Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"Ultron's teamed up with the Enhanced that we encountered back in Sokovia. And that's not all. Ultron killed Strucker."
Steve handed the tablet to Thor, whom glanced over it before slapping it onto an awaiting Tony. Clearly, the Asgardian's anger did not simmer overnight. Stark flipped the tablet over and scoffed at the picture it presented.
"And he did a Banksy at the crime scene, just for us."
Annabelle and Banner stood by Natasha as the redhead looked over his shoulder and studied the image intently. "This is a smoke screen. Why send a message when you've just given a speech?"
Steve nodded. "Strucker knew something that Ultron wanted us to miss."
"Yeah, I bet he..." She clicked a few buttons on her computer before pausing. "Yeah. Everything we had on Strucker's been erased."
".. Not everything."
~~~
The young brunette ran her hand through her hair and scratched at the back of her head when she spotted Steve and Natasha hauling in more boxes. Annabelle sat at a table in the back of the room with Clint by her side, both with stacks of files on Strucker, which were only a fraction of everything they had on him. The two watched the rest of the team at the opposite side of the room. Banner and Stark were reading the papers like normal people while Thor was tearing open box after box, flinging papers around all willy-nilly.
Her hand slowly travelled from the back of her head to the back of her neck. Clint swatted her hand away the second she started raking her nails onto her skin. He chuckled at the dirty look she gave him.
"Known associates," mumbled Rogers. "Baron Strucker had a lot of friends."
"Well, these people are all horrible." Banner turned another page, skimming through the names and photos as he went.
Tony leaned over and caught a glimpse of one of the photos.
"Wait," he exclaimed, "I know that guy."
Banner handed the file over to the man's outstretched hand. Stark flipped through it a bit before elaborating.
"From back in the day. He operates off the African coast. Black market arms."
At the new information, Annabelle and Clint got up from their seats and joined the others. Steve gave Tony a sort of scolding glare once he heard the words 'black market'.
"There are conventions. All right? 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 held up one of the photos they had of the man Tony spoke of. He noticed a peculiar marking at the side of the man's neck and pointed it out. "This?"
