Chapter 6. AfterMath

On the AirCraft

"Hey, The Lullaby worked better than Every" Nat says, as she and Bree sit down next to Bruce

"Just wasn't expecting a Code Green" He sighs and Bree and Nat frowns

"If it wasn't for you, are best friend would've been a treasured memory." Bree says sitting next to him

"You know, sometimes exactly what I want to hear isn't exactly what I want to hear." Bruce says, Bree frowns but gets up when see she's Tony

"How long before you trust me?" Nat asked

"It's not you I don't trust." Bruce answers sadly

"Thor, report on the Hulk." Thor looks to them

"The gates of Hel are filled with the screams of his victims." Bruce looks down, and Bree glares at him

"But not the screams of the dead, of course. No, no, wounded screams. Mainly whimpering, a great deal of complaining and tales of sprained deltoids and gout." Thor finishes, but doesn't make Bruce fill better

"Hey, Banner, Dr. Cho is on her way in from Seoul. Is it okay if she sets up in your lab?" Tony asked

"Yeah, she knows her way around."

"Thanks. Tell her to prep everything. Barton's gonna need the full treatment."

"Very good, sir."

"Jarvis, take the wheel. Yes, sir."

Back at the Tower

"Approach vector is locked. Feels good, yeah?"

"I mean, you've been after this thing since S.H.I.E.L.D. collapsed. Not that I haven't enjoyed our little raiding parties, but... No, but this... This brings it to a close."

"As soon as we find out what else this has been used for."

"I don't just mean weapons. Since when is Strucker capable of human enhancement?"

Banner, Bree and I will give it the once over before it goes back to Asgard."

"We will?" Bree asked joining the conversation

"Yes, we will"

"Anyway, Is that cool with you? Just a few days till the party. You're staying, right?" Tony asked Turning back to Thor

"Yes, yes, of course. A victory should be honored with revels."

"Yeah, who doesn't love revels? Captain?"

"Hopefully this puts an end to the Chitauri and Hydra."

" So, yes, revels." Bree says come back to the conversation

"Lab's all set up, boss."

"Actually, he's the boss. I just pay for everything and design everything and make everyone look cooler." Tony brags, Bree rolls her eyes

"What's the word on Strucker?" Steve asked

"NATO's got him." Bree answered, looking up from her tablet

"The two Enhanced?" Steve asked her

"Wanda and Pietro Maximoff. Twins. Orphaned at 10 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. Their abilities? He's got increased metabolism and improved thermal homeostasis. Her thing is neuroelectric interfacing, telekinesis, mental manipulation." Bree says, leaving Steve staring in confusion

"He's fast and she's weird." Bree explained

"Well, they're gonna show up again." Steve says

"Agreed. File says they volunteered for Strucker's experiments." Bree says

"It's nuts." Steve says

"Right." Bree says

"What kind of monster would let a German scientist experiment on them to protect their country?" Steve says

"We're not at war, Captain." Bree answers

"They are." Steve says walking away

With Natasha

"How's he doing?" Bree asked

"Unfortunately, he's still Barton." She answers

"That's terrible." Bree answers

"He's fine. He's thirsty."

In the lab

"All right. Look alive, Jarvis. It's playtime. We only got a couple of days with this joystick, so let's make the most of it. Update me on the structural and compositional analysis. The scepter is alien." Tony says as Bree enters the room to find the two boys messing with the Tesseract

"There are elements I can't quantify." Jarvis says

"So there's elements you can?" Tony says

"The jewel appears to be a protective housing for something inside, something powerful."

-"Like a reactor?"

- "Like a computer."

Later

"I believe I'm deciphering code. Are you sure he's gonna be okay?"

"Pretending to need this guy really brings the team together."

"There's no possibility of deterioration. The nano-molecular functionality is instantaneous. His cells don't know they're bonding with simulacra."

"She's creating tissue. If you brought him to my lab, the Regeneration Cradle could do this in 20 minutes." Bree says

"He's flat-lining. Call it. Time?"

- "No, no, no, I'm gonna live forever. - I'm gonna be made of plastic." Clint says

- "Here's your beverage." Bree says trying to contain her laughter, which brought a smile to Steve, her and Steve had become real close with her time as an Avenger

"You'll be made of you, Mr. Barton. Your own girlfriend won't be able to tell the difference." Dr. Cho says, Bree and Nat give a knowing look

"I don't have a girlfriend."

"That I can't fix." Dr. Cho says, and Bree laughs a little

"This is the next thing, Tony. Your clunky metal suits are gonna be left in the dust." Bree says

"That is exactly the plan. And, Helen, I expect to see you at the party on Saturday." Tony answers

"Unlike you, I don't have a lot of time for parties. Will Thor be there?" Dr. Cho asked

Later

"What's the rumpus?" Bree asked

"Well, the scepter. You see, we were wondering how Strucker got so inventive. So I've been analyzing the gem inside. You may recognize... - Jarvis."

"Doctor. 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."

"Top of the line. - Yes. I suspect not for long. Meet the competition."

I"t's beautiful. - If you had to guess, - what's it look like it's doing?"

"Like it's thinking. I mean, this could be... It's not a human mind."

"I mean, look at this. They're like neurons firing. Down in Strucker's lab, I saw some fairly advanced robotics work."

"They deep-sixed the data, but... I gotta guess he was knocking on a very particular door. Artificial intelligence." Bree says

"This could be it, you too. This could be the key to creating Ultron."

"I thought Ultron was a fantasy." Bree says

"Yesterday it was." Tony says

"If we can harness this power, apply it to my Iron Legion protocol? That's a man-sized "if." Our job is "if." Tony sayd

"What if you were sipping margaritas on a sun-drenched beach, turning brown instead of green? Not looking over your shoulder for Veronica."

"Don't hate. I designed Veronica." Bree says

"As a worst-case measure, right?"

"How about a best case?" Bree suggest

"What if the world was safe? What if, next time aliens roll up to the club, and they will, they couldn't get past the bouncer? The only people threatening the planet would be people." Tony says

"I want to apply this to the Ultron program." He finishes

"But Jarvis can't download a data schematic this dense." Bree says

"We can only do it while we have the scepter here. That's three days. Give me three days." Tony says

"So you're going for artificial intelligence, and you don't want to tell the team?" Bree says, with Bruce nodding his head in agreement

"Right. That's right. You know why? Because we don't have time for a city hall debate. I don't want to hear "the man was not meant to meddle" medley." Tony says

"I see a suit of armor around the world."

"Sounds like a cold world, Tony." Bruce says

"I've seen colder." Breanna says

"This one, this very vulnerable blue one, it needs Ultron. Peace in our time. Imagine that."

Hey guys, got out of school early, we had a half day, so I have been working on this since I've been home, it took awhile but here it is

Love you guys 3000