A New Age [4]

Evolution

Chapter 7 

After talking to Tony in the barn, Fury had called them all, minus Thor, into the Barton's kitchen to discuss what the hell they were going to do next. Bruce was stood in the corner; Nat and Abi were sat at the table; Clint was stood off slightly in the living room; Fury was stood by the sink; tony by the fridge and Steve was leaning against the door frame.

"Ultron took you folks out of play to buy himself time." Fury started. "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." He said pouring himself a glass of water.

"What about Ultron himself?" Steve asked.

"Oh, he's easy to track. He's everywhere. The guys multiplying faster than a catholic rabbit." Fury said with a smirk. "It still doesn't help us get an angle on any of his plans though."

"Is he still going after launch codes?" Tony asked as he threw a dart at the dart board in the corner.

"Yes he is." Fury told them as he made himself a sandwich. "But he's not making any headway."

"I cracked the Pentagon's firewall in high school on a dare." Tony said in disbelief.

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

"Nexus?" Steve asked in confusion.

"It's the world Internet Hub in Oslo." Bruce chipped in. "Every byte of data flows through there. Fastest access on earth."

"So what did they say?" Clint asked.

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

"By whom?" Tony asked as Clint threw three darts from the other end of the kitchen and hit bullseye with them all.

"Parties unknown." Fury simply stated.

"Do we have an ally?" Nat asked.

"Ultron's got an enemy. That's not the same thing." Abi muttered.

"Still, I'd pay folding money to know who it is." Fury told her.

"I might need to visit Oslo. Find our unknown." Tony said walking into the main part of the kitchen.

"Well, this is good times, Boss, but I was kinda hoping when I saw you, you'd have more than that." Nat said to Fury.

"I do. I have you." Fury said looking around at the band of variously powered misfits, all sat in a normal kitchen. "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. Outwit the platinum bastard." Fury finished taking a seat at the table.

"Steve doesn't like that kind of talk." Abi said smiling at her brother.

"You know what, Rogers?" Steve said.

"So what does he want." Fury said cutting off the twins' discussion.

"To become better." Steve realised. "Better than us. He keeps building bodies."

"Person bodies." Tony murmured. "The human form is inefficient. Biologically speaking we're outmoded. But he keeps coming back to it."

"When you three programmed him to protect the human race, you amazingly failed." Nat said.

"Son of a bitch!" Abi suddenly exclaimed making everyone jump. "They don't need to be protected. They need to evolve. Ultron's going to evolve."

"How?" Fury asked her as she jumped to her feet.

"Has anyone been in contact with Helen Cho?" She asked as realisation crossed through the room.

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"I'll take Abi, Natasha and Clint." Steve said to Tony as they all suited up.

"All right, strictly recon. I'll hit the Nexus. I'll join you as soon as I can." Tony replied.

"If Ultron's really building a body..." Steve started.

"He'll be more powerful than any of us." Tony finished. "Maybe all of us." His eyes glanced to Abi who was saying goodbye to Clint's kids. "An android designed by a robot."

"You know; I really miss the days when the weirdest thing science ever created was me." Steve sighed.

"I'll drop Banner off at the tower." Fury said walking in and putting his coat on. "You mind if I borrow, Miss Hill?"

"She's all yours apparently." Tony replied.

"What are you going to do?" Steve asked.

"I don't know. Something dramatic, I hope." Fury said with a smile.

They all got into their jets. One to Korea, one to Oslo and one to New York.