Tony climbed into the dusty barn, his eyes set on the old, slightly rusted tractor that sat within it. Here and there Tony spotted targets and broken arrows, which made it seem a lot like Clint's place.

Tugging on a string, a light came on above the tractor and he ran his hand over the dusty surface. "Hello, dear," he murmured, testing the knob at the engine. "Tell me everything. What ails you?" He checked the fuel pipe and poked around inside.

"Do me a favour," another voice came, alarming Tony for a brief moment, before filling him with annoyance because he recognised that voice. He turned to the side to see Nick Fury coming in through the back of the barn. "Try not to bring it to life."

Tony sighed. "Why Miss Barton, you little minx," he murmured and walked closer to where Fury had come to a standstill. "I get it. Maria Hill called you, right? Was she ever not working for you?"

"Artificial intelligence," Fury said, hands in his pockets. So he'd been brought up to speed on Ultron. And Tony and Bruce's little research. "You never even hesitated."

Tony pinched the bridge of his nose. "Look, it's been a really long day, so how about we skip to the part where you're useful?"

"Look me in the eye and tell me you're going to shut him down."

Tony stared at him. "You're not the director of me."

"I'm not the director of anybody," Fury replied, taking a seat on a wooden stool that sat near a workspace. "I'm just an old man who cares very much about you."

Tony looked away, fiddling with his fingers. "And I'm the man who killed the Avengers."

When Tony saw Fury's confused expression, he continued. "I saw it. I didn't tell the team though. How could I? I saw them all dead, Nick. I felt it. The whole world too. Because of me." Tony moved back a bit to find another chair in the room and he sat down, a few feet away from Fury. "I wasn't ready. I didn't do all I could."

"The Maximoff girl is working you, Stark," Fury explained. "Playing on your fear."

"I wasn't tricked, I was shown," Tony insisted. "It wasn't a nightmare, it was my legacy. The end of the path I started us on." He couldn't help but believe that if he didn't do something, it would be an end to the Avengers. An end to the people he cared about. And slowly, that group was getting bigger. He couldn't handle it if the casualties also increased in number.

"You come up with some pretty impressive inventions, Tony," Fury rose from his chair to stand. "War isn't one of them."

"I watched my friends die," Tony said, aimlessly grabbing a nearby wrench from the table beside him and beginning to clean it with a cloth he had fount next to it. "You'd think that'd be as bad as it gets, right? Nope. It wasn't the worst part. And now... now there's this kid. Of course you know all about her, Hill would have gotten you up to speed."

Fury nodded, but said nothing. So Tony continued. "I just... there's so much at risk. And I felt helpless. I still do," Tony shrugged, setting the wrench aside and looking at Fury as he made his way over. "You'd think that'd be as bad as it gets, right? Nope. Watching them die, it wasn't the worst part."

Fury nodded. "The worst part, is that you didn't think that'd be as bad as it gets."

Tony glanced over at Fury and stared for a moment. He knew what Fury was here for. To get them to team up again and put an end to Ultron. But he was right. Tony's thoughts... they may have blinded him along the way and started this whole thing, but he had to make it right. So, he just looked at Fury and nodded.

* * *

"Ultron took you folks out of play to buy himself some time," Fury explained to everyone now gathered in the kitchen. The sun had set and it was dark out. Natasha sat at the dining table with Clint's daughter who was showing her a painting. Clint was at the sink, doing the dishes while Bruce sat close by. Steve stood in the doorway, listening intently to Fury as he leaned against a kitchen counter and sipped some orange juice.

Tony was with Andi, close tot he edge of the kitchen, where the two of them were taking turns at darts while Fury spoke. Andi had never played darts before, and when Tony suggested it and she started, she didn't seem inclined to stop any time soon. Plus, she was better at it than Tony.

"My contacts all say he's building something," Fury continued as Andi walked to the board to pluck out all the darts they'd thrown. She returned to Tony's side and handed him three while she kept the other three. "The amount of vibranium he made off with, I don't think it's just one thing."

Andi threw her first dart as Steve spoke up. "What about Ultron himself?"

"Oh he's easy to track," Fury explained, sipping more juice. "He's everywhere. Guy's multiplying faster than a Catholic rabbit. Still doesn't help us get an angle on any of his plans, though."

Tony shot his dart, which was a few inches closer to the centre than Andi's. "Is he still going after launch codes?" Tony asked, while Andi took her shot.

"Yes, he is," Fury nodded. "But he's not making any headway."

Tony arched an eyebrow as though this was ridiculous. "I cracked the Pentagon's firewall in high school, on a dare," he explained, glancing back to the board once Andi had taken her shot. Andi understood why that sounded ridiculous. If Ultron was everywhere, how was he not able to access nuclear launch codes?

"Well," Fury said, looking to Tony briefly. "I contacted our friends at the Nexus about that."

"Nexus?" Andi asked, glancing at the man in the eyepatch briefly before turning back to her game just as Tony fired another dart. It was quite close to her last shot, but not centre yet.

"It's the world internet hub in Oslo," Bruce explained. "Every byte if data flows through there. Fastest access on Earth."

"Okay, so what did Nexus have to say?" Clint asked, folding his arms now that he was done with the dishes. A lot of this wasn't making sense to Andi but she was trying to catch up.

"He's fixated on the missiles," Fury said. "But the codes are constantly being changed."

"By whom?" Tony asked as he walked to the board to collect all of his darts, just as Andi fired her last one. It hit the bullseye and she grinned while Tony, alarmed that he was nearly impaled by a dart, took a step back and glanced at her with initially surprise, but then with something of a crooked smile.

"Parties unknown," Fury answered, sitting down at the table a seat away from Natasha.

Tony grabbed the darts and walked back to Andi, handing them to her but this time not taking part in the game. Instead, he leaned against the kitchen counter and looked briefly at everyone. "I might need to go to Oslo then. Find our 'parties unknown'."

Natasha sighed and looked at Fury. "Well, this is good times, boss, but I was kind of hoping when I saw you, you'd have more than that."

Fury blinked. "I do," he said and gestured to them all. "I have you."

And paused in throwing her dart to glance at the man. "Ultron says that the Avengers are the only thing between him and his mission. And whether he admits it or not, his mission is global destruction. So stand. And outwit that platinum bastard."

"Steve doesn't like that kind of talk," Natasha said with a smirk, causing Steve to laugh a little.

"So, what does Ultron want?" Fury posed a question which got Andi thinking. She looked at the dart and the board, thinking of how she had gotten better with each turn. She thought back to Strucker and all he had ever wanted.

Andi looked back up again, and at Fury. "He wants to become better. Better than the avengers. And that way... nothing stands in his way."

Fury had the hint of a smile on his face but Andi's gaze quickly flew to Steve as he began to speak, slowly nodding in agreement. "He keeps building bodies."

"Person bodies," Tony chimed in. "The human body is inefficient. Biologically speaking, we're outmoded but he keeps coming back to it."

"When you two programmed him to protect the human race, you amazingly failed." Natasha glanced between Tony and Bruce, the latter of whom had come to stand beside her now, whilst looking down at the painting of the butterfly Clint's daughter had made.

"They don't need to be protected," Bruce said softly, adjusting his glasses. "They need to evolve."

Everyone was looking to Bruce now, and Andi had abandoned the darts on the kitchen counter to move a little closer. Bruce lifted his gaze from the painting to look at them all. "Ultron's going to evolve."

"How?" Fury asked, looking up at him.

Bruce sighed. "Has anyone been in contact with Doctor Helen Cho?"

Andi wasn't sure what that meant, but Clint did. "Tissue regeneration," he said softly, standing up straighter and looking to them all.

Bruce nodded. "That's what he wanted vibranium for. He's going to use the cradle that Doctor Cho uses for tissue regeneration to create a body for himself. A body made out of the strongest metal on earth."