Avengers Imagines

Devil's Due (Pt. 5/5)

Steve hated it when people assumed he wasn't good with modern technology. Sure, he couldn't operate the holotable without at least two other people actively in supervision but as long as he could work the microwave and fix himself a meal twice a day, he figured he was doing pretty well for himself.

All the same, him being defensive about it did not change the fact that he was yet to thoroughly understand the technology he was constantly surrounded with.

That morning, when practically the robot uprising was happening in the facility, he strongly suspected he was not the only one out of his depth. "Can someone tell me what is going on?"

"They're LMDs!" Across the room, Natasha ducked behind random furniture, taking cover from an attack she did not know was coming. Steve was lamenting over the fact that he did not go to sleep with the shield strapped to his chest."LMDs? Like the drug?"

"No not like the- what?" At a moment's notice, Natasha was latched onto the bot that had committed the sin of firing at her. She twisted its head with a grunt, ripping it away from its body. "These are Life Model Decoys. Tony designed them in order to maintain security when we are not here."

"But we are here." Client peeked from behind the counter for long enough to fire three consecutive arrows. "Why do they think we are the enemy?"

"They don't think at all, they are programmed to identify the target. But the don't operate on JARVIS' servers and nobody has the access codes. Nobody except..." Natasha's eyes were darting all over the place. She knew something was gravely amiss before the realisation ever hit. "Prepare to engage. I think Tony is here."

The sound of Mjolnir traveling across the room was acute and pointed, abruptly halted by Thor's palm. He swung the hammer in a complete arc, obliterating several decoy bots surrounding him. "Does he bring the fiendish woman with him?"

"Now, now. Don't speak ill of others behind their back." When you appeared, you did so without warning, with your hand fisted in Clint's hair. Before he had a chance to turn around, you pulled him back and forced his head against the very counter he was seeking refuge behind, knocking him out cold.

Steve lept towards the armory, he needed his shield. Not that he would not fare just as well without it, but he had mentally elected the situation to involve more defense as opposed to offense. He was halted by a gust of wind that nearly blew him away, and he opened his eyes to see his shield twirling between Tony's hands.

"Lookin' for this?" Tony was hovering mid-air, easily gaining a foot and a half over Steve. He tested the weight in his hand before launching the shield across the room. Steve jumped with the intention of extracting it from the air but was grabbed by the wrist and dragged to the floor.

Tony was on top of him — metal knee aimed at his diaphragm, armored fingers digging into his wrist. Steve made a half-hearted effort to struggle free. "I may not see your reasoning behind this but I know it's there. I will not hurt you, Tony."

"I know you won't, but she will." Tony's helmet folded back into his suit as he roughly pulled him up, positioning the captain in front of him as the two men stared down the barrel of Natasha's gun. Even from across the room, if she took a shot, it would cleanly eliminate the intended target.

As fickle as the sea, something was fiercely awry. It scratched at the corners of Steve's eyes, never quite fully gracing his vision. He noticed Tony suit — newly polished. To the average viewer, the Iron Man armour was maintained shiny and immaculate at all times; yet upon closer inspection, which he had the opportunity to conduct multiple times, several fine scratches stood out. He would ask about them.

"Come on, Cap, it's a suit of armour not a ballgown. These scratches symbolise the battles I've been in, the battles I've won and those I've lost." Tony used to say.