Hermione's heels clicked against the expensive marble floor as the doors of the elevator opened on the top floor of Avengers Tower. Taking a few minutes to smooth out the skirt of her black cocktail dress, she continued walking through a set of doors to see that the party had, not only, started up, but it was already in full swing, it appeared.
It had been three weeks since Dr. Strange had been unceremoniously dumped into the middle of the living room, and she hadn't heard a word from him since. Hoping the ridiculous man was alright, but not really having the ability to check up on him, Hermione had continued on with her life, as per usual. While her work continued on as always, life on the outskirts of the Avengers team was a little more interesting, to say the least. The team had been recently deployed to a heavily defended HYDRA base located in a small country in Eastern Europe called Sokovia. Their objective was to retrieve the scepter that Thor's brother, Loki, had used to control the Chitauri during the invasion in New York. Tony had told her that there wasn't much known about the scepter, but it was theorized to possess an exponential amount of raw energy. Thankfully, the team had successfully retrieved the scepter with minimal damage to themselves - although after watching the footage of the raid herself, Hermione had shaken her head in disbelief. Apparently, subtlety wasn't a tactic commonly used by the Avengers.
Looking around at the crush of people enjoying the party, Hermione decided to start her night with a drink at the well-stocked bar.
"Hermione!"
Hermione turned to see Maria Hill making her way over to her, weaving through the crowd as best she could while balancing her own drink. Giving her a huge smile, she embraced Hermione quickly before continuing.
"I didn't think you were going to show!" She exclaimed excitedly.
Being Nick Fury's right hand man, it was only a matter of time before Hermione ran into Maria at the tower. With as often as Fury felt the need to check in on Tony to ensure the crazy genius wasn't about to single-handedly contribute to the destruction of the entire planet, Hermione was surprised she hadn't met the woman sooner than she had.
The two had hit it off well enough, all things said, but Hermione always felt a little...cautious...around the agent. Even in the best of situations, Hermione could never quite get around the fact that the woman was literally a secret agent, which, in turn, made Hermione question every single thing Maria said or did in the back of her mind.
Hermione smiled at the woman in return. "I decided it wasn't worth listening to Tony about my snubbing him at his party by not attending." She answered with a laugh.
"Too right you are." Maria agreed quickly. "Come on, there are a few people over here you need to meet." She said as she steered Hermione towards a group of men nearby.
"So I take the tank, fly it right up to the General's palace, drop it at his feet, I'm like, 'Boom! You looking for this?'." Seeing the blank expressions on Thor and Tony's faces, the unknown man continues. "Why do I even talk to you guys? Everywhere else that story kills."
"That's the whole story?" Thor asked, obviously unimpressed with the man's tale.
"Yeah, it was a War Machine story"
Realizing his mistake, Thor's demeanor changed on the flip of a dime. "Well, it's very good then! It's impressive!" He finished with a forced laugh.
Hermione's sudden bark of laughter at the demigod caught the group's attention as she drew closer to them.
"Hermione!" Tony yelled as he caught sight of her out of the corner of his eye. "I thought you had stood me up!" He added dramatically.
"Stand you up? Never." Hermione replied with a cheeky grin.
Wrapping an arm around her, he began guiding her back into the group, marching her straight up to the man who had just been attempting to entertain the group with his lackluster storytelling.
"Lady Hermione! It's nice to see you again!" Thor boomed before slapping her on the shoulder only a little too hard.
"It's just Hermione, Thor, and it's so nice to see you as well! I heard that all went well with the recent raid in Sokovia?"
Thor beamed back at her. "Ah, yes! We recovered Loki's scepter in the name of Asgard, and the gates of Hell were filled with the screams of our victims!"
Hermione's mouth dropped open in shock as she glanced up at Tony in surprise and a fair amount of disgust. Tony coughed pointedly at Thor and discreetly motioned for him to shut his giant gob.
"Uh, but not the screams of the dead, of course. No, no, uh...wounded screams, mainly whimpering. A great deal of complaining and tales of sprained deltoids, and, and uh...and gout." Thor stuttered, never quite knowing when he should cut his losses and stop speaking.
Hermione shook her head, completely bewildered with the enormous man. She had a fleeting thought that she should probably cut him some slack since he was a literal demigod and probably still not used to the cultural customs and rituals of Earth.
Turning back towards the unknown man, she waited for Tony to give the introduction.
"Hermione, I'd like to introduce the one and only Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes." He began with growing excitement. "Rhodey, I'd like to introduce you to Glenda the good witch, herself, Hermione Granger."
Hermione reached forward to grab the man's offered hand. Shaking it firmly, Rhodes was the first to speak.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Hermione."
"Likewise, Colonel. Tony has told me a lot about you."
"I'm sure it was all good things." Rhodes responded with heavy sarcasm. Looking between herself and Tony, he added. "Glenda the good witch?
Assuming there was a backstory with the nickname, Rhodes' eyebrows flew up when Hermione merely chuckled saying, "Tony just thinks he's being clever - I am a witch."
"A...witch." Rhodes responded slowly, still trying to process what he was hearing.
"That's right." She responded simply.
"Like...with magic spells, black cats, and pointy hats?"
"Well, spells, yes, but black cats and pointy hats, not so much." Hermione answered politely, not taking offense to the stereotypical comparison. "Although, we did wear pointy hats to a few of the feasts at Hogwarts." She added with a laugh.
Glancing over at Tony and seeing his beaming face, Rhodey turned on his best friend. "You met a witch, and you didn't think to even tell me?" He asked with a mock-hurt expression.
"I know!" Tony exclaimed with glee. "Isn't she awesome?!"
"Alright, I'm going to need to see a demo." Rhodey said to Hermione as he looked for a table on which to place his drink.
"Maybe later." Hermione objected gently. Seeing the crestfallen look on both Rhodey and Tony's faces, she reassured them again. "After everyone has left, I will show you a few spells. I promise." She told them with a smile.
"So," Rhodey began again, turning back on Tony. "no Pepper? She's not coming?"
"No, not even the draw of her soon-to-be B-F-F could free her up enough to come." Tony replied as he pointed over at Hermione.
"What is this B-F-F?" Thor asked in confusion.
"Best Friend Forever" Maria answered with a wink as she rejoined the group with a fresh drink. "Hey, speaking of Pepper, what about Jane? Where are the ladies, gentlemen?"
"Well, Miss Potts has a company to run." Tony replied quickly.
Thor was quick to speak up as well. "Yes, I'm not even sure what country Jane's in. Her work on the convergence has made her the world's foremost astronomer." He stated proudly.
"And the company that Pepper runs is the largest tech conglomerate on earth. It's pretty exciting." Tony retorted, refusing to be outdone.
"There's even talk of Jane getting a...um, uh...Nobel Prize."
"Hermione, back me up here." Tony said with a cocky smirk
Hermione held up her hands. "Oh, I'm not getting anywhere close to this debate. Besides, I think I'm a little too biased to be far, anyways." She responded with a chuckle.
Seeing the debate begin again, Maria interrupted before the two men could continue their pissing contest. "Yeah, they must be busy because I'm sure they'd hate to miss you guys getting together."
Hermione laughed as a cough that Maria produced sounded suspiciously like the word "testosterone".
Rhodey put his hand on her back. "Want a lozenge?" He asked in mock-concern.
"Um-hmm"
"Let's go." He said as he began leading her to the opposite side of the room in an effort to escape the two.
Several minutes passed before Thor broke the silence. "But Jane's better."
Hermione laughed loudly as Clint continued goading Thor about his hammer. The party had ended hours ago, but the core of the Avengers team had stayed back and was now congregating on the outdoor couches that overlooked the Manhattan skyline. She was having another one of those moments of complete contentment as she looked around at the people who were quickly becoming more important to her than she had ever dreamed possible.
Clint stood, allowing the drink he had consumed during the party to fill him with false confidence. "But, it's a trick!" He declared, referring to Thor's hammer.
"Oh no. It's much more than that." Thor responded with a laugh.
"Uh, 'Whoever be thee worthy shall haveth the power!' Whatever, man. It's a trick!" Clint responded mockingly.
Thor held out his hand, gesturing to the hammer lying innocently on the table between the couches. "Well please. Be my guest."
"Come one!" The group goaded him when Clint didn't move right away.
Hermione smiled widely, already knowing where this was leading.
"Really?"
"Yeah!" Thor encouraged.
Clint stood to his feet suddenly, confidence oozing from his every movement.
Rhodey rubbed his hand together excitedly. "Oh, this is gonna be beautiful."
"Clint, you've had a tough week. We won't hold it against you if you can't get it up." Tony snarked, not able to help himself.
The group roared in laughter again as Clint flipped Tony off before turning back to the hammer. Grunting in strain as he tried to get the hammer to budge, he gave up and looked at the demigod.
"I still don't know how you do it."
"Smell the silent judgement?" Tony asked the archer.
"Please, Stark, by all means." He replied, moving away from the hammer.
"Oh, here we go." Natasha said in anticipation from her spot on the couch.
Hermione didn't know when the last time she had laughed so hard. Watching these sweet, yet egotistical men fail one by one at moving the hammer had been incredibly entertaining, to say the least.
The image of Rhodey and Tony both in their super suits, each with a hand on the handle of the hammer, pulling furiously and yelling at each other while the hammer remained unmoved would, hopefully, remain burned in her mind for the rest of her life. It was almost as entertaining as watching Thor's face when Steve was able to nudge the hammer over a fraction of an inch - a feat much more impressive than it seemed. Eventually, the men had had enough of their failure and gave up.
"None of you guys have tried, yet. Any of you going to give it a go?" Rhodey asked, gesturing to Hermione, Maria, Natasha, and Dr. Helen Cho.
"That's not a question I need the answer to." Natasha responded quickly.
Having no takers, the boys continued with their antics.
"All deference to the man who wouldn't be king, but it's rigged." Tony declared confidently.
"You bet your ass." Clint agreed immediately.
"Steve." Hermione interjected. "Clint said a bad language word." She said before she and the rest of the team erupted in laughter once again.
Steve looked to Tony. "Did you tell everyone about that?" He asked in reference to his scolding Clint about his language during the raid in Sokovia.
"I actually didn't tell her - That would have been Pepper...whom I did tell." Tony admitted with a shrug before turning back to Thor. "The handle's imprinted, right? Like a security code. 'Whosoever is carrying Thor's fingerprints' is, I think, the literal translation?"
Thor stood and addressed the group. "That's a very interesting theory, but I have a simpler one." Lifting his hammer effortlessly, he continued. "You're all not worthy."
The group immediately began arguing in disagreement before a sudden loud screeching sound erupted throughout the tower, startling everyone as they covered their ears from the piercing sound.
As the sound faded, Hermione lowered her hands and looked around for the source of the sound. She heard several gasps as one of Tony's suits seemingly walked down the stairs of its own accord towards the group.
"Worthy? No, how could you be worthy? You're all killers." It said casually.
Hermione cut her eyes towards the rest of the group, watching as the Maria discreetly unholstered a hidden pistol and Dr. Cho calmly moved to the back of the group.
"Stark?" Steve asked without removing his eyes from the machine.
"JARVIS?" Tony asked.
When no response came from Tony's friendly A.I., the machine continued
"I'm sorry. I was asleep. Or...I was a dream?
Hermione was confused at what was currently happening, but she wouldn't ignore the adrenaline that was coursing through her veins as her body responded to a potential threat. Glancing quickly around at the group, she realized that Dr. Cho would be the most vulnerable if things went south with this rogue machine.
"Ultron!" Bruce exclaimed as if he had come to a realization, bringing Hermione's attention back to the dialogue occuring with the machine.
"In the flesh. Or, no. not yet. Not this...chrysalis. But I'm ready. I'm on a mission." Ultron responded.
"What mission?" Natasha asked
"Peace in our time." Ultron said as he raised both arms casually.
With no warning, a veritable fleet of machines smash through the interior wall of the tower, raining glass and debris all over the group. Diving behind one of the patio chairs and cursing the short dress she was wearing, Hermione frantically looked around for Dr. Cho.
Seeing the doctor's cowering form nearby, she rushed over to her. Throwing up a quick shield, she looked down at her quickly as the gold, shimmering magic encompassed the small woman.
"Stay down and stay here." She commanded. "The shield will keep you safe, but ONLY if you stay put."
Not waiting for a response, Hermione ran to help Tony, who was still not in his Iron Man suit. She knew Pepper would murder her and Tony, both, if Tony were killed by his own machines.
"We are here to help. We are here to help." One of the machines repeated ironically before being blown apart by Hermione's well-placed spell as she rushed to Tony's side.
"One sec, one sec!" Tony yelled while riding one of his out of control creations, trying frantically to work on it while in mid-flight.
"We don't have a sec, Tony!" Hermione yelled at him.
Watching the man continue, she huffed in aggravation and held up her palm. Waiting for an opening, she took the shot, blowing the head of the machine clear off, dropping the billionaire to the floor with a crash. Rushing up to him, Hermione began checking him over.
"You great git!" She yelled at him, while still looking him over for damage. "What the hell were you thinking."
"Well, I wasn't planning on being dumped from twelve feet high." He retorted snarkily from his position on the floor.
Looking up, Hermione realized the rest of the Legion had been dismembered, and the rest of the team seemed present. Ultron still stood calmly in the center of the room.
"That was dramatic!" Ultron started. "I'm sorry, I know you mean well. You just didn't think it through. You want to protect the world, but you don't want it to change. How is humanity saved if it's not allowed to evolve?" Picking up a piece of one of the dismembered machines, he continued. "With these? These puppets? There's only one path to peace: The Avenger's extinction."
Thor's hammer appeared, quite literally, out of nowhere, smashing into Ultron's chest and spraying pieces of the machine in every direction. Hermione would have thought the crisis was over until an unsettling song erupted from the dismembered body of Ultron.
"I had strings, but now I'm free. There are no strings on me, no strings on me…"
The song cut abruptly as the power in the suit died. Silence encompassed the room as no one was sure what to say after the sudden turn of events.
"Well...that was unexpected." Tony said finally.
Hermione couldn't help the smirk that appeared on her face. Leave it to Tony to break an uncomfortable silence. As the group spread out to begin surveying the damage, Hermione quickly turned to Rhodey with a smile.
"I told you I would give you a demonstration before the night was over."
His laughter filled the room as they continued looking for clues amongst the wreckage.