Marvel crosses Star Wars, and everyone attacks the galaxy

"Is it necessary?" War Machine asked doubtfully.

"It is absolutely necessary," Natasha said, staring at the Jedi and the Senator. "Now, Padmé, what happened on Coruscant that compelled you to come and talk to us?"

"Ultron himself came to my office," Amidala replied immediately.

The hair on the back of Anakin's neck stood up and a cold shiver ran down his spine.

"He's coming for you?" Anakin yelled, almost panicked.

"What on earth did he want?" Falcon asked sharply. "Did he hurt you?"

Padmé shook her head. "No, nothing like that. He just wanted to... thank me.

This stunned everyone and they stared at her in confusion.

"What does this mean?" War Machine asked.

Padmé let out a shaky breath.

"You see…a few months ago, I was shopping on the streets of Coruscant with 3P0." Padmé said, a slightly distant look in her eyes. "I didn't realize 3P0 had gone missing, and when I went to look for him, I saw him holding the head of some kind of droid.

Padmé's expression turned into one of shame and regret.

"A robot head that held Ultron." She whispered, but her voice was heard loud and clear by everyone in the room. "I had no idea who or what he was at the time...but I helped him get to a place where I could repair him. There, he was able to connect himself to the holographic network.

"This isn't your fault," Sam said bluntly, stopping Padmé from continuing. "You need to put this out of your mind right here and now."

"How can you say that?!" Padmé asked in an almost pleading manner. "I helped a genocidal lunatic survive, if I had known—"

“You have no idea, Senator,” T’Challa said softly. “You are not responsible. This is just an unfortunate situation.

Padmé crossed her arms over her face in annoyance. "I helped Ultron rebuild himself, and because of that—"

"He'll figure out a way to do it himself, even without your help," Quicksilver quickly cut in. "He's a smart bastard, he'll find a way. You don't know it, the guy who made him built a suit out of scraps and saved his life in a cave. You can't blame yourself."

"Trust us, Padmé, we have experience with this," Natasha added, though it seemed to have little effect on the Senator, who remained crestfallen.

"Padmé." Anakin put an arm around her shoulders and Padmé threw herself at Anakin, hugging him tightly.

There was a moment of silence in the room as they watched the two embrace each other, and then...

"So I think she's your wife, isn't she?" Natasha asked, seeming to know more.

Padmé and Anakin's heads snapped in her direction, eyes widening in shock, while Black Widow simply shrugged.

"Hey, what did you say?" Padmé stammered.

"Don't worry." Black Widow held up a hand, trying to ease the married couple's current fears. "We won't tell anyone unless you want us to."

"Wait, you-"

“It wasn’t hard for me to figure out, to be honest.” Black Widow admitted. “My best friend is a married man.

"Haha, so you two are together." Scott said. "Then I can understand a lot of strange things that happened before."

"Wait, wait." Alarm was clearly visible on Anakin's face. "You...you all know?!"

"I just got here recently." T'Challa joked. "This 'you' shouldn't include me."

Some hummed in agreement, but that did little to allay the married couple's panic.

"If you don't want the entire Jedi Temple to know, I suggest you keep your voice down." Natasha said. "Yes, most of us know."

"I don't know," Rhodes admitted. "But what's the big deal? Why is it so shocking?

"Jedi Knights are forbidden from falling in love," Natasha revealed.

"Wait...what? You mean there's really such a bullshit rule? War Machine yelled, "I think it's just an exaggeration.

"That sounds rather... ridiculous. T'Challa commented.

"Yes," Anakin admitted without losing any time.

"Honestly, I don't know how to function in this situation. It gives me a headache every time I think about it. Scott muttered to himself, raising his hands above his head, because at that moment he felt a brief pain coming from his bandaged head.

"It's best not to dwell on this," Black Widow said. "We have more serious matters to deal with."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"So what should we do now?" Falcon asked. "The captain is missing, some of us are injured, and you guys took a beating."

"Honestly..." Anakin looked frustrated. Frankly, the usually energetic Jedi was overwhelmed by the Battle of Jabium. "Now, I think it's best for us to recuperate and take a day or two to restore ourselves.

T'Challa agreed. "We are exhausted and in no fit state to fight any more. We had better do this if we want to successfully find Captain Rogers and deal with these current problems.

Padmé was about to leave, but she turned back to look at the Avengers.

"I know this isn't your war," Padmé whispered. "You're all tied to something you don't have to be connected to. But you've helped us so much. You've saved my husband and my best friend so many times. I'm so sorry this has happened to you."

"It's okay." Sam waved his hand, "It's easy to save someone like Anakin.

"I didn't expect I'd be so much trouble," Anakin said dryly.

The group laughed, easing some of the sullen tension in the room. Padmé looked back at her husband and smiled softly.

"We'll see you at home, okay?"

"I don't think I can—"

"Given the current situation, I think you can sneak away on your own." Padmé interrupted him with a knowing smile.

"We'll cover him, don't worry," Sam began, earning a grateful nod from the Senator.

She then turned back to Anakin, hesitating for a moment until she kissed her husband on the lips in front of the others before leaving the room.

Anakin didn't realize how liberating it felt to be able to openly express his love for his wife in front of others...

but. . .

"Thank you." Anakin said sincerely. "You...you don't know what this means to me.

"We have your back," War Machine said with a grin, "just like you have ours."

While there was this small moment of lightness between the Avengers and their Jedi friends, despite the depressing mood in the Temple, that sentiment was not shared by others.