Tony had somehow managed to convince Thor to let him study the sceptre before he and Loki transported it back to Asgard. Ronan wasn't quite sure how he managed to persuade the Asgardians that letting him study it for two days before celebrating the destruction of the main HYDRA base was a good idea, because as much as Ronan liked Tony, he could be slightly…over enthusiastic.

Where Ronan was amazed by Helen's cradle, a machine that could regrow tissue, Tony's interest was firmly fixated on the staff he hadn't got to play around with on the helicarrier a few years ago. Ronan was less interested, more worried about Loki who had been uncharacteristically quiet and had secreted himself away into his quarters, refusing to come out. Still, that meant that he was perched on one of the desks in Tony's workshop, drinking bubble tea through a straw, a weird addiction he definitely blamed on Marie, when the reality of what powered the sceptre was brought up.

He'd been dragged in with Bruce to discuss the sceptre issue, Tony apparently taking Ronan's very basic knowledge of anything too techy as a challenge and deciding to teach him everything the inventor knew in a matter of days. Whatever, Ronan enjoyed spending time with Tony, and since Loki wasn't in the mood to talk too much, Tony and Bruce were pleasant company.

Honestly, the realisation that whatever was inside the sceptre's protective casing was immensely powerful wasn't much of a surprise, and Ronan voiced this.

"I've seen something that can literally transform worlds into something dark and desolate." He pointed out to Tony, who was babbling on about what was inside the sceptre. "It nearly killed Jane, remember? This sceptre? It wiped people's minds, Tony, I think we all know it's powerful." Ronan desperately tried to not remember the look on Malekith's face, the way that even Thor's lightning couldn't destroy the aether, and felt his nails dig into the meat of his palm.

"But this is different." Tony's eyes were bright as he picked up a tablet and projected what Ronan assumed was Jarvis' code, and his guess was confirmed when Bruce almost instinctively greeted the AI. "Top of the line, right? He runs more of Stark Industries than Pepper, controls the Iron legion."

"Obviously." Ronan agreed and Tony smirked slightly.

"Meet the competition."

And Ronan could see what Tony meant by different when he projected what Ronan assumed was whatever was inside the sceptre.

"It's beautiful…" Bruce murmured, voice awe filled. "It's in the sceptre?"

"It looks like a brain." Ronan managed. "The little lights are firing off it, like it's sending impulses to something. Like...like it's thinking."
"Exactly!" Tony pointed at Ronan, eyes focused on Bruce. "The kid gets it. Strucker was knocking on a particular door -"

"Artificial intelligence." Bruce murmured, his brows furrowed.

"This could be it." Tony stated. "The key to creating Ultron."

And now Ronan was completely lost.

The word 'Ultron' meant nothing to him at all. It was just a word - a made up one to him, although he was sure Tony or Bruce had a reason for using that word. It...it stung a little, honestly, to have no clue what Tony was talking about. He'd moved them all into the tower weeks ago, thought they were friends or something like that. Ronan raised a hand and Tony pointed at him. "You have a question."

"Yeah. What the hell is an Ultron?"

"Oh yeah, you have no clue what I'm talking about." Tony seemed to have finally realised that at least one person in the room didn't know what the fuck was going on, a great relief for Ronan. "So, you remember when your boyfriend caused an invasion of aliens in New York, right?"

"I'm regretting this." Ronan muttered even as Bruce hid his head in his hands. Tony ignored both of them with a determination Ronan equally hated and admired.

"What if, next time they show up to the club, they can't get past the bouncer?" Tony's eyes were bright, alight with possibilities. "A defense protocol that covers the entire world. After what happened in New York, after what you went through in England, surely this idea is...is incredible? A suit of armour around the world."

"Can I point out that two of our members...well, one...are aliens?" Ronan said. "What about that issue?"

"Artificial Intelligence, Clover." Tony ignored Ronan's indignant squawk. "We have them keyed into it so they can get passed, but the threats? They're dealt with before they even become an issue. What if the world was safe? What if there was peace in our time? Imagine it."

"It sounds good." Ronan admitted. It sounded tempting. "But scary. A suit of armour...it sounds cold, Tones. Blocking ourselves off from the rest of the galaxy."

"I've seen colder. So have you." Tony said and Ronan admitted he had a point. He could see Svartalfheim, could see dark elves and blood and shards of red floating through the air. Not destroyed, never destroyed. "But I can't do this alone. I'm going to need your luck and Bruce's brains." Tony looked towards Bruce with pleading eyes. The scientist pinched the bridge of his nose, before nodding.

"Alright. I'll help. Ronan?"

"My luck isn't particularly lucky." He admitted. "But if you want me here, sure. I'll help."

As soon as the last two words left Ronan's mouth, he felt a stirring in the pit of his stomach. He shouldn't have said that - this...this was going to go wrong. But he couldn't back out now.

Not when Tony's smile became bright enough to light up the entirety of New York City.

XoooX

The party Tony was hosting was full of people Ronan didn't know and some he did. It was also the first time that Loki had ventured from his room, although he was currently discussing something with Natasha instead of with Ronan, his focus solely on the red head.

Ronan could spot Kirsten in the crowd, her hand in the crook of Sam Wilson's elbow, deep in conversation with Steve about what Ronan suspected was the current search for Barnes. He didn't know all the details, only that Steve's old best friend was alive, and that Sam and Kirsten were attempting to figure out where he was. Eli had joined them in their revelry, taking part in thoroughly trashing a group of people at pool and loving every minute of it, judging from his triumphant crowing.

Currently, Ronan was accompanied by Marie, who had definitely had something to drink, and was staring intently across the room. Ronan squinted in the same direction she was looking in.

"What's so interesting?"

"Male posturing. Masculine posturing? I dunno I'm a little tipsy." Marie waved an absent hand, nails French manicured, bangles clinking as she did, gesturing with a head tilt over to Thor and Tony who seemed to keep interrupting each other. "Look, these guys are like...trying to one up each other over their girlfriends accomplishments. Which is ten times better than usual because then it devolves into grunting and that weird cobra posture thing."

"'A little tipsy.'" Ronan repeated, watching amused as Marie tried to mimic the posture she was describing.

"Ok more than a little." Marie admitted. "But I can still say long words so…"

"Not tipsy enough?"

"God I love you." Marie pressed a sloppy kiss to Ronan's cheek, laughing at his disgusted noise. "I need another drink. Not whatever I had last time. That did not get me drunk enough."

"I think Natasha's making cocktails."

"And instantly I am at the bar." Marie pressed yet another kiss to Ronan's cheek before sashaying off to the bar. Ronan silently wished Natasha luck, but also that they wouldn't fall into bed again. That would only end in heartache and sadness and Ronan didn't want that for either of them.

"Having fun?" Ronan would've startled at the arms around his waist if not for the voice that accompanied them, the resting of a chin on top of his head. Ronan leaned back against Loki, humming.

"Finally returned to me, hm? You've been hiding in your room for days." He found himself swaying along to Loki's movements. "I was getting worried."

"I was just...contemplating some things. Words. Actions." Ronan felt the god drop a kiss to the top of his head, something scarily affectionate for the current setting. Ronan wasn't going to protest, exactly, but made a note to make sure Loki was alright, or if this sudden public display of affection was just because he felt more comfortable about it. "Sokovia was...difficult. I'll have to return to Asgard soon, and isolating myself because of that deprives me of time with you."

"You do care!" Ronan's voice had gone teasing, but made sure that when he turned in Loki's arms that he didn't look mocking. "Seriously, though, if there's something bothering you...you can tell me, yeah?"

"I know." Loki was smiling, a soft, fond thing. It shone in his eyes, and it took effort to not swoon a little bit. "Don't fret, it's nothing to worry about."

"Promise?"

"I promise." Loki rolled his eyes nonetheless, but Ronan's worries were alleviated. He knew Loki could deal with his own emotions pretty well, his own troubles, but at least Ronan had gotten across the point that he didn't have to deal with them on his own anymore.

It didn't take long for the partygoers to mostly clear out, the main group staying along with Helen Cho, Maria Hill, Marie and Eli. Kirsten had managed to get in a few words and a fond hair ruffle before she'd swanned out with Sam. Currently, the group was splayed out around a table piled high with snacks and drinks, Ronan curled up against Loki in a corner of a sofa as playful banter was traded back and forth.

Soon, conversation turned to Thor's hammer.

"It has to be a trick." Clint stated, twirling a chopstick in between his fingers like a baton. "The whole worthy thing? Bullshit."

"Yet magic isn't?" Eli sounded amused, before stealing the last spring roll and shoving the entire thing in his mouth. He, thankfully, chewed and swallowed before speaking. "What do you think it is, then, Clint?"

"No clue but it isn't worthiness." Clint said.

"By all means." Thor gestured towards where Mjolnir was settled on the table and eyes turned to Clint. The archer snorted, before getting to his feet. Ronan hid his smile into his drink, watching as Clint grasped the handle of Mjolnir and pulled. Nothing. He felt Loki's silent laughter as Clint tried again, before falling back, shaking his head and laughing slightly.

"How the hell do you do it?"

"You can practically feel the silent judgement." Tony commented and Clint raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, try and do any better, Stark." Clint stated and Tony was never one to back down from a challenge. Eli let out a snort of amusement.

"Oh, this will be good." He stated, letting out a fake gasp of hurt when Tony flipped him the bird.

"For that comment, I will lift the hammer." Tony paused. "If I lift it, do I get to rule Asgard?"

"If you lift it, I'll personally hand you the crown." Thor said, and Loki rolled his eyes.

"If I knew that lifting the blasted thing was all it took…" He trailed off and Ronan hid a snicker in his hand.

"I shall rule fairly and justly, and I will instate Ronan as my heir." Tony stated, and Ronan let out a whoop at that. Tony flashed him a wink, before tugging.

Nothing. Just like Ronan expected.

Tony paused. "Gimme a minute." He left the room, only to return with a hand encased in one of his repulsors. Eli let out a loud laugh.

"Don't think that'll help, Stark." He stated, and sure enough, the hammer stuck fast.

"Why don't you try it?" Tony gestured to Eli, who shook his head and had a mouthful of beer.

"Nope. I like my shoulders where they are, thanks." He shot a grin Marie's way. "What about you, Sanchez?"

"I am too tipsy to try lifting it." Sure enough, her words were vaguely slurred, but not enough that it was a huge concern. She was also managing two syllable words, so Ronan figured Marie had spent more time flirting with Natasha at the bar instead of drinking cocktails. "I will pull and fall over. I'm good."

"And I've already tried." Ronan stated. "Back in New Mexico - wouldn't come out of the stupid stone. I was not destined to be the once and future king."

"You're such a nerd." Tony said, but his voice was entirely fond. "I thought you were Norse mythology, kiddo, not Arthurian legends."

"What can I say, I'm an educated man." Ronan shrugged a shoulder.

"So, what, we're going with the theory that only the true king of Asgard can lift the hammer?" Natasha's voice was amused. Thor got to his feet and lifted Mjolnir up with no trouble.

"I suppose none of you are worthy to be rulers." He said, voice teasing, and mock complaints rose from most gathered.

That was when something that sounded like interference cut through the room, causing winces and people to cover their ears. Tony frowned, picking up one of his many, many pads and tried to have a look at what might be interfering with his tech.

"Worthy... No... How could you be worthy? You're all killers." The voice startled Ronan, and eyes turned to see what looked like one of the Iron Legionnaires, broken and nearly disassembled completely addressing them. Ronan felt his blood run cold. Also, this thing clearly didn't know all the facts - Marie and Eli had never killed anyone.

Ronan remembered London, the blood on his cheek, the blood on the little knife in his hands, and felt inexplicably sick.

" -I had to kill the other guy. He was a good guy." Ronan was startled out of his thoughts by that admission, felt Loki's hand grasp his arm tightly. A protective move, a gesture to make sure that if worse came to worse, he could pull Ronan's small, mortal self behind him and protect. It was more comforting than Ronan felt that it should have been.

"You killed someone?" Steve asked, his voice taking on a tone that Ronan took as a warning.

"Wasn't ideal. But, in the real world, we're faced with ugly choices." The words sounded dismissive, it made Ronan shiver and he saw Marie move just behind Steve. Good plan - Ronan didn't think her words would work against a mechanical opponent if this came to a fight, and Marie seemed to reach the same conclusion as he did.

"Who sent you?" Thor's words were calm and firm, and Ronan felt himself almost instinctively relax, until a recording played.

"'A suit of armour around the world.'" Some eyes remained locked on the robot, few turning to look at Tony who looked as though he had been slapped. Loki's grip on Ronan's arm tightened.

"Ulton." Ronan breathed out in time with Bruce, and he knew that if robots could smile, Ultron would be.

"In the flesh." They paused, before continuing. "Well, not yet. Soon enough. I'm...mmm, on a mission."

"What mission?"

"Peace in our time."

The next few minutes felt like seconds, the remnants of the iron legion breaking through the walls and launching themselves at the group.

Loki pulled Ronan behind him, bringing up a barrier similar to the one used back on Svartalfheim and let one of the mechanical legions crash into it, shattering with the impact. Marie had dived to one side, ducking behind one of the sofas as the table was no longer an option, Steve having used it as a makeshift shield, only to get hurled against a wall.

Thor fared better, a firm swing from Mjolnir sending one crashing against the wall, finished off by a magical shard of energy from Loki, who had the sense to set up a barrier around Marie.

At some point, Natasha had dragged Bruce and Eli behind the bar, not wanting the hulk or an animal that would not fit in the apartment to appear, and was shooting at them from her cover, aim almost as accurate as Clint's. Tony had seemed to decide that piggybacking one of the legion and trying to dismantle it while it tried to fling him off was a good idea.

Ronan wished he had brought his knife, and cursed the fact that he had left it in his room, skidding under a table off to one side, joined soon by Clint.

"You ok, kid?" He managed to get out and Ronan managed a small nod. "I know you're capable, but stay put this time." Ronan nodded again, peering out from his hiding spot as Clint darted out, running towards where Steve had left his shield propped up against the far wall.

Ronan felt completely useless. He could throw punches, had done so, but he didn't have the gift of being able to bend steel with a punch like Steve could. He could hear slamming and the shattering of glass, a yell of Rhodey and Ronan hoped the colonel hadn't been thrown out a window, and if he had been had at least been stopped from crashing to the concrete ground below.

Clint yelled out cap, there was the sound of metal breaking, and an eerie silence for a second. Ronan crawled out from under the table, watching the scene intently.

"That was dramatic." Ultron sounded completely unaffected by the battle that had just taken place, leaving even Steve panting slightly. "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?" Ronan saw a metal hand pick up a former robot, crushing the head without a thought. Ronan flinched slightly, imagining a skull in it's place. "With these? These puppets? There's only one path to peace: The Avengers' extinction."

Thor was the one who broke Ultron to pieces, a single throw of Mjolnir all it took to destroy the already broken machine. The light flickered, the remnants of Ultron saying something Ronan couldn't quite make out, before the remains of a once animated robot dimmed into nothing more than shrapnel. There was silence, before Eli spoke up.

"...What the hell just happened?"

An excellent question.

XoooX

Wanda and Pietro usually ended up handing out supplies to the more desperate population of Sokovia.

That amounted to most of said population, as their home had been ravaged by war, and jobs couldn't pay much considering how many livelihoods had been destroyed when bombs had been dropped and soldiers charged through the streets.

Currently, they were handing out blankets and clothing and food. Pietro tossed a bottle of pills to a man and he caught it.

"They the right ones?" He asked, and the man nodded. "Don't worry about it, I made a house call - we worked out a deal." Pietro flashed a wink, before rummaging through the box of supplies again. He picked up a ball and tossed it to a woman. "This is for your brother."

"Thank you."

"And this -" Pietro could feel his lips twitching as he drew out a dress, sparkling as it moved. "- Is not for your brother." The woman was speechless and he heard Wanda let out a disgusted snort as she walked past. Instead of stopping to talk, she grabbed his arm in a vice-like grip.

"One day you are going to get yourself in trouble." Wanda hissed as she dragged Pietro away from the woman he had been talking to. "Flirting. Honestly, Pietro -"

"I wasn't flirting. Besides, I have another person on my mind."

It was true. He didn't even know the man's name, but Pietro had seen his face and immediately wanted to sit on it. Which was definitely an issue, considering he had first thought he was a she. They had wanted to let them go, though, and Pietro hoped he hadn't hurt the man too badly when he'd bucked him off. But Stark...He couldn't trust him. Could he?

"If this is about that boy again -" Wanda sounded exasperated.

"He's like us, Wanda!" Pietro argued. Wanda shot him a sharp look, but surprise was evident in her features.

"What do you mean?"

"He turned into a bird. It's the only reason he got me - I didn't know he was there until he transformed." Pietro felt himself smile. "Don't you see, Wanda? We are not the only ones like this."

"He's with Stark." Wanda's voice had turned suspicious, eyes calculating. "He is nothing like us."

"Maybe...maybe he doesn't know what Stark has done?" The excuse was feeble - everyone knew what Stark had done, what he was, but Pietro wanted to defend the man who had been willing to let them go. How could he be bad, be willing to work with a man like Stark, if he wanted to let them go? Wanda knew the excuse was a pretty terrible one, judging from the raised eyebrow and critical look she shot his way. "I just...he wanted to let us go. He told them to let us go."

"Even so, he is with them." Wanda retorted. "Pietro, I just...I don't want to see you get hurt. And this will hurt - we may never see him again. I hope we don't, because fighting him will hurt you."

"I -" Pietro was cut off by the sound of footsteps, and turned to see a kid running to them.

"What is it?" Wanda asked, waiting for the boy to catch his breath.

"The church." He said. "The man said you need to come to the church." Wanda exchanged a glance with Pietro.

"What man?"

"The iron man." The child said, before running off again at the sound of his name being called. Wanda gave Pietro a look.

"It seems maybe you will have to see him again." She tugged his jacket further around him, a motherly gesture, as Pietro felt his blood run cold. "A pity. I wanted to save you from the hurt."

"I know." Pietro managed to get out. "I know you did." Wanda's eyes were soft, and she took his hand in hers, squeezing it softly.

"Let's go."

XoOoX

Have I mentioned I hate Age of Ultron? Because I do and this is gonna take forever and a year to write I am SO SORRY.

Life has been kicking me and my family about recently - my mum had an aneurysm late last year, and I recently quit my job due to the boss verbally abusing me (including saying to my face that I was an idiot) and trying to take away the holiday I needed off to help my mum around the house. Things have been slow going and I apologise for the fact it will probably remain slow going until I'm in a more stable position, but this had been nearly finished for a long while and I needed to complete it. This chapter is nearing the 4000 word mark which is significantly longer than most of my other chapters, which I hope sort of makes up for how long this took to finish.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy it and I'll hopefully update sooner! - Jazz xx