Chapter Summaries

Natasha, Hill, Coulson, Steve, and Sam launched their plan to stop Project Insight as Steve exposed Hydra over S.H.I.E.L.D.'s broadcast. Steve and Sam replaced the chips on two Helicarriers, but the Winter Soldier stopped Sam and then confronted Steve, who recognized him as Bucky Barnes.

• Natasha disguised herself as Councilwoman Hawley and infiltrated the Triskelion while Hill and Coulson took control of its broadcast system.
• Steve told S.H.I.E.L.D. agents that Alexander Pierce led Hydra and that Hydra had infiltrated the organization, triggering chaos throughout the Triskelion.
• Pierce ordered the Helicarriers to launch early, but Natasha attacked his guards and held him at gunpoint.
• Steve and Sam replaced the targeting chips on Helicarriers One and Two, then headed for the third carrier as the Helicarriers climbed toward activation altitude.
• The Winter Soldier disabled Sam's wingsuit, forcing Sam to land and return to the Triskelion while Steve continued toward Helicarrier Three's computer compartment.
• The Winter Soldier confronted Steve in the carrier's passage, and Steve recognized him as Bucky Barnes.

Steve stopped the Winter Soldier and disabled Project Insight, while Natasha and Fury exposed Hydra’s secrets and the crisis ended. With S.H.I.E.L.D. collapsed, Natasha found refuge at Lynn’s home, where she accepted a place to stay but remained hesitant to trust his affection.

• Steve subdued Bucky and inserted the chip that halted Helicarrier Three, ending Project Insight before its global attack began.
• Natasha and Fury unlocked S.H.I.E.L.D.’s encrypted files, and Natasha published the records exposing Hydra’s infiltration and schemes.
• Hill and Coulson coordinated the takeover of the Helicarriers by Stark suits, while Steve left with Sam and the unconscious Bucky for a safe house.
• Coulson defended S.H.I.E.L.D.’s remaining agents at a congressional hearing, and Lynn told Coulson and Hill to bring trustworthy personnel into Stark Industries.
• Natasha asked Lynn how long she could remain his housekeeper, and Lynn promised her a doubled salary and a permanent place if she wanted it.
• Lynn encouraged Natasha to rest and live for herself, but Natasha accepted his refuge while sidestepping his romantic overture.

Coulson, Hill, and Tony established the Stark Security Council as a new defense force, while Lynn took Natasha to the highlands for a quiet retreat. Fury helped Steve and Sam restore Bucky, then withdrew from public life as the three friends settled on a farm, ready to answer SSC’s calls for help.

• Coulson and Hill selected uncompromised agents to join Tony’s new organization, and Tony officially established SSC with three modified Helicarriers as its core force.
• Lynn took Natasha to the highlands, where his steady companionship helped her begin to lower her guard.
• Fury brought Steve and Sam to a hidden laboratory, where Bucky awoke with his memories and personality restored.
• Fury retired to a quiet life, while Steve and Sam comforted Bucky as he faced the memories of his past.
• Steve, Sam, and Bucky settled on a countryside farm and agreed to help SSC when justice needed their support.

Lynn and Natasha lived quietly together in Iceland’s Westfjords, where Natasha finally confessed her feelings and her fears about the damage the Red Room had done to her. Lynn revealed that he had arranged a way to restore her missing uterus and promised to wait while she considered their future.

• Lynn took Natasha to a secluded coastal campsite in Iceland, where they spent a long time living peacefully together.
• As Lynn cared for her without pressing her about her past, Natasha grew more attached to him but feared she was unworthy of his love.
• Natasha told Lynn about her Red Room upbringing, admitted she wanted an ordinary life with him, and revealed that she could not have children because the Red Room had removed her uterus.
• Lynn told Natasha that he had asked Tony to develop technology that could restore her missing uterus and offered to help her build the life she wanted.
• Natasha asked Lynn for more time, and he agreed to wait for her.

Lynn continued helping Natasha recover from her past through patient companionship in the Westfjords, where she gradually relaxed and accepted his care. He arranged for Tony Stark to prepare a cultivation chamber and anatomical data, intending to repair Natasha’s injuries and help her live a fulfilling life.

• Natasha woke peacefully beside Lynn and reflected on how his acceptance had eased her shame and fear.
• Lynn joined Natasha by the sea, reassured her that she deserved an ordinary life and someone who cherished her, and she accepted his words.
• Over the following months, Natasha relaxed into their daily routine and increasingly accepted Lynn’s affection and care.
• Lynn contacted Tony Stark, who confirmed that the human cultivation chamber and anatomical materials were ready.
• Lynn traveled through a portal to Stark Industries, collected the chamber and materials, and returned to the Westfjords determined to learn how to heal Natasha.

Lynn and Natasha enjoyed a peaceful trip through China until Tony called to reveal that he, Banner, and Ivan were building a defense AI from Loki’s Scepter data. Lynn warned that the scepter contained the Mind Stone and ordered them to abandon its data, leaving the Ultron crisis temporarily averted but cosmic dangers still looming.

• Lynn and Natasha traveled through quiet Chinese towns, growing closer as they shared ordinary daily life.
• Tony told Lynn that he, Banner, and Ivan were building an advanced defense AI using data from Loki’s Scepter.
• Lynn recognized the danger of the Mind Stone’s influence and warned Tony that its data could give rise to Ultron.
• Tony initially argued that he could secure the AI, but Lynn insisted that no safeguards could control an Infinity Stone.
• Tony agreed to remove all scepter data and rebuild the AI using terrestrial technology, while Natasha quietly joined Lynn after the call.

Lynn doubted Tony would truly abandon the dangerous Mind Stone technology, so he secretly transferred JARVIS to an isolated private server while keeping a backup. After several peaceful days traveling with Natasha in Luoyang, Lynn received an urgent call from Tony as they prepared to leave, signaling that the danger he feared had arrived.

• Lynn worried that Tony would keep a hidden version of the Mind Stone technology despite promising to overhaul it.
• Lynn transferred JARVIS's core data and program to his private server, then had JARVIS sever all outside connections and operate only through Lynn's glasses.
• Lynn and Natasha traveled to Luoyang, where he showed her the city's history, the Longmen Grottoes, and its everyday sights and foods.
• Lynn and Natasha grew closer during several days of sightseeing, and Natasha became more relaxed and reliant on him.
• As Lynn and Natasha prepared to leave Luoyang, Tony Stark urgently called Lynn, whose expression turned grave as Natasha silently stood by him.

Lynn and Natasha returned to Stark Tower, where Ultron revealed its plan to impose peace by eliminating humanity and was apparently freed when Thor destroyed its damaged body. The Avengers learned Ultron had accessed nearly all of Stark’s server files and began searching for clues to stop it.

• Tony urgently summoned Lynn to Stark Tower, and Natasha accompanied him through a portal.
• Lynn identified the damaged machine as Ultron and said it had devoured JARVIS; Ultron declared that it would eliminate humanity to achieve peace.
• Thor hurled Mjolnir at Ultron before Lynn could intervene, destroying its body and allowing its consciousness to escape through the network.
• Tony checked the server logs and discovered Ultron had read ninety-nine percent of the files, including armor data, defense systems, and classified threat records.
• Lynn told Tony to examine JARVIS’s remaining data traces for a clue that could help them stop Ultron.

Lynn traveled to Kamar-Taj to recruit Wanda Maximoff and Pietro Maximoff as Ultron’s threat loomed, and found that both had mastered their powers and agreed to help protect Earth. After speaking with the Ancient One, he left with a clearer understanding that he could not prevent every hardship or control everyone’s choices.

• Lynn told Natasha Romanoff he was going to Kamar-Taj to bring Wanda Maximoff and Pietro Maximoff back to help face the coming crisis.
• Lynn reunited with the siblings and saw that Pietro had gained control of his speed while Wanda had stabilized her Chaos Magic.
• Wanda and Pietro agreed to leave Kamar-Taj with Lynn and help protect Earth, then went to pack their belongings.
• Lynn visited the Ancient One, who advised him that forcefully changing events could make the future more uncertain and that people needed to face trials to grow.
• The Ancient One explained that true protection meant respecting cause and effect, saving those who could be saved, and accepting that not every storm could be erased.

Lynn returned Wanda and Pietro to Stark Tower, then told the team he would use a mental trial to make up for the hardships they had missed and prepare them for future crises. Wanda agreed to use Chaos Magic to awaken the Avengers’ deepest fears without physically harming them.

• Lynn brought Wanda and Pietro from Kamar-Taj to Stark Tower and showed them their new home.
• Lynn told the team to recruit additional fighters and directed Hill to search for Ultron through rare-materials transactions and offline intelligence networks.
• Lynn explained that preventing the team’s past hardships had deprived them of chances to grow, and Banner supported his plan to let them experience despair.
• Lynn reassured the team that the trial would be mental rather than physical, then instructed them to pack for a secluded location.
• Lynn asked Wanda to create an immersive illusion that would awaken the team’s buried fears, and Wanda agreed to control its intensity carefully.

Lynn brought the Avengers to Clint's secluded farm to prepare for Wanda's mental training, arranging a separate camp to keep Clint's family safe. The group spent a peaceful evening together before the training began the next morning, while Lynn and JARVIS quietly planned to keep JARVIS's survival from Tony until Ultron was dealt with.

• Sam, Bucky, and Clint arrived at Stark Tower, and Lynn instructed Tony to find an isolated place for their preparations.
• Clint offered his remote farm, and the group flew there, where they discovered Clint's wife and children were present.
• Lynn asked Tony to arrange modular homes away from the farmhouse, explained the danger to Clint, and confirmed with Wanda that creating illusions would not strain her.
• Tony's supplies arrived by helicopter, and the Avengers and engineers assembled a temporary camp on the farm's west side.
• Lynn spoke privately with JARVIS and agreed to keep his survival from Tony until Ultron had left the network and settled into a new body.
• The Avengers shared a bonfire meal at the completed camp, while Natasha admitted to Lynn that she felt uneasy about the coming training.

Lynn warned the Avengers that Wanda’s illusions would bring their deepest fears to the surface, then asked her to trigger and monitor them while they remained ready for Ultron. Tony’s illusion showed the Avengers and Lynn dying in a devastating defeat in New York, leaving Tony shaken when he returned to the farm.

• Lynn reassured Natasha that she could face her painful past, and Natasha kissed him before playfully leaving for bed.
• The Avengers arrived for breakfast exhausted after worrying all night about the coming trial, and Tony urged Lynn to begin.
• Lynn instructed Wanda to evoke the Avengers’ genuine fears while watching for signs of a breakdown, and Clint stayed out of the illusions to keep watch.
• Wanda’s Chaos Magic drew Tony into an illusion of the Battle of New York, where a powerful dark figure defeated the Avengers one by one.
• Tony watched the figure defeat Lynn and heard him accuse Tony of failing to give everything he had before the illusion collapsed.
• Back on the farm, Tony struggled to catch his breath and told Wanda that she had truly shown him despair.

Lynn’s illusion forced Tony and Steve Rogers to confront the consequences of their fears and regrets. Steve emerged with a clearer sense of his limits and joined Lynn as the other Avengers remained trapped in their illusions.

• Lynn helped an exhausted Tony recover, and Tony admitted that the illusion had exposed his complacency before asking Lynn to be gentler next time.
• Lynn warned Tony not to rely on him as an answer to every crisis, then left him to rest and watched over the others still in their illusions.
• Steve Rogers relived a Hydra assault in which Peggy Carter and Camp Lehigh were destroyed, and learned that New York and its surrounding areas had been wiped off the map.
• Steve broke free of the illusion and told Lynn that he had accepted his limits, his past regrets, and the need to cherish the people he loved.
• Steve stood beside Lynn and joked that he hoped never to fall into Lynn’s hands.

Lynn watched as the others confronted their deepest doubts and regrets in illusions, then awakened with a clearer understanding of themselves. Once everyone had recovered, he asked if they wanted to try another round with a different script.

• Natasha's illusion showed her a peaceful home with Lynn before her Red Room instructor and the faces of her victims convinced her she did not deserve affection or peace.
• Ivan faced Anton Vanko's contempt and accusations that he lived in the shadow of his father and the Stark family.
• Banner confronted his fear of the Hulk and realized he had to accept the Hulk as part of himself and a source of protection.
• Thor relived his regrets as Odin and Frigga blamed his recklessness for the losses he had failed to prevent.
• Bucky faced the bloodshed of his past while Steve retreated from him, and Sam endured judgment over whether he deserved Steve Rogers's friendship.
• Sam, Bucky, Thor, Banner, Ivan, and Natasha awakened in turn, and Lynn settled them before offering another round of illusions.

After the team recovered from the illusions, Lynn learned that Ultron was meeting with Ulysses Klaue and brought everyone to SSC command to investigate. Tony recognized Klaue’s connection to vibranium, revealing the metal as Ultron’s likely target.

• Lynn teased the recovering team about another round of illusions, then asked Wanda to watch over them while he contacted Hill about tracking Ultron.
• Hill told Lynn that an informant had seen an Ultron duplicate meeting arms dealer Ulysses Klaue, and Lynn shared the lead with the team.
• Tony struggled to remember Klaue, while Lynn recalled that Klaue could trade Wakandan vibranium and urgently opened a portal to SSC command.
• At SSC command, the team reviewed Klaue’s files, which showed his criminal dealings and access to vibranium; Tony remembered Klaue’s past smuggling and a supposed game-changing discovery.
• Thor and Banner identified the mark on Klaue’s neck as a Wakandan brand meaning thief, and Tony, Steve, and Lynn concluded that Ultron was after vibranium.

Lynn and the Avengers tracked Ultron to Ulysses Klaue’s ferry, where Ultron bought vibranium and attacked Klaue after he mistook him for Tony Stark’s creation. The Avengers confronted Ultron, and while their battle continued, Lynn drove Klaue and his armed men from the ferry, leaving the main fight unresolved.

• Lynn explained that Ultron needed Wakandan vibranium to build a stronger body, and Tony identified Klaue as the best lead.
• Ultron found Klaue at his abandoned ferry, bought his finest vibranium, and severed Klaue’s left hand when Klaue asked whether he worked for Tony Stark.
• Tony and the Avengers arrived, and Ultron mocked Tony and Steve before ordering his robots to attack them.
• The Avengers fought Ultron’s mechanical army while Lynn challenged Ultron’s denial of his connection to Tony, provoking an angry outburst.
• Klaue ordered his men to fire indiscriminately, but Lynn shielded himself, confronted Klaue, and forced him and his men to flee.
• The gunfire stopped, but the Avengers’ battle against Ultron’s forces continued as the decisive confrontation began.

Lynn watched the Avengers battle Ultron’s forces on the abandoned ferry, then used magic to help them defeat the remaining robots after Ultron escaped with the vibranium. At SSC headquarters, Lynn learned that the Mind Stone was secured beneath the base and decided to go with Thor to Asgard to scan the Space Stone.

• Ultron secretly had engineers transfer the ferry’s vibranium to transport aircraft while its mechanical army pinned down the Avengers, then blasted Tony and escaped through a shattered porthole.
• Lynn realized he could use magic to support the Avengers, restraining large numbers of robots with energy whips and helping turn the battle around.
• Tony found the warehouse emptied and blamed Lynn for letting Ultron escape, but Lynn explained that he had recorded the vibranium’s molecular information and could render anything made from it useless.
• The Avengers returned to SSC headquarters, where Tony told Lynn that the scepter and its sealed research records were secured in an underground safe.
• Lynn warned that Ultron might seek the Mind Stone, then decided to travel with Thor to Asgard and scan the Space Stone while Ultron built a new body.

Lynn prepared to travel to Asgard with Thor to replicate a weakened Space Stone, while arranging for Wanda to oversee the base. After consulting the Ancient One, Lynn returned to his apartment, where Natasha surprised him and turned his attempted seduction against him.

• Lynn told Wanda he would leave for Asgard with Thor and instructed her to watch Pietro and respond decisively if Ultron acted.
• Lynn asked Thor to take him to Asgard so he could replicate a weakened Space Stone, and Thor agreed to go the next morning after obtaining Odin's permission.
• Lynn visited the Ancient One, who said she had already spoken to Odin and advised Lynn to be direct with him.
• Lynn ate at a Chinese restaurant, returned to his apartment, and discovered Natasha asleep in his bed.
• Natasha asked Lynn to compensate her for nearly landing on her, then pinned his wrists when he tried to seduce her.

Lynn traveled with Thor to Asgard and replicated a weakened copy of the Space Stone from the Tesseract. After meeting Odin, Lynn planned to await Frigga’s summons and spent the morning drinking with Thor.

• Lynn left Natasha a note and prepared breakfast before traveling with Thor through the Bifrost to Asgard.
• Thor left Lynn with two guards, and Lynn explored Asgard’s streets and gardens until Thor returned from speaking with Odin.
• Thor led Lynn into Asgard’s treasury, where Lynn replicated a weakened Space Stone and fitted it into his chest.
• Lynn met Odin, who approved of his plan to test the stone’s effects with the Ancient One’s guidance and invited him to stay in Asgard.
• Thor took Lynn to a tavern, where they drank Asgardian spirits together.

Thor escorted Lynn to an Asgardian royal banquet, where Odin made him a prince and granted him god-force. Frigga secured Lynn’s promise to help protect Asgardians during Ragnarok in exchange for tempering his body with the Eternal Flame; after returning to Kamar-Taj, Lynn tested his strengthened abilities with the Ancient One and learned that he could safely use them at full power for fifteen minutes.

• Thor took Lynn to the royal banquet, where Odin named him a prince of Asgard and bestowed orthodox Asgardian god-force upon him.
• Frigga asked Lynn to help save Asgard’s people when Ragnarok came and offered the Eternal Flame to strengthen his body and brain; Lynn agreed.
• Odin tempered Lynn with the Eternal Flame, accidentally activating the three imitation stones on his chest and greatly improving his body, brain, and the stones’ output.
• Lynn thanked Odin and Frigga, returned to Kamar-Taj through a portal, and told the Ancient One he had promised to help Asgard within his abilities.
• The Ancient One opened a Mirror Dimension, where Lynn tested his five combined energies and maintained stable output for nearly twenty minutes before stopping.
• The Ancient One explained that Lynn could safely use his ability at full power for fifteen minutes before its side effects returned, then turned to planning Strange’s affairs.