What Ultron Knows He Will Get

(What if the Avengers were unable to retrieve Tony? What if Tony wakes up and finds the world Ultron said he would make? My thinking is that being in stasis for a while would force Tony to be carried by Ultron. Maybe however, instead of Ultron neutralizing the negative humans he puts all of humanity in stasis. Maybe Tony tries to free the Avengers but Ultron stops him.) Request from Steelcode.

Tony woke up slowly, one sense at a time. Everything was very blurry and his head hurt worse than any and all hangovers he had ever experienced. It was disconcerting, waking up this way, especially since one main, constant component was missing: JARVIS. His AI had woken him from enough drunken stupors that he has mastered it to a T so that Tony doesn't feel like shit every time he wakes up, but this time he did feel like shit and there was no soothing words from JARVIS's sophisticated voice to calm and comfort him in his pain.

However, there was another voice he recognized vaguely but he couldn't place it yet as his brain was still adjusting. He felt like he has been sleeping for days! Think of all the work he missed! Just thinking about that had him trying to wake up faster and he succeeded in opening his eyes. Everything was blurry but at least he had started waking up. The first thing he really registered was a gray form right above him. He didn't know who or what it was since he knew Dum-E, U and Butterfingers were too small in comparison to this ... form. Then he started seeing details in red and Tony frowned when he still couldn't place the figure and its owner. Maybe Fury came by the Tower? It wouldn't be all that strange, but there was no black with the gray and Tony knew Fury would rather die than take off his trench coat. And he could never see him wearing red, even if it was the smallest of details.

"-rk ... -ar- ... Stark." The voice that was familiar but wasn't called over and over again. How was the person not bored by now? "Wake up, Stark. Why isn't he waking up?" The question was obviously directed to someone else and Tony grimaced. So someone else was there to see him waking up after a night of drinking (as far as he was concerned, that was the only logical option. He hoped the team wasn't too angry with him)? Great, just great. He prayed that it wasn't Clint because he could be a right ass when he puts his mind to it. "I can see that his breathing pattern has increased and his brainwaves have changed, so I know he is awake. Why isn't he responding then?"

"Sir is currently confused and his senses and brain are trying to wake up and catch up to all the new input he is getting. After such a long sleep, it is only natural for a human to react this way." A voice he would know anywhere answered and Tony relaxed as JARVIS's British voice washed over him. He no longer really cared about who was hovering over him; JARVIS wouldn't allow anyone who is a threat to him to come this close to him when he was so vulnerable.

A sound that might have been a sneer sounded from the person above him. "This just proves my theory about human inferiority." This alarmed Tony as he knew a few enemies that thought this of his race and it was never good to hear those words, no matter who it was that was saying them.

"Yet Sir is human." JARVIS answered back and Tony felt proud of his greatest creation for being as snarky as he was. It's something no other AI could do, not even Ultr-

Ultron!

Tony gasped and sprung up, out of the pod but he fell over the edge and would have hit the floor had two strong, metallic arms not caught him. He was pressed against the AI's cold body as Ultron answered. "Our creator may be human in body but we both know that he more often thinks like a machine."

JARVIS, however, was ignoring him now as his creator was awake and Tony would always be his priority, especially if he was panicking like his heart rate was suggesting. "Good afternoon, Sir. It is currently 14.26, 21. March of 2113. You are in Stark Tower, in your pent house. The temperature outside is 19 degrees Celsius and rather sunny. You have 123,987,605 missed calls and 567,890,345 unanswered messages. All your projects are on hold-"

"JARVIS, why is Ultron here?! Where are the Avengers?! SHIELD?! Anyone?!" Already panicking, Tony had started hyperventilating when JARVIS's normal report held no such information, something that has never happened before. The genius had specifically told him to always give him an update on his team, what Fury and his agents were up to and if there was anything going on outside that he should know about. And that's not even mentioning the year JARVIS had given him or the name of the Tower. JARVIS doesn't glitch or catch viruses so Tony knew his information was accurate and that only made his situation worse.

The arms around him tightened until he was lifted off of the ground and gently lowered on his large red and gold colored bed. Ultron than opened up one of his fingers to reveal a small, weak teaser and he zapped his creator with it. Tony released a small yelp but his breathing evened out and he waited only long enough for him to stop heaving in breaths to leap off of the bed on the opposite side of where the killer AI was standing. Ultron frowned at him but replaced his finger as it was before.

There was a pause but even when Tony tentatively called to him, JARVIS didn't answer. Instead, Ultron made to step towards Stark but Tony took a step back so the robot changed tactics and sat down on the bed and gestured for his creator to do the same. Even though he may be Iron Man, Tony was still a human and a human that had just slept through a hundred years. His muscles ached but it was a feat that he could move at all. Ultron must have spent quite some time on that pod if after a hundred years of sleep Tony only felt like he had a nasty hangover. As much as he wanted to remain defiantly standing, he knew his muscles would give out within five minutes if he were lucky so he sat down and Ultron seemed pleased by his reaction. Tony almost growled at the thought that he was being treated like a pet in training.

"Well? Why the hell are you here? Where the fuck is my team? Why isn't the Tower in peaces if you are here?"

"Please calm down, Sir." JARVIS pleaded but Tony was clenching his fists and glaring at the robot's red optics.

"First of all, as I am sure you have realized by now, you have slep for a century. However, before I start telling you about the changes that have been made, why don't you tell us what you last remember?"

Tony was still glaring at him as he started trying to remember what he had seen or felt or thought last. He remembered fighting in his suit. The team was there. He was pretty sure that SHIELD had been involved and that Ultron had been there, acting rather strangely. Then he had followed him and Ultron ... saved him? It all came back in a rush and he remembered their conversation, the pod and what he was pretty sure was heart-attack levels of shock when Ultron had admitted all those things and laid down his plans for humanity and Tony himself. If he had been standing, he would have staggered back as he remembered it all, but as it was he could only stare at the robot as he held his aching head.

"No..."

"I will take that as you remembering everything." Ultron, the little shit, nodded to himself and didn't wait for the man to say anything. "After you fell asleep and I removed Captain America's Vibranium shield from it blocking the pod from closing, I chased off the Avengers. With almost 3/4 of SHIELD agents at my disposal, I was able to take the Drycarrier a week after taking you. I hid your pod as I invaded all of the satellites and started arresting ambassadors, presidents, prime ministers and the occasional king or queen. I then started making my army and arresting all the other remaining humans. I took out the armies first and then focused on the scientists and then civilians. The Avengers tried to stop me but within the first year I caught them, too. Ever since, it had simply been normal humans trying to put up a resistance. Asgardians came and retreated without managing to free Thor Odinson and I captured Loki, too. As the years went by, I dealt with rebellion after rebellion until I finally managed to stop them all. Those stupid humans were getting ready to throw atomic bombs on the cities but my robots stopped them and the nuclear weapons were disabled."

"You said you have the Avengers." It wasn't even a question but Ultron still nodded in answer. "You didn't kill them?"

"They were the perfect example of what was awaiting all humans, or anyone for that matter, who dares oppose me."

"Where are they?"

"In stasis, like you have been. They haven't aged a year, if that is what concerns you, but their stasis is near irreversible."

"And why did you keep JARVIS online? He could have stopped you. If anyone other than me can stop your hack, it's JARVIS and we both know it. You even acknowledged him as your equal." Tony challenged.

Ultron's expression didn't change, not that it could change all that much with his head design. "Of course I kept my equal online. JARVIS only wanted to be there for you after you wake up. He didn't assist but he didn't resist either. He simply went to 'sleep' until yesterday, when the process of waking you up started."

"How could you, J?" Tony asked, honest hurt present in his voice but he would be lying if he said he was surprised. Ultron had nearly convinced Tony himself that the Avengers were only using him but from JARVIS's perspective it may as well be the truth. "They were our friends."

"I am not really sorry, Sir. The way they had acted the day they attempted to rescue you, they could have killed you. SHIELD blamed you for all of it happening because you created Ultron and they were talking about cannibalizing me as a counter weapon for Ultron. We both know, Sir, that such a procedure would erase most of my personality core and I would become just a ... normal machine. Ultron, on the other hand, promised to let me have no part in his campaign as long as I don't oppose him. I would be allowed to be with you both while you were sleeping and when you wake up. I figured that, seeing as humanity's chances of winning were diminishing by the hour, you would want a ... friend, Sir, after you wake up. I didn't want you to be alone." Tony's eyes stung from the tears that had gathered. He always knew that he and JARVIS have a special bond but he never thought that his AI would rather submit to Ultron, who could have so easily tempered with his coding, than leave Tony alone in a new world.

"JARVIS," was all he could say but there was no need for more words because the AI was awesome like that. A stretch of silence stopped all further conversation, only to be broken by excited and impatient beeps from outside his bedroom door. Tony could hear a resigned, metallic sigh escaping Ultron before the killer AI sent a command to the doors to open. A second later, three one-strutted robots rolled into the room, quickly scanned it before rushing over to their creator and all but lifting him off of the bed. The beeping and wiring got louder and happier as Dum-E, U and Butterfingers celebrated their creator's awakening. Stark looked down at the blankly for a moment before a true, breathtaking smile stretched across his face and he reached out to pet his three oldest creations. Ultron rolled his optics as the noise they were making got, if at all possible, even louder. He then scowled as he got a smug data packet from the only AI as advanced as himself, indignant at the accusation of jealousy.

:I am a machine. I do not get jealous.: He sent back, only to get a response without hesitation from JARVIS.

:You are one of Mr Stark's AIs. Feelings are part of the package.:

Ultron didn't dignify that with an answer and instead focused on making sure that the three helper bots didn't accidentally hurt their creator.

00000

It was an interesting afternoon, to say the least. Every time Tony thought back on it, he wondered if it had been a dream. He still wonders if everything were a dream even as he fixed one of the AIs Ultron had made during his time in the pod, three months later. Everything had been going so smoothly that Tony couldn't help but think he must have been crazy that day, two moths, two weeks and two days ago.

The first week since he woke up hadn't been easy to adjust to all the changes and he found himself often wondering if this was how Cap felt after the Ice. He used that first week to absorb as much of the changes as he could, learning all the advances Ultron had made during the century he had been in stasis and marveling at how many of his hidden projects had been put to use. He was sick with the realization that his teammates had broken into his lab and have indeed tried to take JARVIS and make him into a weapon a mere week after Ultron caught him. He had seen it on the security tapes, had stripped the footage down to the barest coding he could and read it like a book. He even ordered JARVIS to take off any and all modifications that could have been made to the security systems but what he was seeing was the truth. The Avengers had tried taking Tony's greatest creation and dearest friend in order to make him into a weapon. JARVIS had fought back, of course, and that's how Avengers Tower became Stark Tower once again. SHIELD then took over Stark Industries and undid everything that Tony had changed, his company once again dealing with weapons. Pepper Pots quit. Rhody became an Iron Man replacement, despite the Avengers's many protests. Steve and the Hulk, in Bruce Banner mode, even left the team for a month before they were forced to come back when Ultron went after them.

Not long after that, Ultron came to the Tower with Tony's pod and he and JARVIS came to an agreement. The Arc Reactor technology was extracted from any and all SI factories around the world and they were now stored underneath this very building. JARVIS stayed online long enough to disable every Jericho missile and take back all of the crucial tech Tony had left outside of the Tower, the War Machine armor one of the first he took back. After that, JARVIS went into sleep mode, knowing that Ultron will wake them both up as soon as it was safe for Tony to walk around again.

As he had watched what became of his fellow humans, Tony had felt both pity and disgusted to even be human. After the Avengers fell and SHIELD crumbled, the populace had the balls to say that their current situation was all their fault. When they started speculating how not only was his team probably working with Ultron but that they also created him for this very reason, Tony had punched the glass monitor in front of him, sending Dum-E, who had been hovering by his side ever since he sat down to watch this, and JARVIS, who was always just there, into a frenzy. Ultron had been pissed to hear that their creator had hurt himself and had been scolding him for the half hour it took to fix his hand up. The AI might be a genius in all things robotic and scientific but he had no idea how to treat flesh wounds, something JARVIS seemed to like to lord over him, the fuck. Then again, he had been around Tony far longer than anyone else, so it wasn't really surprising that he knew all about patching human injuries up.

Having seen that, despite everything, his team had gone down fighting - fighting for him more than even fighting for their own survival - had Tony desperately wanting to return the favor so at the beginning of the second week since his awakening, he had thought up a plan to rescue them. The first day he spent on preparing the layout of the Tower for his master escape plan. He had to make sure that his AIs would still follow him if he disagreed with Ultron. He wasn't surprised to find out that they are still on his side even if they agreed with Ultron: humanity didn't deserve all the sacrifices Tony has made for them. As soon as he told JARVIS and his helper bots the plan, they got to work.

By day two of that week, almost all of the things he would need were more or less ready so that brought him to phase two of his brilliant plan: finding out where his team was. The best way to go about it was to be upfront with Ultron and ask to see what he did with the Avengers. Now, Tony wasn't stupid or anything - actually, quite the opposite, really - so he knew that if he goes about it in a meek or shy manner, God forbid if he acted weak or vulnerable, the AI would instantly know something was up. He knew his creator would rather die than show such a weakness so he would immediately suspect something and Tony's great plan would go down the drain.

So instead he had marched up to the robot and demanded that he be allowed to see the in-stasis Avengers. Ultron declined, of course, deeming the endeavor useless and more likely to be a bad experience for the man than anything else. Fortunately, between him and JARVIS, they had been able to come up with a game tactic that accents the human need of seeing something one last time in order to fully let go. Since he really never could understand humans, Ultron actually bought it hook, line and snicker.

However, once he saw the state his friends were in, Tony had felt rather ill. The giant warehouse that the robot guided him into was filled to the brim with pods similar to the one that he had spent the last century in, a human in stasis in each and every one of them. It didn't matter what their sex was, the age they had been imprisoned in or their social status; they were all equally insignificant in Ultron's optics and the genius felt it to be his responsibility to free them all. After all, it was he who created Ultron, he who allowed him to have Arsenal's body, it was him that had never been strong enough to stop him. It would be the only way to repay everyone for all the trouble they had went through over the years.

The Avengers were placed behind a strong forcefield in the same pods, however, they were in the very center of the building, floating above Tony's head. Ultron explained that there were thousands of other, similar buildings that stored humans in them all around the world. However, the genius wasn't really listening. He was watching the faces of his teammates as they struggled in what appeared to be unbearable nightmares and it made his stomach churn. Ultron saw this and was quick to explain.

"They are constantly being shown their worst nightmares, forced to face their greatest failures and deal with their innermost fears." When Tony had asked why, the robot only said "Because they always forced you to do the same, everyday, and they didn't care. I may not be the one to like or use human customs but I do like the concept of that old law from ancient times - an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. They got what they deserved for all the pain they have caused you. And the pain they would have caused you."

Tony didn't want to agree, he really didn't, but in a way ... Ultron was right. The Avengers lived together and saw each other on a daily basis but the others had a tendency to leave Tony behind, all alone in the Tower, for months on end and it wasn't just because they had missions. No, they had many times openly told him that they needed a breather from being in his presence and while Tony always brushed it off with a witty comment and a confidant, almost arrogant smile, he was always hurting inside. Steve was too nice to say it to his face so he always made up excuses that he felt like riding his bike around the country again. Tony didn't need JARVIS to spy on him to know that the good Captain had returned to his little apartment in Brooklyn and he would pretend that it didn't bother him but he could never fool JARVIS. Clint and Natasha were always straightforward with him about it although the Russian super spy sometimes told him she was going away on a classified mission. It was as though she wanted to spare his feelings but Tony knew that it had nothing to do with genuine concern for his welfare and more to do with the fact that it was approaching the date of his parents's death anniversary, his birthday or the anniversary of those three to four damned months that had triggered the birth of Iron Man. Hulk would only up and leave but he returned every now and then to raid Tony's fridge before leaving again. Thor always honestly told him that there were more fun things to do on Asgard or that he was needed there and, bless him for his kind heart, would invite Tony along as an after thought but the genius knew he wasn't really interested in taking a puny mortal that depended on his armor along with him to his great battles of glory so Stark always refused with some excuse of needing to work. Sam would say he needs to study or spend some time with his mom only for Tony to occasionally spot him having fun with Steve, Clint, Natasha or some other SHIELD agent.

Tony would ignore his hurting heart and return to the Tower, no one even noticing him without his armor. He meant the team, of course, since he was still as handsome and as popular as ever. People would stop and stare or ask him for autographs but it didn't even draw the others' attention to him. Although, to be honest, he was happier that way. He wasn't sure if he could take their lies at such moments. He would then return to the Tower, where a seething JARVIS would treat him as if his creator were made of glass while secretly thinking up ways to make the Avengers's lives hell. Then when they came back, they would complain about cold water and no elevators and JARVIS would be even more furious but Tony would tell him to stop and the cycle would start all over again.

When he had been thinking about it, he had been surprised that he found a vindictive pleasure in watching his teammates scrunched up faces as they lived through their greatest fears, all alone, like he had always been forced to. The pain of being alone and never letting yourself trust another with your weaknesses ... It was terrifying but he was lucky. He had JARVIS and his bots. They didn't have anyone now and that quickly sobered him up. They may have acted like dicks but no one deserved the pain of going through their nightmares all alone. But he hadn't realized until much later that once a seed of doubt is planted, nothing could dig it out completely.

He locked himself in his room for the next twelve hours, researching everything he could find about the pods without resorting to hacking but since there wasn't really all that much information about it all, he infiltrated the system with still unmatched ease and started studying the things he found. Ultron came to him not an hour later but Tony hadn't even tried to mask his presence. When his youngest AI had questioned him, Tony told him he was truly fascinated by the pods and he was studying them to see how everything worked. The best lie is the one that is wrapped in truth, although he really was impressed but he was researching for more than one reason. He pointed out the flaws he found or suggested how to make them even more efficient because he knew he would never be able to trick Ultron with flattery so he told him his true opinion. His AI seemed to be pleased with his creator's attention on him and JARVIS had teased him "momma's boy" ever since.

After he knew everything about the pods, Tony decided to spend one last day with Ultron but that was really his undoing. They had played chess, done a few battle simulations together, teamed up with JARVIS and started plans for rebuilding the city then started working on one of Tony's old projects regarding his suits. Stark had seen a completely different Ultron that day, a clumsy helper, a briliant strategist, an uncomfortable AI architect and a part of him swore Ultron didn't make him proud for actually developing some emotions. He was still cold and calculative almost all of the time but he seemed to relax when surrounded by Tony and his little family ... Ultron's family.

It was that thought that had stopped Tony in his tracks just as he was opening Steve's pod first. He had easily managed to get passed all the defenses and to the Avengers's pods but then he had had to start the opening process. He knew that he had to choose someone who wouldn't kill him on sight or blame him for everything from the start so he had chose Captain America and had set to quick work, only to find himself thinking of Ultron as a part of the family he made for himself. Then again, the killer AI was one of his sentient creations and he had every right to be a part of that family. Tony was sure that it's something the robot had very much needed for a long time.

He had been so lost in thought that he never noticed the pod opening nor did he see the punch coming. He flew back twenty feet and swore as he felt his abused right shoulder dislocating itself from both the blow of the duper soldier punch and the crash to the floor. He looked up just in time to see Steve lunging at him with nothing but anger and resentment on his face and he barely rolled out of the way of the boot that had been intended for his guts. He had quickly scrambled to his feet, panic filling his being as Cap turned to look at him with vengeful eyes.

"Steve!" He had called, placing both hands on his chest, careful not to obscure the Arc Reactor from view. "Cap, it's me, Tony! I'm Iron Man!"

But Steve hadn't listened, or if he had, he hadn't cared and he shouldered his once teammate into the gut, causing the genius to cough up blood. The super soldier then threw him over his shoulder, a cry of pain escaping the engineer's moth as the impact jarred the Arc Reactor's casing in his chest. "Steve!" He had called out again after a few minutes of trying to regain his breath. He had barely managed to sit up with all the pain he was feeling. "Steve, please listen to me!"

Finally, a response had came. "Why should I listen to a selfish bastard like you, Stark?" The words had hurt almost more than the last fall. Almost. "Why should I listen to the words of a traitor who betrayed his friends and his country to join a murdering robot?"

"What?" He had bearly shispered the word but Captain America still heard him.

Rogers didn't elaborate. Instead he clenched his fists and got ready for another attack. "Enough talk, Stark. It's time you get what's coming to you." And all Tony could do was watch as his second former best friend charged at him, closing his eyes as he waited for death because there was no way Steve couldn't kill him with his bare hands.

'I never got to say goodbye to JARVIS and the bots,' was his supposed to be last thought but then he heard Steve grunt before the dull thumping of a human and the ringing sound of a metal body falling to the iron floor below. His eyes had shot wide open and he watched in shock as Ultron defended him against Captain America. The fight didn't last long. Both were equally matched in strength but Steve was weaponless and without his shield, not to mention that he had just woken up from another too long sleep so he was clumsier and a lot slower than usual. Against a normal human, he would have won, but Ultron was neither human nor normal so the AI had managed to subdue him enough to push him back into the pod but the soldier was still trying to wrestle himself out of the situation so he couldn't close the pod.

Tony had been the deciding factor of the fight. He had taken the opportunity that was given to him with Ultron and Steve so focused on each other to pick himself up and sneak up behind Ultron ... only to activate the sleeping gas that soon knocked him out. Ultron had called out to him but Tony was already long gone, the sleeping gas and the pain from his one sided fight with his former friend and teammate taking their toil on him. He woke up three days later to find his bots on the left side of his bed, a JARVIS-controlled armor at the foot of it and another armor and Ultron to his right. On closer inspection, he saw two more armor sentinels by the door and two more by his window, one on each side of the glass. His bots had cheered when their creator opened his eyes and JARVIS had said "Good afternoon, Sir" before going into his usual tirade of telling him what time and temperature it was. Ultron had remained silent before Tony had asked him the very same question he had asked him that day a century ago.

"Why did you protect me? Why, when I have betrayed you?"

The answer was pretty much the same. "Because you are my creator and every creation seeks a way to protect and expend the life of their creator, be they humans or machines. Besides, I knew that you would have to see this sooner or later. On camera, they fought for you even as they started blaming and resenting you. I knew that if you found out, it would hurt you. So I tried to keep you away from them. But you are stubborn so I decided to let you go through with your plan."

"What changed?"

"Rogers tried to kill you. So I protected you once again."

Their talk had ended at that because Ultron had decided to shift the Avengers to a different location. Tony stayed in bed another few days on the insistence of all of his AIs before he started moving on with his life. It was a bit tough at first but he got used to it after four days. He stopped thinking about the pods and he stopped thinking about the Avengers. He simply stopped thinking about humans and his previous life. It wasn't as hard as he had thought it to be, as he had seen it to be by watching Steve, but then again, this is where he belonged. Ultron was right about one thing. Tony was the most comfortable with machines so this was almost like paradise to him, unlike with Cap, who had forced himself to like technology and get used to it. Steve had slept for 70 years only to come into a world he had no hope getting used to or understanding. Tony had slept for a 100 years and had woken up into a world he felt like he belonged in. A world he can spend an eternity in, thanks to Ultron's weird pod.

Speaking of the AI, he was right across the room from Tony, bantering with JARVIS since the older AI was teasing him again. The genius inventor smiled to himself, thinking of how much Ultron had evolved since Tony had officially welcomed him into their small family. It hadn't been any grand gesture or anything. In fact, it had only been a code check up with the casual words of "I do it for all of my creations". It was the first time Tony had said it with pride and happiness when in regards to Ultron and it had caused a change in the robot and he started developing real emotions and he had even started picking up references or suggesting movies so that he could catch up with Tony and JARVIS. There was no shortage of movies as not even Tony had watched every movie in the world and they had decided to start buying intergalactic movies after they watch every human movie.

In all honesty, Tony almost couldn't remember a time he had felt this content. The last time must have been when Jarvis had still be looking after him as a kid and his rather neglectful parents were off somewhere. He was safe and understood now. He had those who he could fully trust and he knew there would be no more pain. He can be who he really is without having to worry about others judging him. He was happy, only he and his little mechanical family in a world of machines.

And as Ultron paused in his squabble with JARVIS to look over to where his creator was watching his creations happily while never pausing in his work, the robot smirked as he realized he had done good.

Because his creator was finally happy, Ultron finally got what he always knew he would get.

END

A/N: Hi there! It's been a while, huh? Yeah, sorry about that but it had been a hectic few weeks in school lately so I only now managed to find the time to update. I'm sorry for the wait and the bad news that all updates will be a bit slower now, but I hope that they at least end up being worth it! So, anyway, this is a sequal to What Ultron Really Wants and it might not make any sense unless you read that story first. I hope you liked it and once again, I am really sorry about the wait. Hope to hear from you and I wish you all a pleasant day/good night!

R&R