MUSIC PLAYED AS PARTY guests enjoyed the festivities.

Steve was by the pool table getting a few rounds in with his friend, Sam Wilson. James Rhodes sat on the sofa speaking with Natasha who was sitting across from him. Thor was having a drink with a few war veterans and telling stories.

Bruce, on the other hand, was not used to parties. He was timorously walking around.

Y/N was at the bar area, drinking from a glass and speaking with Tony.

"So...Fury gave you that name or did you pick it out?" Tony asked.

"It kinda just came to me." Y/N answered his question about his codename.

"Barton chose to call himself 'Hawkeye', then?" Tony took a sip from his glass.

"Didn't you call yourself Iron Man?" Y/N chuckled.

Tony rolled his eyes, "That was the media. My suit is made of gold-titanium alloy as a matter a fact."

Thor walked up to the two men with a glass of beer in hand. "Gents."

"Let me guess, is that your third beer?" Tony asked him, knowing his love for the beverage.

"Actually, no." Thor answered.

"Fourth?" Y/N chimed in.

Thor pointed at him with the glass in hand, "Correct."

Later, Rhodey and Maria Hill join the trio. After some small talk, Rhodey began to tell a story about one of his excursions as War Machine.

"So I take the tank, fly it right up to the general's palace, drop it at his feet. I'm like, 'Boom. You looking for this?'" He finished with a quiet chuckle.

Tony, Thor, and Y/N looked at Rhodey, simply giving light smiles.

Rhodey licked his lips and tried again, "'Boom. Are you looking for...'Why do I even talk to you guys? Everywhere else, that story kills."

"That's the whole story?" Thor asked.

"Yeah, it's a War Machine story." Rhodey replied.

Y/N took a sip from his glass as he looked at Thor.

"Oh, it's very good, then. It's impressive." Thor lightly laughed then took a drink.

"Quality save." Rhodey replied. He took a breath in and looked at Tony. "So, no Pepper? She's not coming?"

"No." Tony simply answered.

Maria turned to Thor, "What about Jane?"

Thor shook his head.

"Where are the ladies gentlemen?" Y/N asked, not having to worry about those problems himself.

"Oh, Ms. Potts has a company to run." Tony said.

"Yes, I'm not even sure what country Jane's in." Thor stated as well. "Her work on the Convergence has made her the world's foremost astronomer."

Tony glanced at Thor. "And the company that Pepper runs is the largest tech conglomerate on Earth. It's pretty exciting."

Thor noticed how Tony was trying to one up him.

"There's even talk of Jane getting a, um, Nobel Prize." Thor added as he took another sip of his beer.

Maria and Rhodey looked at each other.

"Yeah, they must be busy, because they would hate missing you guys get together." Maria remarked, before coughing, "Testosterone! Excuse me."

"Oh, my goodness. Want a lozenge?" Rhodey joked as he started walking away with her.

The three men stayed back, chuckling at the exchange. Thor decided to get one last word in, "But Jane's better."

• • •

MOST OF THE PARTYGOERS had left. All that remained at Avengers Tower were Tony, Steve, Natasha, Y/N, Clint, Bruce, Maria, Rhodey, Thor, and Helen Cho.

The group laughed. Y/N was sitting on the sofa near Thor and Steve.

"But it's a trick." Clint spoke as he twirled drumsticks with his fingers.

"No, no, it's much more than that." Thor replied, talking about Mjölnir on the table.

Clint extended his hands towards the hammer and semi-drunkenly mocked, "Ah, whosoever be he worthy shall haveth the power." Clint reverted back to his normal voice, "Whatever, man! It's a trick."

Y/N leaned back on the sofa and laughed. "You dare call a demigod a liar?"

Thor chuckled as well, "Please, Barton." He extended his hand towards the hammer, "Be my guest."

"Really?" Clint asked.

"Yeah." Tony replied, eager to see Clint attempt to lift Mjölnir.

Clint got up and began walking towards the hammer.

"Oh, this is gonna be beautiful." Rhodey jested.

"Clint, you've had a tough week. We won't hold it against you if you can't get it up." Tony joked as well.

The group laughed as Clint spoke to Thor, "You know I've seen this before, right?"

Clint grabbed onto the handle of Mjölnir and tried to lift it. He grunted, not moving it a single inch.

"I still don't know how you do it!" Clint laughed.

"Smell the silent judgment?" Tony asked.

"Please, Stark, by all means." Clint motioned towards Tony.

Tony nonchalantly got up from the coach and cleared his throat.

"Uh-oh." Y/N said.

"Here we go." Maria remarked.

Tony walked over to the hammer, "Never one to shrink from an honest challenge. It's physics."

Tony put his wrist through the leather loop of the hammer and then grabbed onto the handle.

"So if I lift it, I get to rule Asgard?" Tony asked Thor.

"Yes, of course." Thor simply replied.

"I will be reconstituting prima nocta." Tony said, then began to pull, to no avail.

"I'll be right back."

Tony then tried to use his armor gauntlets to lift the hammer, which didn't help at all. Even Rhodey assisted, but even two armor gauntlets weren't enough.

Everyone seemed to have their turn. Bruce even tried himself, only to jokingly yell as if he was going into his Hulk form.

Steve was next. He went to the hammer and began to pull.

"Come on, Cap." Y/N cheered on.

He pulled with all his might, and even Thor's expression changed as he saw the hammer begin to give. Steve tried a little bit more, but let out a sigh and gave up.

Thor let out a sigh of relief and laughed. "Nothing."

"Ghost of S.H.I.E.L.D's past? How about you give it a go?" Tony looked over at Y/N.

"No thanks. We all know this is rigged." Y/N answered taking a sip of his drink.

"You bet your ass." Clint agreed as he pat Y/N on the back.

Maria looked at Steve, "Steve, he said a bad language word."

Steve sighed and looked down, before looking back at Tony. "Did you tell everyone about that?"

Tony ignored Steve and kept asking Thor about the hammer. "The handle's imprinted, right? Like a security code."

Thor got up as Tony continued explaining his theory. "Yes. It's a very, very, interesting theory. I have a simpler one."

Thor reaches down and grabs Mjölnir, flipping it and catching it again. "You're all not worthy."

The group let out a groan and then continued laughing. Suddenly, a high-pitched noise sounded through the room, catching their attention.

"No." A voice said nearby.

The group turned to the platform in front of them, seeing a mangled robot.

"How can you be worthy?" The robot walked closer to them. "You're all killers."

"What the hell?" Y/N muttered.

"Stark?" Steve sternly called out.

"Jarvis?" Tony tried to call for assistance, but the AI wasn't replying.

"I'm sorry, I was asleep. Or I was a-dream." The robot spoke again.

"Reboot Legionnaire OS. We got a buggy suit." Tony began scrolling through his device.

"There was this terrible noise. And I was tangled in...", the robot looks down at his dangling wires, "Strings."

The group looked on in confusion.

"I had to kill the other guy. He was a good guy." The robot added.

"You killed someone?" Steve asked.

"Wouldn't have been my first call. But down in the real world, we're faced with ugly choices." It replied.

"Who sent you?" Y/N asked.

The robot began replaying audio of Tony's voice, "I see a suit of armor around the world."

Banner looked over at Tony, "Ultron."

"In the flesh." The robot, Ultron, replied. "Or, no, not yet. Not this chrysalis."

They could sense the threat of this rouge AI. Thor gripped Mjölnir and Maria cocked her pistol.

"I'm on a mission." Ultron continued.

"What mission?" Natasha asked.

Ultron turned his head and faced them.

"Peace in our time."