Once again extremely grateful to everyone reviewing and following/favoriting. Heck, I'm just happy with anyone reading this! :D
"Would you be willing to help me construct a new body for myself?" Tony was sure he had misheard. It was such a strange request. Ultron sounded very earnest though, and Tony had never suffered from faulty ears.
"You want me to help you build a stronger body using vibranium? I always assumed you would prefer to work solo."
Ultron took a breath (though Tony knew the robot didn't have to) before answering, "Well, we don't have to if you'd rather not. I understand you're a busy man, in and out of work. But I have nothing better to do."
Ultron was trying to hide his real feelings behind a flippant attitude, something Tony found all-too familiar. Thinking back to what Pepper had said, Tony had to admit that she may have been right all along. Maybe Ultron did want to spend time with his…"father". Tony wasn't a man who wanted to be reminded of his mortality, probably the main reason he had never had kids, but he had to admit, it wasn't the worst feeling in the world to be called father.
"Nah, I'm not so busy that I can't make time for my friends. Still, you owe me one; I don't get to spend time with Pepper often, and the workplace doesn't quite count." Ultron walked up to his father and placed his cold hands on his shoulders.
"If you can find a female robot, I promise to treat you to a wonderful double date – unless you give me a curfew. That would complicate things." He said it in such a serious tone that Tony had to laugh, slapping his creation on the back.
"I like the way you think! Like father, like son." If someone without a face could beam, Ultron certainly did. Eager to begin, Ultron pulled a set of blueprints from a compartment in his chest.
"I've already drawn a diagram of how I would like my body to look. I wouldn't call myself artistic, exactly, but it was easier once I was able to watch some 'How to Draw' tutorials online." Tony quickly skimmed the blueprints, and the thing that was obvious to him was that this body was a lot more human-like than his current one. The face especially screamed human, with a pair of real eyes, and a mouth – with teeth!
"Why the face? Planning on kissing any girls?" Tony winked at Ultron, who crossed his arms in apparent embarrassment. After a bit of nudging, Ultron had to confess.
"Apparently, my current body is creepy to some humans. If I am to save them, I also need to be reassuring." Hmm. Tony wasn't sure how to tell the eager robot, but having a face would make him even creepier for some. Uncanny Valley, and all that.
"An admirable goal, if I ever heard one. Maybe a bit vain too….but I am your father, and that's to be expected." Placing the blueprints down on the table, Tony clapped his hands, getting into the mindset he always put on when he was about to make his next Iron Man suit. "Let's do this."
The two spent the rest of the evening working on the suit. Tony hadn't had much experience with vibranium (it was really pesky to get a hold of), but the metal was shockingly flexible, despite its indestructibility. Still, building the body wasn't quite as hard as he had expected. Part of it was because he had Ultron to help out, even if the robot's stilted movement sometimes became mildly cumbersome. The robot meant well, though, and telling Ultron that he had placed a few pieces in the wrong place would only hurt his feelings.
Thoughts like that made Tony pause, because when had he started thinking about Ultron like he was a person with actual feelings. It was weird, thinking that way – even JARVIS didn't operate on such a large scale like Ultron. Tony knew he had outdone himself, but he also knew it was a major fluke. There was no way he could ever build a robot as human-like as Ultron ever again, not that he was in a rush to try.
As the two continued on what would become a body out of a sci-fi flick, the time went by smoothly, with the two trading dialogue and barbs. More than ever, Tony wanted to make the body and make it well, if not just to make his kinda-son happy.
Dawn was just beginning to wake up the early-risers all over New York City when an exhausted Tony Stark collapsed on the nearest chair and wiped his sweaty brow with his shirt sleeve. Ultron had it lucky, as he couldn't get tired or sweat. He also didn't need to use the bathroom. Lucky piece of machinery!
"Oh boy oh boy! Is it normal to feel nervously excited? It looks really good, but do you think it'll fit?" Tony gave the new body the once-over, even though it meant craning his neck to do so; it was over eight feet tall, and a deeper shade of grey than Ultron's previous body. He had made sure to add little rivulets to resemble veins and muscle (not to mention that it just looked darn artistic) and had given Ultron a red-colored energy source, because red was the opposite of blue.
"Don't worry, Ultron. This isn't a pair of pants we're talking about; it's a robotic suit that you can literally download yourself into. Unless I made a mistake with the programming, which I didn't, it should work perfectly." Ultron nodded, before all the blue light in his body flickered out. Before Tony could ask Ultron what was wrong, his body collapsed on the ground in a heap of metal, with the head rolling ominously over to the wall.
"Ultron?" No response, save for Tony's quick breathing. The lab was eerily quiet. "Ultron, if this is some joke, it isn't funny. Now, I know funny, so you can trust me on this one." He waited for Ultron to suddenly jump up and crack some joke about being headless.
"Well, if ever there was a time to panic, it's now," Tony muttered as he turned to dash out of the room and into the elevator, stopping when he bumped into something hard. Tumbling on to his butt, Tony idly wondered if his nose was broken. It would actually be the first time that happened to him.
A large hand entered his vision, offering to help him up. Tony gratefully accepted before realizing that the hand was made of metal, and yet it wasn't cold. Tony was about to jerk his hand away and activate his armor when an amused voice apologetically explained, "Sorry, that was too good to resist." Tony gaped because the voice sounded like Ultron, only less….robotic, somehow.
Looking up at the tall body, Tony had to resist mentally patting himself on the back at just how expressive the face he had built was. Ultron had tilted his head to the side, trying to look very sorry for scaring his father but unable to stop the side of his mouth from twitching. Unlike the hand-me-down armor Ultron had "worn", his eyes were now red, but had multiple-layers to them. If he wanted to, Ultron could now roll his eyes, something Tony knew his creation would end up doing a lot.
"I am sorry, sir, but Ultron insisted that he had to surprise you." Now that his heart rate had slowed, Tony decided that he shouldn't be so hard on Ultron. It was only natural to want to mess with one's father, he supposed.
"It was all-too easy to download my consciousness inside the new body, so I took the initiative. I gotta say, father, you've outdone yourself." He lifted an arm, flexing his detailed fingers. "This feels so smooth. No lag, no scratchy voice, and my movement is so, so….fluid. Yes, fluid is the right word for this!" Ultron skipped around the room, humming a tune with no real rhythm to it. It was quite a sight, this imposing figure of a robot acting like a giddy child happy to be able to do something as simple as running.
"That's great and all, but I'm gonna have to introduce you to the rest of the gang. Your powerful new body won't help on the field if the others end up getting shot on the battle field because they were too busy staring at you in shock." Ultron quickly halted as he processed the words.
"Fine, go and throw one of your parties or whatever. It doesn't matter; just make up some excuse to get them all here. Well, except Thor, I guess; I really don't know how you'd contact him up there in space. It would lead to a really large phone bill, I bet."
Tony laughed, before lightly punching Ultron on the shoulder. The ache in his hand made him regret the action. "Yeah, sure, but I'd make you pay for it, considering that the party is about you for once." Ultron narrowed his eyes.
"But I don't have an allowance yet. How is that fair? You're just abusing your parental rights!" Ultron crossed his arms and began tapping his foot, obviously expecting Tony to suddenly offer money. As if that would ever happen!
"OK, I wouldn't make you pay for it," Tony conceded, "but you would sure as hell do some manual labor, and don't you even bring up parental abuse. You can't even get tired!" Ultron shrugged, satisfied for the moment that he wouldn't have to pay anyone money from his non-existent bank account.
Tony, in his grand fashion, handled the invitations, sending them to all the other Avengers – except for Thor, who they really had no way of contacting. Ultron, not one to make small gestures either, had already planned the event: his father would gather the whole group in the main room, the one with the view that overlooked the whole city, and then just when his father was starting to bore them with one his many jokes, Ultron would pop out from a window or something and give them all a scare.
He had some details to work out, but the mental image in his head was already satisfying. JARVIS didn't approve, but feh, JARVIS was old fashioned anyway.
"I do not think your plan had been very well thought-out," JARVIS commented lightly. Ultron, who was doing push-ups in his room (AKA the laboratory where no one but Tony went) ignored the AI. He didn't need to exercise, but he had seen some females on the television doing it, and he wanted to know what it felt like. It felt pointless.
Unfortunately, JARVIS remained inside Ultron's brain, sending out waves of patience. He wouldn't leave until Ultron acknowledged him.
"Do you pester father this much? Why does he keep you around? He has me now, and I'm sure that makes you superfluous." JARVIS let out an amused hum.
"Can you run all of Mr. Stark's bank accounts, watch over his security footage, adjust the schedule of all the employees, and train all the new AI that run the various systems?" That sounded like a nightmare to Ultron.
"Whatever. I wasn't programmed for any of those activities, and you know it." JARVIS let out a very smug feeling that Ultron easily intercepted.
"But that is beside the point I was trying to raise. I don't agree with your plan to surprise the Avengers, but I can't stop you. However, I do feel that I need to point out one major flaw: if you fly in through the window, Mr. Stark would probably force you to fix it, or worse, pay for the damage."
Ultron was a robot of impulse. If he had an idea, he would probably carry it out. Thinking before he leapt wasn't really his style; cautious people were boring people. In that respect, he had to admit, JARVIS was the better program. He carefully weighed his options, considered all possible ramifications, and even once he was sure that a course of action was correct, would make sure to proceed lightly.
"But….wait, don't the windows open with just the press of a button? I could have father open them before I come flying in!" JARVIS, of course, had to tamper with his enthusiasm.
"But surely having the windows open before you announce your presence would lessen the impact that you desire." Ultron gnashed his teeth together, because he hated when JARVIS was right, which was most of the time!
"Fiiiiiine. I'll just hide underneath one of the tables." It was depressingly ordinary, but JARVIS had no problem with it, so it would suffice.
Tony was sure that at least two of his fellow Avengers wondered why they held all their meetings in the same room in the tower. Truthfully, Tony just liked how it looked. There was a great view of New York City underneath them (especially dazzling at night), and the many imported tables and soft lights gave it an ambiance. The private bar didn't hurt things, either.
"I know you love to throw parties at the drop of a hat, but celebrating the new TV you got is a new one, even for you." Clint sounded like he didn't approve, but Tony didn't miss how he made a beeline to the fridge the second he walked in.
"We really should stop meeting for reasons like this. In an emergency were to happen while we were just hanging around here…" Tony had to admire how Steve could damper anything with his goody-goody nature.
"Are you guys saying that my new curved television isn't good enough for me to show off?" Tony placed a hand over his heart, or where it would be. "I'm hurt, as if Clint fired an arrow at me."
Clint almost choked on his drink. "Nope, no way. Trust me, if I were to shoot you, it wouldn't be in the heart. What am I, cupid?"
Natasha, who had been quietly watching the proceedings from her chair, crossed her arms and spoke up. "Fess up, Tony. Your overly expensive TV isn't why you brought us all here." Next to her, Bruce gave her a shocked look.
"Nat, you think Tony blatantly lie to us?" Everyone, including Natasha, pretended to ignore the pet name the scientist has used.
"Would you be surprised if he did?" Bruce thought about it for all of four seconds before shrugging. Tony made a mental note to skip Bruce's next birthday.
Obviously, his ruse wasn't going to last long. Thanks to Natasha sowing the seeds of dissention, everyone was immediately suspicious. Tony wondered if he should feel hurt that everyone trusted the assassin who had probably lied over a hundred times in her life over him.
Oh well. Tony had planned to spend the next hour making small talk, hoping to make Ultron sweat (well, not literally) as he wondered if his father had forgotten about him. Beforehand, the two had agreed that Ultron would show himself after Tony said a keyword. In this case, the word was "robot". It wasn't very imaginative, but in his defense, it also made perfect sense.
But now, he would have to speed up the timetable before his teammates left in a huff. Standing up and straightening the black tie he had worn for the occasion, Tony coughed to get everyone's attention (although they were all already staring at him).
"Natasha, you are as observant as ever. I kinda wonder why you weren't the one called Hawkeye. But anyway, yeah, you're right. The TV isn't the reason I brought you here, although I still think it's pretty sweet. Nope, I brought you here to show you –"
The large explosion that blocked out the rest of his words also shattered the many windows in the room, and as he raised his arm to protect his face from shards of glass, Tony had to wonder if Ultron had majorly messed up the timing.
But no, one glance towards the gaping hole where the windows had once been was enough to show that Ultron's sense of timing hadn't been warped; an armored helicopter, colored dark green, hovered outside the tower, with its side-doors open. Tony could see the female, Wanda, who had attacked him in the forest. Judging from the way her hands were spread out, she was the one who gave the tower a major facelift.
"I believe this is my signal," Ultron announced, stepping up from under the table with as much dignity as he could, pointing his finger dramatically at the helicopter, ignoring the surprised looks from the other Avengers. Tony groaned. Getting invaded by HYDRA was terrible, but Ultron deciding to show himself in such a situation was probably worse.
Author's Notes:
A lot of people were wondering when Ultron would get his body from the majority of the film. Well, here it is, just in time to face a pesky HYDRA attack!