents had died in a car crash, leaving all their debts for Harry to pay which had been impossible. His search for a well-paying job had led him to Hydra.

Currently, Harry was out in the city of Sokovia, looking for two people whom his boss' new 'boss' wanted to meet. These two being the Maximoff twins. When he did find them, he was stunned to find the two whom he presumed were on the same side as Erik Dalton and this Ultron guy, giving out clothes and blankets to the people of Sokovia after they had been hit by the attack on the former base of Strucker.

"Maximoff?"

Both twins looked over at Harry as he spoke.

"I have someone who wants to meet you," continued Harry.

"Who?" asked Pietro, clearly suspicious by the approach of the American man.

Harry smirked, knowing exactly what would get them to come with them.

"A man."

"What man?" asked Wanda.

"The iron man…"

Harry led them over to the church located in the center of Sokovia. Both twins walked side by side behind Harry, clearly still suspicious. They probably knew it wasn't the actual Iron Man. Though it had intrigued them enough to tag along with Harry, especially after Harry had told them it was a once in a life-time bargain they would get if they came with him.

Harry walked over to stand at the side as the twins reached the church. In the middle of the big hall one entered first, was a chair, its back directed towards the twins. Erik stood beside it, watching them as they stopped and stared.

"So, you're Strucker's finest work?" asked Erik, clasping his hands together behind his back, narrowing his eyes slightly. "Interesting…"

"The iron man?" asked Pietro.

Erik smirked, gesturing towards the chair where one could clearly see someone was sitting, a cape draped over them.

"Talk," said Wanda. "And if you are wasting our time-"

"Did you know this church is in the exact center of the city?" asked Ultron. "The elders decreed it so that everyone could be equally close to God. I like that. The geometry of belief."

Erik felt intrigued and even more happy about the fact he had agreed to help Ultron when he saw Wanda Maximoff's eyes turn red.

"You're wondering why you can't look inside my head," said Ultron, his back still facing the twins.

"Sometimes it's hard. But sooner or later, every man shows himself," said Wanda.

Ultron stood up from his chair then, taking the cape off of him and turning to face the twins. He walked forwards as the twins staggered backwards slightly at the sight of him while Erik simply smirked.

"Oh, I'm sure they do," he said. "But you needed more than a man. That's why you let Stark take the scepter."

"I didn't expect, but I saw Stark's fear," said Wanda, nodding her head. "I knew it would control him. Make him self-destruct."

Ultron nodded his head. "Everyone creates the thing they dread. Men of peace create engines of war. Invaders create Avengers. People create… smaller people? Uh, 'children'! I lost the word, there. Children… designed to supplant them, to help them… end."

"Is that why you've come? To end the Avengers?" asked Wanda.

"I've come to save the world," said Ultron. "But also, yeah."

A smirk appeared on Erik's lips.

Avengers Tower, New York

"Go home, Sam," said Maria, placing a hand on his arm as she sat down next to him. "You don't want to be a part of this mess."

"I feel like I already am," he replied.

He was sitting on the floor by the windows in the trashed living room, looking out over New York.

"Just a bit. At least you don't have to be even more a part of this," said Maria. "This is our mess… Tony and Bruce are on our team. We have to fix this."

"I've been thinking about that…"

"What?"

"The team," he said, looking at Maria. "I've got the suit and I'm helping Steve with Bucky. Maybe it's time for me to consider being more than just the outside help."

"You want to join the Avengers?" asked Maria quietly before smiling. "I would like that. And I'm sure Steve would too. You're our friend. Having an excuse to see you more often isn't bad. But you gotta be sure."

Sam sighed, looking back out over the city.

"We deal with strange things, Sam. Not just thugs," she continued.

"I know…"

"Go home," said Maria again. "Think about it and stay away from this mess. If you're still sure after we've dealt with this, then you can join."

For a while, Sam continued to stare out through the window, Maria watching him as he contemplated what she had just said.

"Yeah, I like that idea," said Sam. "Tell Steve I said bye."

"Of course." Sam stood up, leaving Maria on the floor. He smiled down at her once before turning and walking towards the elevator, which was still functioning even after everything the tower had been through.

Maria was left alone in the living room. A breeze coming from the gaping hole in the wall to the left made it a bit chilly in there, though it felt good to get some fresh air. The city outside was mostly asleep by now seeing as sunrise was close. And the silence that surrounded Maria calmed her down. She was going over what had happened the past night in her head; remembering her and Steve nearly lifting the hammer, Ultron appearing, the fight with the taken Legionnaire and their plan. If it was a plan. Mostly, this plan just consisted of the Avengers trying their best to find anything on Ultron; where he was and what his plan actually was. After all, even though they knew what Ultron wanted his plan to have for outcome; the extinction of the Avengers, they didn't know how he was planning on getting that outcome. Not only that, but they were afraid that he was going to hurt people, civilians, if they let him wander around carefree for too long.

Footsteps behind Maria was what made her snap out of her trail of thoughts. She turned her head ever so slightly to see who had approached her and saw the faint color of Steve's blue shirt.

"I sent Sam back home. He says goodbye," said Maria as Steve sat down next to her where Sam had been sitting earlier.

"Good… He's not ready to deal with something as big as this," said Steve.

"He wants to join, you know."

Steve smiled, nodding his head. "I'd be surprised if he didn't. He's got the potential."

Maria smiled at this before her smile slowly faded away, a question repeating itself silently in her mind as it had been doing for the past few hours, ever since Ultron had appeared.

"The wedding's not going to happen any time soon, is it?"

A silence followed her question in which Maria looked over at Steve, worried she might have said something wrong. Though he simply looked at her fondly, a soft smile playing on his lips.

"No, it won't," he said, shifting slightly so that he could put his arm around her. "But it will happen."

"God… we were having so much fun," said Maria, her fingers fumbling with a fold in Steve's pants above his knee. "Why did this have to happen? What drove Tony to do something so stupid?"

"Stark and Banner."

"You know those two, Steve. Bruce would never do something as hasty and naively as this and Tony is very good at persuading Bruce," said Maria. "This is all Stark."

"Maybe it is," sighed Steve. "Either way, I believe fear is what drove him to do it."

"Fear of what?"

"Well, you heard him talking about the Chitauri and from what I've heard from you, Tony never really managed to grasp the context of aliens existing even if Thor is walking amongst us," said Steve. "And I suppose, aliens being something new which he can't study or know more about with the help of science, he's afraid. He knows they can be more powerful than all of Earth combined because he'd probably seen it when he went through that wormhole. He's scared of that… And I think he's putting the weight of the world on his shoulders alone."

"When in fact, it's the entire team's weight to carry," finished Maria, earning a nod from Steve. "Yeah, you're right, I think… Well, what about you? This entire world is new for you… How are you handling this entire thing with aliens?" d

"I don't know," he replied with a sigh. "I suppose the fact that this world is new for me makes it easier for me to understand the, uh, alien thing. Seeing as I just put it in the category of new things in this world. So, honestly, I'm fine. And you?"

Maria raised her eyebrows slightly, leaning her head against Steve's shoulder. "Well, I've always believed more in aliens than God, so, I'm quite alright with it. Yeah, it's scary to think they can just sort of annihilate Earth. But I'm good as long as Thor stays on our side."

"Yeah, Thor's going to be a big help with all this," agreed Steve before leaning his head slightly to the side so it was leaning against Maria's head. "This is going to be a couple of long weeks…"

"You said it," mumbled Maria, shifting her arms so she was hugging Steve from the side. "But at least we have each other… and the others of course."

Steve chuckled. "Yeah, we do."

Guys, don't forget to leave a comment every now and then. I appreciate those I've gotten A LOT, thanks for those 3. But it wouldn't hurt with a little more feedback even though I know my writing's not that good nor is my storytelling... But I am trying and I think I'm getting a little better at it...