After a short coerce from Steve, Thor dropped Tony and the man stumbled to regain his balance. He put his hand to his throat and massaged it while glaring at the Asgardian. Sue walked over and took hold of Tony's arm, pulling it away to see the red marks that marked his neck. He glanced down at her and used his free hand to thread his fingers through her's. They would be having a talk later, but it had been days since they had any physical or verbal communication. They couldn't resist their urge to at least hold each other, even if it was as small as through their fingers.
'Trail went cold about a hundred miles out, but it's headed north, and it has the scepter. Now we have to retrieve it, again,' Thor glared at Tony, who turned away to lean his hands against the table facing out to the city.
'I don't understand. You built this program. Why is it trying to kill us?' Dr. Cho questioned.
Sue heard the small laugh before everyone else did, making her the first to turn to where Tony stood. His chuckles raised eyebrows and Sue crossed her arms over her chest, intrigued at what the man found so humorous. Bruce, who was inches off from being in Tony's eyesight, shook his head vigorously to wordlessly communicate that it wasn't the time to make jokes.
'You think this is funny?' Thor was ready to summon his lightning.
'No. It's probably not, right?' Tony swivelled on his heel with his eyes in crescent moons and his teeth shining brightly through his grin. 'Is this very terrible? Is it so... is it so... it is. It's so terrible.'
'This could've been avoided if you hadn't played with something you don't understand.'
'No, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. It is funny. It's a hoot that you don't get why we need this.'
'Tony, maybe this might not be the time toâ' Bruce tried.
'Really?! That's it? You just roll over, show your belly, every time somebody snarls?'
'Only when I've created a murder bot.'
'We didn't. We weren't even close. Were we close to an interface?'
'Well, you did something right,' Steve broke Bruce and Tony's back and forth with a hard glare. 'And you did it right here. The Avengers were supposed to be different than SHIELD.'
'Stark, when you said about Ultron, you said it would keep the world safe,' Johnny ran a hand down his face with a groan. 'Why is it now the thing we're trying to stop?'
'You knew about this?' Sue pointed a finger, her eyes wide with betrayal.
'A world that relies on a machine is a world that is naïve,' Thor barely took his eyes off Tony for the entire conversation.
'He's not a machine,' Tony fought.
'Try not to fall in love, Stark.'
Johnny shrugged his shoulders as the man turned to him with a look that said, 'whose side are you on?'. Sue used the balls of her palms to rub at her eyes. The combination of alcohol, the incident with Ultron, and the back and forth with the most stubborn people she knew, was making her headache worsen. After they retrieved the scepter from Strucker's lab in Sokovia, she thought they were done with missions, at least for a little while. The Avengers planned to stay at the Stark tower for the next few days, and Sue hoped that they would be able to spend some time together in an environment that wasn't threatening the Earth. Yet, they were plunged back into another altercation that they would have to fight alone. No SHIELD, no JARVIS, and no cooperation.
'Does anyone recall the wormhole?' Tony threw his hands out to either side of him. 'Recall that? A hostile alien army came charging through a hole in space. We're standing three hundred feet below it. We're the Avengers. We can bust arms dealers all the live long day, but, that up there? -' he paused and thought about the Chitauri mothership for the first time in two years. '-That's... that's the end game. How were you guys planning on beating that?'
'Together,' Steve said, and Tony looked directly at him.
'We'll lose.'
'Then we'll do that together too.'
'Thor's right,' Sue stepped forward. 'Ultron's calling us out. And we should find him before he's ready for us. The world's a big place. Let's start making it smaller.'
With Sue's last word, the team split for the night.
They researched with whatever they had left and suited up to hunt down their next lead. Strucker was found dead with 'PEACE' written in blood across his chest. The tablet that held the image was passed around for everyone to see, showing that Ultron was eliminating their enemies to send a warning. Since Ultron wiped everything from the tower's computers, most of the files JARVIS downloaded from HYDRA's base was gone. But Tony was able to pull up one that held known associates to Strucker. A man named Ulysses Klaue, who Tony swore he only met once at a conference, was on the list and was a person of interest. The man was known for weapon sales on the black market and was branded as a thief by the Wakandians in East Africa. If anyone had information on HYDRA's mad scientist, it would be Klaue.
Sue zipped up the top of her red suit, the collar reaching just below her chin. She had to retrieve it from the lab, as Johnny said Tony wanted to make some alterations to its design. The rim of the collar was lined with a blue strip of metal and a button sat in the middle in the shape of a napla. She was afraid to press it in fear of whatever Tony installed and chose to leave it until she knew what it did. Her black gloves were the same and her suit still changed to its royal blue when parts of it moved into the shadow of her figure.
Her bedroom was quietwithout JARVIS. The lights operated from the seemingly old-fashioned switch onthe wall, and the windows that showed New York City were nothing but that. No blueicons or writing appeared to tell Sue the weather, the local news or themessages left on Sue's answering machine. JARVIS's presence was never physicalin the first place, but it felt even more empty without him in the Stark tower.
'Knock, knock.'
Sue turned to the door and saw Tony with the knuckle of his forefinger in a knocking position. He wore a grey t-shirt with a blue flannel over the top, his jeans slightly baggy and sneakers over his feet. He was never one for dressing up, as his suit usually did the rest for him.
'I've come to settle the storm,' he joked as his hands stuffed into his pockets. 'You like your suit?'
'What did you do to it?' Sue asked as she looked down at the button that sat out of her eye level.
'You'll find out when the time comes.'
Tony waltzed into the room and sat on the edge of Sue's queen-sized bed. Sue stayed standing as he looked down at his hands, twiddling his thumbs around each other. She waited for him to speak, knowing that he was the one who had the most to say. She could go on for hours about how idiotic he was to attempt to harvest the scepter's power, but he was aware of that. So, it was up to him to explain himself.
'I... I've never really had something that I've wanted to protect as much as you,' Tony started, looking up at Sue with eyes that struggled to keep contact with hers. 'It's hard for me to think about anything other than you when we're out there being heroes.'
Sue saw how much Tony struggled to show his sincerity. He threw his hand out in swirls as he spoke, hoping it would express his emotions that didn't come through with his words. But Sue was prepared to wait and stood with her hands together in front of her. She had all the time in the world to listen to how Tony Stark felt, as he would never say such things to anyone else. She was proud to say that she was his soft spot.
'If I can't predict the next threat, it brings me closer to losing you. And Ultron was supposed to be able to stop that. To be my forcefield,' Tony put his hand out and took hold of Sue's. 'You're always the one putting barriers around me. This was mine around you. It's all about you. It always has been.'
The Storm's heart melted to puddle of warmth and love. Tony's brown eyes held a mahogany of adoration as he stared up at Sue, his lips pressing against Sue's gloved hands. He used all his will to keep eye contact with the woman he loved. When the image of her lying motionless with dirt caking her skin, and blood frozen against her top lip tried to force its way into Tony's head, he looked at how clear her skin was, and how plump her lips were. How her blonde hair with brunette ends cascaded over her shoulders and how her eyelashes touched her browbone. How her heart-shaped face stretched from her smile.
'I saw everything I knew and love dead,' he confessed. 'Johnny, Rogers, everyone, you. That's what I fear. I fear... losing.'
'We won't, Tony,' Sue sunk down next to him on the bed. 'We won't lose. We have too much to fight for to lose. I love you, Tony. I'll always be here to protect you.'
'I know you will...' Tony lied. He couldn't bring himself to believe her words, but he loved her too much to admit it.
'I love you, Storm.'
Sue leaned forward and placed a kiss on Tony's lips. Their eyes slid shut and the two indulged in the silence of the room. Stark's stubble made its usual prick against Storm's cheeks and chin, but the silk of his lips was too divine to leave. Their hands squeezed each other's, and Tony drew circles where Sue's thumb met her forefinger with his thumb.
Sue was the first to pull away, Tony trying to follow her by leaning forward. Instead, the woman reached up and cupped the sides of his face. His black beard with single grey hairs were rough against her gloves, but the sensation of the leather against his hot skin made Tony find comfort in them.
'I love you. I'll always be here. I promise you, if you can promise me that you always will be, too,' she whispered, and Tony smiled.
'I promise.'