Double-Edged Sword ─ age of ultron ✓

eleven

Nothing special, but I figured I should get something out before finals week. The next chapter should have more action.

★★★

WHILE everyone else was off doing their own thing, Laura and Clint slapped dinner together. Nobody felt any particular inclination to literally break bread with each other tonight, so Laura and the kids ate first, then got out of the way, allowing everyone else to stand awkwardly around the kitchen and pick at leftovers. Against her own will, Sasha ate with them. She tried to escape, but Laura sat her down, handed her a plate, and stared at her expectantly. Too scared to resist, Sasha did as ordered. Somehow, Nick Fury had also materialized. Nobody knew when or how he got there, and they knew better than to ask.

"Ultron took you folks out of play to buy himself time," Fury said as he poured himself a drink. "My contacts all say he's building something. The amount of Vibranium he made off with, I don't think it's just one thing."

"What about Ultron himself?" Steve asked. He leaned against a wall with his arms crossed like an angry teenager pissed at his parents. Alex stood beside him, weaving a lock of hair framing her face into a braid.

"Ah. He's easy to track, 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."

Somewhere behind Sasha, Tony hurled a dart at a dart board. "He still going after launch codes?"

Fury cut himself a piece of bread. "Yes, he is, but he's not making any headway."

"That's something I can help with," Sasha jumped in. Tony cleared his throat loudly. "Jesus. Fine. That's something we can help with."

Sasha was always down for a fight, had been trained for that since the age of one, but she enjoyed the computer coding piece of anything most. She loved the feeling of her brain moving at a thousand miles per second, speaking in what often felt more like her native language than Russian or English. This part also rarely involved killing people.

"Yeah, well, I contacted our friends at the NEXUS about that." Fury split his piece of bread into two. Steve looked up from the floor, which, based on the way he kept staring at it, was the most interesting thing he'd ever seen.

"NEXUS?"

"It's the world internet hub in Oslo, every byte of data flows through there, fastest access on earth," Bruce explained, reminding everyone that he was there. Sasha honestly forgot.

"So what'd they say?" Clint asked, inspecting a throwing dart.

"He's fixated on the missiles, but the codes are constantly being changed."

"By whom?" Tony said. Clint threw a dart that flew only a few inches away from his face.

"Parties unknown."

"That's always great to hear." Sasha made a face. "I'm guessing the nameless people responsible aren't too interested in saving the world as much as they are in saving their own asses."

"Or we could have an ally," Natasha countered her.

"I highly doubt that whoever's doing this is in it out of the kindness of their hearts. I'd wager that they just don't want millions to go to waste. Or for people to get sued if the missiles went off and killed people."

"She's right. Ultron's got an enemy, that's not the same thing." Fury gestured for emphasis. "Still, I'd pay folding money to know who it is."

"I might need to visit Oslo," Tony leaned in the doorway, "find our "unknown.""