LIGHT.
003. | ❛ oh my god. ❜

Music blared throughout the whole tower as she made her way down the hall. She glanced over the railing of the balcony, before making her way down the flight of stairs. She could feel everyone's eyes on her and couldn't help but offer a smile. Caroline waltzed her way to the bar where her sister was drinking shots impressing her teammates that surrounded her. Just as Kiara was about to do another tequila shot, Caroline slipped the cup out of her hand much to the audience dismay.

"When I invited you to Avengers Tower, it wasn't for you to drink your way through half of the booze." Caroline gulped the shot down fast to which had a sour taste to it and made a face of disgust.

"And that's why you let me do the tequila shots, stick to your vodka and whiskey while I drink this." Kiara said grabbing another tequila shot and handing a drink to Caroline. "Hurry up and drink it before Party Pooper Steve comes and takes it from you."

Caroline looked around her to check if she was in the clear before taking a sip of her drink. She looked at her sister who shot her a very approving look before returning to her side of the party and leaving her sister to drink to her heart's content. She was going for another sip before it was slipped out of her hand and having a taste of her own medicine for what she did to her sister. Caroline watched as he drink started to get further away as she pouted at the man who took it from her, "What are you doing?"

"Drunk vampires aren't the best ones" Steve continued to hold her drink hostage as she continued to pout at him, hoping that he would come around and giving her her drink back.

"Yeah but they're the fun ones. Come one, consider this as a present." She reversed her position with Steve, who was now sitting on the bar stool while Caroline tried to retrieve her drink. But he was too smart for that, he knew all of Caroline's little plays and wasn't going to play into this one as he kept putting his foot down.

"It's not even Christmas, let alone your birthday," Steve said as Caroline arranged herself on his lap, gaining a slight blush on his face.

She snaked her arms around his neck keeping her balanced as he grabbed onto her with one hand to keep her from falling. "Well, think about this if you give me that present right now," Caroline leaned into Steve's ear, dropping her voice to a seductive tone, "I'll give you one tonight."

The blush from before was now a very notable cherry red, Steve tried his hardest to hide it from everyone as he dug his head into Caroline's side and squeezed tighter to hide his embarrassment. She hugged onto her boyfriend before quickly getting her drink and getting away from his grip to drink away from him, she sent him blow kisses as she retreated to which Steve couldn't deny.

"But, you know, the suit can take the weight right?" Rhodey said and Caroline knew she stumbled into a War Machine story.

"So I take the tank, fly it up to the General's palace, drop it at his feet. I'm like, 'Boom. You looking fo this?" He glances over to them before sighing "Why do I even talk to you guys? Everywhere else, that story kills."

"That's the whole story?" Thor asked

"Yeah, it's a War Machine story." Rhodey states

"Oh, it's very good, then." Thor states as Caroline rolls her eyes. Thor lets a chuckle out, "It's impressive."

"Quality save," Rhodey says to him before turning to Tony, "So no Pepper? She's not coming?"

"No."

"What about Jane? Where are the ladies, gentlemen?" Maria asks

"Well, Ms. Potts has a company to run."

"Yes, I'm not even sure what country Jane's in. Her work on the convergence has made her the world's foremost astronomer." Thor answers

"And the company that Pepper runs is the largest tech conglomerate on earth. It's pretty exciting." Tony spat back

"There's even talk of Jane getting a, um, uh, Nobel prize." Thor adds on.

"Yeah, they...they must be busy because they'd hate missing you guys get together."

Maria mock coughs, "Testosterone! Oh, excuse me."

"Want a lozenge?" Rhodey asked her

"Um-hmm." she answers as the two walk away.

"But Jane's better." Thor states before taking a sip of his drink. Tony gives him a look before walking away.

Caroline went off to find her boyfriend who was talking to Sam Wilson.

"Sounds like a hell of a fight, sorry I missed it." He spoke shining a smile at the blonde who appeared at Steve's side.

"If I had known it was going to be a fire fight I absolutely would have called you."

"No, I'm not actually sorry. I'm just trying to sound tough. I'm very happy chasing cold leads on our missing persons case. Avenging is your world. Your world is crazy."

"Be it ever so humble." Caroline spoke, wrapping her hands around Steve's waist.

"Your sister seems to be doing good," Sam overlooked Kiara who was now dancing with Rhodes and having a fun time at that, both of them still not drunk. Kiara was doing better than normal. Some days they'll have very good days and other days are very bad days in a sense. Night terrors would seem to wake her up every other night, seeking comfort in Caroline wouldn't sleep with Steve sometimes but in the very comfortable chair to be there if Kiara was to have a nightmare. Kiara would spend excessive time in the training facility to the point where it would cause pain but Kiara has learned to embrace the pain in her previous life. But none of them could deny Kiara's potentially as an Avenger, with the ruling being unanimous.

"She's better than before. Not the best not the worst but she's managing and that's all I can ask for." Caroline looked over to Sam sending a smile before looking over the party again.

"You find a place in Brooklyn yet?" Wilson asked the couple.

"I don't think I can afford a place in Brooklyn."

"Actually, I can afford a place in Brooklyn but this one doesn't want to let me pay for it." Caroline huffed knowing that Steve was very macho man about money.

"Well, home is home, you know?" Sam Wilson said as they continued the conversation for a few more minutes before Sam left, leaving the couple alone.

"Care, you have a little-" Steve pointed to her lips which contained a small bit of blood. Caroline didn't understand what he was pointing at until he wiped it off himself. He showed him the blood on his finger, as Caroline held a guilty look.

"It's just some negative blood," Caroline said

"From?"

"From the lab. It was just a little blood, " Caroline looked down trying to avoid Steve's stare, knowing he would be upset.

"I'm not mad. It's just- we'll figure this out. You just need to tell me about these things. We'll find a way to handle the cravings. " Steve said before lifting her chin, "I've got a surprise for you."

Steve led her upstairs with his hands covering her eyes

"You know that I hate surprises," Caroline huffed as she was led with no clue of where she was going.

"Okay, now you can open your eyes," Steve said letting go of Caroline.

Caroline smiled at the sight of a thousand yellow lilies, surrounding the rooftop. Her face was to die for, as she held her mouth open with her hand covering it.

"What's going on?" Caroline asked to Steve who was taking in Caroline's beauty.

"When I came out out of the ice, you were the one that kept me going. You were by my side when I needed a friend. You made me laugh. You were the one girl I've loved...I guess what I'm trying to say is you know me better than anyone. You always have. Which is why you already know how impossible it is for me to find the words to say. I never thought I would ever be happy again. Then I met you. You changed everything for me. You quite literally saved my life. I love you so much. Which is why I can't wait to find out what new life-" Steve reached into his pocket

"Oh my god," Caroline whispered

"I want to-" Steve was interrupted by Caroline

"Elena!" Caroline screamed with happiness as Steve turned around to face Caroline's vampire friend.

"What are you doing here?" Caroline hugged her friend who smiled

"I thought I would visit my best friend before I had to leave again."

Caroline walked over to Steve, "Steve, this is my friend, Elena. Elena, this is Steve, aka Captain America, aka my boyfriend."

Steve extended his hand with a smile, "Nice to meet you ma'am."

"I'm not old, certainly not a ma'am. Please call me Elena."

"I can see that not everybody likes being called ma'am."

"Well, what are we doing up here? The party is downstairs." Elena said linking her arms with Caroline as they both made their way downstairs with Steve left on the roof with a small box spinning in his hands. Opening it, all of its glory was a small princess cut ring with a diamond surrounding with smaller ones around it. Steve huffed before closing the box and heading back downstairs.

________________________

After all of the guests had left, the Avengers, Dr.Cho, Maria, and Rhodey all stayed behind. Caroline and Steve were seated next to each other, as they all were drinking beer and eating Chinese food. Maria, Clint, and Natasha all seated on one couch. While Tony, Bruce on another. Thor, Caroline, and Steve on the last one with Rhodey on the floor.

"But, it's a trick!" Clint states as they continue the conversation about Thor's hammer and how you have to be deemed worthy to pick her up.

"Oh, no. It's much more than that." Thor states

"Uh, "Whosoever be he worthy shall haveth the power!" Clint tries imitating Thor's voice, "Whatever man! It's a trick."

"Well please, be my guest." Thor says motioning over towards his hammer.

"Come on." Tony says to him

"Really?" Clint asks

"Yeah!"

"Oh this is gonna be beautiful." Rhodey states

"Clint, you've had a tough week, we won't hold it against you if you can't get it up." Tony says as he pours himself a drink, while the others all start laughing.

"You know I've seen this before, right?" Barton grabs Thor's hammer and can't lift it, "And I still don't know how you do it."

"Smell the silent judgment?" Tony asked him

"Please, Stark, by all means."

"Oh, here we go." Caroline whispers under her breath, Steve grinning at her comment.

"Never one to shrink from an honest challenge." Tony states as he walks over to the hammer.

"Get after it." Clint snaps at him

"It's physics. Right, so, if I lift it, I...I then rule Asgard?" Tony asked as he slips his hand into the rope of the hammer.

"Yes, of course." Thor answers him

"I will be re-instituting Prima Nocta." Stark tries to lift the hammer but fails, "I'll be right back."

Wearing his armored hand, Stark tries to lift the hammer again and fails,

Stark and Rhodes both try to lift Thor's hammer, both wearing their armored hands. They both bicker as they attempt to lift.

Banner was up next. As Banner tries to lift the hammer, he yells trying to change to the Hulk but fails, everyone just stares a him.

Steve got up from his seat giving Caroline a quick kiss on the cheek as he steps up to the challenge.

"Let's go, Steve, no pressure."

"Come on, Cap." Caroline cheers on

Steve starts pulling on the hammer and manages to budge it a little, to Thor's surprise but still fails to lift it; Thor laughs with relief.

"Nothing." Thor chuckles as Steve sits down next to Caroline once again.

Tony clears his throat as Bruce motions to Natasha, "And Widow?"

"Oh, no no. That's not a question I need answered." Natasha says taking a sip from her drink. Steve nudges at Caroline, giving her an encouraging look

"You could barely lift it what makes you think I can?" Caroline shakes her head, "I'm good with not knowing,"

Kiara jumped up with her being never one to back away from a challenge. Everyone applauded her as she went up as she loosed all her muscles and gripped the hammer. Slowly, the hammer started to budge a bit before being set down again on the table.

"I'm smart enough to accept defeat." Kiara said before sitting down again, "Sometimes."

"All deference to the man who wouldn't be king, but it's rigged." Tony states

"You bet your ass." Clint says at him,

"Steve, he said a bad language word." Maria states as she calls them out.

"Did you tell everyone about that?" Steve asked

"The handle's imprinted, right?" Tony said ignoring Steve's question, "Like a security code. Whosoever is carrying Thor's fingerprints is, I think, the literal translation?"

"Yes, well that's, uh, that's a very, very interesting theory. I have a simpler one" Thor he gets up and lifts his hammer and flips it, "You're all not worthy"

"Worthy" A robotic voice echoed through the room, catching the attention of the Avengers. The robot was in a mess of parts and wires, as it glared at the Avengers, "No... How could you be worthy? You're all killers."

"Tony." Caroline says

"Jarvis."

"I'm sorry, I was asleep." The robot apologizes, for something they didn't know, "Or...I was a dream?"

"Reboot, Legionnaire, we got a buggy suit." Stark says to Jarvis, who doesn't respond.

"There was a terrible noise...and I was tangled in... in...strings." Ultron says as he looks at himself with wires dangling from his robotic body, "I had to kill the other guy. He was a good guy."

"You killed someone?" Steve asked

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

"Who sent you?" Thor asked him

"I see a suit of armor around the world". Ultron replays Stark's words.

"Ultron" Bruce pieced together

"In the flesh. Or, no, not yet. Not this...chrysalis. But I'm ready. I'm on a mission."

"What mission?" Natasha asked

"Peace in our time."

Suddenly the Iron Legion bots break smash through the walls and attack the team. A robot came flying towards Caroline, she leapt onto a robot and shoved her hands into it's body pulling out bits of metal, it flew up and smashed her into a wall. Caroline grunted as she kept trying to pull wires and blots out. Finally, Caroline ripped the head off the robot's body, as it fell to the ground taking Caroline along with it. She squeezed her eyes shut as she felt shards of glass cut into her legs.

Caroline looked around, ignoring the glass that was cutting into her skin. She saw Steve's shield as she dodged another robot and picking up his shield. A robotic noise came from behind Caroline as she hit the robot with the shield. It was still intact until Caroline slammed the shield down on its head deactivating it. She fought off a couple more before she saw Steve struggling, "Steve," she yelled throwing his shield over to him, he took it and smashed the robot's head.

"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? These puppets? There's only one path to peace: The Avengers' extinction."

Suddenly Thor throws his hammer at Ultron and smashes him to pieces. After Thor destroys his body, Ultron starts singing, "I had strings, but now I'm free. There are no strings on me, no strings on me"