For some reason, the conversation had landed on the topic of Thor's hammer. It sat on the coffee table, in the middle of everyone who was still awake and present. 

Katya would be lying if she said the weapon didn't fascinate her. It was strange, she had seen the weirdest things in her lifetime: Inhumans, enhanced people, aliens, but the hammer was something else. Centuries old, from another planet with real gods, able to be picked up by only the worthy. 

Because of the latter, Thor left it laying around everywhere, knowing it would be in the exact same spot if he needed it. Although no one on the team had ever tried to lift it, everyone kind of knew they wouldn't be able to. They weren't exactly the best humanity had to offer. 

Clint, who had more than enough alcohol in his system, was frustrated he didn't understand how the hammer worked and that Thor didn't want to say more about it. 

''But, it's a trick!'' He was still spinning those drumsticks around in his hands, fatigue far from setting in. 

Thor found the whole situation more than funny, a big smile on his face at Clint's frustration. ''Oh, no. It's much more than that.'' He clanged his bottle of beer against Steve's, who also wasn't done drinking. 

Clint gestured widely towards the hammer. ''Uh, "Whosoever be he worthy shall haveth the power!"'' He mocked Thor's deep, strong voice. ''Whatever man! It's a trick.''

''Well please, be my guest.'' Thor invited Clint to try and lift the hammer, a confident smile on his face as he did. By this point, everyone had stopped their private conversations and turned to the action in the middle. They all looked at Clint expectantly, wanting to see if he would accept Thor's offer.

''Come on,'' Stark nudged Clint. Tony was always one who liked to have some fun and make fun of people if they failed. Not in a bad way, he just liked to embarrass them.

Clint was unsure if Thor was serious. ''Really?''

''Yeah.''

Clint stood up and Katya almost expected people to cheer. Instead, Clint was met with sarcastic remarks from Rhodey and Stark, who were not the best duo when drunk.

''Oh this is gonna be beautiful.'' Everyone was excited to see what would happen. Drinks were suddenly forgotten and everyone sat up a bit straighter. 

''Clint, you've had a tough week, we won't hold it against you if you can't get it up.'' There was laughter at the double meaning of Tony's sentence, but it all didn't seem to bother Clint, who was hellbent on lifting that hammer.

''I am going to film this.'' Katya was scrambling for her phone, which had disappeared somewhere on the couch she was on. 

Like one of his arrows leaving his bow, Clint snapped around, pointing one warning finger at her. ''Katariina Petrova, if you so much as touch that phone, you're dead.'' His tone was serious, but his eyes shone with humor. 

She laughed at his reaction, lifting her hands in surrender. ''Alright Rocky, calm down.''

Clint nodded in satisfaction and finally moved to the hammer. ''You know I've seen this before, right?'' With the drumsticks still in his left hand, he grabbed the leather handle of the weapon and pulled at it at once. But, like everyone suspected, nothing happened.

He let go, trying to laugh it off. ''I still don't know how you do it.''

''Loser,'' Katya muttered just loud enough for him to hear.

''Smell the silent judgement?'' Tony was really enjoying this.

''Please, Stark, by all means,'' Clint invited him. 

Tony, ever the drama queen, stood up in an exaggerated manner, unbuttoning his suit jacket, which was met with lots of encouraging sounds from the others. Katya rolled her eyes at his theatrics, but the smile on her face only grew bigger. ''Never one to shrink from an honest challenge.''

''Oh, here we go,'' Natasha said to no one in particular, feeling the same way Katya did.

''It's physics.'' Tony twisted his hand in the strap and got ready to pull. ''Right, so, if I lift it, I then rule Asgard?'' O gosh, for the sake of everyone on Asgard and its neighboring realms, please don't let Tony lift it. 

Thor nodded, completely comfortable on his chair. ''Yes, of course.''

''I will be re-instituting Prima Nocta.'' For the non-history nerds among us, it was an ancient law where the monarch has legal right to have sex with any female subject on her wedding night. So, really a classic Tony Stark joke. 

With one foot on the table and two hands around the handle, he started to pull. But, probably to Thor's great relief, the hammer didn't move one inch. 

Tony looked genuinely embarrassed, but didn't want to give up yet. ''I'll be right back.'' It wasn't hard to guess where he was going. 

Back from the lab with one arm of his suit, he tried again. Katya had no idea why he believed this would bring him another result than before, but just to see him try so hard was way too much fun. 

''Rhodey, little help here?''

''Just give it up, Stark,'' Katya laughed as Rhodey walked off to get his own suit.

''I will never admit defeat,'' was his dramatic answer.

Rhodey and Tony argued, but didn't manage to lift it either, which ruled out Rhodey as future king of Asgard.

Banner tried next and wasn't any more successful than the others, in fact, it was even more embarrassing. When noticing he wouldn't be able to lift it either, he backed off with a roar, channeling his inner Hulk. It was supposed to be a joke, but he was met with silence and awkward stares. 

Natasha was so kind as to smile apologetically to make him feel better, but Katya didn't think it did anything. 

Next was Steve, who didn't look too enthusiastic. 

''Let's go, Steve, no pressure,'' Tony hyped him up. 

Rogers was probably the only person here who even had the slightest chance at being able to lift it. That man was pure goodness and had a heart as big as a football. He rolled up his sleeves, which Katya had probably found quite attractive, had she swung that way too.

He got ready to lift it, those big muscles of his flexing. ''Come on, Cap,'' Clint encouraged him.

What nobody expected, definitely not after four people had already tried, is that the hammer would move. It wasn't much, but enough to make a screeching noise against the glass of the table. Thor's smile dropped from his face in a panic.

Everyone froze and eyes widened, but it didn't move again. Steve laughed, backing off, and Thor joined him in relief. Happy he didn't have to share the throne with the super soldier. ''Nothing.''

Now, there were only two people of the OG Avengers who didn't have a turn with the hammer, and they didn't get off to easily. They all stared at the two women on the couch, Natasha with a beer in her hand and Katya occupied with her own alcoholic drink.

''Widow?'' Bruce asked, eyebrows raised in challenge and question.

But Natasha had no intent on moving, leaning back in her chair as a sign she was backing off. ''Oh, no no. That's not a question I need answered.''

''Katya? You want to try your luck?'' Steve asked her kindly.

Katya looked around, seeing everyone's expectant eyes on her, before her own blue ones landed on Natasha's for any indication on what she should do. But her green eyes just stared back at her with the same look the others had, curious to know the answer to Steve's question herself.

Something about that pushed her over the edge, and to everyone's surprise, she stood up, straightening her dress and walking around the table on her bare feet, careful not to trip over the empty glasses and people's feet.

''Alright Petrova,'' Tony cheered, clapping his hands in excitement.

''I am doing this to prove there's no hope for me anymore,'' she joked as she grabbed the handle. 

Natasha stared at her most expectantly, her green eyes focused on her and her only. But the second Katya's fingers wrapped around the worn leather, she knew she wouldn't be able to lift it. It was a really weird feeling, but the weapon had read her in a split second and decided she wasn't worthy. A certain pull, like gravity, pulled the hammer down and didn't go away when it sensed her. 

But it was too late to back off now, so she pulled and indeed, it didn't budge. 

''Sorry Thor,'' she apologized jokingly, letting it go. ''Looks like Asgard won't have a queen just yet.''

''It would have been a good queen,'' he flattered her, to which she smiled widely. Thor may be large and look terrifying, he was all mush inside. 

''All deference to the man who wouldn't be king, but it's rigged,'' Tony stated as Katya returned to her spot on the couch, feeling no different than before. The fact she wasn't able to lift it didn't surprise her. It was quite the opposite actually, it showed her exactly what she believed all along: she had done too much wrong that it stained her soul and heart.

''You bet your ass,'' Clint agreed with Tony, trying to explain the reason he wasn't able to lift it. 

Maria jumped at the opportunity to tease Steve. ''Steve, he said a bad language word.''

Katya laughed at Steve's reaction, which clearly indicated he regretted ever bringing it up. The man hang his head in shame and embarrassment, looking at Tony with an exhausted sigh. ''Did you tell everyone about that?''

Tony acted like he didn't hear it, going back to the previous topic. ''The handle's imprinted, right? Like a security code. "Whosoever is carrying Thor's fingerprints" is, I think, the literal translation?''

''Yes, well that's, uh, that's a very, very interesting theory.'' Thor got up from his seat, never once putting his beer down. ''I have a simpler one.'' With ease, he picks up the hammer and throws it in the air, catching it casually. ''You're all not worthy.''

A chorus of disagreement and booing sounds erupted from everyone, but it was harshly interrupted by a painfully high screeching noise. It was almost that feedback sound a microphone makes, but higher and painful for your ears.

Katya covered her ears, but it was over before it even started. It had ruined the mood in the room though, as everyone was now suddenly back to seriousness. It could just be a malfunction in some electrics, but Katya had a bad feeling about it. This was Avengers Tower, everything was designed by Tony Stark, malfunctioning devices weren't common here.

Tony grabbed his tablet screen thingy from his pocket to see what was going on, but Katya was way too occupied with what was happening on her right side. She seemed to notice before the others did, and was already on her feet before the unknown presence was around the corner and into their line of sight.

''Worthy,'' the word was dragged out, as if the thing saying it was testing how to talk or how the word sounded. At this point, everyone was alerted and turned to the metal robot at the side of the room. ''No... How could you be worthy? You're all killers.'' The robot moved clumsily, as if it wasn't sure how to move his limbs. 

''Stark,'' Steve asked Tony, who wasn't more wise than anyone else on what was going on. Katya could see on his face he had no idea where this robot came from and why it did what it did.

''JARVIS.'' Tony tried his trusty UI, but there was no answer. JARVIS was never gone, this wasn't good.

Katya knew this would end in a fight. The way the robot talked to them and seemed to hate them, she felt threatened. And whenever she felt that way, her first instinct was to grab any weapon she had. Right now, that was the knife she had strapped to her leg underneath her dress. Even though it was a party in her own home, she could never be too careful and this hostile robot in front of them proved her point exactly.

''I'm sorry, I was asleep.'' The robot looked around confused. ''Or...I was a-dream?''

Tony tapped on his tablet quite pressingly, but nothing happened. 

''There was a terrible noise. And I was tangled in... in...'' it looked at all the loose wires hanging from his 'body', ''strings. I had to kill the other guy. He was a good guy.''

Katya shared an anxious look with Natasha, who had gotten to the same conclusion as her. This wasn't going to end well. 

''You killed someone?'' Steve asked accusingly, his righteousness coming to the surface.

''Wouldn't have been my first call.'' It said casually. Katya was sure that if it had shoulders, it would have shrugged them. ''But, down in the real world we're faced with ugly choices.''

''Who sent you?'' Thor asked. 

His answer was something nobody saw coming. Katya expected one of their enemies to have send it, or maybe even aliens at this point, but what she didn't expect was to hear the voice of her own teammate. ''"I see a suit of armor around the world".''

All eyes were on Tony, trying to find an explanation for this, but they didn't get one. Bruce was the one who put the pieces together, his eyes lighting up with realization. ''Ultron.'' But what might have made it clear for him, only brought more questions for Katya. What the hell had the two men been working on in that lab?

''I'm sorry, who?'' Her question got lost when the robot, who was apparently called Ultron, started talking again. 

''In the flesh. Or, no, not yet. Not this...chrysalis.'' Around Katya, people seemed to finally understand that this thing was a threat. Thor tightened his grip on the hammer everyone had been joking over not even one minute ago, and she heard a safety being clicked off of a gun. Katya could really do with a gun right now, the knife probably won't do too much against a metal robot. ''But I'm ready. I'm on a mission.''

''What mission?'' Natasha asked, confusion and caution in her voice.

''Peace in our time.'' This was the moment the robot had been waiting for, the moment to finally get to the point. And he did that by summoning more robots, Tony's suit army meant for protecting the city, and letting them loose on the people in the room. They broke through the glass behind Ultron, flying up to the team in no time. 

But Katya was prepared and dove for the first shelter she could find, which was the couch. Natasha ran for the bar, dragging Bruce behind her. It was important he didn't Hulk out, so keeping him calm and safe was a priority. 

Since Katya was closest to Helen Cho, she took the responsibility to protect the doctor because she couldn't protect herself. ''Stay down!'' Katya yelled over the fighting. Without a gun, she didn't think she would be off much help, so her main goal was to let the big guys take care of the robots and for her to take care of the doctor.

There was lots of breaking glass as people got thrown through it or robots missed a shot for someone's head. Realizing she was way too exposed in the middle of the room, she grabbed Helen's arm and pulled her towards the piano in the corner of the room. Zigzagging to prevent being shot at, they made it there and dove under it. 

It wasn't the best spot, but Katya knew there would be a gun taped underneath it. It was a spy thing, hiding weapons everywhere in case of emergency. This counted as an emergency. As she checked to see if it was loaded, she knew bullets probably didn't do much, but it gave her a sense of security the knife couldn't provide. She hoped Steve, Thor and Tony would take care of the robots quickly.

''Here.'' Katya pushed her knife in Helen's hand. It wasn't a new object for her, being a doctor, but Katya wasn't sure she had ever used a knife as a weapon before. 

The blonde spy peeked from underneath the furniture, aiming for the robots closest to her. Like she had expected, the bullets deflected off the metal, but it did distract them from trying to kill her friends. 

''Stark!'' She heard Steve yell through the chaos. His voice came from higher up and to her surprise, they both had jumped on the back of a robot and were flying high in the air. Tony was fumbling with a screwdriver of some sorts, probably trying to short-circuit the electronics, while Steve tried to... choke... a robot.

''One sec, one sec!'' Tony yelled back. The robots started to chant in a really creepy way, repeating the same words over and over again. ''We are here to help. We are here to help...''

Truly, it made Katya feel like she had landed in a bad horror movie. But there was no time for thoughts when a robot, or actually only the top half of it, suddenly hovered in front of the piano, raising his hand and getting ready to shoot her. She reacted by raising her own weapon, aiming for the wires in his exposed neck that would hopefully shut the whole thing down. There weren't many bullets left in her gun, so she had to be precise. 

With three shots, she brought the thing down, damaging enough of its wires to shut it down and keep it that way. Helen exhaled in relief behind her, thanking her frantically. This really wasn't her scene.

Clint threw Steve's shield to him, which he caught easily, and within the same movement, threw it towards the last robot that was really annoying Natasha. It fell on the ground with a clatter, after which it turned eerily quiet. 

Assessing the situation and concluding it was safe enough, Katya crawled away under the piano and extended her hand to Helen, who gratefully accepted it and pulled herself up. After brushing off the woman's thank-yous, she stumbled back towards the middle of the room, ignoring the glass splinters in her feet and arms. 

''That was dramatic,'' Ultron said, not bothered by the whole fight at all. ''I'm sorry, I know you mean well. You just didn't think it through.''

Steve walked closer to the robot, ready to smash it to pieces if it did something like that again. 

''You want to protect the world, but you don't want it to change.'' Katya looked up to the balcony, where Natasha looked at Bruce with an accusing and questioning look. She had a feeling that he knew more about this than he was letting off. 

''How is humanity saved if it's not allowed to...evolve?'' Did Ultron just sound... pissed? Katya didn't know robots were able to feel emotions, so this must not be your average machine.

Ultron bended down, picking up one of the fallen suits with disgust. ''With these? These puppets?'' The head of it got crushed by Ultron's strong hands, which only showed how powerful it really was. Katya only took this as a warning not to underestimate it. 

''There's only one path to peace: The Avengers' extinction.'' A shiver went down her spine at the threat before she jumped at Thor's hammer smashing through the robot, successfully blowing it to pieces, but not before it finished the creepy performance with an even creepier song. ''I had strings, but now I'm free. There are no strings on me, no strings on me.''

A painful silence fell over the room, everyone staring at the dead robot on the floor, not sure if it was really done now. But when nothing happened, Katya relaxed a little. They all gathered at the place they were sitting and having fun before but had now turned into a war zone. Checking to see if her gun was empty, Katya spoke what everyone was thinking. 

''That was a threat.''