"Is that really necessary?" Rhodey asked skeptically.
"Absolutely," Natasha replied, her piercing gaze fixed on the Jedi and Senator. "Now, Padmé, what happened on Coruscant that made you come straight to us?"
"Ultron visited my office personally," Amidala said without preamble.
The color drained from Anakin's face as a cold chill ran down his spine.
"He came for you?" Anakin nearly shouted, panic creeping into his voice.
"What did he want?" Sam demanded sharply. "Did he hurt you?"
Padmé shook her head. "No, nothing like that. He just wanted to... thank me."
The statement left everyone staring at her in stunned confusion.
"Thank you for what?" Rhodey asked slowly.
Padmé took a shaky breath before continuing.
"A few months ago, I was shopping in the commercial district with C-3PO," she began, a distant look entering her eyes. "I didn't realize he'd wandered off until I went looking for him. When I found him, he was examining some kind of damaged droid head."
Padmé's expression shifted to one of profound regret and shame.
"A droid head that contained Ultron," she whispered, though her words carried clearly in the silent room. "I had no idea who or what he was at the time... but I helped him reach a repair facility. There, he was able to access the HoloNet."
"This isn't your fault," Sam said firmly, cutting off her self-recrimination. "You need to understand that right here, right now."
"How can you say that?" Padmé asked, her voice nearly pleading. "I helped a genocidal maniac survive! If I had known—"
"You couldn't have known, Senator," T'Challa said gently. "You bear no responsibility for this. It was simply an unfortunate circumstance."
Padmé buried her face in her hands. "I helped Ultron rebuild himself, and because of that—"
"He would have found another way, even without your assistance," Pietro interrupted forcefully. "He's a calculating bastard—he would have figured something out. You didn't know who he was. The man who created him built a suit of armor from scrap metal in a cave to save his own life. You can't blame yourself for this."
"Trust us, Padmé—we have experience with guilt over Ultron," Natasha added, though her words seemed to do little to comfort the distraught Senator.
"Padmé," Anakin said softly, placing an arm around her shoulders. She immediately turned and embraced him tightly, seeking comfort in his presence.
A moment of silence filled the room as everyone watched the couple hold each other, until...
"So you two are married, aren't you?" Natasha asked with casual certainty.
Both Padmé and Anakin's heads snapped toward her, eyes wide with shock, while Natasha simply shrugged.
"What did you just say?" Padmé stammered.
"Don't worry," Natasha raised a placating hand. "We won't tell anyone unless you want us to."
"Wait, you—"
"It wasn't difficult to figure out, honestly," Natasha admitted. "My best friend is a married man too. I know the signs."
"Ah, so you two are together," Scott said with understanding dawning. "That explains a lot of the weird behavior I've noticed."
"Hold on," alarm was clearly visible on Anakin's face. "You... you all know?"
"I only just arrived," T'Challa said with mild amusement. "Don't include me in that 'all.'"
Several others murmured agreement, but that did little to calm the married couple's rising panic.
"If you don't want the entire Jedi Temple finding out, I suggest keeping your voices down," Natasha advised. "But yes, most of us figured it out."
"I didn't know," Rhodey admitted. "But what's the big deal? Why is this so shocking?"
"Jedi are forbidden from forming romantic attachments," Natasha explained.
"Wait... what? You're telling me there's actually such a ridiculous rule?" Rhodey exclaimed. "I thought that was just exaggeration."
"That seems rather... counterproductive," T'Challa commented diplomatically.
"It is," Anakin admitted without hesitation.
"Honestly, I don't know how you function under these conditions. Gives me a headache just thinking about it," Scott muttered, raising his hands to his temples as a brief wave of pain shot through his still-healing head injury.
"Best not to dwell on it now," Natasha said pragmatically. "We have more pressing concerns."
Everyone nodded in agreement.
"So what's our next move?" Sam asked. "Cap's missing, half of us are injured, and you guys took a serious beating too."
"Honestly..." Anakin looked frustrated and exhausted. The normally energetic Jedi seemed overwhelmed by everything that had happened on Jabiim. "I think our best option is to focus on recovery. Take a day or two to get ourselves back together."
"Agreed," T'Challa nodded. "We're in no condition for another confrontation. If we want to successfully rescue Captain Rogers and deal with our current problems, we need to be at full strength."
Padmé started to leave, but turned back to address the Avengers one final time.
"I know this isn't your war," she said quietly. "You're all caught up in something you never asked to be part of. But you've helped us so much. You've saved my husband and my closest friends countless times. I'm so sorry this has happened to you."
"Don't mention it," Sam waved dismissively. "Besides, someone like Anakin makes it easy to want to help."
"I never realized I was such a charity case," Anakin said dryly.
The group's laughter helped ease some of the oppressive tension in the room. Padmé looked at her husband and smiled softly.
"I'll see you at home later, okay?"
"I don't think I can get away—"
"Given the current chaos, I think you can manage to slip out unnoticed," Padmé interrupted with a knowing smile.
"We'll cover for him, don't worry," Sam assured her, earning a grateful nod from the Senator.
She turned back to Anakin, hesitating for just a moment before kissing her husband on the lips in front of the others, then quietly left the room.
Anakin hadn't realized how liberating it would feel to openly express his love for his wife in front of others who accepted it without judgment.
"Thank you," Anakin said sincerely. "You... you don't know what this means to me."
"We've got your back," Rhodey said with a grin, "same as you've got ours."
While this small moment of warmth provided some relief for the Avengers and their Jedi friend—despite the overall gloom pervading the Temple—that sentiment was not shared by others throughout the galaxy.
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