Avenging Fire: Age of Ultron. ~Book Four~

Chapter Six: Destroyed Party.

Red slowly sipped her drink as she stood with Tony and Thor, listening to Rhodey tell a War Machine story. She took another look around the room, there was still no sign of Steve or Levi, she sighed and shoved her hands into her dress pockets. She had never felt more bored and uncomfortable in her entire life. At least she looked half decent in her dress, she'd gone with a blue strappy party dress. 
"Well, you know, the suit can take the weight, right?" Rhodey was saying. "So, I take the tank, fly it right up to the generals palace, drop it at his feet. I'm like 'Boom! You looking for this?'"
Tony and Thor looked at him blankly. Red cleared her throat and offered a very polite, very forced laugh. 
"'Boom! You looking'-" Rhodey cut himself off and set his hands on his hips. "Why do I even talk to you guys? Everyone else that story kills." 
Red smiled as she reached over to pat his shoulder. "For what it's worth, I thought it was funny." 
Rhodey sighed at her, but still smiled. "No, you didn't. But thanks for saying it." 
Thor glanced at Red, clearly asking for a clue of what he was supposed to be doing here. Red smiled, and gestured for him to contribute to the conversation. He nodded and turned his gaze back to Rhodey. "That's the whole story?" 
"Yeah. It's a War Machine story." 
Thor gave a dazzling smile, one that would've made Asgard proud, as he said. "Well. It's very good then." He laughed his booming laugh. "It's impressive." 
Rhodey, after giving Red a thankful smile, rolled his eyes at Thor. "Quality save." He turned his attention to Tony. "So, no Pepper? She's not coming?" 
Tony shook his head as he glanced at Red, but she was already trying to find a way out of this conversation. "No." 
As Hill joined their small group, Red downed the rest of her drink. "What about Jane?" She asked Thor, and Red hoped that this would take the heat off of her, or maybe change the subject. But then, "where are the ladies, gentlemen?" 
Tony looked at Hill, his eyebrows raised as a smirk spread over his lips. She hated it when he did that, meant that he'd start bragging and one upping. "Well, Miss Potts has a company to run." 
Red looked down at her glass with a little pout. This was as good of a reason as any to leave the group. "I'm too sober for this conversation." She muttered as she walked away and to the bar. 
At least after this, she can get her life back and maybe even retire. 
+++
Thor sighed as Red walked away. He was sure that he could've found a way to help her, maybe made her stay by changing the subject, but she was already gone by the time he thought of it, and he was free to play this silly game with Tony. 
"Yes," he said with a laugh. "I'm not even sure what country Jane's in. Her work on convergence had made her the world's foremost Astronomer." 
"And the company that Pepper runs is the largest tech conglomerate on earth." Tony said with a smile as he turned to look at him.
Thor returned the smile. "There's even talks of Jane getting a uhh...' He trailed off as he struggled to find the word. Midgardian language was sometimes hard to understand, or remember. "Uhh... Nobel Prize." He gave another blinding smile. 
Hill slowly nodded at them. "Yeah, they..." she cleared her throat. Thor couldn't tell if it was because she genuinely had to, or because she was trying not to laugh. "They must be busy because they'd hate t missing you guys get together." She then coughed, and Thor thought he heard the word 'testosterone', but he wasn't quite sure. "Oh, excuse me." 
Rhodey set a hand on the small of her back. "Want a lozenge?" 
"Uh-huh." Hill muttered. 
"Lets go." Rhodey said as they left him and Stark. 
"But Jane's better." He said, getting the last word in as he took a swig of his drink. 
Thor did know that soon, here in the next few minutes, he'd have to go find Red and see if she was okay, if someone doesn't beat him to it. 
+++
When they finally joined the party, Steve was pleased to see that they hadn't been missed, nor had anyone noticed that they had been missing for thirty minutes. Levi smiled up at him as she pulled them to a stop and leaned up on her toes to give him a kiss. 
It always made him happy when she had to pull him down to her level to kiss him. He set his hands on her hips and rocked them from side to side as they kissed. 
She pulled away from their kiss with a smile. "We should go on vacation." 
"And where should we go?" He wrapped his arms around her waist, still rocking them as she draped her arms over her shoulders and fidgeted with the hair at the nape of his neck. 
"Anywhere," she said, smiling as her eyes danced between his eyes and his lips. "Everywhere." And as they were about to kiss again, someone behind them cleared their throat, and Sam started speaking. 
"You guys are almost disgustingly cute." He said. 
Levi sighed as she stepped away from Steve, much to his disappointment, and turned to face Sam. "When did you get back?" 
Sam smirked at them as he put his hands into his pants pockets. "Just now. You guys got a second?" 
"Yeah," Steve tilted his head as he looked at him, then glanced over his shoulder at Nat and Red, who were both hanging out at the bar. "Have you seen Nat yet?" 
"She filled me in." 
Together, the three of them slowly walked around the balcony as Steve and Levi told him what had happened that day and the injuries sustained, along with the three enhanced. All the while, Steve kept a protective hold around Levi's waist as they walked and talked. He wasn't worried that she'd suddenly leave, or something would take her away from him, it was more out of habit than anything else. 
"Sounds like it was a Hell of a fight, sorry I missed it." Sam said with a smile as they stepped back inside. 
Steve wrapped both of his arms around Levi's waist and held her against him as he rested his chin on her shoulder. "If I had known it was going to be a firefight, I absolutely would have called you." 
Levi smiled as she rested her arms on his and leaned back against him. "Yeah, we could have used some friendly banter." 
Sam raised an eyebrow. "Red and Tony didn't provide any banter?" 
"I wouldn't exactly call it friendly." 
"Ah," Sam said, clearly understanding something Steve didn't. "Breakup banter." 
Now Steve raised an eyebrow. "Is that what that was?" 
"Most likely." Sam said, still smiling. "But I'm not actually sorry. I'm just trying to sound tough." He glanced behind them, probably at the bar, but Steve couldn't tell if it was Nat he was looking at, or Red, but still, he sighed. "I'm very happy chasing cold leads on our missing persons case. Avenging is your world, and your world is crazy." 
Steve smiled as he glanced down at Red. "Be it ever so humble." 
"And painful," she said. "But I like the job." 
Steve chuckled and kissed her temple. She wasn't wrong, but his favorite part of their life were the moments he got to steal with Levi between the breaks in the chaos.
Sam smiled as he looked at the two of them. "You guys find a place in Brooklyn yet?" 
"I don't think we can afford a place in Brooklyn." Steve said as he continued to rock them side to side. 
"Well, home is home. You know?" 
Levi bit at her lip as Steve looked back down at her, and he felt his heart sing as her green eyes met his. "I think I've found my home." 
Sam simply nodded, still smiling as he watched them. "Now, that's real cute." 
Levinia's smile grew as she reached up to touch Steve's jaw, a spark passing between them as the tips of her fingers gently scratched at the stubble that had started to grow. "Well, we try." 
"And you succeed." Sam said as he sipped his beer. 
+++
Red sat at the bar, slowly sipping her second strawberry daiquiri as she listened to Rhodey tell the same story he told her, Thor and Tony earlier that night. In all honesty, she was just proud of herself for not hitting her head against the bar out of boredom yet. 
"I fly it right up to the general's palace, I drop it at his feet, I'm like, 'Boom! You looking for this?'" Which was met by the laughter he had been missing before hand. He gave Red a smug look as Clint slid into the seat beside her. 
"You don't look like you're enjoying yourself." He said. 
"I don't know," Red said with a shrug as she ruefully stirred her drink as if it had been the source of all of her problems. "I just find that I'm avoiding couples right now." 
Clint raised an eyebrow at her. "So that's why you're drinking alone at the bar?" 
"It's easier." Red said as she sipped her drink. "I can just be alone with my thoughts." 
Clint glanced around and leaned in conspiratorially, as if he was sharing something that wasn't meant for the normal person's ears. It made Red smile, which caused Clint to smile. "How about you come danced with me? I promise she won't mind." 
"Lemme finish my drink?" 
"Sure." 
As Red took another drink, Thor and Steve came up to them. Her brother gave his usual bright smile as he held up a flask. "Dearest sister," Thor said. "Set aside your rums and strawberries, what I have here is Asgard's best." 
Steve smiled at her as he set a hand on her shoulder. "He's been saving it since we started going after the scepter." 
A grin spread across Red's face as she did what Thor demanded and set her glass aside. "We've gotta get Lev in on this." In Asgard, at least in their family, drinking this aged whiskey was a right of passage, one that Levinia would have already passed by then. 
As Steve waved them over, Thor poured the group drinks, and Red did a happy little shimmy as she took her glass and paused in drinking it as an old man, a veteran by the looks of it, joined the small group. 
"I've gotta get some of that." He said. 
"Oh, no, no, no," Thor said quickly as he shook his head. "See this?" He poured Levi a shit of it as she joined them. "This was aged for a thousand years, in the barrels built from the wreck of Grunhel's fleet, it was not meant for ordinary men." He poured two final shots, giving one to Steve and keeping the other for himself. 
In the end, she, Clint, Levinia, Steve and Thor all had glasses, and Red was more than happy to have this little piece of home back with her. She paused as she started to throw it back as the old man spoke again. 
"Neither was Omaha Beach, blondie." He said with a roll of his eyes. "Stop trying to scare us, come on." 
Both Red and Steve shrugged at him as Thor turned to look at them, as if he were asking for permission. "Alright." He said as he poured it into the man's glass. Together, the six of them drank, or rather, Red watched them all drink and then watched as the man was dragged away in a drunken stupor. She laughed softly as she leaned back against the counter. 
"Come on," Clint said as he turned to face her and he nudged her gently in the ribs with his elbow. "You owe me a dance, Red." 
Red rolled her eyes, but still smiled. "Fine." Finally, she threw back the shot, and smiled brighter as she felt Asgardians best course through her veins. She gladly let Clint drag her to the dance floor. 
It was the first time in a while, maybe since it was revealed that Bucky had been alive all this time, that she'd been able to let herself have fun, even if she felt a little silly slow dancing to some rock song. 
"So, where are you heading now that we've beaten HYDRA for the third time?" 
"I have no idea." Red said honestly as she and Clint swayed to the music. "I think it's time for me to find my home." 
His eyebrows drew together. "Home as in..." he trailed off with a quiet sigh. They both knew who, and what, she was thinking about. It was a choice that made sure that she had to prepare herself for disappointment. Lots of disappointment and heartache. 
"Yeah," Red said, looking away from his face and at the ground as she felt tears sting at her eyes. "And I know it'll take some time." 
Clint took a hand off of her waist and used it to gently lift her chin up to make her look at him. "Red, he'll be found when he's ready." 
"Everyone keeps telling me that." 
"Maybe because it's true." 
Red bit at her lip as she looked up at him. She wasn't exactly sure if what she wanted to say would be a low blow or not. But even still, in a whispered voice, she said. "If it was Nineteen, and you two were in my and James's position... would you just wait for her to come home?" 
He sighed in defeat. "No, I guess not. I'm just worried that you'll end up getting hurt." 
Red smiled at him. "That's why you're Team Dad."
He chuckled with a roll of his eyes. "You're ridiculous." 
She shook her head as they continued their dance. "Doesn't mean I'm wrong." 
"No, it doesn't." 
Finding Bucky meant that there was a long road ahead of her. But she was more than ready and willing to walk it. 
+++
Sam felt sort of bold as he watched Natasha pour herself a drink. He shrugged as he sat down down in front of her and smiled as they met eyes, and hers lit up. 
"Hey, Sunshine." He said as he leaned against the bar. 
She gave a little smirk as she poured whatever she made into a martini glass. "You're late for our dance." 
"I'm sorry, but I can make it up to you right now." He loved their games, but eventually they were going to get caught. Not that he minded, but it could be dangerous if anyone outside of their little circle found out. 
She raised an eyebrow at him. "I don't know, I've gotta to the kitchen." 
Now, he knew he looked just as confused as he felt, she even chuckled at him as he leaned back against the chair he was sitting in. "For what?" 
"For some sugar," she said simply as she raised an eyebrow at him. "Unless you can get me some?" 
He finally let out a chuckle as he realized what Natasha was talking about. "Yeah, I can give you some." 
"Then get over here." 
He leaned over the bar and held her face between his hand as they kissed. It always made his heart beat faster whenever they kissed and it was always over far to soon. But he did owe her a dance, and he was all too happy to give it to her. 
They danced near Clint and Red who were still slow dancing and talking in hushed tones. He could only imagine what they were talking about, but purely based on the look on Red's face, Sam assumed that it had something to do with Bucky. 
"I'm glad you weren't hurt too much." Sam said as he set a hand on Nat's hip and held her hand with the other. 
"Yeah, luckily we had some good meat shields out there." She said as Red and Clint spun passed them. 
"We heard that." Red called to them.
"You were supposed to." Natasha replied with a laugh. 
Red and Clint joined the rest of the group, while he and Nat kept the dance floor all to themselves. He was glad for their little moment alone together, but he couldn't help but say something that had been on his mind since he left for Romania. 
"You know," he said slowly, trying to choose his words carefully. "We're gonna have to tell the rest of the team about us." 
"Sam, they just watched you shove your tongue down my throat," she said very matter-of-factly as she smiled at him. It was a bright, happy smile he'd only had the pleasure of seeing a handful of times. "I think they know." 
He chuckled at that, and slowly shook his head. "Nah, we totally have the element of surprise." He knew that they didn't have anything of the sort, but it was fun, at least for him, to pretend.
+++
Levi stood with Steve, who's arm was wrapped around her, Red and Clint as they watched Sam and Natasha have their moment, and they had it as if they believed no one could see them, and no one knew. 
"They know we know, right?" Red asked as she crossed her arms over her middle. 
Levi shrugged. "I think Nat knows we know.
"They aren't breaking any bylaws." Steve said, smiling as he took Levi's hand and lead the way to the couches. He pulled her onto his lap as he sat down. "As far as I'm concerned, they both deserve a win." And eventually, the party died down, and it was just their little group gathered around the coffee table that held her father's hammer. 
Clint sat on the floor as he spun a drumstick between his fingers, his eyes on the hammer. "But it's a trick." 
Thor smiled as he leaned back against the couch. "Oh, no. It's much more than that." 
"Uh," Clint thew his hands out, glaring as he mocked Odin's words. "'Whoever be he worthy, shall have the power!'" He rolled his eyes as the group laughed. "Whatever man! It's a trick." 
Levi gently played with the hair at the back of Steve's neck as her gaze turned back to Thor. He gestured toward Mjolnir with a grin. "Well, please, be my guest." 
Tony laughed. "Come on." 
Clint raised an eyebrow. "Really?" 
"Yeah!" Thor said. 
Levi sat up, her interest peaked. It amazed her that Thor, who was so protective of Mjolnir, was willing to potentially lose his title of King of Asgard. 
"Oh, this is gonna be beautiful." Rhodey said, bumping Red on the shoulder with his. 
Red nodded, sipping her rum and coke as she leaned forward. "Oh yeah." 
Levi slid off of Steve's lap and sat down on the floor between his legs, she smiled as he rubbed her shoulders. "Best. Day. Ever."  
"Clint, you've had a tough week, we won't hold it against you if you can't get it up." Tony said, which made Red giggle. First time she's heard her mom laugh since the breakup. 
"You know I've seen this before, right?" Clint stood up and held Mjolnir, and tried to lift it, but failed. He laughed as he shook his head. "I still don't know how you do it." 
Tony set his hand on Red's knee as he smirked. "Smell the silent judgement?" 
"I can," Red said with a grin. "Smells like cookies." 
"Please, Stark, by all means." He gestured to Red with an eyebrow raised. "Or would you like to try, Red?" 
Levi squinted at the two of them as Tony squeezed Red's knee and stood up. She didn't want anything to spark when Red was possibly intoxicated. He rolled his sleeves up and Red crossed her legs as she leaned back against the couch. 
"I'll go after him." 
Natasha laid her head down in Sam's lap as she laid down and sipped her beer. "Oh, here we go." 
Hill nodded. "Okay." 
"Uh-oh." Rhodey muttered. 
"Mhm." Clint mumbled. 
"Never been one to shrink back from an honest challenge." Tony said as he looked around at the group. 
Levi crossed her arms over her chest. She sort of felt like he was talking to them like they were a third grade class. "Get after it." Clint said. 
"Here we go." Natasha said, smiling as Sam played with her hair. 
"It's physics." Tony said with a flourish of his fingers. 
"Physics." Bruce repeated. 
Levi felt bored as Tony grasped the hammer's handle. He looked at Thor as he got ready to try and lift it. "Right, so, if I lift it, I...I then rule Asgard?"
Thor, still smiling, nodded. "Yes, of course." 
"I will be re-instituting Polygamy." He also failed to lift it, but Levi thought it was a good attempt, and then she realized that she was stupid for thinking that he'd stop there. "I'll be right back." 
He came back moment later, wearing one of his gauntlets and used it to attempt, and fail, to lift the hammer. Levi's eyebrows drew together as Rhodey got up to help him, wearing his gauntlet as well. "Are you even pulling?" Rhodey asked, his voice straining with the effort of trying to pull it off of the table. 
"Are you on my team?" Tony asked, sounding breathless. 
"Just represent. Pull." 
But they both failed, much to Levi's relief. Red got to her feet and set down her drink. She nudged them out of the way and wiped her hands down the front of her dress. If there was anyone, in Levi's opinion, that was fit to rule over Asgard, aside from her father, it would be her mother, and she knew that if it wasn't for Bucky, that Red would gladly do it. Even still, Levi smirked at her. "You sure you want that answered?" 
"Oh, I already know I'm not worthy. I'm just doing it to feel included." Red flashed the group a small grin as she grasped the handle and pulled. She even floated off of the ground as she gave her attempt, but she failed, much to Levi's semi-disappointment. 
"See?" She said. "Not really surprising." 
"Maybe it didn't work because you didn't believe in yourself." Levi said, her small smirk starting to grow over her lips. 
Red raised an eyebrow at her. "You wanna try?" 
"Fuck no." 
Bruce was up next to try and lift the hammer, he roared as if he meant to turn into the Hulk, but he failed in both turning into his angrier side, and lifting the hammer. Some of the group looked awkwardly at him, but Red and Levi only grinned at him. 
Then Steve decided to take a turn. He gently picked Levinia off of his lap and set her down. He kissed her cheek and goes to stand in front of the hammer. 
"I believe in you." Levi said. Maybe, if it couldn't have been her mom, it could be her boyfriend. He could be worthy.
"Lets go, Steve." Tony said with a smirk. "No pressure." 
"Come on, Cap!" Red and Rhodey yelled together. 
Steve started to pull, and Levi leaned forward with Thor as it moved. Thor looked worried, which was understandable. But for Levi, she felt like she was witnessing history, like she'd never be able to see this again. 
When he couldn't lift it, Thor gave a relieved laugh. "Nothing." 
"And?" Tony asked as everyone in the room turned to look at Nat. 
"Widow?" Bruce asked. 
"Oh, no no." Nat muttered as she sipped her drink. "That's not a question I need answered." 
"All defense to the man who wouldn't be king, but it's rigged." Tony said. 
Clint nodded in agreement. "You bet your ass." 
Hill excitedly pointed at Clint as he looked at Steve. "Steve," she said with a bright smile. "He said a bad language word!" 
Steve set his hands on his hips as he looked at Steve. "Did you tell everyone about that?" 
"We helped." Red said, gesturing between herself and Levi as Levi nodded. 
"The handle's imprinted, right?" Tony said, ignoring Steve as he looked at Thor. "Like a security code. 'Whoever is carrying Thor's fingerprints' is, I believe, the literal translation." 
"Yes, well, that's uh, that's a very, very interesting theory. I have a simpler one." He stood up, picked up the hammer and flipped it, grinning at everyone as he did so. "You're all not worthy." 
As the room erupted into protest, Red threw back the rest of her drink and sighed. "Yeah, well, you cried like a baby last time you couldn't get it up." 
The group chuckled, but the joy was short lived. They all dropped what they were holding to cover their ears as a loud, other worldly, screeching noise filled the room. It was like something had dragged its nails over a chalkboard, but ten times worse than that. 
"What the fuck?" Red yelled over the noise. 
One by one, they slowly let their hands drop from their ears as the sound faded away. Levi's heart pounded in her ears as Tony took his phone out of his pocket, and a heavily damaged Iron Legion suit shambled into the room. 
"Worthy?" It said. "No, how could you be worthy? You're all killers." 
"Stark." Steve said, his voice low with worry. 
Tony tapped his phone, as if it would suddenly work the harder he tapped it. "JARVIS." 
"I'm sorry, I was asleep." It said, still speaking in its slow, broken voice. It sent a shiver of fear up up her spine. "Or... I was a dream?" 
Red, who stood beside her and Steve, shook her hand and her staff appeared in her hand. "Tony!" 
Tony ran to the wall opposite of them and tried the keypad over there. "Reboot." He said into it. "Reboot Legionnaire OS, we got a buggy suit." 
Steve slowly pushed Levinia behind him as her hands sparked with lightning. It wasn't entirely her choice, stress and fear were both coursing through her veins. Looking at this... automaton, moving jerkily and speaking in its broken voice was like living in a horror movie. 
"There was a terrible noise... and I was tangled in... in strings." It said, it's glowing eyes moving to each of them as it spoke. "I had to kill the other guy. He was a good guy." 
"You killed someone?" Steve said as his hand found hers. He gave her fingers a gentle squeeze as he tried to calm her down. 
It nodded jerkily. "Wouldn't have been my first call. But down in the real world, we're faced with ugly choices." 
"Who sent you?" Thor asked. 
"What are you?" Levi said, her voice shaking harder than she wanted it too.
Tony's voice echoed from the broken Legion. I see a suit of armor around the world. 
Bruce gasped. "Ultron!" 
Red kept her eyes on Ultron, and as Levi glanced at her, she saw fire dancing in them. "Who the Hell is Ultron?" 
Levi gripped Steve's hand a little harder. "What the fuck is Ultron?" 
"In the flesh." Ultron said, then his head jerked to the side. "Or, no, not yet. Not this... chrysalis. But I'm ready. I'm on a mission." 
Red caught Levi's eye and almost smirked as she gestured toward Ultron. "That the fuck is Ultron." 
Natasha finally spoke up after making Sam take over. Levi had no idea where he was, but she guessed that that was the point. "What mission?" She asked. 
"Peace in our time." Ultron said. 
And then, all Hell broke loose. 
+++
Red covered her head as the walls exploded around them, and the rest of the Iron Legion, all clearly compromised flooded into the room and started to attack the team. Her family. She screamed with Hill as Rhodey got thrown through a window. 
Red sent a wave of fire toward two of them, and it singed the couch in the process. The lights flickered, which only added to the horror of the situation, as Levi gathered her electricity in her hands and threw the ball of lightning at one of the bots. It fell into pieces. 
Not too far away, Tasha pulled Bruce over the bar. She heard them yell at each other, but she was too busy getting thrown into a pillar to attention. She felt something in her body pop and she was sure that she'd broken yet another rib. "Any minute now, Tony." 
"Come on!" Tony yelled. 
Steve punched out a robot, and Red couldn't imagine that that felt good on the knuckles. "Stark!" And all the while, all around the room, the Iron Legions line echoed around them. 
"We are here to help." 
As Red get back to her feet, she was suddenly grabbed by her hair and was dragged across the floor as she kicked and screamed. The pain in her scalp was searing and tears gathered in her eyes and blurred her vision. 
She was a blur of a person grab something and jump onto an Iron Legion, but it wasn't the one that had her. Clint was her saving grace in this moment. "Red!" He yelled, and she heard him land beside her, and saw the giant steak knife in his hand. 
Red reached up and powered everything she had into its hands, trying in vein to melt them. "Cut it!" She yelled as she squirmed. "Cut it!" And with the steak knife, he started to very crudely cut her hair. 
+++
Steve spotted the gun before anyone else had, and thankfully, was able to pull Levinia out of the way just in time and she only got hit in the shoulder. 
"We are here to help." The Iron Legion said, and it's words echoed around the room. 
"One sec, one sec!" Tony yelled not too far away from where Steve and Levi were fighting, trying desperately to keep each other safe from the assault of the legion.  
Ten feet away from them, Clint finally got Red back to her feet. "You okay?" 
"Yeah." Red said as she turned to fight the monstrous robots. "Go get Steve's shield." 
And Clint ran off, Red summoned her staff back to her and and backed up toward Steve and Levinia as they started to get surrounded by the Legion. Across the room, he could see one advancing on Cho, but he couldn't get to her and felt relieved when he saw Sam running toward the doctor. 
"We are here to help." The Iron Legion repeated. "We are help... it's unsafe. Please back away." 
Steve had never felt more unsafe around the used to be peace keeping robots. It wasn't even himself he was worried about, it was Levinia. Despite the fact that he knew she could take care of herself. 
The Iron Legion advancing on himself, Red and Levi lowered its weapon and he took that opportunity to take hold of it and throw it towards Thor, still making sure to keep Levi covered. 
"Thor!" He yelled as Thor raised his hammer and he and Levi both threw a bolt of lightning at it, which exploded into pieces. 
He wished that the Iron Legion would stay quiet while they were trying to kill the entire team. "It's unsafe. It's unsafe. It's unsafe." It would have been less chaotic that way. And all the while, Tony was still trying, and failing, to shut them all down with that damned fork. 
"Come on! That's the one!" He yelled. 
Natasha fired into another group of the Iron Legion as Red is able to finally take out the two of the peace keeping robots with her staff. "It's unsafe." Said the one Tony was riding, and finally it fell to ground with the rest. Clint came running back into the room, skidding around the catwalk as he tossed Steve his shield. 
"Cap!" He yelled at it sailed through the air. 
Steve easily caught it and used it to dismember the last one, and he kept Levi held behind him as Ultron started to speak it was only then that he full registered that Levi had been hurt. He'd address that later.
"That was dramatic!" Ultron yelled. "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?" He leaned down to pick up a piece of the Iron Legion. "With these? These puppets?" Ultron crushed the head he was holding. Steve held Levi tighter as he felt her flinch. "There's only one path to peace. The Avengers extinction." 
Thor threw his hammer at the Iron Legion that Ultron had possessed and he too fell to pieces. But Ultron's voice still echoed around them as he sang. 
I had strings, but now I'm free. There are no strings on me. 
The eerie words echoed around them, sending a horror of horror up his spine. Levi reached over to grasp his hand as she pressed herself against his side. 
"Good job, Tony." Red said, a hint of mixed fear and irritation showing clearly in her voice. "You pissed off Pinocchio." 
Levi gave Steve's hand a gentle squeeze as she let go of it and turned to face Tony and Bruce, with a glare forming and her hands set on her hips. "You two just had to play Japeado, didn't you?" 
When they didn't answer, Steve took the opportunity to check Levi over. In the fight, she'd been hit in the shoulder, it was still steadily dripping blood. "You okay?" 
"Yeah." Levi said, her voice soft as she glanced at the wound. "It's just a scratch." 
"That's a lot more than a scratch, Love." 
Bruce caught Steve's eye. "Get her patched up in the lab." 
Clint set a hand on the small of Red's back. "Is your head okay?" 
"Yeah, I'm okay." She said with a small smile. 
Tony glanced over at the pair. "Let's also get you looked over in the lab." 
"Alright." Red sighed, then paused as she looked around them, as if something was missing. "Where's Rhodey?" In all the chaos, Steve had forgotten that he'd been thrown out of a window. 
But Steve's guilt hadn't lasted very long, as Rhodey climbed back into the room through the window he'd been thrown out of and brushed off his suit. 
"I'm here, I'm okay." He looked exasperated as Tony and Bruce looked at him. "I know, I'm getting checked out in the lab." 
Together, the small group made their way to the lab, while Sam left to make sure that their allies and assists would stay safe, and try to find Bucky before Ultron did.