Pyromancy

Chapter 8 - A Vision of Hope

[Shortly after...]

Darren and Steve caught a ride back home, along with their two "new recruits", on a spare stealth quinjet one of their few hidden allies had sent their way. The quartet climbed aboard, as the Captain took the pilot's seat, being the only one of them who had experience at the time. He'd cast the twins a wary glance before his younger teammate reassured him he'd stay in the back to "keep an eye on them".

The young Avenger could feel that the pair had truly turned on Ultron, and wanted to stop him now too. Their actions before of course weren't good, but Darren understood why they'd been driven to do them at the time.

They didn't want to hurt any innocent people, just Tony, for his involvement in how their lives had been suddenly flipped upside down when they were younger. That seemed a bit questionable when considering how they would have to cooperate with the person they'd focused on in a negative way for so long, but that was an issue for later...

Darren couldn't shake how connected he felt to the siblings, both in their process of acquiring powers by Hydra's hand, and in how their families had been tragically lost before. He found out they were both only a couple years older than he was, and the three of them had come to a mutual understanding and appreciation for each other's company, and each looked forward to hopefully working together from that point on...

((A/N: It wasn't until I had to start this chapter that I realized they never mention how Cap and the Twins get back to the Tower, since everyone else was already there, or gone. Just decided to improv something, hope it worked lol...))

[Avengers' Tower, New York, U.S.A.]

Tony entered the tower laboratory where Bruce was currently working on the Cradle. "Anything on Nat?", the doctor asked, hoping for an update after she had been captured before she and Clint could escape with the Cradle. "I haven't heard anything, which could likely mean she's alive, considering Ultron would be rubbing our faces in it otherwise...", Stark replied.

"This is sealed up tight.", Clint informed them, after hopping down from the large machine, having just attempted multiple times to pry it open.

They then worked out how to start approaching the issue, while Barton left to find some other possible way to locate Natasha.

Looking at the Cradle, Tony appeared to be thinking on something while Bruce continued fiddling with a nearby monitor so they could begin disassembling the mechanical body.

"I can work on tissue degeneration if you can attack whatever kind of system Dr. Cho implanted.", Bruce suggested. Scratching his head, Tony hesitated a moment before responding. "Yeah. About that..."

There was a long pause as Banner turned to look at him, guessing what he was about to say. "No.", was all the doctor said.

"You have to trust me.", Tony insisted.

"Kinda don't.", Bruce immediately fired back.

"Our friend, the guy protecting the nuclear codes?", Tony hinted, referring to the "late" AI program Ultron attacked after being formed. "I found him.", he continued, flicking a holographic remote behind him, and the projection of Jarvis appeared, intact once again. "Hello, Dr. Banner."

"Ultron didn't attack Jarvis out of anger, he did it because he was afraid of what he could do.", Tony explained. "So, Jarvis went underground, scattered, and dumped his memories, but not his protocols. He didn't even know he was in there until I pieced him together."

Banner looked away, softly scoffing at what he knew Stark was about to suggest. "So, you want me to help you put Jarvis into this thing.", he said slowly.