The Asgardian And The Human (Fem Reader X Steve Rogers)

Chapter 25 - Research

Thor and I had tried to follow the Bots after they took the scepter. We both were pissed as the trail went cold.

We knew exactly who was responsible for this.

Thor and I walk into the lab angrily, I push Thor behind me and grab onto Tony's neck. I start to choke him as I hold him high in the air.

"Come on. Use your words, Princess."

"I have more than enough words to describe you, Tony." I growl.

"Y/N! The Legionnaire." Steve steps up to me.

I roll my eyes and drop him, turning to Steve. "Trail went cold about a hundred miles out but it's headed north, and it has the scepter. Now we have to retrieve it, again." I say angrily.

"The genie's out of that bottle. Clear and present is Ultron." Nat crosses her arms.

"I don't understand. You built this program. Why is it trying to kill us?"

Suddenly Tony starts laughing, Bruce subtly shakes his head at him to get him to stop. "You think this is funny?" Thor asks angrily.

"No. It's probably not, right? Is this very terrible? Is it so... is it so... it is. It's so terrible." He laughs.

"This could've been avoided if you hadn't played with something you don't understand." Thor points.

"No, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. It is funny. It's a hoot that you don't get why we need this."

Bruce steps up, "Tony, maybe this might not be the time to-"

"Really?! That's it? You just roll over, show your belly, every time somebody snarls."

Bruce shakes his head. "Only when I've created a murder bot."

"We didn't. We weren't even close. Were we close to an interface?"

Steve steps up, "Well, you did something right. And you did it right here. The Avengers were supposed to be different than Shield."

"Anybody remember when I carried a nuke through a wormhole?" Tony asks.

"No, it's never come up." Rhodey shrugs.

"Saved New York?" Tony turns.

"Never heard that."

"Recall that? A hostile alien army came charging through a hole in space. We're standing three hundred feet below it. We're the Avengers. We can bust arms dealers all the live long day, but, that up there? That's... that's the end game. How were you guys planning on beating that?" Tony looks right at Steve.

"Together."

"We'll lose." Tony shakes his head.

"Then we'll do that together, too." Tony looks at him for a moment before turning away. "Thor's right. Ultron's calling us out. And I'd like to find him before he's ready for us. The world's a big place. Let's start making it smaller."

I don't bother changing as we all split up, I mostly was trying to stay away from Tony because I was angry at him and I didn't want to do something I would regret.

I look down at the tablet to see a photo of Strucker....he was killed. "What's this?" Tony peaks over, I slam the tablet into his chest and turn as Steve pulls it up so everyone can see.

"A message. Ultron killed Strucker."

"And he did a Banksy at the crime scene, just for us." Tony nods.

"This is a smokescreen. Why send a message when you've just given a speech?" Nat asks.

"Strucker knew something that Ultron wanted us to miss." I nod.

"Yeah, I bet he..." Nat turns and looks at the computer monitor. "Yep. Everything we had on Strucker has been erased."

"Not everything."

Tony brings up many many Boxes of physical files, we start ripping through them, trying to funds anything that will help. "Known associates. Well, Strucker had a lot of friends." I sigh.

"Well, these people are all horrible."

"Wait. I know that guy." Tony points. Bruce passes him the photo he was looking at. "From back in the day. He operates off the African coast, black market arms." Steve gives him an accusing look. "There are conventions, alright? You meet people, I didn't sell him anything." We see the photo is of a man named Ulysses Klaue. "He was talking about finding something new, a game changer, it was all very Ahab."

Thor points to the scar on the back of Klaue's neck. "What's this?"

"Uh, it's a tattoo. I don't think he had it..."

"No, those are tattoos, this is a brand." I point.

Bruce types at the computer for a moment, "Oh, yeah. It's a word in an African dialect meaning thief, in a much less friendly way."

"What dialect?" Steve asks.

"Wakanada...? Wa...Wa...Wakanda."

Tony turns, "If this guy got out of Wakanda with some of their trade goods..."

"I thought your father said he got the last of it?"

"I don't follow. What comes out of Wakanda?" Bruce asks.

Tony looks down at Steve's shield, "The strongest metal on earth."

"Where is this guy now?"