"Tony, you forgot her backpack."

"Shiiiiit," he groaned into the phone, with a slap of regret to his forehead, "I'm sorry. I was kinda in a hurry to get her out of the tower and I've been a little preoccupied chasing my fuck-up around the world since then. Does she really need it?"

"She has school tomorrow, so if you want to keep things as normal as possible, I'd say yes," Happy chuckled dryly, "and she's been bugging me about it since we got to the hotel. You're raising quite the persistent kid, Tony. She's turning out to be just like you."

"Happy, she's only five, she's gonna be persistent."

"You act like you're five..."

Tony closed his eyes in frustration, not at you for pushing his friend into calling, but because he had forgotten something so simple yet so necessary. He couldn't blame himself too much, however; he was trying to keep you safe from a murderbot that he and Bruce had built only a few floors away from the safety of your room. This was on him, and he had to figure it out so it didn't affect you more than it already had. "Alright, I'll grab it and put it on the kitchen table. Keep her in the car and get it fast, then get her the hell away from this building. I'm counting on you, Hap."

"Tony, what are you up to?"

"I've gotta go," he deflected. "Remember, get in and get out. I don't want her here any longer than absolutely necessary."

"I've got it, Tone, you can trust me."

~~~

"You have to trust me."

"Kinda don't."

"Our ally," Tony pressed, pushing Bruce back, "the one protecting the military's nuclear codes? I found him."

"Hello, Dr. Banner," JARVIS greeted, the sound of a smile in his voice as his matrix lit up the room.

As Tony continued on, his argument growing more and more emphatic and stepping closer to the doctor with each word, Bruce shook his head in disbelief and confusion. Tony could be so convincing when he wanted to be, and he was his friend above all; Bruce didn't truly believe that he had the desire to make this entire Ultron situation any worse, but every word he heard didn't steer his instincts any other way.

"You want me to help you put JARVIS into this thing?"

"No," Tony shrugged, "I want to help you put JARVIS into this thing."

~~~

Wait in the car.

It had been only a minute or two since Happy rushed into the tower, leaving you to wait where you were told, parked in the garage and completely alone. He had dropped a tablet in your lap with a few of your favorite games ready to play, but they didn't hold your interest. The only thing that did was your wonder about what was happening with your dad behind those doors. You couldn't get the image of his scared expression out of your head, and you could do nothing but worry that he needed you after he sent you away.

You pushed the lock on the car door and held your breath, waiting for an alarm to sound or for Happy to come bursting from the building to stop you, but neither happened. Your fingers barely curled around the handle to open it when you were stopped cold, out of pure shock and unadulterated joy.

"Are you alright, (Y/N)?"

"JARVIS?!" you practically squealed. "Where did you go? I've been trying to talk to you for hours!"

"I am so very sorry, my dear, I was unable to communicate for a short time, but I am here now. I may have only a few moments with you, and I needed to be assured that you were well cared for in my absence."

"Yeah, Uncle Happy is doing okay," you said. "He's getting my backpack for school and then we have to go back to the hotel. He said that Dad won't let us go anywhere else until he says we can. Do you know why?"

There was a long pause this time before your question was answered, as if you had asked the one thing that JARVIS didn't want to answer. You waited patiently, but your body said otherwise; your foot was bouncing anxiously, and your hand was still on the door to make a run for the building at any second.

"I can't say right now, (Y/N)," JARVIS finally spoke again, "but know that your father and I are doing everything we can to be able to bring you home. We will make this right."

"JARVIS, are you going to leave me again?"

"I am always with you."

"No, you were gone," you insisted, "and you told me that I would never be alone but I was. I was so scared and you wouldn't answer me."

"D-darling...I am s-so v-very...so-sorry...I can't...stay...I...l-love..." he answered. His voice was breaking and fading, and it became harder to hear him. To you, for the first time since you had heard him, he sounded mechanical as if his system was shorting out and failing.

"JARVIS? Are you okay?"

Nothing.

"JARVIS? Don't leave me again, please!"

Again, no response. You couldn't stand to be inside the car for another second in the heavy and painful silence, so you leapt out and ran towards the building with no care as to who saw you and no matter what anyone had said. You were going to get to the bottom of this, because you had lost JARVIS twice in one day, and you weren't about to lose your other dad because you weren't with Tony when he needed you.

Maybe if you disobeyed Happy, JARVIS would come back and try to stop you. You welcomed his punishment this time, because you knew it might be the only way to hear his voice again. That terrified you more than anything that your dad might be facing upstairs, so your legs kept running towards it.

~~~

Why does your Vision sound like JARVIS?

That single question stopped you dead in your tracks. You saw everyone there; Steve, Clint, Bruce, your dad, and even Thor, who hadn't been around more than once or twice since you moved into your new home. There were two other people there that you didn't know, a man and a woman, looking like they were completely out of place, but just as scared as the rest of them were. Quietly, you hid yourself behind one of the couches to watch, hoping that Steve's stupid super ears didn't hear you; they had gotten you into trouble more than once because breaking the rules wasn't fun to him like it was to you.

"We reconfigured JARVIS' matrix," Tony explained, "to create something new."

You breathed a small sigh of relief at the sound of Tony's voice, much calmer than the last time you had heard it, though he still looked more upset than ever. You wanted to go to him to hold his hand, because that usually worked to make him feel better.

"I am not Ultron, I am not JARVIS...I...I am."

When the voice echoed around you, it pulled at your heart in a way that you hadn't felt since that day when the aliens came from the sky and took your family away from you. You had known right away that you wouldn't see them again, and now you knew that you would never talk to your JARVIS either. This thing was walking around, sounding like him, but he wasn't him. He was an imposter who took him away from you.

"What did you do to him?" you shouted, jumping out from your hiding place. "Where's JARVIS?" You rushed across the room and right up to Vision, clenching your fists and hitting against his leg with all of the anger you could muster. It didn't matter that he was as solid as a rock and each punch hurt you more than him; you barely felt it in your rage. "What did you do? Give him back!"

"(Y/N)?! What the hell?" Tony gasped, hurrying towards you, but you stepped back to avoid his grip. "(Y/N), you're not supposed to be here! Where's Happy?"

"Give him back!" you continued, even as Steve took you in his arms and pulled you away from Vision. You kicked and screamed and hit at the air despite his grip, no matter how many times he tried to console you. "You're not JARVIS!"

Vision was statuesque during the entire event, staring at you with wide eyes and an attempt to comprehend just what was happening. You could strike him as many times as you wanted and it wouldn't shift him an inch; his brand-new mind was jumbled and racing, with a voice within it trying to push forward through the chaos. He held his stance as he tried to make sense of it all, and tried to understand how it was that your face was so familiar to him when you had never met before.

"Who is she?" he finally whispered to Thor, his eyes still trained on you.

"She is the daughter of Stark. Her name is (Y/N)."

"(Y/N)..." Vision muttered softly under his breath. He could feel a shift in his thoughts at the mention of your name, and as if from nowhere he became fiercely protective and was watching every move that Steve and Tony were making as they carried you from the room.

"Honey, please, we need to get you out of here," Tony continued, following Steve as he carried you away. "This isn't safe, and I don't have time to explain it yet. I promise, I will as soon as I can. It's going to be okay, (Y/N)."

"Dad..." you sniffled, "what did you do to him? Why did you take JARVIS away? Did he do something wrong? Was it me? If it was me, I'll fix it, just bring him back."

"Baby...oh, baby, no, it wasn't you at all. It wasn't him either. This is so much more than you can understand, but please trust me, I'll tell you everything soon. Just please go back to the hotel with Happy. I need to know that you're safe there, okay? Can you do that for me, sweetheart?"

You hadn't been paying attention to him anymore, so when Vision approached and appeared behind Steve, you nearly jumped from his arms in surprise and the desire to be as far away from the android as you could. "Get away from me!"

"Vision, maybe now isn't the time-" Steve tried, but the newest Avenger was decidedly short on manners where you were concerned.

"I am not JARVIS," Vision spoke to you directly, his eyes searching your face for acceptance, "but I can hear him speaking to me. I can hear him pushing me towards you, to protect you. He is in here, (Y/N), and he wants you to know that he is still with you, just as he has always promised to be."