Everly || Steve Rogers

51. Ultron's Schemes

Steve sighed as he handed a small tablet over to Everly. She scrunched up her face as her eyes fell to the picture on the screen. A man, Strucker, was sat atop a cot, his head tipped to one side. A single word was written in crimson blood across the concrete wall behind him: "peace." Everly shook her head lightly as she handed the tablet off to Tony who had walked up beside her.

"What's this?" He asked curiously.

"A message. Ultron killed Strucker." Steve answered, his gaze flickering to Natasha. 

"And he did a Banksy at the crime scene, just for us." Tony added, banner walked up behind him to peek at the screen in his hands.

"This is a smoke scene. Why send a message when you've just given a speech?" Natasha questioned as she glanced from person to person.

"Strucker knew something that Ultron wanted us to miss." Steve crossed his arms over his chest.

"Yeah, I bet he... yeah." Nat sighed when a 'record deleted' message flashed across the computer before her. "Everything we had on Strucker's been erased."

There was a short-lived silence that fell over the group before Everly shrugged. "Not everything."

~~~

"Known associates..." Steve read before tossing the file aside and scooping up a new box. Everyone sifted carefully through each and every file in the room, which was beginning to feel like an impossible task. Everly groaned and plopped her file back onto the table. "Baron Strucker had a lot of friends."

"Well, these people are all horrible." Bruce added as he flipped through a manila folder. Tony narrowed his eyes and pointed to one of the many pages.

"Wait. I know that guy." Banner paused and slowly handed Stark the folder, a questioning look on his face. Everly rose a single brow as she watched Tony study the page. "From back in the day. He operates off the African coast. Black market arms." She frowned and Steve sent a glare Tony's way. "There are conventions. All right? You meet people." He explained annoyedly. "I didn't sell him anything." Thor grabbed the paper from his hands and studied it carefully. Everly stood on her toes and peeked over his shoulder at the document. "He was talking about finding something new, a game-changer. It was all very Ahab." The name on the file was 'Ukysses Klaue.' The man wore sunglasses in each of the three photos, and he had a short, gray beard. A tattoo crawled up his neck and ended at the base of his skull. It wasn't the tattoo that caught Everly's eye however. It was instead the large, oddly shaped, pink scar on the side of his neck.

"This?" She asked curiously as she pointed to the picture. Tony stole another glance at the photo.

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

Thor shook his head. "Those are tattoos," He pointed to the spindly black lines, then to the scar. "This is a brand."

"Oh, yeah. It's a word in an African dialect meaning 'thief.'" Bruce explained. Everly spun around to see him sitting before a computer, the same brand was shown on the screen. He turned back to face the group. "In a much less friendly way."

"What dialect?" Steve asked.

"Wakanada." Bruce quickly did a double take and squinted before correcting himself. "Wakanda." Tony visibly stiffened as he turned to meet Steve's knowing gaze. Everly's eyes widened in the slightest and she ran her fingers gently over the shield leaned against the wall beside her.

"If this guy got out of Wakanda with some of their trade goods..." Tony lowered his voice and spoke directly to Steve, allowing the rest of the room to remain suspended in a state of confusion.