Man Out of Time - A Captain America / Avengers Fanfiction

Chapter 42

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Chapter 42

"Commander Rogers wishes us to believe a 67-year-old sketch he made of his friend is really an invasion plan for Midgard?" Thor asked, his forehead wrinkling in thought as he stared at the photocopy of Peggy standing in front of a map of Europe, other continents visible on the periphery of the picture.

"Is that any more absurd than hiding the Cosmic Cube in a carving of Yggdrasil in a church in Norway?" Steve asked.

"We already searched that island," Natasha said. "We came up empty."

"We didn't search inside the volcano," Steve said. "We only searched the waters around the island looking for the two missing Leviathans."

"That island has been crawling with Australian military personnel since the helicarrier was destroyed," Nick Fury said. "Including all known caves. If there was something else there besides the locals the Chitauri kidnapped, it's long gone."

"We should go take a look," Tony Stark said. He looked at the others and shrugged. "Hey … it will give me an excuse to dodge the Society for Mucosal Immunology symposium Pepper wants me to speak at tomorrow night. Mucous... Not my thing."

"Banner?" Fury asked.

Bruce looked at the photocopy of the sketch Steve brought in.

"It's too much of a coincidence to ignore," Bruce said. "If nothing else, it will give me a chance to check up on the people the Chitauri victimized."

"It's a waste of resources," Natasha said. She looked up at Steve. "You accuse me of not being right in the head since the incident. But what about you? You keep coming up with these crazy theories that don't pan out. And I, for one, am sick of it! For all we know, you ran home and drew that picture after you got laughed out of here the other day."

There was silence. Steve noticed that nobody jumped to his defense. Fury was right about one thing. He was losing the trust of the people he was supposed to lead. Including the lower-level S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel and regular enlisted men, the ordinary heroes he was supposed to act as liason for between them and the superheroes.

"Clint?" Fury asked. "You haven't weighed in yet."

Clint sat straightening the fletching on his arrows, making sure every single pinfeather was just right, so that when he finally let an arrow fly, not even the tiniest bit of drag would cause his arrow to veer off. He didn't look up.

"Steve may be going bonkers," Clint said. "But he's not a liar. If he says he drew that picture 67 years ago after seeing some enemy map and then two of the locations later turned out to be significant, then we should go check it out. If he's wrong, Fury can send him for some happy time at the VA until he gets his shit straightened out."

Natasha shot Clint a glare. Clint did not look up. Trouble in paradise again?

"I prognosticate the interlopers shall be long gone," Thor said.

"Probably," Bruce said. "But maybe they left something behind. Clues. Like that stuff Tony's got down in his lab, trying to figure out what the heck it is? Right now, we've got nothing."

"I agree," Tony Stark said.

"Thou only seeketh toys to pad your arsenal," Thor said, his tone more affectionate than accusatory. "Merchant of Death."