Chapter 11.

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The sleeping arrangement was being made by Clint, Laura, Natasha, and me. "I thought we could put Nat and Bruce together because of the lack of rooms for all of you and the fact that it is no secret that you, Nat, and Banner have chemistry." Laura suggests, and Nat shrugs her shoulders. "ok." Clint was the next to speak up about his idea. "So we'll have Natasha and  Bruce, Loki and Steve, Tony will stay in his room, and Taylor can share with Steve or sleep on the couch." Natasha and Laura agreed, but I felt like some things needed to change. "I like keeping Nat and Bruce in a room together, but I would fix a couple of things. I will stay on the couch, but I do not think Loki staying with Steve and Tony is a good idea without asking his opinion. He can choose to share with either Steve or Tony, or he can stay out in the living room with me."

"Why won't you be staying with Steve, your boyfriend?" Nat asks me, confused.

"Ex-boyfriend and friend, actually." I reply to Nat's question.

"What happened?" Laura questions next.

"I'll beat him up if you want me to." Clint offers a protective look. I haven't mentioned Clint, and I have known each other for years and consider each other family.

"No, you don't need to. I actually ended it." I pause for a moment. "I just didn't feel the same way anymore, and I didn't want to lie to him. We agreed to stay as friends. It isn't that big of a deal. Steve and I are adults...we can act civilized."

Clint and Laura informed everyone about the sleeping situations. I talked to Loki about his options, and he chose to sleep in the living room instead of sharing with Steve or Tony. Loki took the couch, and I took the small loveseat across from the couch.


Later that night, Nick Fury had stopped by initially to talk to Tony, but he decided to stay longer. Bruce stood in a kitchen corner, Nat sitting at the table, Tony playing darts, Clint by the sink, Steve stood at the kitchen's archway/entrance, Laura putting the kids to bed, and Loki and I sat across from Nat. "Ultron took you folks of play to buy himself time." Fury starts the conversation. "My contacts all say he's building something. The amount of Vibranium he made off with, I don't think it's just one thing."

"What about Ultron himself?" Steve asks, leaning against the wall of the kitchen entrance.

"Oh, he's easy to track. He's everywhere. The guy is multiplying faster than a Catholic rabbit. It still doesn't help us get an angle on any of his plans, though."

Stark speaks up as he throws a dart. "Is he still going after launch codes?"

"Yes, he is. But he's not making any headway."

"I cracked the Pentagon's firewall in High School on a dare." Stark says in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Well, I contacted our friends at Nexus about that."

I had no idea what or who 'Nexus' was. "Nexus?"

"It's the world internet hub in Oslo." Bruce answers my question. "Every byte flows through there. Fastest access on Earth."

"So, what did they say?" Clint asks.

"He's fixated on the missiles. But the codes are constantly being changed."

"By whom?" Loki asks Fury.

"Parties unknown. "

"Do we have an ally?" Nat asks.

"Ultron's got an enemy. That's not the same thing. Still, I'd pay folding money to know who it is."

"I'm gonna need to visit Oslo." Tony mutters. "Find our unknown."

"Well, this is good times, boss, but I was kind of hoping when I saw you, you'd have more than that." Nat says, looking at Nick.

"I do. I have you. Back in the day, I had eyes everywhere. Ears, everywhere else. You kids had all the tech you could dream up. Here we all are, back on Earth, with nothing but our wit and our will to save the world. Ultron says the Avengers are the only thing between him and his mission. And, whether or not he admits it, his mission is global destruction." He takes a small break before continuing. "All this, laid in a grave. So stand. Outwit the platinum *******."                               (I don't type bad words, but the fact it's in the movie, and I can't change it).

"Steve doesn't like that kind of talk." Nat and I both point out to Fury.

"You know what, Holmes and Romanoff?" Nat and I snicker.

"So, what hoes he want?"

"To become better. Better than us. He keeps building bodies." Steve comments answers the question.

"Person bodies. The human form is inefficient, biologically speaking. But he keeps coming back to it."

"When you two programmed him to protect the human race, you amazingly failed." Nat says points out to Bruce and Stark.

"They don't need to be protected. They need to evolve. Ultron's going to evolve." Bruce realizes what his plan is.

"How?" I ask very confusedly.

"Has anyone been in contact with Helen Cho?" No one had. We were all getting ready, except for Bruce and Loki. I finally got to get some action.

"Why didn't you choose to sleep with your boyfriend?" Loki asks me as we were the only two in the living room

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"Why didn't you choose to sleep with your boyfriend?" Loki asks me as we were the only two in the living room.

"We broke it off. I just didn't have the same feelings for him anymore." I say, and before he says anything, Tony and Steve are walking down the stairs.

"I'll take Taylor, Clint, and Nat." Steve says, and Tony replies next. "All right, strictly recon. I'll hit the Nexus. I'll join you as soon as I can."

"If Ultron is really building a body..." I never get to finish before Tony interrupts me. "He'll be more powerful than any of us. Maybe all of us. An android designed by a robot."

"You know I really miss the days when the weirdest thing science ever created was me."

Fury walks by us, putting his coat on. "I'll drop Banner and Loki off at the tower. You mind if I borrow Ms. Hill?"

"She's all your. Apparently." Tony says. "What are you gonna do?"

"I don't know. Something dramatic, I hope." Fury leaves with Loki and Bruce while the rest of us board the quinjet.

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