Unexpected

VIII

The group walked back to the lab, where Nina and Hellen helped patch up Tony's arm. He had fallen form quite a high place into some broken glass. They had managed to take it all out, and now were making his dressing.

"All our work is gone," Banner said once Nina was done and sitting back down. "Ultron cleared out. Used the internet as an escape hatch."

"Ultron," repeated Steve.

"He's been in everything. Files, survaillance," Natasha said after scanning the computers. "Probably knows more about us than we know about each other," Natasha said. At that, Nina scoffed a laugh.

"That explains a lot," she said with a laugh. No one laughed with her.

"He's in your files, he's in the internet," Rhody spoke up. "What if he decides to acces something a little more exciting."

"Nuclear codes," Maria spoke up, still trying to remove bits of glass from her leg and foot.

"Nuclear codes," Rhody agreed. "Look, we need to make some calls, assuming we still can."

"Nukes?" Natasha asked. "He said he wanted us dead."

"He didn't say dead, he said extinct," Steve corrected.

"He also said he killed somebody," Clint reminded. Maria shook her head.

"There wasn't anyone else in the building."

"Yes, there was," Tony said. He walked to the center of the lab and showed them a hologram. It was Jarvis. Except Jarvis was completely destroyed.

"This is insane," Bruce said as he walked to the hologram to take a closer look.

"Jarvis was the first line of defense," Steve said. "He would have shut Ultron down, it makes sense."

"No," Banner said. "Ultron could have assimilated Jarvis. This isn't strategy, this is.. rage."

Nina let out a laugh that once again sounded more like a scoff. How was everyone okay with this. Accepting that there was now a super-AI-robot thing that wanted to kill them.

Thor suddenly walked into the room, fully dressed in his suit and cape, and grabbed Tony by the neck. Clint and Steve took a step forward to try and stop the man, but Nina didn't even bother.

"Use your words, budy," Tony told him, his voice strained.

"Thor," Steve caught his attention. "The Legionnaire," he reminded. Thor had left half an hour ago to follow the Legionnaire that had stolen Loki's scepter. Thor let go of Tony, who fell to the ground. 

"The trail went cold about a hundred miles out," Thor told the team. "But it's headed north. And it has the scepter." Steve and Thor's eyes turned accusingly to Tony. "Now we have to retrieve it. Again."

"Genie is out of that bottle," Nat said. "Clear and present is Ultron."

"I don't understand," said Hellen, taking a close look to the half destroyed bots they had fought a few moments ago. "You built this program," she told Tony. "Why is it trying to kill us." 

Tony suddenly snorted. All eyes were on him as he watched the screen. He laughed. Bruce shook his head at him, trying to get him to stop, but it didn't help. 

"You think this is funny?" Thor asked him.

"No," Tony said, trying to keep a straight face. "It's probably not, right? This is very terrible. Is it so" he laughed, "It is. It's so terrible." Nina laughed at that. All eyes turned to her, now. 

"Why are you laughing?" Thor asked her. 

"It's.. it is, quite funny," she told them. "No, actually the word I have in mind is... unbelievable. Stupid. Unnecessary-"

"Okay, got it," Tony cut her. 

"And it could have easily been avoided if you hadn't decided to meddle with something you don't understand," she finished.

"It is funny," Tony told her. "It's a hoot that you don't get why we need this. You two have an excuse, it's not your planet, I get that," he pointed at Nina and Thor. "But the rest of you." Tony said, his tone suddenly more serious. 

"Tony, maybe this might not be the time," Bruce tried to tell him. 

"Really?" Tony asked him, a frown on his face. "That's it? You just roll over, show your belly, every time somebody snarls?"

"Only when I've created a murder bot."

"We didn't. We weren't even close. Were we close to an interface?" Bruce shrugged. 

"Well you did something right," Steve stepped in. "And you did it right here. The Avengers was supposed to be different than S.H.I.E.L.D."

"Anybody remember when I carried a nuke through a wormhole?" Tony decided to ask. Nina shook her head. 

"No, it's never come up," Rhody told him. 

"Saved New York?" 

"Never heard that."

"Recall that?" Tony asked them. "A hostile alien army came charging through a hole in space. We're standing three hundred feet bellow it. We're the Avengers. We can bust arms dealers all the livelong day, but that up there," he pointed to the sky. "That's... that's the endgame. How were you guys planning in beating that?"

"Together," Steve said. 

"We'll lose," Tony argued.

"Then we'll do that together too."