This is mostly a breather chapter, but I hope you enjoy it anyway. It leads into the final arc of this series. *sniff* It feels like I started this story just yesterday...

Oh, and thank you all for the reviews. This fic now has over 100. That's insane (none of my other fics even come close). Thank you all so much for reading.

"As far as I can tell, we're back at square one." Clint was reclining on a comfy leather chair back at the Avenger's Tower. Everyone else had joined him, except for Tony, holding a drink behind the bar counter, and Steve, standing near the window.

"Not quite," Ultron interrupted, mostly because he liked to show off his superior intellect next to Clint. He never claimed to be humble. "Despite the fact that Strucker escaped, he was obviously weakened to some extent. It's also apparent that he hasn't been able to fully master the property of the gems."

"How so? He seemed pretty competent to me." Clint bitterly rubbed a bruise on his calf. Ultron was glad that the archer was wearing pants, as he had no wish to see the purple mark. Human biology could be very gross.

"No, Ultron is right." All heads turned to Natasha, who daintily sipped her martini. Ultron wondered if she even realized how beautiful she looked. No, Ultron decided, of course she knew. It was probably something that caused many of her victims to underestimate her, before having their faces caved in.

"One of those Crimson Dynamo units attacked me. I don't think I need to give you guys the dirty details, but I'm pretty sure that the robot was using the power of an Infinity Gem. But its power seemed to run out as suddenly as it started."

Stark raised a hand, like someone might do at school. "I didn't want to be the first one to speak up, but yeah, something like that happened with my opponent. He was somehow able to slow my body down, or maybe the air around me. Heck, I don't know what these gems are capable of, but he almost killed me." Ultron balled his hands into fists at the thought of his father coming so close to death.

"The robot could have finished me off, but at the last second, I was able to move freely again, and unless Strucker suddenly grew a heart or gained some sense of mercy, I'm willing to bet that he was just as confused as we were."

"It's pretty safe to assume that this will probably make Strucker desperate. That tends to happen to any would-be dictator who has access to a super-weapon that he can't figure out how to use. A desperate man is a dangerous man, but also one who will make mistakes." No one could argue with Steve's logic.

Ultron, who had access to the cameras, noticed her presence moments before she timidly spoke up. "What of my brother? I do not wish to see him caught up in this." Wanda stood at the doorway, concern for her brother all over her face.

"I see Pepper got you acquainted with her wardrobe," Stark commented with a possibly inappropriate amount of approval. He wasn't wrong though; her dusty, torn up clothes had been replaced with the much more practical set of yellow top, blue jeans, and brown sandals. It was, Ultron noted, the first time any of them had seen her in casual wear.

Wanda pointedly ignored Stark, turning to everyone else to plead. "Strucker is a very violent and unpredictable man, and if what you say is true, it may only get worse. I do not wish to ask for your help, but I do not know if I will be able to save him by myself."

"We plan to bring Strucker down, ma'am, and HYDRA along with him. As soon as we can locate Strucker's location, we'll do everything we can to help your brother." Wanda boldly reached forward and grabbed Steve's hand.

"If all you need is a list of locations, I can easily provide you with that!" Everyone was silent for a few moments, before Clint broke the peace by exclaiming, "Why did no one think to ask her before now?"

"What exactly are we doing here?" Wanda looked cross, although Ultron already knew that from the tone of her question. Obviously, she had been expecting to spend the rest of her day breaking into HYDRA bases, not eating at the best pizza café in the city.

"Relax, you're acting like this is torture," Clint said as he took a large bite of his cheesy pizza. Apparently, the only topping Clint desired on his slice was more cheese. Everyone else had decidedly more exotic flavors; Natasha's pizza looked more like a salad than anything.

"I just don't see how you can all be wasting time when my brother might be in danger," Wanda reminded them, still not touching her Hawaiian pizza.

"She's right, guys," Clint said as he sadly dropped his pizza back on his plate. "Obviously, what we should have done was gone to eat some more shawarma." Everyone groaned, except for Wanda, who looked to Steve (digging into a pepperoni slice) for an explanation.

"Old joke. Tony loves shawarma, and basically forces the whole team to eat some whenever he gets the chance." Wanda's look noticeably soured at the mention of Iron Man, and Ultron got the feeling that she might never eat shawarma if given the choice.

Ultron decided to get things back on track; it's not like he would be doing any eating anyway. "In all seriousness, the locations you gave us were very helpful. However, Strucker had so many hidden bases that it might do more harm than good to check out every single one. Nothing would alert Strucker faster than being told that half his hideouts were flushed out."

"Instead, Stark will be utilizing his contacts at SHIELD. Together, they should be able to narrow the list down." Natasha, who had finished her slice sometime during the conversation, was now sipping a strange, green concoction. Ultron was glad that he couldn't smell it.

Momentarily satisfied, Wanda finally bit into her own food. Ultron was glad; who could waste such a gorgeous, sunny day by staying so grumpy? And now that he thought of it, why should he waste the day watching other people eat? That was an activity only slightly above watching someone else play a video game, or watching grass grow.

"If you'll excuse me, I think I'll head back and see if I can assist my father in any way." Everyone nodded, mouths too full of food or drink to give a wordy response. Pouting as best he could, Ultron activated his boosters and shot off into the sky, much to the shock and delight of the other diners. Some even whipped out cell phones. Ultron gave them a salute like he had seen Captain America do on the television, before putting the rest of his attention on his flying. It wouldn't do to crash into a skyscraper.

"I don't understand." Pietro wasn't sure he had heard the HYDRA agent right. No, he was sure that he had understood (no one spoke too fast for his ears), but the words didn't make sense.

"With Strucker's death, it had been decided that you will now lead HYDRA. We await your first orders." The agent practically became a stick as he stood at attention. Pietro only wondered if Strucker had ever assigned a second in command.

"Surely Strucker had an heir? I don't know the first thing about leading such a large group. Anyway, I also don't have the patience for it." The stubborn agent wouldn't budge.

"Without a leader, HYDRA will be vulnerable and aimless. We beg you, young Pietro, to carry the mantle that Strucker left you." Pietro rolled his eyes. He didn't even like Strucker, and part of him was glad that the old man was dead. If (and it was a big if) he accepted, it would definitely not be because he felt any lost love for the former leader.

Before Pietro could reply, another identically dressed minion dashed in the room. He must have been out of shape, because he had to lean on his own legs and catch his breath the second he stopped moving.

"T-there is something our monitors picked up! I think you'll need to see this!" Pietro was already in the computer room before most of the other agents even started running.

"My god."

His father wasn't in the lab, or fixing a drink in the kitchen. Ultron hadn't bothered to check any of the security cameras, since his father usually only hung out in those two locations when he wasn't flying around in the armor, but now he was fed up, and maybe a bit worried.

It only took an internal glance at the cameras to locate his father, who was in his rarely used sleeping quarters – but something was wrong. He was huddled on the floor.

It only took Ultron a few moments to reach the room, but it seemed like an eternity to Ultron. Stark seemed fine, but his heartbeat had increased exponentially.

Ultron kneeled down next to his father, who gave him a sheepish grin. His face was drenched with perspiration.

"Hiya, Ultron. I know I look like a mess, but there's nothing to see here." Stark tried to stand up and stumbled, and he didn't complain when Ultron forced grabbed his arm.

"Father, what happened?" Stark gave him a pointed look, wanting Ultron to drop the subject, but ended up relenting with a sigh.

"I had another nightmare, like the ones I used to have after the Chitauri invaded. They had stopped, but after our fight with the siblings…I think Wanda's so-called magic powers must have brought them back." Patting Ultron on the back, Stark let himself drop on the bed. "Like I said, nothing to worry about." He avoided staring Ultron in the eye.

"You're a terrible liar, but if you say so." Ultron walked towards the door, awkwardly halting. "But if you need to talk, I'm always around. I mean, literally, you can speak into any of the cameras around here and I'll hear you." Stark nodded before clapping his hands together.

"Anyway, I'm in the mood to go hunt down some HYDRA bases!" Ultron was amazed how fast his father could switch moods, but at least he was acting more like himself.

"I'll help, father." Stark grinned at Ultron, and the robot felt his non-existent heart miss a beat. He wanted his father to smile like that more often. It seemed to make the world a better place.

He jerked when his internal alarm rang, and of course, his father noticed. "What was that, a seizure?" Ultron closed his eyes, letting the information flow inform him of what the problem was. Every single news station in North America was scrambling to deliver the news. Something about…an invasion?

"I think we'd better call the others," Ultron said grimly. If what he was hearing was true, pizza would have to wait.

Author's Notes:

I don't know exactly how many chapters are left, but definitely less than ten. Meanwhile, I'm seeing Star Wars Episode VII tonight! So excited!