You Have My Word - Avengers: Age of Ultron Fanfiction

Chapter Ten: Files

I dropped down on my bed, realizing what was happening in my mind. I did my best to calm down and return to my normal state. After a few minutes I felt my eyes shift, it was calm and quiet. I laid back in my bed, trying to just relax for a while before anything crazy happened. Just as I calmed myself down, there was a knock at my door: Tony.

"Come in."

He opened the door and leaned in, "We got something. C'mon, Crazy."

I rolled my eyes and joined him in heading back upstairs. The walk was quiet and semi uncomfortable. Tony and I never really got to know each other, so we don't talk much. Maybe after all this I'll make it a goal to do so. As we reached the top and entered the lab, the whole team was assembled there and talking. Steve handed Thor a tablet, I'm guessing, with our lead on Ultron.

"What's this?"

"A message." Thor twists his wrist, softly slamming the tablet into Tony's chest. On it I could see the image of Strucker dead and the word 'PEACE' written on the wall in what I could only assume to be blood from the body below. "Ultron killed Strucker."

I roll my shoulders back and crack my neck, ready for the onslaught of incoming information.

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

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

"Strucker knew something that Ultron wanted us to miss."

"I bet he... yeah, everything we had on Strucker's been erased."

"Not everything."

I sigh and go with Steve and Tony to grab old files to look through. The old-fashioned way of getting information; how strange it feels. As we walked back to the labs, Steve kept staring at me with a mix of curiosity and fear. I slowed my stride and let Tony walk past me as I backed up with Steve.

"Hey, you look weird. What's going on in your head?"

"What happened to you? Your eyes turned black earlier, if you recall."

"I do. They haven't turned black in years. I don't remember exactly what it does, but I'm sure we'll find out soon enough."

I smirk and my eyes flash; I'm guessing black by Steve's reaction. I chuckle and keep walking with the files until we get back to the labs, dropping them down, and separating them within the team. Steve continued bringing in a few more as we all looked through them.

"Known associates..."

"Baron Strucker had a lot of friends."

"Well, these people are all horrible."

"Wait, I know that guy from back in the day. He operates off the African coast. Black market arms."

Steve and I both glance over at Tony in disbelief and annoyance. He shrugs, "There are conventions, all right? You meet people. I didn't sell him anything."

Steve and I share a look and nod, continuing to look through the files a bit as Tony talked.

"He was talking about finding something new, a game-changer. It was all very Ahab."

"This?"

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

"No, those are tattoos. This is a brand."

Bruce took the file and walked to the computer in the corner, scanning the picture, and looking for a match. I locked eyes with Tony and scowled softly. He shrugged and we looked away.

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

"What dialect?"

"Wakanada? Wa-wa... Wa-Wakanda."

Steve and Tony quickly looked at each other, a mix of anger, confusion, and disbelief.

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

"I thought your father said he got the last of it."

Nat and I shared a look, shrugging, and looking back at the team. I tilted my head to the side as I stared down a bit.

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

Steve and Thor part, looking back at Steve's shield and it hit me all at once.

"The strongest metal on Earth."

I sighed, knowing that we had quite the mission on our hands.

"Where is this guy now?"

I looked down, noticing a rogue file. I went to pick it up to put it back, but I just couldn't overlook the name I saw in bold letters on the top of the folder... my name... I looked back at the team and quickly ran to my room. I will most definitely be looking this over later. As I walk out, Steve approaches.

"Tony says you took a file?"

"Nope."

He stared into my eyes and I nodded slowly.

"Nothing important. Just something I want to look into later."

He frowns, but nods. We both head to the armory to prepare.