"Anything on Nat?" Bruce asks as Tony enters the room.
"I haven't heard. But she's alive, or Ultron would be rubbing our faces in it." He replies.
"She'll be okay, right?" Dahlia asks worriedly, continuing her pacing.
"She's tough." He tells her.
"This is sealed tight." Barton says as he hops off the cradle.
"We're gonna need to access the program, break it down from within." Bruce tells them.
"Any chance Natasha might leave you a message outside the Internet? Old-school spy stuff?" Tony asks.
"There are some nets I can cast. Yeah, I'll find her." Barton answers, going down the stairs.
"I can work on tissue degeneration if you could fry whatever operational system Cho implanted." Bruce tells Tony.
"So, we're destroying it?" Dahlia asks, still confused by the Earth technology.
"Yeah, about that." Tony says.
"No." He replies after a pause.
"What? What's going on?" She asks.
"You have to trust me." Tony tells Bruce.
"Kind of don't." He replies.
"Our ally, the guy protecting the military's nuclear codes, I found him." He says, projecting Jarvis behind him.
"Hello, Dr. Banner. Lady Dahlia." Jarvis greets.
"What the hell is happening?" She asks, moving to stand between them.
"Ultron didn't go after Jarvis because he was angry. He attacked him because he was scared of what he can do." He explains. "So, Jarvis went underground. Scattered, dumped his memory. But not his protocols. He didn't even know he was in there until I pieced him together."
"So, you want me to help you put Jarvis into this thing?" Bruce asks.
"No! Of course not. I wanna help you put Jarvis in this thing." He clarifies. "We're out of my field, here. You know bio-organics better than anyone." Dahlia rolls her eyes and sits, knowing they'll continue the tech talk and try to explain it to her later. She still won't understand, but they're both too nice to leave her completely confused.
"And you just assume that Jarvis's operational matrix can beat Ultron's?" He asks.
"Jarvis has been beating him from inside without knowing it. This is the opportunity. We can create Ultron's perfect self without the homicidal glitches he thinks are his winning personality. We have to." Tony explains.
"I believe it's worth a go." Jarvis adds.
"I'm in a loop! I'm caught in a time loop. This is exactly where it all went wrong." Bruce argues.
"Tony, I don't fully understand, but I think I'm with Bruce on this one." Dahlia interrupts.
"I know. I know. I know what everyone's gonna say. But they're already saying it. We're mad scientists. We're monsters, buddy. We've gotta own it. Make a stand. It's not a loop. It's the end of the line." He says.
"So, we're not destroying it? Are we sure this is a good idea?" Dahlia asks, wanting to be sure.
"No, we're not destroying it. And I think so." Bruce answers, squeezing her shoulder.
"All right." She replies, sitting down and starting on her knitting as they get to work.
***
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Lady Dahlia | Loki Odinson
FanfictionDahlia was adopted by Heimdall after being abandoned by her parents for being born blind. Growing up with Heimdall meant she grew up with the Odinson brothers. It was mostly fun, but also came with some challenges. Now that she's grown up, she must...
