Worthy

Part 9 - Didn't We Beat This Level?

"You sure about this?" Fury questions as you lay out all the information for him the following day. The rest of the team are all assembled in the meeting room, watching you present your case; it had taken some time to get all the information together.

"It makes sense. FRIDAY pull up the files." As she does, you walk over to the screen, narrating again what you had picked up from the information Danvers had handed over. "I checked it with Carol. According to the data packet a bunch of sonic emitters were stolen from the Kree."

"What's the problem with that? Stark has a bunch of them stored around here? Not exactly dangerous territory?" Fury crosses his arms.

"Just hear me out." You try to keep his attention. "Danvers said the team who stole them had to break through 6 levels of security to get to them; losing 4 of their men in the process. Like it or not, those sonic emitters must be worth something for them to risk all that."

"So they're not your standard technology." Bruce jumps in to help you. So far he had been the only one on board with your theory.

"I still don't see how that affects us Kate?" Nat asks, reading over the paperwork again. "What makes you think they've come here?"

"Well they were on her suspect list weren't they?" You shrug, before tapping into FRIDAY's system, pulling up a hologram of Earth. "Besides, only a few days ago a subspace transmission was picked up just over South Africa, bearing very similar readings to the transmissions coming from the team that broke into the Kree ship." You bring up all the readings from Danvers, showing the trajectory of the communications.

"Why is this the first we're hearing about it?" Steve asks, looking at you, curiousity piqued.

"Because the readings were so small it wouldn't pick up on any of our scanners, not unless we were looking for it." Bruce replies.

"Which we did once Kate started digging?" Tony asks, beaming up at you with pride, always having your back, even if he had been sceptical before. In fact the whole team's eyes are focused on you; all except one: Thor. He's been sitting at the back of the room in silence since the meeting had started, in fact he hadn't said a word to anyone except Bruce since your altercation the previous day; simply sat with arms crossed, eyes fixed to the ground.

You've noticed his ignorance, but decide not to let it get to you. "We couldn't translate all of the code that was being sent down, so we had to wait for Carol to get back to us, that's why it took so long." You explain to Fury; he turns and looks at Thor, a slight irritation in his look. You don't know why but you feel a slight twinge of guilt in your stomach as you look over at the god of Thunder once again, disturbed at how Fury was looking at him, though you couldn't place why. "Thor translated as soon as we got the details back."

Thor's head lifts and looks at you, shocked that you would admit his involvement; you simply nod at him. You have to admit that you were impressed with how quickly Bruce had came back to you with the translation; Bruce had surprised you by taking on that responsibility - the less time spent around Thor the better. "So what do we know?" Fury interrupts the look between you.

"The code was still pretty encrypted, didn't make much sense." Bruce shakes his head, "But Kate has a few ideas." Everyone looks back at you again.

"They want an exchange. The emitters for something else, that part we still can't work out. But I think I know who they want to do a deal with!" You instruct FRIDAY to upload the next load of information. A holographic replica of Ulysses Klaue appears.

"Really?" Tony asks. "That guy? Didn't we beat this level already?"

"I don't understand," Vision pipes in, creating a few chuckles around the room.

"Yeah, didn't we stop him?" Nat asks, before Clint places a hand on her shoulder.

"Technically Nat, we didn't" he replies to her. "You guys were pretty out of it after..." he looks over to Wanda, who looks down at the floor; guilt overriding her. "And then Hulk and Stark went and destroyed half a city; easy way for the guy to make a run." Bruce looks at the floor, while Tony shrugs.

"Sure, yeah." Nat nods, shaking her head and reaching over to squeeze Wanda's hand, letting her know there was no hard feelings. "But what makes you think it's him?"

"Based on the translation Thor gave, they're arranging a meet at the 'place where Churchill stood' and..." You move your hand over the hologram, revealing the port in South Africa, "To watch out for the iron and shield." You point at Steve and Tony. "Can't make out what this last part was." You look back at the paper Bruce had given you earlier.

"Something about the African secret," Thor chimes in, looking directly at Steve.

"You think these guys want to trade the emitters for vibranium?" Clint asks, leaning forward.

"Can't be sure entirely, but makes sense." Bruce nods.

"But why would he go back to the Churchill? He's bound to know that someone would be keeping an eye on it?" Steve looks over protectively at his shield.

"Because we're not." You pull up another file onto the screen. "South African authorities weren't exactly concerned about the port after what happened." You place a hand on Bruce's shoulders. "The ship has been sitting there untouched since that day." The team look around at each other, trying to consider all the information you've just given. "It may be a long shot guys, but all these clues point to Klaue."

"I say it's worth a shot," Bruce backs you. Fury looks over the file in his hand one more time.

"Ok, but not a repeat of last time." He sighs, looking over the table at Tony and Bruce, before giving a long look to Wanda. "Straight in, take him out and ONLY him."

Before everyone can start to make a move you stop. "Actually I don't think we should just burst in there like last time."

"Ultron is gone, and the wonder twins are on our side?" Tony pipes up, pointing to Wanda and Pietro. "This will be so much easier."

"Brooks is right," Steve jumps in. "If we go in all guns blazing then it could cause more trouble. We need to get in and get all the facts. The people who stole the emitters, what do we know about them?"

"Danvers couldn't give us a lot," You throw him over the file again. "But dangerous enough from what she said."

"So we need to stake it out, figure out as much information as possible?"

"Sure, but that's not going to be easy." You look over the table. "He's seen most of your faces; knows some of you too well," You look over at Tony. "This has to be a smaller team, only bring in the big guns if we need them."

"Fair point," Fury agrees, looking directly at you. "You're point on this Brooks. Take Thor and Parker. Barton will fly the jet. The rest of you stay here, and see if you can come up with anyone else that might be interested in these damn emitters." You watch as he leaves; annoyed that not only would he pair you up with the man you hate, again, but also that he would question your research.

"Well done," Thor chuckles at your response to Fury. "Let's hope you're right, goddess of research." He whispers in your ear, words dripping with sarcasm.

"Bite me blondie," you spit out at him, before marching off, desperate to catch up with Fury to try and make him change his mind.