Shadows (BuckyxOC)

Maximoffs

We all got a few hours' rest but were up early to work on getting any information we could find that would tell us where Ultron was hiding out. I was sitting with Natasha, each of us in front of a computer and my dad was across the room on his tablet. Thor hadn't entered long ago with something on his mind.

"Female Stark, you said you have a connection with the scepter?" He asked.

I looked past him to Steve who was just entering the room then flicked my eyes to the Asgardian, "Uh... yes. Sort of." I said.

"Do you think you could use that connection to locate it?" Thor asked.

I shook my head, "No. I can only feel it when it's nearby. If we get close, I'll be able to tell you if we're on the right track but I can't just use this connection like a GPS."

"GPS?"

"Tracking device." I supplied at Thors confusion.

Steve handed Thor a tablet as my dad came over to check it out, "What's this?" He asked.

Thor slapped the tablet into Tony's chest as Steve answered, "A message. Ultron killed Strucker."

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

"This is a smoke screen." Natasha said, "Why send a message when you've just given a speech?"

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

"Yeah, I bet he did." Natasha said and paused when all the files from her computer were deleted.

"Yup, everything we've had on Strucker's been erased."

"Not just Strucker." I said, "I can't access anything. Everything is gone."

"Not everything." Steve said.

30 minutes later we were all in the office looking through paper copies of everything that could help us in our pursuit of Ultron. I was at a table in the corner, sifting through a box that Steve just brought me, and my dad, Thor, and Bruce were looking through their own respective boxes. This is why I think it's important that the world not go completely digital. Hard copies are important when technology decides to fail us.

"Known associates. Baron Strucker had a lot of friends." Steve said.

"I wouldn't say friends, per se. Half of them wanted to kill him." I said, tossing a file down that I just flipped through.

"Well, these people are all horrible." Bruce said, throwing down his own file.

"Wait, I know that guy." Tony said, grabbing the file, "From back in the day. He operates off the African Coast. Black Market Arms." That received many intrigued looks from everyone, including me. My dad tried to shelter me from a few things growing up, "Look, there are conventions. Alright? You meet people. I didn't sell him anything."

"That you know of." I muttered.

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

"What's this?" Thor asked, holding up a picture of a distinct marking.

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

"That's not a tattoo." I said, standing up and stepping between the captain and asgardian, "The lines are raised and the skin is damaged... charred almost, like a burn. Something like that is given without consent. That's a brand."

"Oh yeah, it's a word in an African dialect meaning 'thief', in a much less friendly way." Bruce said, looking it up on the computer.

"What dialect?" Steve asked.