Intertwine

15 - A Pathetic Plan.

"How many more avengers are there I haven't met then?" I asked the room at large. "Why am I such a secret?"

"Because," Steve glanced at me, "we didn't know who we could trust. We suspected there might be a mole before you came, and when your parachute was cut it was confirmed. Only the people in this room know of your existence." I looked around, making a tally. Thor, Steve, Fury, Maria, Alina, Tony, Bruce, Wanda and Nat. Oh and Loki.

"That's ten people, what about Happy?"

"Oh, and Happy." Tony added. "So that's eleven or so?"

"That's like at least seven people I haven't met yet, if I can remember rightly from the news." I groaned, my ribs stinging slightly as I adjusted my position in my seat.

"At least." Tony shrugged.

"Enough chat, time to work. You've got a mission to prep for." Fury reminded us.

Everyone who was in the room who wasn't already sat or stood by the table gathered around. Fury opened the folder. Stark opened up a hologram of the same information. Fury handed out pieces of paper to everyone.

"From the little we know, thanks to Alina and the recent recon mission we have been able to-"

Loki coughed and cut in. "I think you're missing someone."

"And Loki," Fury said giving him a look, "we know that the Ascendency has bases in these counties." He nodded to Tony who flicked a finger and a map of the world appeared alongside a hologram of the globe rotating slowly. "Australia, Russia, Austria, Germany, England, America, France, Italy, China, Korea and Hong Kong."

"Oh wow, that's smart." Alina chuckled. Everyone looked at her. With a sense of ease that must have come with practice, she pulled the levitating map towards her and using only a few gestures projected it to everyone with highlighted points on it as well as dots to show the countries. "It's obviously not exhaustive but these countries are all technologically advanced. I'd have expected Japan on there too, maybe Spain, certainly Switzerland, and my knowledge is eight months outdated, but all these countries have been doing research into enhanced beings and advanced genetic manipulation. Oxford and Cambridge in England are pioneers in scientific advancements, Germany has some of the most efficient pieces even if they might not be the most experimental, Hong Kong has just been able to single out the gene that can interact with a serum similar to the one used on Cap although nowhere near as good, and Korea, Italy and France have been working separately on an Arc Reactor. Getting nowhere of course. The highlighted areas are the cities with the most work being done that might be indicators of where they would be. Easy to hide under the radar that way."

Nat gave an approving look. "Well if anyone thought she wasn't related to Tony they can't deny it now."

"Huh?" She asked absentmindedly, looking at some more images.

"Well I'm in no fit state to travel." I admitted. "Even if I don't like it. Also next time I'm explaining the clever stuff, I make it far more interesting."

"No Alina," Tony grunted, "you make sound effects like a star wars toy."

"No you're right Woodson, you're not in a fit state to travel, which is why you're staying here with Loki to get information out of him." Fury clarified.

"WHAT?!" Loki and I shouted together.

"She's completely impossible-"

"He's a complete dick-"

"She's threatened to kill me 25 times now!"

"He'll never tell me anything the slimy-"

"It's never going to work!" We both screamed at the same time, standing up together and yelling in each other's faces.

As we fell silent I saw the other's expressions. Steve was covering his mouth slightly, trying not to laugh. Nat was smirking. Bruce looked like he'd wanted to leave.

"What I am trying to say is," Loki cleared his throat, "why would I tell her anything I haven't told any of you. This is a pathetic plan. I am better out there, they know and trust me. They believe you captured me, they have no idea I'm working with you."

"What, and let you betray us?" Thor snorted.

"Brother," Loki placed a hand on his heart, "I would never."

"Okay," Alina said. "Hands up if Loki has betrayed you or tried to to kill you."

Everyone around the table slowly raised their hands apart from Wanda who said, "It only counts if trying to take over the world is in that somewhere."

"Fine. But you're making a mistake." Loki huffed, sitting back down.

"We are not. You say it's useless Roara trying to get more information from you, that's fine. You can only tell us so much," Fury shrugged, "work together to find out who all the leaders of the operations are. I want names, photos, addresses, favourite childhood toy. All of it. I also want you two to work on getting Roara up to scratch. I hear she did well on the mission, but she still isn't up to the standard of everyone else around this table. Maybe except for young Miss Stark over here," Fury nodded to Alina.

"Actually," Tony interrupted, "she's a black belt in like three martial arts and when she was 14 she modified one of my new gun designs to scream murderer at me every time I tried to use it. She used a fingerprint sensor to tell if it was me. Took me an entire day to rewire it."

Alina snickered from beside me and I glanced at Loki who actually looked impressed.

"But is she a good shot?" Maria asked. I pulled the Glock 19 out from under the table and handed it to Alina, at the same time shooting a small wooden pellet out of my left palm. In one swift movement Alina took the gun and pulled the trigger. The pellet landed on the table, a neat circle through the middle of it.

"Where the fuck did she get a gun?!" Fury asked, looking around.

"Maybe you should check your pockets." Loki replied, leaning back and crossing his arms as Fury checked inside of his coat, realisation dawning on his face.

"But Roara was nowhere near Fury?" Banner said, looking between the two of us.

"I didn't need to be." I shrugged. "Spend a year with the lord of mischief and you learn a few things."

Loki leant forward "God." He corrected.

"Shut up." Alina replied.

"Oh my god." Tony pressed his palm into his forehead. "They're even worse as a pair. One steals guns, the other shoots them. This is going to be hell."