Aftermath [winter soldier//Bucky Barnes AU]

Chapter Thirteen

SARAH'S POV

I was right to have a bad feeling about their plan.

It was two days later, and I stood motionless behind Tony's couch, staring at the ghastly sight before me.

Pieces of rusty metal clung to a weak, dilapidated frame of a robot. Wires hung from the thing's broken frame and as it limped into view I could make out a trail of oil flowing behind it. The whole thing was unsettling. It wasn't human, and it wasn't alien; it was something entirely different and terrifying.

"You want to protect the world, but you don't want it change," its voice echoed across the penthouse, deep and rough and creepy.

I was shocked into silence, unable to speak. This was what Tony and Bruce had been worried about. That their ideas would lead to uncontrollable artificial intelligence that could potentially endanger millions rather than help the world.

They had created the very thing they feared.

My mind didn't snap into place again until more robots came crashing through the walls, sending each of us into battle mode. Steve grabbed Natasha and Clint and flung himself over the banister, out of the way of the incoming projectiles. Tony and Bruce dove behind the table, narrowly missing the edge of the glass coffee table, and Bucky yanked me behind the wall. Thor swung his hammer and was in front of the original robot in seconds, slamming his weapon into its face.

I lifted the hem of my dress and snatched my gun from its holster, cocking it and firing it straight at the robot. The bullet simply rebounded off of the exterior metal and it kept coming towards us. Before I had time to fire again, Bucky hurled me backwards and met the robot halfway. Bucky's metal arm seized its throat, squeezing and twisting the rusted metal until its head snapped off and it fell loudly to the ground.

Standing up, I looked over to see Tony hanging from one of them, and Steve slicing through the chest of another with his shield. I raised my hands to try and freeze it and Bucky tried shooting at the robot, but we only had a few moments before Tony was able to hit a pressure point, causing the whole mess of metal to shudder and collapse to the ground.

Clint launched an explosive arrow at the last one in the room, and just as suddenly as it had started, the fight had ended.

The penthouse was suddenly dead silent. Pieces of metal and drops of oil were everywhere, and the team lay scattered around the floor, desperately trying to wrap their minds around what had just happened.

Steve was the first to break the silence.

"Tony," he started, his voice cold and monotone and downright scary. "What, exactly, have you created?"

Steve's slow, cold demeanor expressed his clear fury at the situation. I was just as angry as he was.

Tony slowly rose from the spot on the ground where he had collapsed, the blood drained from his face and his eyes wide. "I have no idea," he whispered, still in shock.

There was three more seconds of silence before everyone erupted in anger.

"How can you meddle in something you know nothing about that could have MILLIONS of consequences, and not even fucking consult the rest of the team?!" Bucky yelled, face turned red with fury. His fists were clenched hard and he took several fast steps towards Tony before I was able to grab his arm and yank him back.

"You've selfishly put the entire team in danger because you just HAD to test the laws of nature!" Clint screamed next, clutching his freshly healed wound as he also tried to get closer to Tony. Tony's expression hardened at their words and he opened his mouth to cut off Natasha, who was in the middle of expressing her own anger.

"Stop. Everyone just STOP! My only intentions were to create a line of robots that could help protect the world when we couldn't! To save the people that we couldn't get to soon enough! I didn't mean to create something like this!" He screamed, his breathing fast and his veins popping out with anger. "Now if you'll just shut up, I'm going to go to the lab and see if I can fucking fix this!"

Bucky's arm muscles clenched and unclenched in my hands, fighting the rage that was currently coursing through him as well as the strong urge to make Tony pay. His pale green eyes followed Stark's back as he left the room, and his breathing shifted to a more normal level once Tony has disappeared. His eyes then flicked to me.

"Why don't you go get Calypso?" I suggested, my voice as calm as I could muster. "I'll go deal with this."

He stared at me for a few seconds without actually seeing me before his eyes focused, and he nodded. He leaned forward and pressed a rough kiss to my temple, anger prominent in his actions as he expressed a silent gesture of thanks.

"We'll be ok," I told him, and he didn't reply, simply turning and heading to the elevator to go get Calypso. I could see him shaking with anger as he walked away and I found myself cursing Tony for messing with Bucky's fragile mental state again.

I stormed down the hall after the rest of the team once Bucky was out of sight, heading towards the lab. When we entered, everyone stopped and stared, a million words of anger left teetering on the edge of our tongues as we took in the sight of JARVIS, who's broken form was displayed in the middle of the room.

He had been totally destroyed. His operating system was completed, visibly fried, and Tony just stood off to the side, staring at the broken remnants with a blank expression.

"Ultron destroyed JARVIS and escaped through the Internet. I have no clue how to even begin finding him," Tony murmured, closing his eyes and rubbing his temples in an act of frustration. No one could even come up with a reply. We knew what that meant without having to say anything.

Ultron's escape meant that he could take over any piece of technology he wanted and infuse his own thoughts into it. He could do absolutely anything he wanted and none of us could predict, or stop, his plans. Tony's idea for world peace had taken a dangerous turn.

And I wasn't sure if this was a turn I could follow.

--

AN
was this good? was it a nice transition, do you think?

I think I am going to fast forward through the climax and write about the aftermath//recovery//possibly the rebuilding of S.H.I.E.L.D. I have a great idea for the epilogue, but I need to get there first.

please let me know if y'all have any ideas!

-Jordan💕