chapter forty-nine
an avengers party

𝐈𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐎𝐍𝐄 thing to know about Tony Stark, it was that if he could find a reason, he would throw a party. With the Avengers' recent success at taking out Hydra bases, it was cause to celebrate and everybody was gathered at Avengers Tower for the party. Grace had been to many of his parties in her lifetime and always shook her head at how extra he was.

"Well, you know, the suit can take the weight, right?" Grace and Maria were standing at the bar with Tony and Thor listening to Rhodey's latest story. "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?'"

Thor and Tony stared blankly at the man and Grace leaned toward them. "This is where you're supposed to laugh," she whispered.

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

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

"Well, it's very good then," Thor said with a laugh. "Impressive."

"Quality save," Rhodey deadpanned before looking at Tony. "So, no Pepper? She's not coming?"

"No."

"Hey, what about Jane?" Maria asked, turning to Thor while Grace slid the olive of her martini off the toothpick. "Where are the ladies, gentlemen?"

Rhodey nodded. "Yeah, are you telling me that Cap is the only one to have brought a date?" Grace furrowed her brow and looked at him. "And a great date, he brought, too," he added, clearing his throat.

"Nice save."

"Well, Miss Potts has a company to run," Tony said in response to Maria's question.

Thor nodded. "Yes, I'm not even sure what country Jane's in," he added. Grace looked between the two men and shook her head. "Her work on the convergence has made her the world's foremost astronomer."

"And the company that Pepper runs is the largest tech conglomerate on earth," Tony bragged while his aunt rolled her eyes. "It's pretty exciting."

Thor cleared his throat. "There's even talk of Jane getting a... um, uh... Nobel Prize."

Grace looked at Maria. "You just had to ask, didn't you?"

"Yeah, they... they must be busy because they'd hate missing you guys get together," Maria said before faking a cough. "Testosterone! Oh, excuse me."

"Lozenge?" Rhodey offered as they walked off and Grace looked at the men.

"You're both a real prize," she muttered, following Rhodey and Maria.

Rhodey looked at her. "You know I was kidding about the whole 'Steve being the only person who brought a date' thing, right?"

"Whatever you say, Rhodey," Grace replied, getting a new drink and leaning against the bar top. "But just so we're clear about one thing... I picked the best one."

"Well after witnessing whatever the hell that thing was, I'd say you're right," Rhodey agreed and she patted him on the shoulder, grabbing her glass.

"That's your best friend," she reminded him, starting to walk away. "You chose him. I'm just related to him. Let that sink in."

Rhodey watched her go before sighing. "Not helpful, Grace! Not helpful!"

⸻ ~~~ ⸻

𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐋𝐀𝐈𝐃𝐄 𝐃𝐈𝐃 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐋𝐈𝐊𝐄 parties. She found them suffocating, annoying, and downright egotistical. Especially a Tony Stark party.

She stood at the bar with a glass of whiskey in front of her which Natasha replaced with a full one. "Penny for your thoughts?" she asked as Adelaide brought the glass to her lips. "You've been drinking a lot more than I've seen from you before."

Adelaide shrugged. "I'm surrounded by people that I don't know at a party that Tony Stark threw because he felt like it and I'd rather be at home watching The Princess Diaries."

"Sometimes I forget that you and I are very different," Natasha said.

Adelaide opened her mouth to reply when Bruce appeared suddenly and she looked over, noticing the very awkward looks being passed between the two. "I'm gonna go..." she muttered, clearing her throat and taking the whiskey bottle from behind the bar. "And let you two... whatever you're gonna do..."

Grace, meanwhile, was standing with Steve and Thor talking to the World War II veterans who had been invited.

"I gotta have some of that!" one of the men exclaimed, looking at the drink that Thor was holding in his hand.

He shook his head. "Oh, no, no, no," he replied. "See this, this was aged for a thousand years, in the barrels built from the wreck of Grunhel's fleet, it was not meant for mortal men."

Thor handed a glass to Steve who looked at it cautiously while Grace sniffed it in curiosity. "Neither was Omaha Beach, blondie," the man said to Thor. "Stop trying to scare us. Come on."

He shrugged and poured a small amount into the glass. "Alright."

"Is it strange that I really want to see you get drunk?" Grace whispered to Steve and he glanced at her. "What? I'm a curious woman. You can't even get tipsy." She watched as the man was helped by two others looking incredibly drunk. "Would you look like that?"

Steve shook his head in amusement. "Let's just go play pool," he said, dragging her toward the pool table.

"But you know I'm not good at pool," she protested and he nodded. She narrowed her eyes at him. "You just want to play somebody worse than you so you can finally win, don't you?"

"I have played Sam four times and I still haven't beaten him!"

Grace sighed and reluctantly grabbed a cue stick. "I hate you."

"You love me."

"Yes, but I still hate you." She leaned against her cue stick with a smirk. "But just to warn you, Sam has been giving me pointers. Prepare to lose, Rogers."

⸻ ~~~ ⸻

𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓, 𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐄 sat on the couch with Steve's jacket wrapped around her body like a blanket. She leaned her head on his shoulder and he wrapped an arm around her shoulder while Clint pointed at Thor's hammer that sat on the table in the middle.

"But it's a trick!" he exclaimed.

Thor shook his head. "Oh, no. It's much more than that."

"Uh, 'Whosoever be he worthy shall haveth the power!'" Clint mocked and Grace chuckled. "Whatever man! It's a trick."

"Well, please," Thor said, gesturing to the hammer. "Be my guest."

Clint looked at him. "Really?"

"Yeah."

Clint shrugged and stood up while Rhodey laughed. "Oh, this is gonna be beautiful," he said, nudging Adelaide on her shoulder.

"Clint, you've had a tough week, we won't hold it against you if you can't get it up," Tony told him and Grace slapped him on the back of his head. "Ow!"

"You know I've seen this before, right?" Clint took hold of Thor's hammer and pulled to no avail. It did not move. "I still don't know how you do it."

"Smell the silent judgment?" Tony asked.

Grace looked at him and put her arm on Steve's shoulder. "Oh, then show us how it's done, Tony. Let me see how strong my little penguin is."

Tony looked back at her, mildly annoyed that she had used his nickname in front of others. "Fine." He stood up and Grace smiled, covering her chuckle. "Never one to shrink from an honest challenge."

"I think we all know that," Adelaide commented, watching him in amusement.

"It's physics," Tony said. "Right, so, if I lift it, I... I then rule Asgard?"

"Yes, of course."

Tony nodded. "I will be re-instituting Prima Nocta."

Grace shook her head, bringing her mug of tea up to her lips. "Oh, Lord help us if he does that," she muttered.

Tony took hold of the hammer and pulled. He paused while Grace stifled a laugh. "I'll be right back." When he returned, he was wearing his Iron Man hand. He once again tried to pull the hammer and failed.

Rhodey joined him, both wearing their armored hands. "Are you even pulling?" Rhodey asked.

"Are you on my team?"

"Just represent!" Rhodey insisted while Grace and Steve chuckled at them. "Pull!"

"Oh, just give it up!" Adelaide told them, shaking her head. "This is just getting sad now."

Bruce was the next to try and lift the hammer. He roared as though he was turning into the Hulk and Grace raised her eyebrows at him.

"Huh?" he asked wearily, having failed to lift the hammer. Adelaide shook her head and he sighed. "Huh..."

Grace patted Steve on the back as he stood up for his turn. "Let's go, Steve, no pressure," Tony said, sitting next to his aunt.

"Come on, Cap," Rhodey cheered.

"You got it, Stevie," Grace echoed and Tony looked at her. "What? Would you rather I used other nicknames?"

He shook his head. "No, I'd rather you didn't."

Grace smirked and turned back just as Steve tried lifting it. She could have sworn she heard a squeak as though the hammer moved a small amount but he still wasn't able to get it off the table and Thor laughed in relief.

"Nothing."

"Snow?" Bruce asked, looking at the blonde. "Widow?"

Natasha shook her head. "Oh, no, no. That's not a question I need answered."

"And there are other ways to destroy my self-confidence that don't involve a mythological hammer," Adelaide added, clinking her beer bottle with Natasha's. "Count me out."

"All deference to the man who wouldn't be king, but it's rigged," Tony said.

Clint nodded. "You bet your ass."

"Steve, he said a bad language word," Maria said, pointing at Clint and Grace laughed as he hung his head before looking at Adelaide and Tony.

"Did you guys tell everyone about that?" he asked.

"Of course we did," Adelaide replied with a smile. "It's what we do. We tease you." Steve ruffled her hair and she squealed, swatting his hand away making Grace smile at the two.

Tony looked back at Thor. "The handle's imprinted, right?" he asked. "Like a security code. 'Whoever is carrying Thor's fingerprints' is, I think the literal translation?"

"Yes, well that's, uh, that's a very, very interesting theory," he said, standing up. "I have a simpler one." He lifted his hammer effortlessly and flipped it. "You're all not worthy."

There was a chorus of disagreement from everyone who had attempted to lift the hammer when there was a loud screeching sound causing them to cover their ears. Grace saw Tony pull out a device and one of his Iron Legion suits floated into the room, heavily damaged.

"Worthy..." it said. "No, how could you be worthy? You're all killers."

Grace looked at her nephew. "Tony...?"

"JARVIS," he said.

"I'm sorry," the machine said making them look back at it. "I was asleep. Or... I was a dream? There was a terrible noise... and I was tangled in... in... strings. I had to kill the other guy. He was a good guy."

Adelaide stood up and crossed her arms. "You killed someone?"

"Wouldn't have been my first call," it replied and Adelaide and Steve glanced at each other. "But, down in the real world, we're faced with ugly choices."

"Who sent you?" Thor asked.

The machine played a recording and Tony's voice echoed throughout the room. "'I see a suit of armor around the world.'"

Grace looked at Tony. "Ultron!" Bruce exclaimed.

"In the flesh," he confirmed. "Or, no, not yet. Not this... chrysalis. But I'm ready. I'm on a mission."

"What mission?" Adelaide asked.

"Peace in our time."

The wall behind Ultron exploded and several Iron Legion bots barged into the room. Steve pushed Grace behind the couch and she ducked as they began attacking the Avengers and Adelaide. She looked up when she saw Rhodey get knocked through a window.

"Rhodey!" she shouted. She covered her head when a bot fired at her and, dodging hits, she crawled over to Dr. Cho. "Just stay down," she told the doctor. She noticed Steve's shield leaning against the wall and shuffled over to it. "Steve!" She threw him his shield which he used to destroy the final Iron Legion bot.

Grace helped Adelaide off the floor while Maria helped Dr. Cho to her feet. Grace cupped the blonde's cheek and gave her a once-over for any injuries before looking back at Ultron.

"That was dramatic!" he exclaimed as Steve walked over to Grace and Adelaide. "I'm sorry, I know you mean well. You just didn't think it through. You want to protect the world, but you don't want it to change. How is humanity saved if it's not allowed to... evolve?" He picked up a dismembered bot. "With these? These puppets?" He crushed the head in his hand and Adelaide shrunk back ever so slightly. "There's only one path to peace: The Avengers' extinction." Thor threw his hammer and destroyed Ultron's body which began to sing. "I had strings, but now I'm free. There are no strings on me, no strings on me."

Adelaide let out a breath. "You know, maybe I went into the wrong profession..."