In Your Eyes // Steve Rogers

20

Several hours later, Laura shouted from the porch for the team to gather in the house once more.

Steve and I jogged to the porch. He allowed me to take the steps first.

"What's going on?" asked Steve.

"We have a guest," said Laura.

"Guest?" repeated Steve.

Laura held open the front door for us. Steve and I slipped through. We followed the hushed voiced into the kitchen.

Nick Fury casually stood in their kitchen, fixing himself a sandwich. He looked up when Steve and I entered.

"It's a shame we had to gather on this type of occasion," he said.

"And what occasion is that?" asked Steve.

"Possibly the end of the world."

Natasha and I took seats across from one another at the table.

Bruce lingered in the corner behind her.

Steve leaned against the door frame behind myself.

Tony, on the other hand, stepped through the doorless entry into the room behind the kitchen. He found a dart board and plucked the darts from the bullseye.

"Anyone up for a game?" muttered Tony.

I raised my hand. A reasonable distance away from the board, I opened an exit portal. The entrance portal hovered over the table.

Tony passed five darts through it, then stood beside it, throwing first.

Fury decided to start the explanation, choosing to ignore our game. "Ultron took you all out of play to buy himself time. My contacts all say he's building something. With the amount of vibranium he left off with, I don't think it's just one thing."

"What about Ultron himself?" asked Steve.

"Oh, he's easy to track. He's everywhere. The guy is multiplying faster than a catholic rabbit," said Fury, joking, although there was no humor on his face or in his tone.

"And we don't know what he's planning?" I tried.

"Still going after launch codes?" asked Tony.

He landed his first dart on the second circle.

I tossed mine through the portal, sticking it in the same circle he did. Tony stuck his tongue out.

"Yes, he is, but he's not making any headway."

Tony paused, his face scrunched skeptically. "I cracked the Pentagons firewall in High School on a dare."

"I talked to our friends at the Nexus about that," Fury told him.

"Nexus?" asked Steve.

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

Entering into the conversion and the kitchen, Barton asked, "What'd they say?"

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

"By whom?"

A thud sounded, drawing my attention to the board. Three darts were in the bullseye.

Tony and I look at Barton, who shrugged, an action meaning we should have seen that coming.

"Parties unknown," answered Fury, tearing his eyes away from us.

"Do we have an ally?" asked Natasha.