Mister Rogers ⍟ || Steve Rogers

22

As the sun dipped below the treeline, Laura called everyone back inside.

Steve and I jogged up to the porch together. He reached the door first, pulling it open and stepping aside. I slipped past him, catching the faintest hint of a smile before he followed me in.

The kitchen was already full.

I took the seat across from Natasha at the table. Bruce hovered in the corner behind her. Steve came to stand just behind me, leaning against the doorframe. 

Barton lingered a few paces away with Laura and the kids. 

Tony occupied the open doorway to the next room, absently plucking darts from a bullseye.

And at the counter, drying a plate with deliberate calm, stood Nick Fury. I exchanged a short nod with him before he started.

"Ultron took you folks out of play to buy himself some time," he said. "My contacts all say he's building something. And based on the amount of vibranium he made 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, his joke landing dry, and his tone as flat and unreadable as ever.

I sighed, "That still doesn't give us any idea what he's planning."

"Is he still going after launch codes?" tried Tony, followed by the sound of a dart landing on the board. 

"He is. But he's not making any headway."

Tony paused, turning towards the kitchen. His face was scrunched skeptically. "I cracked the Pentagon's firewall in high school on a dare."

"Well, I contacted our friends at the Nexus about that," Fury told him.

"Nexus?" wondered Steve.

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

Barton finally entered the kitchen. "So, what did they say?"

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

"By whom?" wondered Tony.

A thud drew my attention to the dartboard. A single dart was in the bullseye.

I followed Tony's gaze to Barton, who shrugged cockily.

"Parties unknown," Fury answered. 

"Do we have an ally?" asked Natasha.

"Ultron's got an enemy. That's not the same thing." Quieter, Fury said, "Still, I'd pay folding money to know who it is."

"We might need to visit Oslo," decided Tony. "Find our unknown."

"Well, this is good times, boss, but I was kind of hoping when I saw you, you'd have more than that," admitted Natasha, to which I silently agreed with.

"I do. I have you," insisted Fury. "Back in the day, I had eyes everywhere. Ears, everywhere else. You kids had all the tech you could dream up. Here we all are, back on Earth, with nothing but our wit and our will to save the world.

"Ultron says the Avengers are the only thing between him and his mission. And whether or not he admits it, his mission is global destruction. 

"All this, laid in a grave. So stand. Outsmart the platinum bastard," he finished, ironically sitting down.

"Steve doesn't like that kind of talk," Natasha smirked, rolling her eyes to the man standing behind me.

"You know what, Romanoff..." sighed Steve, reluctantly amused.