Frostbite

Thirteen

As soon as we left Oslo, Clint informed us that he was in route to the tower with the body Ultron had created using Helen Cho. He also told us that Natasha had vanished; Ultron snatched her during the move of the cradle. Tony and I arrived at the tower and immediately bee-lined for the lab.

"Anything on Nat?" Bruce asked us worriedly as we entered the room.

"Haven't heard. But she's alive, or Ultron would be rubbing our faces in it," I sighed, glancing around warily. Only Clint had made it back so far.

"This is sealed tight," Clint said, trying to open the container.

"We're going to need to access the program, break it down from within," Bruce concluded.

"Hm. Any chance Natasha might leave you a message, outside the internet, old school spy stuff?" Tony asked Clint hopefully. My lips tightened, hoping Clint would take his bait and leave the room.

"There's some nets I can cast. Yeah, alright. I'll find her." He rushed out of the room, eager to find Natasha. I prayed that he would. Who knew what Ultron would do to her.

"I can work on tissue degeneration, if you can fry whatever operational system Cho implanted," Bruce directed toward Tony.

"Yeah, about that..." Tony trailed off. Bruce glanced between the two of us and shook his head in disbelief.

"No."

"You have to trust me."

"Kinda don't."

"Our ally? The guy protecting the military's nuclear codes? I found him," Tony told him excitedly, bringing up Jarvis's consciousness. I kept my mouth shut, letting Tony make his own argument.

"Hello, Dr. Banner," Jarvis greeted.

"Ultron didn't go after JARVIS 'cause he was angry. He attacked him because he was scared of what he can do. So, JARVIS went underground. Okay? Scattered, dumped his memory. But not his protocols. He didn't even know he was in there, until I pieced him together," Tony explained.

"So, you want me to help you put JARVIS into this thing?"

"No, of course not! I want to help you put JARVIS in this thing," Tony quipped cheerfully, but Bruce was still shaking his head, "We're out of my field here. You know bio-organics better than anyone."

"And you just assume that JARVIS' operational matrix can beat Ultron's?" Bruce asked skeptically. I leaned against one of the desks, crossing my arms and watching them go back and forth.

"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 told him passionately.

"I believe it's worth a go," JARVIS added happily. Bruce glanced at me, and I nodded as well.

"No, I'm in a loop! I'm caught in a time loop, this is exactly where it all went wrong," Bruce exclaimed, waving his arms around in exasperation.

"I know, I know. I know what everyone's going to say, but they're already saying it. We're mad scientists. We're monsters, buddy. You gotta own it. Make a stand. It's not a loop. It's the end of the line."

Bruce mulled over his words thoughtfully. His expression changed several times before he simply nodded. I almost couldn't believe that he had agreed. I thought Tony would have to get on his knees in order to convince him. They immediately began working and I stayed back unless needed.

"This framework is not compatible," Tony said awhile later, shaking his head.

"The genetic coding tower is at ninety-seven percent. You have got to upload that schematic in the next three minutes," Bruce instructed in distress.