Sooo many people are excited for this! It's great. :)
The raid in Sokovia continues, Tony and Bruce work on Ultron, and cool is cool. ;)
***
"Shit!" Tony cursed as he flew away from the HYDRA base.
"What did you do this time, Stark?" Jessie laughed as she flew past.
"Language!" Steve admonished before looking around. "JARVIS, what's the view from upstairs?"
"The central building is protected by some kind of energy shield," the AI answered. "Strucker's technology is well beyond any other HYDRA base we've taken."
"Loki's scepter must be here," Thor nodded as the Doctor landed by him, eyes glowing red with the Aether. "Strucker couldn't mount this defense without it." He threw his hammer at a few HYDRA operatives, sending them towards Saleen as she shot past. "At long last."
Natasha quickly ducked a few soldiers, then knocked them out. "At lost last is lasting a little long, boys," she complained.
"Speaking of . . . you're late!" Thor glared at the Doctor, throwing his hammer again.
"Are we?" the Doctor tried to check his watch, then quickly blasted a few HYDRA agents away with the Aether, sending them to Jessie as she blasted lightning down. "You said 10 am, didn't you?"
"PM!" Steve called. "Yesterday!"
"Ooo . . . " The Doctor cringed. "Oops?"
"This is why I said to let me drive," Jessie smirked as she landed, pulling out her blaster and shooting at one of the tanks driving by. "At least I'm accurate."
"I think we lost the element of surprise!" Clint put in.
"Wait a second," Tony said in disbelief. "No one else is going to deal with the fact that Cap just said 'language?'"
"I know," Steve sighed, throwing his shield. 'It just slipped out. Please, no one tell Martha?"
"Nothing ever gets past the wife, Captain," the Doctor shook his head, ducking as Jessie threw a fireball over his head. "Especially when they've traveled with me."
"That's what I was afraid of," Steve sighed.
***
"Doing all right?" Saleen asked as she landed by Clint.
"Could use a hand," Clint admitted, firing his arrows continuously, when a silvery blur shot past them, throwing both of them away.
When they recovered their vision, a man in a blue jacket with white hair smirked at them as he walked by. "You didn't see that coming?" he asked before speeding off again.
Saleen frowned, then Clint let out a cry, and she turned, seeing him fall again, a bullet in the shoulder. "Clint!" she shouted.
"We have an enhanced in the field!" Steve reported.
"Where?" Jessie asked.
"He's too fast to tell."
"Clint's hit," Saleen said, leaning over the man to check. She glared at where the shot had come from: a bunker that had machine guns tracking everyone. "Somebody want to deal with that bunker?" she asked.
The Hulk landed with a smash on the bunker, then Jessie lobbed a fireball at it, and the bunker exploded. "Thank you," Saleen called.
Jessie gave a thumbs up, then flew off again.
***
"Stark, we really need to get inside!" Steve snapped as the Doctor caught up to him.
"I'm closing in," Tony promised. "JARVIS, am I . . . closing in? Do you see a power source for that shield?"
"There's a pathway below the north tower."
"Great. I wanna poke it with something. Jessie?"
"Coming," she answered, and the Doctor and Steve watched Jessie fly in, sending a lightning strike down onto the shield. The energy flickered, then collapsed. "Drawbridge is down," she reported.
Thor landed with the Doctor and Steve, walking up. "The enhanced?" he asked.
"He's a blur," Steve shook his head. "All the new players we've faced, I've never seen this. In fact, I still haven't."
"Clint's hit pretty bad, guys," Saleen cut in. "Natasha's on her way, but we're still gonna need evac."
"I can get Barton to the jet," Thor volunteered. "The sooner we're gone, the better."
"The four of us go after the scepter?" the Doctor suggested.
"Copy that," Steve confirmed.
"You lot have incoming," Jessie put in.
Thor raised an eyebrow as a HYDRA soldiers approached with a tank. "It looks like they're lining up."
"Well, they're excited," Steve shrugged, holding up his shield. "Boys?"
Thor brought his hammer down on the shield, sending a shock wave out to the soldiers. The Doctor threw a wave of the Aether out at the same time, sending them flying. "Find the scepter," Thor said, flying off.
"And for gosh sake, watch your language!" Tony tried to imitate Martha.
Steve sighed. "That's not going away any time soon, is it?" he asked the Doctor.
"Not if I know Stark," the Time Lord shook his head.
***
"I'll keep an eye on the perimeter," Jessie told Tony as they approached the building.
"Copy," Tony nodded, and she flew off. Tony entered the base, and stopped short as men fired at him. "Guys, stop. We gotta talk this through." Places in his suit opened up, and the suit fired on all of the men. "It was a good talk."
"No, it wasn't!" one cried weakly.
Tony just rolled his eyes. "Sentry mode," he ordered, then stepped out of the suit and headed for a computer. "OK, JARVIS, you know I want it all. Make sure you copy Hill and Rogers-Jones at HQ."
"We're locked down out here," Natasha reported.
"Then Harper, get to Banner," Steve ordered. "Time for a lullaby."
***
Saleen slowly walked across the snowy landscape, seeing the Hulk growling. "Hey, big guy," she called, and the Hulk turned to her. "The sun's getting real low."
The Hulk grunted, stomping over. Saleen just crouched on the ground, offering her hand. The Hulk stared at it for a moment, then put his hand over hers. Saleen smiled encouragingly, stroking his hand softly, and the Hulk started breathing easier.
He stumbled away suddenly, and Saleen straightened, watching as the Hulk shrunk back down, finally turning back into Bruce.
***
"I know you're hiding more than files," Tony frowned as he played with the software. "Hey, J, give me an IR scan of the room real quick."
"That wall to your left," JARVIS offered. "I'm reading steel reinforcement and an air current."
"Please be a secret door, please be a secret door, please be a secret door," Tony begged, walking over to the wall. He slightly pushed then brightened when the wall slid back. "Yay!"
***
Steve was the first around the corner, then paused when he nearly ran into - "Baron Strucker," he greeted. "HYDRA's number one thug."
"Technically, I'm a thug for SHIELD," Strucker said.
"Well, then, technically, you're unemployed," the Doctor countered as the Doctor snuck back into the passage. "Where's Loki's scepter?"
"Don't worry, I know when I'm beat," Strucker held up his hands. "You'll mention how I cooperated, I hope."
"I'll put it right under illegal human experimentation," Steve retorted. "How many are there?"
He was suddenly thrown forward, and he stood up just in time to see a young woman with long brown hair disappear down another corridor. "We have a second enhanced," he reported. "Female. Do not engage."
Strucker smiled as Steve turned to him. "You'll have to be faster than - "
The Doctor suddenly walked out of the wall behind him and put his fingers to Strucker's temples. The man's eyes rolled up into his head, and he collapsed. Steve nodded, impressed, and the Doctor brushed his hands off. "We've got Strucker," Steve said.
***
"Yeah," Tony said slowly, finally emerging at the end of the passage. "I got . . . something bigger."
He stared at the Leviathan corpse in front of him, then took in the rest of the scraps from the Battle of New York. Finally, he saw Loki's scepter down at the end, and he smiled, heading for it. "Thor? I got eyes on the prize - "
He cut off when Chitauri suddenly started coming to life. As he looked at where the scepter was, he gasped. The Avengers' bodies were piled there, all of them. Even Martha was there, Steve obviously looking like he'd been trying to protect her. The only three missing were the Time Lords . . . and Tony himself.
Tony swallowed, leaning forward to really check if Steve was dead . . . when the man gasped for breath, reaching and grabbing his arm. "You could have saved us!" he gasped out before falling silent.
Tony swallowed hard, looking around, seeing he wasn't back in the HYDRA base, but out in Chitauri space. "Why didn't you do more?" the Doctor's voice asked suddenly.
"Why couldn't you save them?" Jessie asked.
Tony looked around, stunned, but the Time Lords were still missing. When he turned back, he was again looking at the scepter, the vision gone.
***
From where she silently watched from the shadows, Wanda considered Stark as he marched up to take the scepter. She heard a rustle beside her, and she held up a hand to stop her brother. "We're just gonna let them take it?" Pietro asked, stunned.
Wanda just smiled ominously as Stark picked up the scepter and looked at it.
***
As the TARDIS wheezed onto the Quinjet, Natasha sat next to Bruce, who was listening to opera on his headphones. "Hey," she poked him gently. "The lullaby worked better than ever."
"Just wasn't expecting the Code Green," Bruce shrugged as the Doctor and Jessie stepped out of the TARDIS, the Doctor wearing a long green trench coat now instead of his normal tweed jacket.
"If you hadn't been there, we'd've had double the casualties," Saleen pointed out. "Clint would be dead, too."
"You know, sometimes exactly what I want to hear isn't exactly what I want to hear," Bruce sighed.
Saleen frowned. "How long before you trust me?"
"It's not you I don't trust," Bruce promised.
"Thor, report on the Hulk?" Natasha asked, looking up.
"The gates of hell are filled with the screams of his victims!" Thor said dramatically.
The Doctor pinched the bridge of his nose as Bruce groaned in annoyance. "Didn't he just say something about what he doesn't want to hear?" he asked.
"Uh . . . " Thor fumbled for something else. "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?" Jessie gave him a look. "Shut up."
Tony straightened. "Hey, Banner, Dr. Cho's on her way in from Seoul. Is it OK if she sets up in your lab."
"Uh, yeah," he nodded. "She knows her way around."
"Thanks," Tony turned back to look outside. "Tell her to prep everything," he told JARVIS. "Better yet, get Martha onboard, too. Barton's gonna need the full treatment.
"Very good, sir," JARVIS answered.
"JARVIS, take the wheel."
"Yes, sir. Approach vector is locked."
"I had hoped to never see this again," Jessie sighed, looking at the scepter in annoyance.
"Didn't you say it was powered by the Tesseract?" the Doctor asked, examining it.
"Works like a HYDRA weapon," Steve shrugged.
"It feels good, yeah?" Tony asked Thor. "I know Loki was upset after it was stolen, but to finally have it back? Not that I haven't enjoyed our little raiding parties, but - "
"You raided without us?" Jessie frowned.
"Some bases to knock out HYDRA," Saleen nodded. "Nothing too big."
"This brings it to a close," Thor looked at the scepter.
"As soon as we find out what else this has been used for," Steve amended. "I don't just mean weapons. Since when is Strucker capable of human enhancement?"
"Banner and I'll give it the once before it goes back to Asgard," Tony said. "Is that cool with you?" Thor nodded in confirmation, and Tony turned to the Doctor. "Would you mind giving us a hand? A third POV is better than two."
"Of course," the Doctor nodded eagerly. "I've wondered what your labs look like."
"Candyland," Tony promised. "It's just a few days until the farewell party. You're staying, right?"
"Yes, yes, of course," Thor nodded. "A victory should be honored with revels."
"And you two are not flying off again so quickly," Tony pointed to the Time Lords. "You both are staying here, too."
"Yes, father," Jessie rolled her eyes playfully.
"Captain?" Tony looked at Steve. "You and the Missus staying?"
Steve nodded. "Hopefully this puts an end to the Chitauri and HYDRA. So, yes. Revels."
***
Two women were waiting when the Quinjet landed. Martha Rogers-Jones had time to hug the Time Lords and give Steve a kiss on the cheek before helping Natasha take Clint inside. Maria Hill, in turn, turned to Tony. "Lab's all set up, boss," she reported.
"Uh, actually, he's the boss," Tony pointed to Steve. "I just pay for everything and design everything and make everyone look cooler."
"Because cool is cool," the Doctor nodded. "Give everyone a bow tie."
Tony frowned. "Why would I do that?"
"Because bow ties are cool!"
"We'll consider it," Tony frowned before gesturing. "Come on, I'll show you Candyland."
The Doctor headed off with Tony, going on about the real planet they went to made up entirely of candy, and Steve and Jessie headed off with Maria. "What's the word on Strucker?" Steve asked.
"NATO's got him," Maria answered.
"What's this about enhanced?" Jessie asked.
"Wanda and Pietro Maximoff," Maria answered, pulling up the two on her pad. "Twins. Orphaned at ten when a shell collapsed their apartment building. Sokovia's had a rough history. It's nowhere special, but it's on the way to everywhere special."
"And their abilities?"
"He's got increased metabolism and improved thermal homeostasis, her thing is neural electric interfacing, telekinesis, mental manipulation."
Steve blinked, and Jessie patted his shoulder. "He's fast, and she's weird," she translated.
Steve nodded in thanks. "Well, they're going to show up again."
"Agreed," Maria nodded. "File says they volunteered for Strucker's experiments. It's nuts!"
"Right," Steve said. "What kind of monster would let a German scientist experiment on them to protect their country?"
"But we're not at war," Jessie pointed out.
"They are," Steve argued.
***
Bruce looked up as Tony and the Doctor entered. "How's he doing?" he asked.
"Oh, unfortunately, he's still Barton," Tony sighed.
"That's terrible," Bruce said sarcastically.
"He's fine," the Doctor assured him. "He's just thirsty."
"All right, look alive, JARVIS," Tony clapped his hands. "It's play time! We've only got a couple days with this joystick, so let's make the most of it. Update us on the structural and compositional analysis."
"The scepter is alien," JARVIS began.
"Yes, I got that much," the Doctor crouched down to look the scepter over. "What's it made of?"
"There are elements I can't quantify," JARVIS admitted.
"What elements can you?"
"The jewel appears to be a protective housing for something inside," JARVIS answered. "Something powerful."
"Like a reactor?" Tony asked.
"Like a computer," JARVIS corrected. "I believe I'm ciphering code."
***
"You sure he's going to be OK?" Natasha asked as Dr. Helen Cho and Martha worked on Clint, Saleen waiting nearby. "Pretending to need this guy really brings the team together."
"We've been pretending the whole time?" Saleen pretended to be surprised.
"There's no possibility of deterioration," Cho shook her head as the Doctor, Bruce, and Tony entered. "The nano-molecular functionality is instantaneous. His cells don't know they're bonding with simulacrum."
"In other words," Martha began.
The Doctor blinked, inspecting the area where Clint had been shot. "Is she creating tissue?" he asked.
Martha sighed. "There you have it."
"Martha Jones!" the Doctor beamed, going to hug her.
"Good to see you, Doctor," Martha smiled warmly, giving him a hug.
"And you."
"If you brought him to my lab, the regeneration cradle could do this in twenty minutes," Cho said.
"Oh, he's flatlining," Tony sighed in mock despair. "Call it. Time?"
"No, no, no," Clint shook his head. "I'm going to live forever. I'm gonna be made of plastic."
"No, no, not plastic," the Doctor wrinkled his nose as Tony handed Clint a drink. "You'd be an Auton then. Jez and I have had enough of plastic mannequins for a long time."
"Here's your beverage," Tony added.
"You'll be made of you, Mr. Barton," Cho said. "Your own girlfriend won't be able to tell the difference."
"Well, I don't have a girlfriend," Clint rolled his eyes.
"That we can't fix," Martha grinned, patting his arm. "Sorry."
"This is the next thing, Tony," Cho gestured. "Your clunky metal suits are going to be left in the dust."
"Well, that is exactly the plan," Tony shrugged. "And Helen, I expect to see you at the party on Saturday."
"Unlike you, I don't have a lot of time for parties," Cho shook her head, before asking nonchalantly, "Will Thor be there?"
The Doctor and Martha immediately excused themselves, snickering as they headed off to find Jessie.
***
"What's the rumpus?" Bruce asked as he returned to the lab.
"Well, the scepter," Tony gestured. "You see, we were wondering how Strucker got so inventive. So, I've been analyzing the gem inside you may recognize." He pulled up an image of the inside of the scepter. "JARVIS. Started out, JARVIS was just a natural language UI. Now, he runs the Iron Legion. He runs more of the business than anyone besides Pepper."
"Oh," Bruce blinked, nodding and recognizing the two as Tony pulled up JARVIS's gold schematics.
"Top of the line."
"Yes."
"I suspect not for long?" JARVIS asked dryly.
"Meet the competition," Tony nodded.
Bruce's eyes widened as an ice blue schematic of an AI appeared. "It's beautiful!"
"If you had to guess, what's it look like it's doing?" Tony asked.
"Like it's thinking," Bruce answered. "I mean, this could be a . . . it's not a human mind, it - "
"Um um," Tony nodded with a grin.
"I mean, look at this!" Bruce gestured. "They're like neurons firing!"
"Down in Strucker's lab, I saw some fairly advanced robotics work," Tony said. "They deep-sixed the data, but I gotta guess he was knocking on a very particular door."
"Artificial Intelligence," Bruce realized.
"This could be it, Bruce!" Tony grinned. "This could be the key to creating Ultron!"
***
Ta da! The first chapter! Not bad for about 2,900 words.
These chapters will obviously be a lot shorter, but I've never worked the Doctor into anything else before. Who else loved the "cool is cool" part? Stark said it in the movie, and I immediately thought, "Eleven!
Anyway, next up . . . TORCHWOOD! :D "Exit Wounds" is next on the list, and boy, am I thrilled for that!