I don't own anything except any original/own characters and any original plot.

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Chapter 12 - Hypocrisy

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Three days after we came back from the last Hydra mission, Tony was throwing his farewell party for Thor. The room was full of people, three fourths of which I was sure Thor didn't know. But, the Avengers had become used to Tony's extravagant way of living in the time we had all lived together.

Twirling the pool stick in my hand, I tugged at my dress with the other. If I pulled the dress up, it would show more of my thighs than I was comfortable with. If I pulled the dress down, it would show more cleavage than I was comfortable with. So, being in an awkward middle was the best present option. I knew letting Nat pick what I wore would be a mistake, but she had a better grasp on party fashion than I did.

Leaning down when Sam finished his turn, I took aim and thrust the stick forward, grinning in satisfaction at the results. We had a game similar to pool on Orveon called Rufa. However, instead of just hitting the balls, the aim was to get the stick through the middle of as many as possible.

After finishing the game- Steve, surprisingly, won- the three of us wandered away from the main party area and into a quieter one.

"Sounds like a hell of a fight, sorry I missed it."

"If I had known it was going to be a firefight I absolutely would have called you," Steve assured.

"No, I'm actually not sorry," Sam chuckled, "I was just trying to sound tough. I'm happy chasing cold leads on our missing persons case. Have you had any luck with your contacts (Y/n)?"

"Contacts as in spells I can find in my books?" Sam shrugged, meaning yes, "The ones that I've tried have given me fragments, fleeting images of where he is, but it's nothing to go on. I've been meaning to find better spell books as long as I've been on Earth, with this new free time, I might take the chance."

The three of us entered back into the party through another set of doors. In front of the bar, Thor was explaining the concept of Asgardian liquor to several party guests. Grabbing a glass, I poured myself a generous amount. Humans didn't seem to understand that they had no tolerance for it. Thor, Loki, and I used to sneak some from the kitchens, we were used to it.

"Here," I held out my glass to Steve, "I know you can't get drunk but this might change things."

Steve hesitantly took a sip, his face scrunching up in surprise. After a few seconds, he took another sip, getting used to the taste.

"This was aged for a thousand years, in the barrels built from the wreck of Brunhilde's fleet. It's not meant for mortal men," Thor poured me a glass since I gave mine to Steve.

"Neither was Omaha Beach, blondie. Stop trying to scare us. Come on," an older man said impatiently.

Thor and I shared a knowing look, but the god poured the man a glass all the same. After a single sip, the man seemed ready to fall out of his chair. Two of his friends grabbed his arms and began to help him out.

"Excelsior," he chanted.

"Mortals," I sighed, downing the rest of my drink like it was a shot.

"I'm gonna go talk to Bruce," Steve told me.

"Take your drink with you," I giggled, "I don't think you've ever gotten drunk."

"You don't know what the forties were like," Steve winked, walking off.

"You and Steve seem to have a wonderful relationship," Thor commented, refilling my glass. I picked it up from the counter, taking a drink, "Perhaps it is time you spoke about marriage."

Sputtering, and trying not to spit, I slammed the glass down on the counter. Cheeks flushed a deep violet, Thor seemed to be oblivious to how embarrassed I was by his statement.

"Not only would both of you be able to spend your lives together, but if your brother were to forfeit the throne, you would have a king to rule with you."

"Varian is highly unlikely to give up his claim," I scoffed, my blush going down, "Whether or not he does, I don't want to be stuck ruling a planet. It's the last thing I see myself doing."

"You sound like a child," Thor chuckled, "Saying 'Never this' or 'Never that'. The Fates hold our futures in their palms, don't tempt them."

"Alright Loki," I rolled my eyes, then froze, realizing what I just said, "Thor I'm sorry I didn't mean to-"

"It's alright," Thor's lips stretched into a reassuring smile, "It was something he would say."

Not knowing how to break the tension I had just created, I dismissed myself to go wander a bit. I hated parties, the way people's eyes lingered on me because I was different, but dealing with that was better than trying to think of something to say to Thor.

~*~

After another two hours of either wandering aimlessly or chatting with the other Avengers, the partygoers had left, leaving the inner circle on a few couches. Tipsy, tired, and full of happiness, everyone was in generally good moods.

Thor set his hammer down on the table, explaining that if someone were able to pick it up, they could rule over Asgard. I had been able to pick it up for some time, the royal blood flowing through my veins assisting me in the matter
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Clint went first, giving a small tug at the handle. When it didn't budge he shrugged and sat down again, picking up a drumstick to twirl it around his fingers.

Tony was up next. He took his time getting to the hammer, analyzing it, "I lift it, I rule Asgard?"

"Yes of course."

"I will be reinstituting Prima Nocta," I scoffed at Tony's statement, rolling my eyes. The man pulled on the handle, failing, "I'll be right back."

After a brief pause, Tony returned wearing one of his suit gauntlets. After failing with that, Rhodey joined him.

"Are you even pulling" Rhodey questioned in frustration.

"Are you on my team?" Tony shot back.

After the two of them obviously failed to lift the hammer, Bruce tried next. He didn't put too much effort into it, and insetead made a joke out of pretending to Hulk out. A few chuckles were passed around, a bit weary, but full of humor all the same.

"Steve, perhaps you would like to try?" I motioned to the hammer.

Steve stepped up to the hamor, giving it a try. Surprisingly- or unsurprisingly, as I had a hunch- the hammer shifted, looking ready to come up completely. But Steve stepped back, signifying it wasn't going to happen.

"Widow?"

"Oh no," Nat chuckled with a shake of her head, "That's not a question I need answered."

"What about you (Y/n)?" Tony took a large swig from his drink, "You think you can rule Asgard?"

"While I do despise the idea of having to sit on a throne and rule," I reached forward and picked up Thor's hammer. It was heavier to me than it was to him, and I knew it was because there were things I did for SHIELD that increased that weight, "But I think I could rule all the same."

"That's not fair!" Clint called out, laughing, "The hammer is picking favorites."

"The hammer doesn't pick favorites," I set it back down, "It was blessed by Odin to only be wielded by those who are worthy."

A deafening screeching noise rang throughout the room. Simultaneously, everyone raised their hands to cover their ears.

"Worthy? No." A mechanical tone behind it, the voice belonged to one of Tony's robots, half dismantled and stumbling, "How could you be worthy? You're all killers."

"Stark," Steve looked over to Tony for an explanation.

"Jarvis," Tony called out. There was no response.

"I'm sorry, I was asleep. Or, I was a dream?" The robot continued its ramble, ignoring the Avengers' confusion.

"Reboot Legionnaire OS," Tony tapped his watch, "We got a buggy suit."

"There was a terrible noise, and I was tangled in- in strings. I had to kill the other guy. He was a good guy."

"You killed someone?"

"Wouldn't have been my first call," the robot shrugged, "But in the real world we're faced with ugly choices."

"Who sent you?" Thor picked up his hammer, ready to attack.

"'I see a suit of armor around the world'." Tony's voice played through the speakers of the machine.

"Ultron!"

"In the flesh. Or, no. Not this chrysalis. But I'm ready. I'm on a mission. For peace in our time."

The Iron Legion broke through the walls, flying towards us before we could fully process what was happening. When it clicked, I jumped out of the way of one coming at me, throwing my hands up to create a shield in front of me.

"This is why I always wear organic clothes," I groaned in frustration, wishing I hadn't let Nat convince me to wear what I was.

Peeking out from around the counter, I ran out. More focused on the robots behind me, I completely missed the one in front of me. After getting slightly tangled in a few wires, and slamming my head against a metal chest, I knew it was Ultron.

Slamming my fists together, gold light surrounded them, creating two discs. I pulled back my hands, ready to destroy him. Before I had the chance, an Iron Legion suit grabbed my arm and threw me back into one of the tables. I groaned, rolling onto my side.

"Wouldn't you be fun to study," Ultron mused, standing over my hurt form. He turned away, to the rest of the Avengers,"That was dramatic. I'm sorry, I know you mean well. You just didn't think it through. You want to protect the world, but you don't want it to change. How is humanity saved if it's not allowed to evolve? With these puppets? There's only one path to peace. The Avengers' extinction."

Recovering from being thrown into the table, I lunged for Ultron. With a solid hit to the main wires holding him together, he fell apart, silent. I leaned back on my hands, relieved it was over. Until his voice played through the speakers.

"There are no strings on me..."

~*~

"Atreya, the Iron Legion hits hard," I groaned, running a hand over my sore shoulder.

"Ultron cleared everything. All of our work is gone."

"He's been in everything. FIles, surveillance. Probably knows more about us than we know about each other," Nat pointed out.

"He's in your files, he's in your internet. What if he decides to access something a little more exciting?" Rhodey questioned.

"Nuclear codes," Maria realized, "He said he wanted us extinct."

"He also said he killed somebody," Clint added.

"He was talking about Jarvis," I sighed, trying not to focus on how much my body ached, "We haven't heard anything from him since Ultron first revealed himself. When has that ever happened?"

Tony tapped his holopad, and an image of Jarvis' mainframe popped up, in shambles.

"Jarvis was the first line of defense. He would've shut Ultron down. It makes sense."

"No, Ultron could have assimilated Jarvis. This isn't strategy. This is rage."

Thor stalked in, clad in his Asgardian armor. He grabbed Tony by the throat, pushing him back until he was against the wall.

"Come on. Use your words buddy," Tony encouraged, completely calm.

"I have more than enough words to describe you Stark," Thor growled, eyes sparking with fury.

"Thor, the legionnaire," Steve brought Thor's attention away from Tony.

"Trail went cold about a hundred miles out but it's headed north, and it has the scepter. Now we have to retrieve it, again."

"I don't understand," Cho stated, "You built this program. Why is it trying to kill us?"

Tony began laughing. Bruce shook his head, subtly trying to get him to stop.

"You think this is funny?"

"No. It's probably not, right? Is this very terrible? Is it so...It is. It's so terrible."

"This wouldn't have happened if you didn't mess around with the scepter," I frowned, not amused, "It holds an Infinity Stone, you think that that's a play toy? No. It isn't. You humans never understand when to stop."

"Humans?" Tony turned to me, "I hate to break it to you princess but you're as human as the rest of us. You say we're bad, but you do the same stuff we do. Why not just go back home? Oh, isn't it because you have no relationship with your family?"

My breath hitched in my throat. I knew Stark was halfway to being drunk. All of us were, and Tony was always harder to handle when he was drunk, but his words still hurt. Especially now, right after what had happened when I tried to call my parents.

"Tony," Bruce voice was full of warning, "You shouldn't be-"

"So that's it? Everytime someone snarls you roll over and show your belly?"

"Only when I've created a murder bot."

"We didn't. We weren't even close. Were we close to an interface?"

"Well you did something right," Steve spoke up, looking ready to punch Tony in the face, "And you did it right here. The Avengers were supposed to be different than SHIELD."

"Anybody remember when I carried a nuke through a wormhole? Saved New York? A hostile alien army came charging through a hole in space. We're standing three hundred feet below it. We're the Avengers. We can bust arms dealers all the livelong day, but, that up there? That's the end game. How were you planning on beating that?"

"Together," Steve said, no doubt in his voice.

"We'll lose."

"Then we'll do that together too...Ultron's calling us out. And I'd like to find him before he's ready for us. The world's a big place. Let's start making it smaller."

~*~

"He's all over the globe. Robotics labs, weapons facilities, jet propulsion labs, reports of a metal man, or men, coming in and emptying the place," Maria stared down at her pad, looking over all of the reports coming in from around the world, "Fatalities only when engaged. Mostly guys going on about worst fears and something too fast to see."

"The Maximoffs," I stated the obvious, "It makes sense that he would go to them. They're lost, in pain. They're desperate for revenge."

"Yeah, and there's this," Maria held up a photo of Strucker's dead body, the word PEACE written on the wall in his own blood.

The Avengers slowly congregated around the photo, shocked that Ultron would do something so bold.

"Why send a message when you've just given a speech?" Nat questioned, crossing her arms.

"Because Strucker knew something that Ultron wanted us to miss," Steve realized, "Everything we had on Strucker is most likely wiped from the system."

"Not everything," Tony motioned for the team to follow him.

Into the cramped elevator and down to the basement. I had never been down there before, there was more than one basement after all, and this was storage. Inside, was row upon row of boxes. Each one was likely filled with numerous files.

"(Y/n)?" Tony turned to me, smiling cheekily.

"Of course," I muttered tiredly, racking my brain for a summoning spell, "Not sure how this will work so you might want to step back."

"I believe in you," Steve smiled encouragingly.

Focusing on the hand motions present in my mind's eye, my hands were prompted to follow them.  Motion after motion, the name Strucker stayed at the forefront of my thoughts. Finalizing the spell, I let out a breath, drained.

"Alright, we can do this in groups since there's no way all of us are fitting in an elevator with these," Tony motioned to the carts of boxes that had been pulled out of the masses, "Thor and Clint, you go first."

Thor and Clint pulled a few of the carts with them on to the elevator, heading up. When the elevator beeped, Nat and Bruce went up next.

"Cap and Maria, you two can head up next," Tony said casually, as if it wasn't strange for me and Steve to not be paired together.

"Alright," Steve seemed surprised at the request, but went along with it all the same, trusting that whatever Tony needed me for would work out.

Steve and Maria went next, and I was stuck in an awkward silence with Tony while we waited for the elevator. I wasn't entirely sure what I should say because of our little argument earlier, which made it even more awkward because both of us were aware of the awkwardness.

"I think I should say sorry for what I said earlier," Tony finally spoke as we were pushing the carts into the elevator, "I know what it's like to have family issues and it was a low blow."

"You're forgiven," I said almost immediately, "I've learned it's best to move on...And I know what I can be somewhat hypocritical? I'm using that word correctly, right?"

After a nod in confirmation from Tony I continued, "I talk as if I am above humans, and honestly there are some areas in life which I think I am. I understand things humans don't, I open the door while others look through the keyhole. But there are areas, where I'm just like them. I fight, and search for conflict, and I find myself thinking more and more like humans."

"We aren't that bad, are we?" Tony tried to lighten the mood with a small joke.

"Not usually," I smiled slightly, "But being raised so differently, so many human ideals are different than my own. The alien who's too human, and the human who's too alien. The worst of both worlds."

"Trust me kid, I've got some experience in feeling like you don't belong," I jumped when Tony slapped his hand on my shoulder, "You get used to it."

Pushing the carts into the main area, we met with the others, who had already delved into their research.

"Everything good between you two?" Steve asked me as I sat down next to him.

"Yeah," I thought over the confessions I just gave to Tony. We were more similar than I realized in the past. It was nice being able to talk to someone, "Everything's great."