𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐈𝐕𝐄 || 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘐𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘞𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘎𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘵

"ALL OUR WORK IS GONE," Bruce announced, eyes scanning the screen that projected all the progress both he and Tony had made in the past few weeks. Everything relating to Ultron's development had been flushed from all systems. "Ultron cleared out and used the Internet as an escape route."

"Ultron," Steve repeated with a scoff. Now thinking about it, the same was strange in itself and posed the question as to who was the one to come up with it.

Standing over a computer, Natasha glanced back at the group as she said, "He's been in everything. Files, surveillance. Probably knows more about us than we know about each other."

"Did someone call Leila to tell her to take Faye and Azreal underground?" Clint asked.

"Yeah. She insisted on coming to help after hearing what happened to Nova, but I told her to take care of her kids," Steve stated. Although another Asgardian could be plentiful to the issues at hand, everyone knew Leila wouldn't trust herself leaving Faye and Azreal with Jane. That and it might conflict with her issues. So, in itself, everyone knew the best outcome would be to leave Leila to take care of her family and be where she needed to be.

Rhodey shook his head, holding his aching arm. "He's in your files, he's in the internet. What if he decides to access something a little more exciting?" He suggested.

Maria Hill looked up, realization in her eyes. "Nuclear codes."

"Nuclear codes." He nodded. "Look, we need to make some calls assuming we still can."

"Nukes? He said he wanted us dead," Natasha pointed out.

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

"He also said he killed somebody," Clint added, leaning against the railing overlooking the center of the lab the team had gathered in.

"There wasn't anybody else in the building," Maria replied.

Tony moved to the center with his data pad in hand. "Yes, there was." With a flick of the pad, an orange spherical shape appeared in the center. It looked like the creation of data and code with mangled strings that blue splashed throughout.

Bruce frowned, looking at the sphere in dumbfoundedness. "What?" He muttered, glancing up at Tony. "This is insane."

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

"No." Bruce shook his head. "Ultron could have assimilated Jarvis. This isn't strategy. This is...rage."

Loud footsteps appeared out of nowhere with Thor's cape bellowing behind him as he marched toward Tony. And before the man had a chance to reply, Thor grabbed him by the throat and lifted him. Not listening to the others trying to calm the god of thunder down.

"Come on, use your words, buddy," Tony reasoned, nails digging into Thor's wrist.

"I have more than enough words to describe you, Stark." The calmness in his voice was a storm yet to rage on. The veracity in his eyes was channelled by a sense of resolve he wouldn't let break even with the anger boiling in his heart.

Steve stepped forward. "Thor. The Legionnaire."

With a snarl, Thor shoved Tony back and growled. "Trail went cold about 100 miles out, but it's headed north. And it has the Sceptre. Now we have to retrieve it, again."

"Genie's out of that bottle," Natasha spoke up. "Clear and present is Ultron."

Doctor Helen Cho hovered over the bot Ultron had taken control of. Now a lifeless piece of junk with no remnants of power by Carter's doing. "I don't understand." She looked at the group, eyes fixating on Tony's back. "You built this program. Why is it trying to kill us?"

A long and steady silence filled the air, enough to strangle the life out of someone. Until Tony giggled. He giggled even when Bruce tried to silence him, not so subtly telling him to stop. But the longer Tony continued, the longer others' emotions began to mount.

"You think this is funny?" Thor questioned.

"No. It's probably not, right?" He asked, looking amongst the group. "This is very terrible. Is it so..." He couldn't contain his laugh. "It is so... It is. It's so terrible."

"This could have been avoided if you hadn't played with something you don't understand."

"No. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. It is funny. It's a hoot that you don't get why we need this," Tony defended, stepping to the god. 

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

But that only made the billionaire spin on his heel to look at the doctor. "Really? That's it? You just roll over, show your belly every time somebody snarls?"

"Only when I've created a murder bot," Bruce fired back. "Not only that, but put our friend in a damn coma."

"We didn't. We weren't even close. Were we close to an interface?" Tony asked, earning a nod and shrug from Bruce.

"Well, you did something right. And you did it right here," Steve pointed out. "The Avengers were supposed to be better than S.H.I.E.L.D."

Tony scoffed. "Anybody remember when I carried a nuke through a wormhole?"

"No, it's never came up," Rhodey replied sarcastically. "As well as the fact that you weren't alone doing so."

"Saved New York? Recall that?"

"Never heard that."

Despite his best friend's sarcastic responses, Tony continued. "A hostile alien army came charging through a hole in space. We're standing 300 feet below it."

It had been only a handful of years since the Chitauri attack. It'd been the moment the Avengers formed and the moment their lives had changed for better or for worse. Since then, there have been more superhuman and political threats to the world than ever before. From HYDRA and now Wanda and Pietro Maximoff. But the scary part is, those are just a few compared to the vast set of unknowns around the globe and onward.

"We're the Avengers. We can bust arms dealers all the livelong day, but that up there, that..." he said, looking around at the team, finger pointed upwards. "That's the endgame."

He shook his head, eyes snapping to Steve. "How were you guys plan on beating that?"

"Together," Steve answered resolutely.

"We'll lose," Tony countered, knowledgable of the risks.

"Then we'll do that together, too."

Sharing a nod amongst one another, Steve glanced at the rest of the team. "Thor's right. Ultron's calling us out," he told them. "And I'd like to find him before he's ready for us. The world's a big place. Let's start making it smaller."

"And him?" Rhodey nodded past the group to the man who hadn't spoken a word or moved since before the conversation started.

Everyone turned their gaze to Carter. The man, who hadn't moved from Nova's side since she had been put in this coma and placed in the lab for recovery until Tony and Bruce found a way to make the chip stable enough to be slotted back in. But, that's what they told him whilst he fought against Steve, trying to get at the billionaire's throat. Aware enough to know that this somehow was connected to Tony, which then was connected to Ultron.

Since then, he had been unmoving from his place even when Natasha tried to get him to rest. He sat there, emotionless, and silent to any questions or comments thrown his way. He had been compelled to stay there no matter what happened. A post he had to fulfill under a doctrine that he had fabricated in his mind.

Everyone was responsible for their mistakes, and Carter was dealing with his like this.

"Carter?" Steve spoke up, staring at the man who had finally shifted in his seat upon the call of his name. Nova's hand he'd been holding was carefully placed on her stomach as she slept quietly. No sign of ever waking up from this infinite slumber she'd been subjected to.

Her heartbeat monitor echoed in his head as he forced himself to look at the group. A deep scowl etched on his features. His eyes flashed gold with Rex and Vash appearing in front of him, deep growls shaking the floor beneath them.

Their appearance caused most of the team to step back, readying themselves. And when the man rose from the chairs, the legs of the chair painfully screeching across the floor, they stood ready.

"He's likely to seek out enhanced individuals–any that you have on record. I would make sure the ones in custody stay there," Carter told the Captain, earning a nod in thanks. "Wanda and Pietro will be likely candidates for whatever he plans next."

Tony clapped his hands, smiling sarcastically. "Finally!" He exclaimed. "Becoming of some use to us."

That made the man look at him, scowl deepening with his closed fists shaking at his sides. "Why was Ultron able to get to her chip, Stark?" Carter questioned, walking toward the man. Rex and Vash encroaching on the man with snarls.

"Carter..." Natasha's wilting warning fell on deaf ears as the man continued to march.

Despite the threat looming over the man, Tony persisted with his poorly timed humour. "Outside of work, she is on the internet quite a lot-" Before he could finish, Carter punched the man in the face, sending him to the ground. But he wasn't given much time to lay any more in before Steve had separated him from Tony.

When Rex and Vash tried to get at the billionaire, Thor was quick to hit them with Mjolnir. Black ink splashed across the ground, but that ink reassembled with the two hounds biting around Tony's arms. Their teeth never broke skin but held him in a firm position that limited any movement.

"Do you think this is the time to be making jokes? Really?" Carter exploded. "Nova is in a goddamn coma and you are making jokes about it? Do you have any idea what your tech is doing to her?"

Steve, trying to calm the man down, said, "Carter, I need you to calm down."

"No! Someone has to knock some sense into him!" He exclaimed. "Did none of you hear him laughing? Thinking this whole situation was a joke? Nova is in limbo and no one can take my side on this?"

"And what about you, huh? Why didn't you warn us about Ultron?" Clint barked from the back.

"I told Nova this hadn't happened before, okay? Do you think I would just allow this to happen?" Carter asked.

"You did with the rest." Tony's words made Carter freeze in his spot. Limbs tensed as he looked down at the man. "You told us that multiple timelines died and you did nothing to stop it. What makes you think we can believe any damn excuse to come from your mouth?"

Carter's upper lip twitched as he swallowed the lump in his throat. A tiny fracture in Carter's armour was noticeable as he stared at the man with an unhinged wide-eyed look. Shoving Steve back as Rex and Vash evaporated, freeing the billionaire from their threatening hold. "Because I'm not the one with fear on the front of my mind, am I, Tony?" He questioned in a low tone that hollowed out the entirety of the room. "You made Ultron and the Legionnaires to snuff out the flame in your heart, but it only grew, didn't it? Because now, that fear, has reached out to Nova and it is your responsibility to make it right."

When Steve tried to place a hand on his shoulder, Carter slapped it away with a glare. "Instead of worrying about me, make sure that asshole has it head on straight. Because if anyone else gets hurt because of him," he looked at Tony, "I'll fucking kill him."