* WARNING: Contains 'Avengers: Age of Ultron' spoilers!
"Drink!" someone shouted, causing me and the group of people that I was standing with to take a shot. And another. And another... This party had officially christened 'Stark Tower' as 'Avengers Tower', and that's the way it would stay.
"You're clearly having fun!" Nat said as I walked up to the bar that she was standing behind.
"Yep!" I said with a high-pitched laugh. I rarely drank, but when I did, I drank a lot!
"You're drunk already?" she asked with a laugh.
"I'm not drunk, just tipsy. Very tipsy," I said, trying to focus on keeping myself upright, on my feet. After a minute I gave up and sat in an empty seat, still facing the bar and Nat. "Why are you hiding behind the bar?"
"I'm not hiding, I'm... observing," she said, looking around the room. I followed her eyes and watched where they landed, smiling.
"Ask him out!" I urged her. I rarely saw Nat unsure.
"I can't, it's weird. We work together," she looked worried. "Plus, he'd probably say no, I mean, guys don't really see me as girlfriend material – especially because I can usually disarm them with a single punch."
"Nat," I said, staring her straight in the eyes. "You are an incredible super spy/assassin, not to mention the hottest woman in this room right now. He'd be an idiot to turn you down," I assured her as Banner started to make his way towards us. "Here's your chance," I muttered to her as he approached the bar. "Hi. Bye!" I greeted him with a wave, winking at Nat leaving the two of them alone as I went to find Stark. I found him talking to Thor, who was now back from Asgard to retrieve Loki's sceptre, and James 'Rhodey' Rhodes, aka War Machine, Marine pilot-turned-Superhero courtesy of an Iron Man suit that he 'borrowed' from Stark. "Hey guys!"
"Hey you," Stark said, putting his arm around me and gently kissing my cheek.
"So Rogue, what's it like to be an official Avenger?" Rhodey asked me.
"It's... tiring, exhausting, mentally draining and the best thing in my life all at the same time!" I said with a smile.
"The best thing?" Stark questioned me with an eyebrow raised.
"Well, second best thing," I said, kissing him.
"Yeah... that's my cue to leave," Rhodey said, making Stark and I laugh.
"Where's Jane?" I asked Thor, referring to his girlfriend Jane Foster.
"Oh, I'm not even sure what country Jane's in. There's talk of her getting a... Nobel Prize," he said, his face lighting up as he thought about her.
"That's great, I can't wait to see her again!" I said genuinely. Jane Foster was one of my favourite people ever, even though I'd only met her once or twice. As I said this, I looked over to Nat and Banner, speaking to each other with their heads close together.
"Are you responsible for that?" Stark asked me, also staring at Banner and Nat.
"I can't take all the credit," I said with a laugh, kissing him again.
***
"Whatever man, it's a trick!" Hawkeye said later that night. The party was practically over. The only people still here were the Avengers, Rhodey, Hill and Dr Helen Cho, a geneticist.
"Please, be my guest," Thor said, gesturing to his hammer.
"Really?" he asked, his face lighting up like a little kid at Christmas.
"You're not serious are you?" I asked both of them, looking back and forth between them.
"Deadly," Thor said with a half-smile. Hawkeye stood up and walked to where the hammer was, on the table.
"Clint, you've had a tough week, we won't hold it against you if you can't get it up," Stark said, making everyone laugh.
Hawkeye grabbed the edge of the hammer and tried to lift it off the table, struggling and groaning before letting it go. Then, because he hadn't managed it, all of the boys decided that they wanted to try and lift the hammer.
"Boys will be boys," Nat said to me with an eye roll and a sip of her drink.
"Right, so, if I lift it, I then rule Asgard?" Stark asked, to which Thor responded with a nod. I rolled my eyes, praying that Stark would never be able to lift it. Can you imagine Tony Stark ruling Asgard? The idea is terrifying!
"Girls?" Steve asked when all the boys had failed to lift it.
"Oh no, that's not a question I need answered," Nat said
"I actually don't care whether I'm worthy or not," I added with a smile.
"The handles imprinted right? Like a security code?" Stark asked Thor, still staring at the hammer with a confused look on his face.
"That's an interesting theory, but I have a simpler one," Thor said, picking up his hammer and pausing for dramatic effect. "You're all not worthy." We all laughed and made various comments. Then we heard a loud screeching sound that stopped us in our tracks. I stood up immediately, sensing that something was about to go wrong.
"No, how could you be worthy? You're all killers," someone said. We couldn't tell where it was coming from, but each hallway opening and dark corridor seemed that much more sinister.
"Stark," Steve said automatically, joining me by standing. Slowly we heard footsteps, and a robot-like figure appeared from beneath the darkness. Stark had created the 'Iron Legion', a group of robots resembling the Iron Man suit, who helped to get civilians to safety during missions from time to time. This robot looked like a broken version of that.
"Who sent you?" Thor asked the robot
"I see a suit of armour around the world," the robot played. It was Stark's voice.
"Ultron," Banner said in shock.
I turned to Stark. "What have you done?" I hissed at him angrily. Stark was always making and inventing new things, none of which had ever been a threat to any of us before.
"I'm on a mission," Ultron continued.
"What mission?" Nat asked.
"Peace in our time," Ultron answered. And all hell broke loose...
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Thanks for reading!
What happens next? Can the Avengers recover from it? Find out next week in Chapter 14!
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