Ultron

Tony Stark had not returned to Avengers Headquarters for quite a few days.

It was not because he had lost his keys or forgotten the entry code. Technically, the building was even his property—his name was on every real-estate document. Being the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. was certainly busy work, but not so busy that he did not have time to drop by for a routine meeting even once in an entire week.

The reason he had not come was simply because he did not want to, and his teammates in the alliance probably were not as welcoming toward him as they used to be.

This was inevitable. Stark had anticipated it before taking the throne of S.H.I.E.L.D. director.

The conflict between the Avengers and the government could not be reconciled. Taking that position was equivalent to choosing the side opposed to the Avengers. Though most of his teammates had not said it aloud, everyone, including the captain, had clearly become colder toward him than before whenever they saw him.

Especially Hawkeye—Clint no longer affectionately called him "Tony" when they met. Now, Hawkeye merely called him "Stark" in a dry tone. The fact that he did not add "Director" was already respectful enough.

Stark knew why things had turned out this way. He knew, but he did not care, because he believed everything he did was right.

Just as he was preparing to do another thing he believed was right.

"You still haven't given up on that idea?" Bruce Banner pushed up the large, ridiculous glasses on his nose and stared at Stark in surprise.

The two of them were in the headquarters laboratory. The entire floor was empty, with only faithful old JARVIS updating data on a computer nearby. Vast amounts of data flowed across the floating screens like seawater,