Dreams Best Left Alone - Book 4 (Age of Ultron)

Chapter 2 - The Tower

Tony flew the Quinjet as the rest of the team attended to Clint as best as they could. They got him stable and relaxed, Annabelle sitting and talking to him to keep his mind off the pain. Bruce sat in the corner, listening to music and wrapped in a blanket before Natasha went and sat with him as Steve and Thor prepared the mission report.

"Thor, report on the Hulk," Natasha requested, turning to look at him.

"The gates of Hell are filled with the screams of his victims." Bruce groaned, putting his head in his hands as Natasha gave him a look and Annabelle held in a chuckle. "But not the screams of the dead, of course," Thor tried to fix what he said. "No, no. Uh, wounded screams. Mainly whimpering, a great deal of complaining, and tales of sprained deltoids and gout."

"Hey, Banner," Tony called from the front of the jet, "Dr. Cho is on her way in from Seoul. Is it okay if she sets up in your lab?"

"Uh, yeah. She knows her way around."

"Thanks." He went back to speaking to Jarvis so everything would be ready by the time they landed. He put the jet on autopilot and walked back to where Steve and Thor looked at Loki's scepter, Annabelle coming to join them as Clint fell asleep because of the meds. "Feels good, yeah?" he asked Thor. "I mean, you've been after this thing since SHIELD collapsed. Not that I haven't enjoyed our little raiding parties, but..."

"No, but this... This brings it to a close."

"As soon as we find out what else this has been used for. I don't just mean weapons. Since when is Strucker capable of human enhancement?"

"Technically it's been able to enhance humans since at least the forties," Annabelle pointed out. "It's just a matter of how he managed to harness it and chose what he wanted."

"Banner and I will give it the once over before it goes back to Asgard. Is that cool with you?" Thor nodded. "Just a few days till the farewell party. You're staying, right?"

"Yes, yes, of course. A victory should be honored with revels."

"Yeah, who doesn't love revels? Captain?"

"Hopefully this puts an end to the Chitauri and Hydra, so yes. Revels."

"Kid?" Tony asked, putting a hand on Annabelle's shoulder.

"Parties aren't really my thing," she tried.

"Oh, but it's not a party. It's revels," Tony told her and she rolled her eyes.

"Sir, we're about to land," Jarvis said over the speakers and Tony went back to the cockpit as the rest of the team gathered their things. As soon as the door opened, Helen Cho's team rushed Clint out on a stretcher. Thor, Natasha, and Bruce went back to their rooms to clean up, passing by Maria as she boarded the jet.

"Lab's all set up, boss," she told Tony.

"Actually, he's the boss," he pointed at Steve. "I just pay for everything and design everything and make everyone look cooler."

"What's the word on Strucker?" Steve ignored Tony.

"NATO's got him."

"And the two enhanced?"

"Wanda and Pietro Maximoff," she handed him a tablet and Annabelle looked over his arm at the video of them protesting. "Twins. Orphaned at ten when a shell collapsed their apartment building." He swiped to the next screen that had a picture of the building. "Sokovia's had a rough history," she continued as they walked off the jet. "It's nowhere special, but it's on the way to everywhere special."

"Their abilities?"

"He's got increased metabolism and improved thermal homeostasis. Her thing is neuroelectronic interfacing, telekinesis, mental manipulation." Steve looked up from the files to her. "He's fast and she's weird."

"So, she's like me? Messes with people's heads?"

"Kind of. You show people actual memories, but she manipulates them. It doesn't seem like she can cause any physical response like you though."

"Well, they're gonna show up again," he handed the tablet back.

"Agreed. File said they volunteered for Strucker's experiments." The elevator door opened and the siblings walked in. "It's nuts."

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

"We're not at war, Captain."

"They are."

***

Annabelle walked through the compound, a book that Tony picked out for her playing in her earbuds while working on an assignment that Bruce had made. She stopped once she reached the main living space, looking up from the screen as she laid down on the couch. From her position, she could see into all the main rooms of the compound since most of the walls were made of glass and rarely tinted. To her right was Tony's lab where Tony and Bruce slaved away at something as usual, Bruce's lab in a smaller room connected to Tony's. In front of her and up a level was the small library that the team had put together, even though most of their materials were kept digitally. It really was just two bookshelves with some tables around it. To her right was a fully glass wall that extended for three of the stories. Thor was sitting there, looking out over the city. Under her was another open concept space that Tony used for his parties and events. It had a bar, lots of extra seating, and a large space for food. The kitchen was there too along with other entertainment options. The floors below had anything the Avengers may need. A gym, pool, medical bays, and more. The floors above had more rooms than were needed, but each of them had a larger room than the extras.

"Hey," Tony called, one of the glass panels to his lab sliding away, "are you paying attention to that book?" She gave him a thumbs up. "Then recite the last five minutes."

"'When the photon energy of the incident electromagnetic radiation is comparable to, or larger than, the rest mass energy of the free electron, or for frequencies v is greater than or equal to ten to the twentieth power hertz, the incident radiation transfers energy to the electron, and the scattered photon has less energy, or a lower frequency and longer wavelength, than the incident one.'"

"Okay, okay, I get it," he held his hands up and Annabelle only smirked.

"'The effect is named Compton scattering,'" she continued louder, making Tony groan and Thor chuckle as he watched the two, "'or the Compton effect, after the American physicist Arthur H. Compton...'" She stopped after she heard the glass close and Tony went back to work.

"He should have asked if you understood it," Thor smiled at her.

"I don't think he wants to ask me to prove anything else," she chuckled.