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18

I cradle Fin in my arms as Steve talks with Maria and Clint finishes a phone call from his "girlfriend." Steve reaches the table with a tablet showing Strucker's corpse.

"A message. Ultron killed Strucker," Steve informs us.

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

"This is a smokescreen," Natasha points out. "Why send a message when you've just given a speech?"

A lightbulb goes off in my brain, "Strucker knew something Ultron wants us to miss." I check my hunch on the computer, "...And Ultron erased everything we had on him."

"Not everything, " Tony says, I blink confused for a second before it dawns on me. We're going old school which means a lot of reading.

I groan as I read through another file on Strucker. "These people are all horrible."

"Wait, I know that guy," Tony points to the picture attached to the file I picked up, I hand it to him.

" From back in the day. He operates off the African coast, black market arms." Steve sends him the eyebrows of disappointment. " There are conventions, alright? You meet people, I didn't sell him anything. He was talking about finding something new, a game changer, it was all very "Ahab."

Thor points to something on Klaue's neck, "This brand here."

" Oh, yeah. It's a word in an African dialect meaning thief, in a much less friendly way," Dad reads from a computer screen.

"Which dialect?"

My dad looks closer at the screen, "W-Wakanada-"

"Wakanda," I correct with a soft glance in his direction. I acted like a complete brat yesterday.

" If this guy got out of Wakanda with some of their trade goods..." Tony trails off.

Steve's eyebrows knit together, "I thought your father got the last of it."

That sounds familiar...what if Wakanda had a secret stash of vibranium that they're not sharing with tne rest of the world. I mean how else could get it?...Probably not, right?

"I don't follow. What comes out of Wakanda?" Dad questions.

I look at Steve's shield as Tony answers, "The strongest metal on earth."

I roll my eyes, "Stop being so dramatic, he means vibranium. It's what the shield is made of."

"You are a buzzkill," Tony pouts.

I stick my tongue out in response.

"Wheels up in 30," Steve tells us before walking away.

Everyone leaves, leaving my dad and me alone. I shift my weight uncomfortably as I prepare for an awkward conversation, "I'm sorry for last night."

"No, it was my fault. I didn't even realize how much I was ignoring you. And then this whole mess with Ultron..."

"Ultron is the result of the Mind Stone, its not your fault, "I assure him.

He looks at me confused, " Mind Stone?"

"Nevermind. I'm just sorry for how I acted."

He smiles anyway, "I think I owe you a day out after all of this is over."

" I don't think I've gotten the chance to visit the British Library, I heard it's one of the biggest in the world," I suggest with a grin on my face.

"Sounds like a plan, as soon as Ultron is a pile of dust, we'll go, "He tells me.

"Promise?"

He throws his arm around me, "Promise."