Duty (An Armorer/Paladin Story)

We go sleuthing

For the next few days, nothing exciting happened. Odin fell into a catatonic state that Loki categorically denied was the Odinsleep. Too bad; at least when he came out of that his strength was renewed. The ravens still didn't seem too upset, though.

Change came on a different front. Natasha had gone out to shake some information out of a few people, and after Loki's encounter with his father, Bucky left to join her. When they came back, they had the location of Viper.

Amazingly, we wouldn't even have to go far. She was somewhere in Alexandria, Virginia. Her proximity to the nation's capital was a matter of some concern, especially since nobody could find her exact location or what she was there for. Bucky and Natasha were very recognizable and notorious; their ability to scout around was unfortunately limited.

"We need to send in people who aren't known or well-known," Natasha said bluntly. "It's the only way we'll get the information."

I met Bucky's eyes across the table; his expression was grim. "I volunteer," I said crisply. "I'd also like to volunteer Sam, Scott, and Peter, provided we can come up with a pretext that won't set off his aunt." I wanted Sam to go for his knowledge of the DC area, his planning abilities, and his strength. Scott would be awesome to have because he's so friendly and outgoing nobody would ever think he was a superhero, plus there's the advantage of his suit. Peter's got enhanced hearing, his 'spider sense', and his webcrawling abilities, and his youth makes him less threatening. Steve and Tony looked like they wanted to kick up a fuss; Nick hastily accepted. After a pro forma sputter about how if he wanted to be volunteered, he'd have stayed in the military, Sam agreed to go. Nick said he'd contact Scott and Peter, and Tony reluctantly said he'd come up with an invitation for Peter to observe Stark Tech lobbyists, or something. Natasha copied Sam and me on the file on Venom, sadly thin. They had managed to get a photograph of the woman, which was helpful and was the only one known to exist. Tall, very curvy, and with dark hair that fell over her face like Veronica Lake, she had a memorable appearance. Natasha and Bucky had suggestions for places to look and what we should be looking for, while Nick started planning with the others; we would be going in first, followed in a few days by the others so that if we could find Viper, we could immediately act.

As soon as we had a pretty good plan, Nick dismissed Sam and me to go pack. We'd be flying on one of Tony's private jets; the others would come in on the quinjet and bring our suits. I detoured to the clinic first with Sigurd and Torburn. As usual, the ravens arrived at the window when I entered the room, and I let them in, dismissing the guard for a break.

I explained briefly that I would be absent for a time due to another mission. "I'm sure you'd castigate me for diverting my attention during a crucial period," I said to Odin wryly, then looking at the birds too. I'm not quite sure how Odin gets the information from the birds, just that he does, and I wanted to be sure to include everybody. "But the simple fact is that we don't know what's happening in Asgard and we have no way of getting there. But these are smaller problems, suitable for less-important people," I said, smiling faintly. "They're the ones I can do something about, anyway. So I won't be able to visit for a bit, but I'll be sure to let the doctor know I'm to be notified immediately if anything happens." I looked at the dogs. "I'd like you to visit here as well. I'll feel better knowing you're here." Sigurd woofed once. Torburn was quite young still, but I trusted his dad to keep him out of trouble. I stopped at Dr Staley's office to let him know about the change of plans and that the dogs would be coming and going, went downstairs to let Loki know I had to leave, then went to the caf to ask a couple of the employees there to keep an eye out for the dogs so that they'd be fed. I didn't like leaving them on their own, but I needed them here. Then we hustled back to the house so I could pack and down to the workshop so that I could pull my suit and weapons. I couldn't take my new poleaxe on the street, but I could take the knives, fans, and urumi; I had a new winter coat with a sheath in the belt. I left the suit and poleaxe for the others to bring with them and after hugging the dogs, hustled to the airstrip.