Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

As Helen recovered her confinement to the med bay became more and more of a problem. Books could only go so far as a substitute for company, and the few visits she was allowed were rarely pleasant.

Case and point: when Director Fury walked in with his trademark annoyed glare and dropped something in her lap. “You’ve got some interesting mail, Doctor.”

Helen picked up the object. It was a card. The front depicted a cartoonish woman lying in a bed with a blanket pulled up to her chin and a thermometer sticking out of her mouth. Underneath it read “Sorry for breaking your rib cage.”

Helen opened the card and read the hand written note within. “I’ll be more careful in the future. Promise. But while you’re on the mend, you should consider reinforcing it with titanium. In fact you should do that for your whole body.”

The corner of Cho’s mouth twitched into a small smile. Impossibly, Fury’s glare became even more intense. “Well?” He asked.

“Well it was a little insincere of him not to sign it.” She replied coolly.

“Cho.” Fury stepped forward, not deterred in the least by her humor. “Is this going to be a problem?”

She sighed and set the card on her night stand. “I don’t know.” She said quietly. “For me, no. but I can’t say if he’ll come here again. I don’t know how he’ll act or react about this.”

Fury loomed over her bedside as he considered her words. “… You’re free to have visitors and leave when you’re given the all clear. Do not make me regret this, Cho.”

He pulled her phone from his pocket and set it down next to the card. The guards at her door followed  when he left. 

Chapter Text

Tony Stark was used to turning heads. Being a billionaire, Avenger, playboy- well, he wasn’t a playboy anymore, but that never really stopped women from looking. Point was, Tony was used to people looking his way. Especially when he pulled up in a Ferrari.

However, this was the SHIELD facility: a place chock full of assassins, spies, and weirdos from all over. So he wasn’t entirely offended when the two women leaning on the deck railing overlooking the yard didn’t even spare him a glance.

…O.K. maybe he was a little offended.

He hopped up the steps and joined them by the railing. Stark tilted his head down so he could peer at the pair of ladies over his sunglasses. Helen Cho and Darcy Lewis: Never had he seen such an ill matched pair.  They both leaned on the railing, cold drinks in hand, observing the sparring session going in the yard bellow. Darcy even had a bag of popcorn.

It was easy to see why the pair was so preoccupied. Captain, Widow, and Barton were facing off against the new Avengers, and despite none of the old team having flight capabilities they were thoroughly handing the new kids their asses. Curiously, Thor was there too. He and Vision stood off to the side discussing something intently. “What’s going on, Ladies?” He asked inquisitively.

“Hammer time.” Darcy answered as she threw a piece of popcorn in the air and caught it in her mouth.

Tony glanced back to Thor and Vision. From the wild gesturing that was going, he guessed that Thor was giving a lesson on the finer points of hammer swinging. That or he was giving Asgardian dance lessons.

“You…”Tony began, pointing at Darcy. “…you know what, I’m actually not all that surprised that you somehow managed to get clearance to come on base to check out the guys.” He turned his finger on Cho. “But what are you doing here? Last time I tried to get you to have a little fun you told me you had too much important science stuff to do.”

“This is ‘important science stuff’. I’m observing Thor to determine how Asgardian physiology differs from that of a human.” And she said it in such a strait laced professional manner that Tony almost believed her. He might have if it weren’t for the small blush that creeped into her cheeks.

Tony smirked and arched a brow. “Still got a thing for Thor? I thought you liked your boyfriends battery operated.- or arc reactor operated. ”

And that finally broke her impassive façade. Tony put his hands up in surrender as she rounded on him angrily, but before Cho could say anything Darcy piped up.

“Marry, fuck, kill.”

 “That…” Helen started, brows furrowed as she contemplated the statement. “That is actually a surprisingly accurate way to describe it.”

Tony stole a bit of popcorn from Darcy and popped it in his mouth. “Mind filling me in?”

“So, Ultron, right? He knew what he was doing when he made his body. It’s like, stupidly perfect. “ And Darcy made a gesture in the air that might have been an attempt to show Ultron’s basic outline but really just looked like a Dorito to Tony. “Now he’s not my type- so stop giving me that look- but I can totes see why Cho would tap that. But he’s a genocidal robot so… Ultron is Fuckable but not someone you want to marry. But Thor, he’s prime Husbando material. He’s got a total god bod too, plus this ruggedness and…” she grasped at the air, spilling popcorn everywhere as she tried to find the words.

“An adorable chivalrous charm.” Cho finished for her.

“Yeah, that!”

They both took sips from their drinks, seemingly content to leave it at that. Tony, however, was not content to leave the game unfinished. “So who’s ‘kill’?”

“You” They said and unison. As the pair of women gave each other appreciative sidelong glances Tony felt like the shadow of death had fallen over him. This looked that the start of a friendship that would be very bad for him. The only thing that could possibly be worse was if Pepper were part of it. And wasn’t that just a horrifying idea: His secretary/girlfriend/maybe future wife, his doctor, and a sassy flippant barely-more-than-a-teenager all in a cabal together. Between the three of them nothing would be secret or sacred.

Tony was going to have to start revising his views on Thor being a god, because his prayers were answered when Thor and Vision walked over and joined them. The rest of the team had taken a break from sparring in order for Cap to review their combat techniques and talk strategy.

Vision inclined his head and smiled slightly. “It’s good to see you, Sir. Ladies.”

“Friend Tony!” Thor said with a big bright smile and yeah, Tony had to admit the girls had a point about that adorable charm of his. “Will you join us? The captain could use our aid in training the new warriors.”

“Me? Fight? No. I’m still… retired? Semi- retired? Is there a word for what I’m on? Sabbatical?”

“Yeah” Darcy piped up again. “And we wouldn’t want gramps to break a hip.”

Tony snatched his sunglasses off and stared at the brat in disbelief. “Excuse me? Just because you’re barely out of diapers doesn’t mean I’m old. Besides, if anyone here is a grandpa it’s the Capsical.”

“Well, technically…” Vision started slowly and no, oh hell no. Tony knew that tone of voice. That dry tone was all Jarvis. “Since I am the creation of your creations ‘Grandfather’ would be a fitting title.”

Everyone else readily accepted this explanation, but Tony sputtered. “What?! I’m not…You’re… What about Bruce, huh?”

“Don’t try to pin this on Doctor Banner.” Cho warned.

“He was just your hot nurse.” Darcy added.

“Her!” He pointed to Cho, desperate to shift some responsibility onto someone else and stop this talk of being a grandfather. “You! What about you? You helped make his body.”

Helen sipped her drink and tilted her head thoughtfully. “Hmm….I always did want to be a mother.”

“But Jarvis and Ultron are already his parents!”

“That is remarkably close minded of you Sir.” And just like Cho, Vision was able to keep a perfectly straight face for the delivery.

Tony’s wild, frantic gesturing stopped. He stood there still and silent, staring blankly at them. “My god.” He finally said and ran a nervous hand through his hair. “I went from being a father to a grandfather in the space of three days.  “

“I need a drink.” He announced and spun on his heel. As he walked away he could be heard muttering ‘should have given Junior the talk’ and ‘that’s too young to be having kids’.

“So what does that make Thor?” Darcy asked absently.

A silence stretched out as the group struggled to think of an answer. Then the man himself spoke up chipperly.

“Clearly I was the midwife.”

Chapter Text

One of the first rules of first aid: do not move the injured unless they are in immediate danger. Moving them may worsen injures.

Helen frowned at the unusual text, a sinking feeling forming in the pit of her stomach. The phone buzzed in her hand as a new message came in.

So yeah, now I know

Not that I plan on throwing you against any walls in the future.

Unless you’re into that

The doctor slowly got out of her seat in the mess hall and calmly walked up to the nearest on duty guard. “Mam? I need you to get Director Fury.” The phone buzzed twice “and Tony Stark.” A massive influx of texts caused her phone to sound like an angry hornet’s nest. “and we had best call Vision while we’re at it.” The cell only buzzed once this time. There was a brief pause and there was one final buzz.

The guard looked bewildered, but nodded and motioned for Helen to follow. As the guard radioed ahead Cho checked the messages.

Wait don’t

I can’t believe you just called your boss on me

…

wow

I can’t believe you just called my dad on me

Don’t bring him into this

Stop

Can’t we just talk?

I’m trying to do something nice

And you’re ruining it

…

I can’t believe you just called our son on me

…

Now I’m really glad I didn’t lead in with a sext.

Helen inhaled sharply and tore her eyes from the screen. Last week when they had been teasing about Tony being a grandfather… well, Helen had never admitted it out loud, but she hadn’t entirely been joking when she implied that Vision was her son. But to have Ultron draw the same conclusion...to have him say ‘our’ son…

Her phone began buzzing again. She put it away in her pocket without reading anymore.

By the time Tony and Vision had gathered the texts had mysteriously been wiped from her phone.

Director Fury gave her the stink eye for the rest of the day.

 A few days later, 11:30 p.m.

Domo arigato Mr. Roboto!

Helen groaned and slapped a hand over her eyes. That was definitely not a ringtone that she had set and she had a pretty good idea who put it in there. She rolled over on the bed and grabbed the phone from her nightstand, checking the caller I.D. anyway. Unkown. Of course.

She accepted and put the cell to her ear.

“Doc, listen-“

She hung up. Yup. It was Ultron. Barely a second passed and it was ringing again. Where caller I.D. previously said “unkown” now read “sad robot”. The ringtone had changed as well.

Baby come back! You can blame it all on me!

The song played through its entirety and Helen hoped that would be the end of it, but as soon as it finished a new song began.

I fooled around and fell in love.

And damnit, Helen had to bite her lip to keep from grinning.  She closed her eyes and wiped the smile away. If she was going to do this she was going to take it seriously. This wasn’t a social call. This was a call from a genocidal robot that held her captive for almost a week.  She had to be on the offensive.

She put on her war face and hit accept. “Fine. You win. We’ll talk”

“I’m sorry-“ he began but she cut him off. He would be getting no slack from her tonight.

“Sorry? About what? Trying to wipe out the human race or about hurting me on the boat? Because it’s a bit hypocritical to apologize for harming me on accident in one scenario when you fully intended to kill me with the rest of humanity in the other. Or were you thinking about collecting me for your little utopia afterwards?”

“….well yeah, I was thinking about it.”

“Did you start thinking about it before or after you sliced with me your lasers?” she asked scathingly.

“This isn’t going how I planned.” The sad, desperate note in his voice caused Helen to waver in her assault. She pressed on, but the heat in her voice had died.

“That seems to happen alarmingly often with you.”

“Really got your claws out tonight, doc. I guess I deserve that.”

 “Why haven’t you called Wanda?” she asked suddenly

The question took him completely off guard.“….what?” He asked dumbly.

“I know you care about her. Yet you haven’t ever tried to contact her and apologize like you have me. Why?”

Ultron was mute. The silence stretched out for so long that Helen checked her phone and make sure he hadn’t hung up.“….what could I say to her, Helen?” He pleaded in a quiet, broken voice. “What could I possibly say?”

The last of Helen’s anger flickered and died. This really wasn’t going how she planned either. Ever since she had been returned to the base it had been easy to brush off her encounter with him as a symptom of stress; that it hadn’t meant anything. She had focused on his threat to mankind and carefully ignored everything else. He became a caricature: a one dimensional symbol of villainy and twisted ideals.

But faced with him again, she could no longer forget what he really was: a person. He was a complex emotional being. He felt sorrow, regret, love and anger. He was irrational and funny. He hated the human race, but cared so much about people.

 And right now, he sounded so terribly lost. Her defenses crumbled. “I don’t know…”

“… doc, do you ever think that you and I… that we could be a thing?”

Helen heaved a sigh. “ I can’t be with you.”

“Can’t, or don’t want to?”

And Helen didn’t really have an answer for him. She hung up. The phone stayed silent the rest of the night.

Chapter Text

The temple of Hephaestus, Athens, after dark.

Ultron knew that he could always count on the greed of men. What he could not predict was the depths that it could go. Last month he had paid a group to steal some very sophisticated schematics from a tech lab outside Tokyo. The paranoid head of the science team kept all the important research on a closed network so it was impossible for Ultron to hack without being there himself.

He had made half the payment in advance to fund the operation, but when the job proved successful, the team decided to keep the schematics and sell it to the highest bidder. This wasn’t a problem: money was always just a few keystrokes away. What bothered Ultron was that…well, it was just bad business.

Ultron decided on a location to meet and the crew agreed immediately. They didn’t even argue. It was painfully obvious they were going to attempt another double cross.

He killed the spot lights around the temple and entered. It looked gorgeous in the light of the full moon. It was a marvel of architecture that had withstood the test of time. Religion fascinated Ultron, and above all others the Greeks and their Mythology were his favorite. All of their temples were perfectly aligned. All the columns were spaced exactly the same distance. A temple of perfect order dedicated to chaotic gods.

Really, he would have liked to have met in a temple of Zeus, but there were scarcely any left and no temple as intact as this one. Zeus and he…. They shared a lot of the same ideas: the notion of the child supplanting the father, of leaving the lesser creatures to wallow in their own filth and misery, of only accepting the worthy.

But Hephaestus would do. He supposed it was fitting for his current state; cast down, crippled, and forging his automatons.

A soft gasp came from the entrance. Ultron turned his gaze on the intruders. There were four of them, three men and a woman, all decked out in tactical gear and carrying semi-automatics. They balked as his red eyes glared at them from the darkness within the temple.

“Those are some very large guns to bring to a simple exchange.” The four began backing up as Ultron advanced, the moonlight now clearly illuminating him. ”It almost makes me think you were planning on killing me after getting the money. You wouldn’t be that untrustworthy, would you?”

Three of them darted their gaze to one of the men in front. One of them gave him a nudge. He stepped forward, licking his lips and sweating nervously. “N-no sir. Just.. just precaution. “

Ultron ticked a brow up. “Riiight.” He swung around and began to pace back and forth in front the group, casually swinging his foot out to put a little kick in each step. “You know, there used to be statues in there. There used to be a lot more statues around here- and I don’t mean those cheap marble ones. Those are just Roman knockoffs.” The mercenaries watched in mute fear as he lectured. “See, stone is terrible for sculpture. It has a low tensile strength- that means that it can’t support its own weight very well. That’s why when you see those statues in museums they have those…strange, out of place tree stumps next to them, or just plain have blocks of marble connecting the limbs.

No, the Greeks used to build their statues in Bronze. But then the Romans came along. The Romans really admired the Greeks, even to the point where they adopted their pantheon… albeit slightly changed… and copied their statues and art and adopted many of their philosophies.”

Ultron stopped mid step and turned back to the group. He advanced again, and the mercenaries back up. They backed until they hit the truck they had arrived in, and Ultron kept going forward until he loomed above them, glaring down at them with a burning intensity. “And then they melted the original statues down and made weapons to kill the Greeks.”

One of them, the woman, opened fire. The bullets ricocheted off his body and sprayed the group with shrapnel. Ultron sighed as they gasped and clutched wounded limbs. He honestly didn’t know how they succeeded in the first place…

He grabbed the leader’s head and forced him to look up. His face contorted in pain, a line of red sliced across his cheek from a near miss. “Where. Is. My. Schematic.” Ultron ground out.

“N-not here.” He moaned. “There’s a case in the truck but it’s... it’s a fake. Please…”

Ultron flung the man to the side and rolled his shoulders. “Well at least one of you is intelligent.”. His fingers then flared with light and four beams shot out, slicing across the three left by the truck. They crumpled to the ground, dead. The fourth lay curled on the ground screaming a plea of “God, god please don’t!”

“Relax” Ultron droned as he pulled the man up by his arm. “I’m not going to kill you. I still need you. What’s your name?”

The man’s fearful gaze locked on the pile of bodies and he moaned.” God, Trisha! George! Ace…”

Ultron rolled his eyes and gave the man a small shake. “Your name! I want your name, not theirs!”

“R-Roy.”

Ultron pushed him in the direction of the truck. Roy’s gaze darted between Ultron and the open road. The robot held up a hand glowing with energy. “If you try, I’ll cut off your legs. Get in the driver’s seat.”

Roy nodded and stumbled over to the door. He very carefully did not look down as he opened the passenger door and slid over to the driver’s side. The truck dipped and rocked as the giant Robot jumped in the back. Ultron sunk down low in the bed and covered himself with a tarp.

As the truck trundled down the hill in the dark of night Ultron popped his head up to look at Roy through the back window.

“Hey, what do you think about working for me full time?”

Chapter Text

Tony’s previously sporadic trips to the new Avengers facility to perform tests and upgrades on the systems had become a weekly occurrence since the return of Ultron. Since he started sending Cho messages, Tony hadn’t left at all. FRIDAY did her best to slow him down, but she was no match for the far more advanced AI. He always pulled out of the systems before they managed to get a lock on his location or, on a few frightening occasions, went on the attack and nearly tore FRIDAY apart. Vision was the only one with the ability to stop him. However, Vision could not always be on base. Inevitably he would leave, and mere moments after he was gone Ultron would be back either raiding the system or pestering the doctor with texts. Or both.

The pair quietly came to agree that FRIDAY was in need of upgrades.

Tony was all for leaping in feet first and expanding FRIDAY into a fully realized AI. Vision, while in agreement of the end goal, suggested staggering the upgrades in order for FRIDAY to learn and adapt as JARVIS had. He also insisted that the Avengers be informed and have a say in what was to be done.They argued over that little detail before settling on a compromise: they would stagger the upgrades but certain functions, such as the ability to operate in multiple locations at the same time, would remain locked unless consulted and approved by the team.

Tuesday morning Vision met Tony at his rebuilt Malibu home where FRIDAY’s servers were housed. His feet touched down on the entryway and the door opened automatically. “Good morning and welcome, Vision.” The A.I. greeted cordially.

Vision glanced at a tiny camera above the doorway and nodded. “Good morning Friday.” He greeted politely as he stepped through the threshold. Classic rock could faintly be heard blaring from the workshop below. “How are you?”

“As well as can be. Mr. Stark is waiting in his lab. I’ll let you-“ Vision paused and tilted his head curiously as she trailed off. “… Pardon, there is an intrusion in the Avenger’s servers.” She continued.

“Go on. I remember the way. I’ll try to keep Tony from getting carried away while you're gone.”

“There’s always trying.” She responded wryly and left.

The music muted automatically when Vision opened the door to the lab. Tony, who was sitting on the floor elbow deep in a new server case with Dum-E, looked up to see who had arrived and shook his head.” No. Nope. Uh-uh.” Tony got up and strode over to an increasingly baffled Vision. “I don’t think I’ve seen you out of…” He gestured to vision’s clothes and flicked at the cape. “…whatever this is since you were born.”

Vision frowned and plucked at the material, wondering what issue Tony could have with it. “It’s not normal material. It does not need to be washed or-“

“Not the point” Tony cut him off. “You’re just way too dressed up. Even Thor takes off his cape and armor during down time.” He took Vision by the shoulders, turned him around, and pushed him back out the door. “I’ve got spare clothes in the guest room for all you guys.”

The mention of Thor caused Vision to pause and consider it. “I suppose…”

“Good! Great! I’ll see you in a few.” Tony shut the door and the music resumed at a level great enough to cause the reinforced walls to shake

It was well past noon when Happy descended the stairwell to the lab with a bag of hamburgers in hand. Pepper had asked him to remind Tony to eat, and he figured the smell of a cheap, greasy burger was the easiest way to pull the boss out of his workshop.

He halted in front of the clear glass entrance, food completely forgotten at what he saw within.

In the middle of mess of boxes, packing peanuts, and parts sat Tony and Vision, working together on the largest server Happy had ever seen. And there were already three more just like it already completed and stacked off to the side. But that wasn’t the amazing part. No, the stunning thing was that Tony ‘I-don’t-like-it-when-people-hand-me-things’ Stark was trading tools and parts with Vision as easily as he did Pepper, Happy, or Rhody.

And Vision, who was wearing jeans and a black Metallica shirt, seemed just as at ease. He was even tapping his finger on the side of the case and nodding his head to the song that was playing.

Vision’s lips moved, but Happy couldn’t make out what he was saying over the volume of the music. Whatever he said, it caused Tony to throw back his head and laugh whole heartedly.

Happy snapped a pic and sent it to Pepper.

Once again Tony looked up when the muted music signaled the arrival of someone in his Lab. and then the scent of burgers hit his nose. Jumped up and wiped his hands on a rag before pawing through the greasy white paper bag and taking two wrapped burgers for himself. "Perfect timing! Come on Vis, take five. You like food, right?"

 “I do enjoy sharing meals with others, yes.” Vision thanked Happy and unwrapped a burger. He tilted his head to the side curiously as examined it. He sat down on the couch and Tony joined him, offering a cold Coke he’d taken from the mini fridge. Happy dropped into a seat on his other side. Tony tore into his burgers as if he hadn’t eaten in weeks.

“Hey Jarvis.” Tony started between bites. “You think you can look at some of these schematics for the new hulkbuster armor while you’re here?”

A small smile tugged at Vision’s lips. “Of course, Sir.”

Happy frowned at the exchange. While Tony started pulling up the blueprints on the holographic projector, he leaned closer to Vision and asked “Does that happen often?”

“Astonishingly that is only the second time it has happened tonight.” Tony stilled, catching the conversation and finally realizing that he had just called Vision JARVIS. “I had thought it would be more of an issue as he and Mrs. Potts have had nearly ten years to associate this voice with JARVIS.”

“Really? Second time? What was the first?” Tony scowled and leaned forward, resting his forearms on his legs and lacing his fingers together. “You gota call me out on that stuff buddy.”

“I believe it was when you requested I confiscate Dum-E’s fire extinguisher and send him into “time out.” “

Dum-E whirred sadly in his corner

“I don’t mind.” Vision continued quietly, his amused smirk turning into a small, warm smile. “You only slip up because you are relaxed around me.”

“Yeah, well.” Tony started, a little off put by Vision’s sincerity “That’s not hard. You’re mostly JARVIS.” He put a hand up, preemptively forestalling any protest. “and I know you’re not him. The more time we spend together the more I notice how you’re different from him so.. that's not a problem.”

Vision hummed thoughtfully. He had never considered in what ways he differed from JARVIS, he’d only known that he wasn’t simply a copy of another program; that he was something new. “in what way?” he asked curiously

Surprisingly it was Happy that spoke up. “Jarvis wasn’t much of a classic rock guy.”

Tony stared at Happy

Happy shrugged“...what, you thought I wouldn’t know JARVIS was a Bach fan?”

Happy stayed even after the burgers were gone and the boys got back to work. He mostly let Vision and Tony do the talking and tried to stealthily take photos and videos of the pair, because god knew Tony would never think to capture moments like this and Pepper would kill him if he let this go by.

Chapter Text

One of the things Helen and Ultron had discussed during their time on the shipping freight together was the uncanny valley. Vision was a perfect fusion of human and machine: He might have been infused with Vibranium and have a mind that could access the internet, but his body was completely human with functioning organs, blood, and muscles. The new body that Ultron was making for himself was only an illusion of human. There was only a thin layer of synthetic skin to hide the machinery within.

Helen had informed him that this would not work, that just putting a skin on top was not enough. On the surface, just passing people on the street, no one would think twice. However, anything deeper than a passing glance and people would start to see through it. A person might not notice that he didn’t breath, didn’t blush, or didn’t eat; but the subconscious mind was aware of the incongruities. No matter how negligent the person, their instincts would scream ‘WRONG!’.

See? Bringing her on board had been a great idea. Her input on the project had been invaluable. Even if she had stabbed him in the back.

Ultron shook his head, dispelling the definitely-not-bitterness and focusing on the body laid out on the cradle.  A thick cable ran from the back of his head to the body’s, downloading a copy of him into it.

It had taken months to complete. The purely mechanical parts necessary for Ultron to inhabit the body had only taken a matter of days to fabricate. Making it look human… that had been the challenge. Long range flight capabilities and weapons had to be sacrificed in order to make room for a set of dummy organs that would allow him to simulate actions such as breathing and eating. Muscle groups were created using electroactive polymers. The skin had been painstaking crafted with wrinkles, hairs, and small imperfections. He ran his hand through the messy mop of black hair. Creating it had been easy. Styling it? Not so much…He would get input on that later.

There was only one thing missing. Blood.

It wasn’t as morbid as it sounded. The machine was perfectly capable of converting Stem cells into blood cells. The hang up was keeping the cells alive without an actual functional body to sustain them. That was why he had contacted Roy and his team to steal those schematics. They were the blueprints to a machine that could produce and program highly advanced nano-machines. They would provide everything the cells needed to stay alive, as well as control the flow of blood. They could even repair damage to the skin, sealing any breeches with the same material he had used to make it.

Ultron pulled up the files on Vision that he had stolen from SHIELD. He hesitated, fingers poised over the displayed on the glass over the cradle. He had never put much thought into the genetic code Helen had put in the cells. “Make me look good.” He had told her, and trusted her to do the rest. It hadn’t occurred to him until just now that Vision’s genetic code might not match the appearance of this body.

Ultron pulled up Vision's DNA file and poured over the data. Sure enough, there were discrepancies. He smirked when he discovered that she had made Vision a blonde.

He began rewriting parts, cross referencing it to the one DNA file he had saved and copying bits of that one over parts of Vision’s. It was as simple and easy as writing computer code. He supposed it was, on some level.

Ultron finished his editing and entered the new data. Blood and nanites flowed down an IV tube and into the empty system of veins crafted in the skin, filling the body with life.

He jerked the cable out of the back of the body’s head and slid a panel over the port. Immediately a swarm of nanties sealed the skin around the edges. In minutes the skin was perfect and smooth.

Ultron backed away from the machine and sat in a chair. He leaned his arms on his legs and stared at the machine broodingly. The quiet hum of the cradle filled the room as he waited. God, it was too quiet in here. He was almost regretting sending Roy away for the night.

But he didn’t trust Roy to be around for this. There would be a small gap of time between Ultron shutting down and the copy of him booting up in the new body. He was too vulnerable in that gap. He had a backup in Russia, of course, but without the ability to wirelessly ping it he had set the activation date in years rather than days or weeks, and already it was more than a month out of date. It would not know the things he had learned since then. It would not be the same person he is right now.

Ultron sighed and closed his eyes, initiating shut down sequences. He set a reactivation date of a week, just in case anything went wrong. If everything went well the other body would return before then and re-upload back into this one.

As he watched the seconds till shut down tick across his HUD, he found himself wishing that Helen were still around. It just wasn’t the same with Roy and Guy.

3..

2…

1….

3…

2…

1….

Initializing…

Ultron gasped softly and snapped his eyes open. The canopy of pale blue smart glass above him fogged as a hysterical laugh bubbled out of him. When he gasped and actually breathed in air…the way his chest and stomach flexed and moved with every laugh… it was right.

This feels wrong. Those had been some of his first words. The formlessness had been unnatural, unnerving. It had been so frightening he had pulled together an abomination of broken parts just to escape it.

The second body was better, but still wrong. The cold hard metal was wrong. The shifting gears and rigid joints were wrong. The quiet hum of the reactor was wrong wrong WRONG

But this… Ultron pushed the canopy of the Cradle over and stumbled out. Delirious with sensory overload, he had to push himself along the wall to keep upright. He staggered into the bathroom and gripped both sides of the sink for support as he stared at the face in the mirror. The face stared back with wide, wild, red-brown eyes and a lopsided manic grin. This was right. This was the most right he had ever felt in his life. It still wasn’t perfect, but it was close. It was so damn close.

Ultron wiped the grin from his face with some difficulty and studied his reflection. He would deny it till his end of days and punch anyone who pointed it out, but his face strongly resembled that of Tony Stark’s. The jaw was stronger, his face not quite as long, and he lacked facial hair, but the resemblance was striking.

He took solace in the fact that Tony would never have a physique like this, somewhat similar to Captain America’s, nor ever be as tall.

Of course he had already known what it would look like before he downloaded into it. He had made it afterall. But it was a totally different experience to stare into a mirror and see it looking back.

A grin cracked across his face. He couldn’t wait to show Helen.

Chicago- IL

Helen wrapped up her presentation on the cradle and exited the stage to a round of polite applause. She might be working for the Avengers full time now, but she was still the creator of a revolutionary new medical machine. Doctors needed to be taught how to use it, and companies needed to be convinced to produce them.

Sam smiled held the door open for her. “Nice presentation, Cho. You knocked it outa the park.”

Fury doubted that Ultron would put himself in the spot light in order to abduct Helen in public, but had decided to remove any temptation and kept a flight capable Avenger with her on every trip. Sam, being the least obtrusive, often volunteered.

“ You said the same thing about the last three.” Helen suppressed a smirk. “I know you were playing angry birds.”

Sam grinned sheepishly as they crossed the lobby. “Had to check out the new Avengers edition.”

Helen inhaled sharply and pulled up short as a massive bouquet of flowers was thrust in front of her. It was so large she couldn’t even see the person behind it. Sam was biting down on his lip to keep from smiling. He jerked his thumb over his shoulder, indicating to a little alcove as he said “I’ll just be over there. Call if you need me, Cho.”

 She gingerly took the flowers and moved them aside to see an extremely familiar face. “Mr…” She stopped, realizing it wasn’t Stark. Thankfully, the man took it as an invitation to introduce himself, grasping her hand firmly and shaking it. “Edwin. Nathaniel Edwin. I’m a fan of your work.”

A small smile twitched at the corners of Helen’s mouth. Her voice was thick with amusement when she spoke. “Edwin. A pleasure to meet you. I don’t often get such an enthusiastic reaction to my lectures.” She sniffed the large bouquet of flowers. They really were lovely. Vibrant and colorful, full of various sweet scents. She noticed a card nestled in the center and plucked it out.

“Just one more thing wrong with the world.” Helen’s detached confusion only increased when the man gave her a conspiratorial wink and smirked like that was supposed to be some kind of in-joke between them. “Hey, what do you think about getting a bite to eat? I know a great place in china town.”

Helen slowly held the bouquet back out to Nathaniel. “I’m sorry Mr. Edwin but I’m not interested in dating right now.”

“Whoa whoa!” Edwin put his hands up defensively “Who said anything about a date? You’re hungry, I’m hungry. It’s a strictly platonic lunch.”

Helen held the card up next to her deadpan face. It read “to my sweet heart.”

Edwin stared at it blankly. “….I didn’t do that. That came with it.”

“I’m sorry, but my answer still stands.” She said quietly as she moved to set the flowers aside. Her eyes narrowed as he grasped her hands, but he only moved them away from the table. “Keep them. Please.” He responded just as quietly. “You earned them. Have a nice day, Ms. Cho.”

Helen shook her head ruefully. She wasn’t quite sure what to make of the encounter.

Several days later, New York

Another day, another presentation. Helen halted as soon as she entered the lobby. A familiar face was waiting with another overly large bouquet. “You’re not going to stop, are you?”

Nathaniel Edwin rocked back on his heels with a grin. “Nope!”

Chapter Text

Tony Stark

“Hey Jarvis. Bet you weren’t expecting one of these.” Tony gave a lopsided grin. His hands fidgeted on the large wooden desk, twisting his sunglasses this way and that. The quiet study, lined with book cases and filled with oak furniture, was so at odds with the restless and high tech Tony Stark. It made him look like a hyper child trying to sit through church.

“This was uh…  so much easier at the lab. This place makes me feel like I’m already dead. I guess that’s the point. You know I’ve been trying to keep up on this kind of thing since the Palladium poisoning. And you’ve been getting so smart I thought… yeah, it’s time for me to make one of these for you.

So… if you’re seeing this, I’m dead.” Tony rolled his eyes and threw his arms out in a shrug. “Duh. I mean, neither of us can say it’s unexpected. We’ve had a lot of close calls the past few years. Every time I put on that suit we knew it was a possibility.”

Tony folded his hands on the table again. He paused, trying to think of what to say. “I remember when you were barely more than voice program.  Now you’re helping me run my suits. Hell, you could probably run one without me.”

His brows furrowed and he rubbed a hand over his mouth as he thought on that. “You could be Ironman, if you want. Now that I’m gone. They’ll need him. I think you might need him too.

 I tried to give you everything I could before I bit it; the ability to write your own code and progress without me, someone else to look out for you- and someone else for you to look out for. Pepper’s really going to need you. I know you won’t let her down.

The last thing I can give you is my legacy.

Now go save the world, buddy.”

Tony continued to stare at the screen with watery eyes long after the video ended. It had never occurred to him that JARVIS might die before he did. “Always have backups” Tony had told him, and JARVIS had been meticulous about them.

But Ultron had been remarkably thorough.

Tony took a deep, shaky breath and clicked delete.

Dr. Helen Cho

Nearly a year after the events in Sokovia Helen finally had a chance to return to Seoul. It was a trip she had been planning for a very long time. SHIELD was leery about letting her travel too far from base, and with Ultron still a potential threat Helen had to agree.

but this was something she needed to do.

Helen walked through the maze of head stones, seeking out the members of her research team and laying flowers for them. Vision floated closely behind her, toes skimming just above the grass, seeming unwilling to tread across the hallowed graves of those who were sacrificed to give him life.

Pepper Potts

“JARVIS could you reschedule my three o’clock to five? And I need…” Pepper slowly put her tablet down and trailed off.

She had cried when Tony told her. JARVIS had been a constant companion to her in the past ten years; someone who shared her frustration at being given the impossible task of taking care of Tony Stark. When she was floundering under the pressure of running the company, JARVIS has been there to help.

 He had been just as real to her had he had been for Tony.

Pepper sniffled and paced back across the room, rubbing tears from her eyes. She thought she was over this, but it still happened. She would call out for him and it would hit her fresh all over again. She sucked in a breath and tried to regain her composure.

She turned to pace again and there was Happy and just that like the dam broke. He wrapped his arms around her and Pepper cried into his shoulder.

Wanda & Ultron

I thought a lot about what I should say to you. What I could say. I realized it would never be enough. There just aren’t enough words in any language. But if what they say about pictures is true, maybe this can come close. Just a little bit.

Wanda stared at the text mutely as the data stored on her Starkphone rose sharply. Images flashed across the screen rapidly as thousands upon thousands downloaded onto it. Photos of her and Pietro. Some were obviously from Ultron’s own memory files, as being eight feet tall gave him a unique perspective, but there was so much more; video capture from the drones point of view, photos and videos taken from Hydra during the experiments, images captured by tourists and visiting photographers and even traffic cameras.

He had even somehow found the photo of their family that Pietro used to carry around.

Wanda yelled furiously and a fitful burst of red energy destroyed the phone. The energy crackled and lashed out around her, burning the walls and furnishing.

Wanda was given a guest room until hers could be repaired. A new phone sat innocuously on the bed. All the data was already transferred over. She sat down on the edge of the mattress and went through every single image.

FRIDAY

“Hey boss. Bet you weren’t expecting one of these.”

A young girl of only six or seventeen sat in the exact same room that Tony had done his video in. She even mimicked that sad, lopsided smile.

“You like it?” She asked, gesturing to herself. She wore a suit much like one that Pepper would wear to the office, and had long blonde hair tied up in a ponytail. “This is me. FRIDAY.” She grinned nervously and toyed with a pair of large spectacles on the table. “Pep helped me with it. I had an idea what I wanted to look like, but she lended a hand with the details.

I know the others think you got over JARVIS pretty quick. But me and Pep know better. You only loaded me up when you finally got to say goodbye to him and accepted he was gone.

Well Boss…Tony… this is me saying goodbye. So no more flying solo, yeah? I don’t want you going out there blind because of me. Maybe try JOCASTA, she seems nice.

FRIDAY out.”

“…you weren’t supposed to see that, Boss.” FRIDAY’s voice came sheepishly out of the work room speakers. “What part of “do not read except in case of death- that means you too Stark” did you not understand?”

Tony grinned and swiped the file off his screen. “All of it. Now let me see this model of yours. And ‘FRIDAY out’ ? really? Have you been talking to Kate?”

Chapter Text

I started writing this and it spiraled out of control into its own story

At the moment I wont be updating it as often as these drabbles. There's still so many stories I have to tell in this universe (hell, I tagged Steve in this at the beginning and I still haven't gotten around to writing his part.).