Flame

Chapter 15

We are all back on the jet heading back to the Tower, Tony is in the pilot seat while we are standing around Clint and the sceptre

"Hey, the lullaby worked better than ever." Nat tells Bruce as I stand nearby putting my guns away

"Just wasn't expecting the Code Green." Bruce tells her with a smile

"If you hadn't been there, there would've been double the casualties. My best friend would've been a treasured memory." Nat tells Bruce with a kind smile

"You know, sometimes exactly what I want to hear isn't exactly what I want to hear." Bruce tells Nat as I chuck my hoodie on

"How long before you trust me?" Nat asks him

" It's not you I don't trust." Bruce answers

"Thor, report on the Hulk?" Nat asks standing up

"The gates of Hell are filled with the screams of his victims." Thor replies making me and Nat send him a glare "Uh, but, not the screams of the dead, of course. No no, uh...wounded screams, mainly whimpering, a great deal of complaining and tales of sprained deltoids and, and uh... and gout." Thor continues each sentence getting even more painfall

"Hey Banner, Dr. Cho's on her way in from Seoul, is it okay if she sets up in your lab?" Tony asks Bruce from upfront

"Uh, yeah, she knows her way around." Bruce replies

"It feels good, yeah? I mean, you've been after this thing since SHIELD collapsed. Not that I haven't enjoyed our little raiding parties, but..." Tony says to Thor as he stands infront of the spectre

"No, but this...this brings it to a close." Thor says

As soon as we find out what else this has been used for. I don't just mean weapons. Since when is Strucker capable of human enhancement?" Steve asks as I join them

"Banner, Kat and I'll give it the once before it goes back to Asgard. Is that cool with you?" Tony asks Thor who nods "I mean, just a few days until the farewell party. You're staying right?" Tony asks

"Yes, yes, of course. A victory should be honored with revels." Thor replies smiling

"Yeah. Who doesn't love revels. Captain?" Tony asks

"Hopefully this puts an end to the Chitauri and HYDRA, so. Yes, revels." Steve answers smiling

We soon land back at the Tower and Clint is immidietly taken up to the lab with Nat following him "Lab's all set up, boss." Hill says as she walks onto the jet

"Uh, actually, he's the boss. Kat and I just pay for everything, and design everything and make everyone look cooler." Tony says and smiling me and Steve walk of the jet following Hill inside

"What's the word on Strucker?" I ask her

"NATO's got him." Hill replies

"The two enhanced?" Steve questions

"Wanda and Pietro Maximoff. Twins. Orphaned at ten when a shell collapsed their apartment building. Sokovia's had a rough history. It's nowhere special but it's on the way to everywhere special." Hill replies reading it of the screen

"Their abilities?" I ask as we walk towards the elevator

"He's got increased metabolism and improved thermal homeostasis. Her thing is neural electric interfacing, telekinesis, mental manipulation." Hill explains and I nod in understanding but Steve looks confused

"He's fast and she's weird." I sum up for Steve with a smile

"Well, they're going to show up again." Steve says as the elevator open s for us

"Agreed. File says they volunteered for Strucker's experiments. It's nuts." Hill says as Steve and I step into the elevator

"Right. What kind of monster would let a German scientist experiment on them to protect their country?" Steve asks smirking

"We're not at war, Captain." Hill says

"They are." Steve says as the doors close "You okay doll? You've been quiet since we go at on the jet" Steve asks me concerned

"I'm fine just trying to get my head around those two kids" I tell him honeslty with a smile

"We'll sort it out, we always do" Steve says bringing me into a kiss

"I hope you're right Captain" I say pulling away

"You sure he's going to be okay? Pretending to need this guy really brings the team together." I ask Cho as I watch over Clint in the lab

"There's no possibility of deterioration. The nano-molecular functionality is instantaneous. His cells don't know they're bonding with simulacrum." Cho explains to me and Nat

"She's creating tissue." Bruce says smiling

"If you brought him to my lab, the regeneration Cradle could do this in twenty minutes." Cho tells us as Tony walks in with drinks

"Oh, he's flatlining. Call it. Time?" Tony sarcastically comments

"No, no, no. I'm going to live forever. I'm gonna be made of plastic." Clint jokes as Tony hands him a drink

"You'll be made of you, Mr. Barton. Your own girlfriend won't be able to tell the difference." Cho says smiling at him

"Well, I don't have a girlfriend." Clint says and me him and Nat share a knowing look

"That I can't fix. This is the next thing, Tony. Your clunky metal suits are going to be left in the dust." Cho jokes to Tony

"Well, that is exactly the plan. And Helen, I expect to see you at the party on Saturday." Tony tells her

"Unlike you, I don't have a lot of time for parties." Cho politely declines "Will Thor be there?" Cho asks a few seconds later making me smirk

"This could be it, Bruce. This could be the key to creating Ultron." Tony says as I walk into the lab to help out him and Bruce

" I thought Ultron was a fantasy." I say to Tony as I sit on the work bench

"Yesterday it was. If we can harness this power, apply it to my Iron Legion protocol." Tony tells me

"That's a mad-sized if." Bruce tells him

"Our job is "if." What if you were sipping margaritas on a sun-drenched beach turning brown instead of green? Not looking over your shoulder for VERONICA." Tony says trying to convince Bruce

"Don't hate, I helped design VERONICA." Bruce tells Tony

"As a worst-case measure, right? How about a best-case? What if the world was safe? What if next time aliens roll up to the club, and they will, they couldn't get past the bouncer?" Tony questions Bruce not giving up

"The only people threatening the planet would be people?" I say to Tony

"I want to apply this to the Ultron program. But JARVIS can't download a data schematic this dense. We can only do it while we have the scepter here, that's three days, give me three days." Tony says looking at us

"So you're going for artificial intelligence and you don't want to tell the team." Bruce questions

"Right. That's right, you know why, because we don't have time for a city hall debate. I don't want to hear the "man was not meant to meddle" medley. I see a suit of armor around the world." Tony says to us as he walks over to the screen

"Sounds like a cold world, Tony." I tell him

"I've seen colder. This one, this very vulnerable blue one? It needs Ultron. Peace in our time. Imagine that."