New York

The Avengers have arrived at Stark Tower, now remodeled as the Avengers Tower after the Battle of New York.

The quinjet has landed on the landing platform.

As soon as the ramp opened, Clint was rushed to the infirmary by Natasha, Bobbi, Dr. Helen Cho and her medical team. Maria Hill approached Tony, Steve, and Aaron, who were still in the quinjet as Thor carried the scepter out.

Hill: (to Tony) Lab's all set up, boss.

Tony: (points to Steve) Uh, actually, he's the boss. I just pay for everything and design everything and make everyone look cooler. (gestures to Aaron) I still don't know why Speedy Gonzales here still goes with the suit S.H.I.E.L.D. made him.

Aaron: Uh, because it looks cool, and it's practical. (turns to Hill) What's the word on Strucker?

Hill: NATO's got him.

Steve: And the two Enhanced?

Hill: (hands Steve a tablet) Pietro and Wanda Maximoff, twins.

The video on the tablet showed a younger Pietro and Wanda protesting.

Hill: Orphaned at 10 when a shell collapsed their apartment building.

Aaron: Jesus...

Steve, Aaron, and Hill exit the quinjet and walked inside the Tower.

Hill: Yeah. Sokovia's had a rough history. It's nowhere special, but it's on its way to everywhere special.

Steve: Their abilities?

Hill: He's got increased metabolism and improved thermal homeostasis. Her thing is neuroelectric interfacing, telekinesis, mental manipulation.

The three stop at an elevator as Steve turns to Hill confused, having no idea what she just said.

Aaron: He's a speedster like me, she can move stuff with her mind and mess with everyone else's.

Steve: (hands Hill back the tablet) well, they're gonna show up again.

Hill: Agreed. File says they volunteered for Strucker's experiments.

The elevator door opened and Steve and Aaron walked inside.

Aaron: That's crazy.

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

Aaron didn't know whether Steve was referring to himself or Johann Schmidt aka The Red Skull, since they were both experimented on by Dr. Abraham Erskine, a German scientist who created the Super Soldier serum. But he decided not to ask.

Hill: We're not at war, Captain.

Steve: They are.

The elevator door closes as Aaron decides to head down to the lab.

Short timeskip

Tony, Bruce, Bobbi, and Natasha were at the infirmary while Helen works on getting Clint healed.

Aaron exits the elevator and meets Tony and Bruce.

Aaron: How's Clint doing?

Tony: Unfortunately, he's still Barton.

Aaron: Yeesh. That bad, huh?

Tony: He's fine, he's just thirsty.

He walks into the lab and towards the scepter.

Tony: Alright, look alive, JARVIS. It's playtime. We've only got a couple of days with this joystick, so let's make the most of it. (looks at the scepter) Update me on the structural and compositional analysis.

JARVIS: The scepter is alien. There are elements I can't quantify.

Tony: So there's elements you can?

JARVIS: The jewel appears to be a protective housing for something inside, something powerful.

Tony: Like a reactor?

JARVIS: Like a computer. I believe I'm deciphering code.

Aaron walks into the infirmary.

Natasha: (to Helen) You sure he's gonna be okay? Pretending to need this guy really brings this team together.

Helen: There's no possibility of deterioration. The nano-molecular functionality is instantaneous. His cells don't know they're bonding with simulacra.

Aaron: (surprised) Well, I'll be damned. You're creating tissue.

Helen: If you brought him to my lab, the Regeneration Cradle could do this in 20 minutes.

Just then, Tony walks in holding several cups of green cocktail.

Tony: Oh, he's flat-lining. Call it. Time?

Clint: No, no, no, I'm gonna live forever. (laughs) I'm gonna be made of plastic.

Tony hands Clint a cocktail, then hands Aaron, Bobbi, and Natasha some.

Helen: You'll be made of you, Mr. Barton. Your own girlfriend won't be able to tell the difference.

Clint: I don't have a girlfriend.

Helen: That I can't fix.

Aaron, Bobbi, and Natasha looked at each as the younger two stifled their laughs. Natasha and Bobbi have told Aaron about Clint's family, and Clint was okay with him knowing. Aaron just never had a chance to see them, since he spends a lot of time between going on missions with the Avengers and protecting Los Angeles as The Flash.

Helen: (to Tony) This is the next thing, Tony. Your clunky metal suits are gonna be left in the dust.

Tony: That is exactly the plan. And, Helen, I expect to see you at the party on Saturday.

Helen: Unlike you, I don't have time for parties. and unfortunately, I'm not capable of breaking the sound barrier at will, like Aaron can.

(A/N: Just to clear things up: Only a select few know about Aaron's identity as The Flash, including The Avengers and Helen Cho. But they choose not to say anything about it in public out of respect for Aaron's wishes, since he wants to keep it a secret if he can help it.)

Aaron: Well, not to brag, but I did go Mach 16 a few weeks ago.

Helen: Will...Thor...be there?

Bobbi: (smirks) Oh, he will.

Tony: (turns to Aaron and Bruce) Aaron, Banner. A word, if you will.

They nod and follow Tony into the lab.

Bruce: Where's the rumpus?

Tony: Well, the scepter. You see, we were wondering how Strucker got so inventive. So I've been analyzing the gem inside.

He grabs a small tablet and summons a yellow spherical hologram right were Bruce stood.

Tony: You two may recognize...

Bruce notices the hologram and moves away and faces it as both he and Aaron recognize what it is.

Bruce: JARVIS.

JARVIS: Doctor. Mr. O'Connor.

Tony: Started out, JARVIS was just a natural language UI. Now he runs the Iron Legion. He runs more of the business than anyone besides Pepper.

Aaron: Wow.

Tony: Top of the line.

JARVIS: I suspect not for long.

Tony scans the scepter with the small tablet.

Tony: (turns to Bruce and Aaron) meet the competition.

He summons a blue hologram next to JARVIS's hologram.

Aaron and Bruce were astonished at the sight before them.

Aaron: Whoa.

Bruce: It's beautiful.

Tony: If you had to guess, what's it look like it's doing?

Aaron: Like it's thinking.

Bruce: Yeah, I mean, this could be...It's not a human mind. I mean, look at this. They're like neurons firing.

Tony: Down in Strucker's lab, I saw some fairly advanced robotics work. They deep-sixed the data, but I gotta guess he was knocking on a very particular door.

Aaron and Bruce turn to face Tony, knowing exactly what he was inferring.

Aaron & Bruce: Artificial intelligence.

Tony: This could be it, guys. This could be the key to creating Ultron.

Bruce: (chuckles) I thought Ultron was a fantasy.

Tony: Yesterday it was. If we can harness this power, apply it to my Iron Legion protocol?

Aaron: That's a Colossal Titan-sized "if", Tony.

Tony: Our job is "if". (turns to Bruce) Bruce, what if you were sipping margaritas on a sun-drenched beach, turning brown instead of green? Not looking over your shoulder for Veronica.

Bruce: Don't hate. Aaron and I helped design Veronica.

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?

Aaron: Then the only thing threatening the human race would be the human race.

Tony: (points to the blue hologram) 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.

Bruce: So you're going for artificial intelligence, and you don't want to tell the team?

Tony: 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.

Bruce: Sounds like a cold world, Tony.

Aaron: Dark, too.

Tony: I've seen colder and darker. This one, this very vulnerable blue one, it needs Ultron.

He walks towards the two holograms.

Tony: Peace in our time. Imagine that.

Aaron: (sighs) Tony, I get where you're coming from. And yeah, on paper, this could do some good. But I'm gonna have to decline.

Tony was shocked to hear this.

Aaron: But I just don't like using the scepter to do it. That thing has done nothing but cause chaos ever since it landed here. First Loki, then HYDRA. I just...don't see how this could end well.

Tony was about to speak, but Aaron stopped him.

Aaron: Look, I won't tell the team about this. But a word of advice? Don't mess with something you don't understand.

And with that, Aaron leaves the lab. Unfortunately and unbeknownst to him, Tony and Bruce ended up deciding to work on Ultron.

3 days later

It was time for the party, which in now at full swing.

Aaron went for a dark red 3-piece tuxedo.

He was hanging out with Tony, Thor, Bobbi, Hill, and Rhodey, who was telling the others of his escapades as War Machine.

(A/N: The dress Bobbi is wearing)

Rhodey: But, you know, the suit can take the weight, right? So I take the tank, fly it right up to the general's palace, drop it at his feet, I'm like, "Boom! You looking for this?"

Rhodey was expecting them to laugh, but no one was even smiling.

Rhodey: "Boom! You looking for-" Why do I even talk to you guys? Everywhere else, this story kills.

Thor: That's the whole story?

Rhodey: Yeah, it's a War Machine story.

Thor: Oh, it's very good, then. (laughs) Very impressive.

Rhodey: (sarcastically) Quality save.

Bobbi: (chuckles) Yeah, that's kind of his thing.

Rhodey: Yeah, I can tell. (turns to Tony) So, no Pepper? She's not coming?

Tony: No.

Hill: What about Jane? Where are the ladies, gentlemen?

Aaron: (gestures to Bobbi) She's right over here.

Tony: Oh, Ms. Potts has a company to run.

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

Tony: (turns to Thor) And the company Pepper runs is the largest tech conglomerate on Earth. It's pretty exciting.

Thor: There's even talk of Jane getting a, um, Nobel Prize.

Bobbi just shrunk at what she was hearing, but Aaron noticed as he wraps his arm around her shoulders and rubs her arm, which caused her to send him a small smile.

Hill: Yeah, they must be busy, because they would hate missing you guys get together. (coughs) Testosterone!

Rhodey puts his glass down as he walks Hill away from the four.

Bobbi: I'll go talk to Nat for a bit.

Aaron: Yeah, I wanna catch up with Sam, see what he was up to.

They share a kiss before separating and walking away while Tony and Thor stood there by themselves.

Thor: (to Tony) But Jane's better.

Meanwhile

Aaron caught up with Steve and Sam. Aaron and Steve have told Sam what happened in Sokovia while they were walking to a balcony.

Sam: Sounds like a hell of a fight. Sorry I missed it.

Steve: If either of us had known it was gonna be a firefight, we absolutely would've called.

Sam: No, 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.

Aaron: (sighs) Still no luck with that?

Sam: No. You don't happen to know anything, do you?

Aaron: No, sorry. But if I do, you two will be the first to know.

Sam: Appreciate it. Anyways, avenging is your world. Your world is crazy.

They look out a window overlooking the party.

Steve: Be it ever so humble.

Sam: You find a place in Brooklyn yet?

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

Sam: (turns to Aaron) What about you, Aaron? You got a place of your own in LA?

Aaron: Yeah, Bobbi and I found a loft there. We've been living there for the past year.

Sam: Good for you, man. (turns to Steve) Home is home, y'know?

Steve looks at Sam while pondering his words while also wondering if he can still have something like Aaron and Bobbi do.

Timeskip

The party ended as everyone left the tower apart from The Avengers, Hill, Rhodey, and Helen.

Aaron had given Bobbi his jacket, since she was feeling cold earlier. She said he didn't need to do that, but he insisted on it, so she took the jacket and wore it.

Thor wagered that no one in The Avengers apart from him is worthy to lift his hammer, to which most called bullshit on.

Clint: But it's a trick.

Thor: No, no, it's much more than that.

Clint: (mimics Thor) "Ah, whosoever be he worthy shall haveth the power!" (in his normal voice) Whatever, man! It's a trick.

Thor: (laughs and gestures to the hammer) Please, be my guest.

Clint: Really?

Tony: (eagerly) Yeah!

He get up and walks to the hammer.

Bobbi: Oh, this is gonna be good.

Tony: Clint, you've had a tough week. We won't hold it against you if you can't get it up.

Everyone laughs as Clint reaches for the hammer.

Clint: (to Thor) You know I've seen this before, right?

He grabs the handle and pulls it, but it wouldn't budge. After a few seconds, Clint gave up.

Clint: (laughs) I still don't know how you do it!

Tony: (to Clint) Smell the silent judgement?

Clint: Please, Stark, by all means.

Tony gets up and unbuttons his jacket as he walks up to the hammer.

Hill: Uh-oh.

Aaron: Here we go.

Tony: Never one to shrink from an honest challenge.

He puts the strap of the hammer around his wrist.

Tony: It's physics. (turns to Thor) Right, so, if I lift it, I then rule Asgard?

Thor: Yes, of course.

Tony: I will be reinstituting prima nocta.

He pulls the hammer, to no avail. He undoes the strap.

Tony: I'll be right back.

He walks away and comes back with a gauntlet. He uses it to try and lift the hammer, but he still couldn't do so.

Rhodey got up and came back with a gauntlet of his own and began pulling with Tony, but it still wouldn't budge.

Rhodey: (to Tony) are you even pulling?

Tony: Are you on my team?

Rhodey: Just represent. Pull.

Tony: Alright, let's go.

They both kept pulling, but they gave up since the hammer wasn't going to move.

Bruce started pulling, but he couldn't lift it, so he let go and playfully yelled out angrily as if he was about to Hulk out.

Aaron: You should've yelled out (mimics Hulk's voice) "Hulk smash!"

Bruce: (chuckles) "Hulk Smash"? I've said that one time, and I'm never saying it again.

Steve got up and rolled his sleeves as he walked up to the hammer.

Clint: Come on, Cap.

Steve grabbed the handle with both hands and pulled, but both Aaron and Thor noticed it move very very slightly, causing the latter's grin to disappear and the former's grin to grow.

Steve then let go of the hammer and raised his hands in surrender.

Thor: (laughs) Nothing.

Tony: And, Widow?

Natasha: Oh, no, no, no. That's not a question I need answered.

Tony: Okay. (turns to Bobbi) Morse?

Bobbi: I'm with Nat on this.

Everyone's attention then turned to Aaron.

Aaron: Ah, what the hell?

He gets up and rolls up his sleeves as he walks up to the hammer. He grabbed the hammer with both hands and took three quick breaths before pulling the hammer with all his might...

BONK!

Aaron severely miscalculated the hammer's weight, as he accidentally hits himself in the head with it pretty hard.

He staggered on his feet for a few seconds before recovering.

Aaron: (rubs his forehead) Ow.

He looks around and saw everyone staring at him wide-eyed. Aaron was confused for a second until he saw the hammer in his hand.

Aaron laughs as he swung it around a couple of times.

Aaron: Lighter than I thought it'd be...

He then puts the hammer back on the table.

Aaron: ...But I'll have to respectfully decline.

Thor: (widens his eyes even more) What?!

Aaron: Yeah, royalty's not for me. Besides...

He vibrates his right hand and makes orange sparks appear on it.

Aaron: I already have my own lighting.

Tony: Well, all deference to the Man Who Wouldn't Be King, but it's rigged.

Clint: (pats Tony's back) You bet your ass.

Hill: (points at Clint) Steve, he said a bad language word.

Steve: (sighs then turns to Tony) Did you tell everyone about that?

Bobbi: Told you he wouldn't let you live it down, Cap.

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

Aaron: No, it's not that, otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to lift it. I think it's because I literally have lighting coursing through my veins that I'm able to lift the hammer.

Thor: (gets up) Yes. Those are very, very interesting theories. I have a simpler one...

He grabbed the hammer and lifted it off the table before flipping it and catching it again.

Thor: Everyone apart from O'Connor is not worthy.

Everyone, except Aaron, groan in response before a high-pitched noise filled the room. Tony checked his phone to see what caused the feedback.

???: Woooorrthyyyy...

Everyone turned to see a decrepit Iron Legion sentry limp into the room.

???: No...(turns to face The Avengers) How could you be worthy? You're all killers.

Bobbi: What the hell...?

Steve: Stark...

Tony: JARVIS...

There was no response from the A.I. at all, which made this even more unnerving.

???: I'm sorry, I was asleep. Or I was adream.

Aaron: Tony...

Tony: (taps into his phone) Reboot Legionnaire OS. We got a buggy suit.

???: There was this terrible noise. And I was tangled in...

The sentry looks at itself, more specifically, the exposed wires protruding out of it.

???: In...strings...

Everyone looked at the sentry in confusion.

???: I had to kill the other guy. He was a good guy.

Steve: You killed someone?

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

Thor: Who sent you?

The sentry played a recording of Tony's voice.

???: (with Tony's voice recorded) "I see a suit of armor around the world."

Tony, Aaron, and Bruce realized what it was.

Aaron & Bruce: Ultron...

Ultron: In the flesh. Or, no, not yet. Not this chrysalis.

Despite Ultron's body's current state, Everyone in the room could sense the threat of him. Maria switched off the safety of her pistol, Thor gripped him hammer tightly, Bobbi slowly took out her batons, while Aaron puts his right foot behind him, ready to push off the left and use his speed.

Ultron: But I'm ready. I'm on a mission.

Natasha: What mission?

Ultron: Peace in our time.

Suddenly, several Iron Legion sentries burst out of the wall behind Ultron and flew at the Avengers.

Steve kicked up the table, but he was knocked down to the ground by it on impact.

Hill began shooting at the sentries as one of them flew towards Thor, but he hits it away with his hammer.

Tony and Rhodey vaulted over the railing and onto the lower floor, but one sentry knocked Tony onto the ground. Rhodey pulled out his pistol and tried to shoot Ultron, but Ultron fired a repulsor shot at Rhodey's chest, sending him through the glass behind him and into the hangar below.

Helen, Bobbi, and Hill jumped behind a couch while Natasha and Bruce jumped behind the bar. Natasha peeked out of the bar and shot at a nearby sentry.

Aaron used his speed to destroy some sentries while Bobbi jumped out of cover and threw a baton at another before recalling it.

Aaron: FIRST ALIENS, NOW ROBOTS! WHAT'S NEXT, LORD VOLDEMORT?!

Bobbi: Not the time, Aaron!

Tony ran upstairs and jumped onto the back of a sentry and tried to pry into its neck with a knife

Steve: Stark!

Tony: One sec.

However, a mangled sentry flew towards Helen, who was hiding behind a piano, and raised its hand as it was ready to shoot her, but Aaron saw it.

Aaron: DR. CHO!

He ran at the sentry and destroyed it, but not before seeing it lower its hand.

Aaron: (to Helen) You okay?

Helen nods in response.

Tony managed to disable the sentry he was holding on to.

Clint: CAP!

He ran in with Steve's shield. Clint throws it at Steve, who catches and throws it at the last sentry, destroying it.

Ultron: That was dramatic.

Everyone's attention was drawn to Ultron.

Ultron: 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?

He grabs a destroyed sentry from the ground by its head and lifts it up.

Ultron: With these? These puppets?

He crushed the sentry's head and throws it back on the ground.

Ultron: There's only one path to peace...The Avengers' extinction.

Having heard enough, Aaron throws a lighting bolt at Ultron, destroying the body. However, the A.I. had one last thing to say.

Ultron: I had strings, but now I'm free...

The body shut down.

It took a minute for everyone to process what just happened.

Suddenly, they heard a slow clapping sound. They turn to see Aaron clapping his hands slowly and aggressively while angrily glaring at Tony and Bruce.

He tried to warn them not to do it. He tried to tell them that making Ultron wouldn't end well. But, of course, they didn't listen.

Like, how is it possible that Aaron is the youngest of the geniuses of the Avengers, yet somehow he's the one who has any common sense?

Aaron: (while clapping slowly and glaring angrily at Tony and Bruce) Congratulations, gentlemen. You just recreated Skynet.