-7-

It was a tedious day, that's for sure. Everyone was trying to figure out where Ultron was, gaining information as the hours went on. Riley was with Natasha, both of them doing everything they can to pinpoint where the man-like robot was.

Steve came into the room, Clint following close behind, holding a device in his hand. He had the bottom half of his suit on. He handed the device to Thor who was quick to hold it in his hands and inspect what was on the screen.

"What's this?" Tony asked, walking up to where everyone was.

"A message. Ultron killed Strucker," Steve announced to everyone. Thor slammed the tablet against Tony's chest as Steve spoke, letting him have a look at what was in the screen.

"And he did a Banksy at the crime scene, just for us," Tony said, throwing a small joke into the conversation like normal.

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

"Strucker knew something that Ultron wanted us to miss." Captain America stated, his arms crossed over his chest.

"Yeah I bet he.." Natasha started to speak before being interrupted by a pop up on the computer screen that said 'Record Delete.' "Yeah. Everything we had on Strucker's been erased."

"Not everything." Tony reminded everyone, his voice sounding a little quiet. He motioned everyone to follow him, as he began to walk out of them room. Everyone followed, piecing together what he meant. Bruce, Riley, and Natasha were at the back of the group as they walked into a room.

Riley had been it in a few times before, recognising the abstract paintings on the wall that had small lightings right above them. An old, vintage Captain America poster was hung on the wall in between two statues that sat on tall, metal tables. As they appreciated the decor of the room, Tony got out many boxes being carried on carts. Riley finally pieced together what they were doing.

"We're gonna go through every file we have on Struck?" Riley asked to confirm what they were thinking.

"Yep." Tony quickly replied, grabbing a file from the top of the box he had in front of him. "You always seem to being doing paperwork, here." He tossed a file over to where Riley stood. They caught it as it came closer to them, playfully rolling their eyes at the remark as they opened up the first page. Everyone had a file in their hands, quickly skimming through the pages to speed up the process. They had all eventually grabbed their own box to look through.

"Known associates," Steve muttered to himself as he went placed another box down on a surface. He took the lid off and threw it to the side, barley missing where Riley had designated their space to be. He gave them a quick, yet sincere, apology before continuing. "Baron Strucker had a lot of friends."

"Well, these people are all horrible." Bruce pointed out the obvious as Riley walked over to where he sat to grab the unopened box near him.

"Wait." Tony quickly said, pointing the file Bruce had in his hands, "I know that guy." Bruce handed him the file and he quickly flicked through it. "From back in the day. He operates off the African coast. Black market arms." He explained swiftly, taking a picture out of one of the pages, showing it to Steve, next to him. He looked up a Tony, a disappointed look on his face. "There at conventions. All right? You meet people. I didn't sell him anything."

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

"This?" Thor pointed to a tattoo that a picture had captured. Tony looked over to see what he was looking at.

"Ah, it's a tattoo, I don't think he had it." Tony denied. Thor shook his head.

"Those are tattoos." He pointed to one on his forearm and one near his collar bones. He then directed everyone's gaze to the picture below it, dragging his finger down the paper. "This is a brand."

Beeping came from the computer Bruce was sitting at. "Oh, yeah. It's a word in an African dialect meaning 'thief.'" The beeping from text popping up continued as he spoke. "In a much less friendly way."

"What dialect?" Steve asked.

"Wakanada," he stammered a bit, realising his mistake.

"Wakanda." Riley corrected him. Steve looked at Tony, both having the same expression on their face.

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

"I thought your gather said he got the last of it." Steve protested.

"I don't follow. What comes out of Wakanda?" Bruce asked, confused.

"The strongest metal on Earth." Tony answered simply. The group looked over to where Steve's shield was as Clint walked away from the stairs where he was sitting to flick through files.

"Where is this guy now?" Steve turned his attention back to the billionaire. Tony directed his attention towards Steve as he spoke.

-

The group was on the Quinjet, heading to a salvage yard at the African Coast, Riley deciding to come with as it could help them make up their mind of helping with bigger battles. Everyone was preparing to face Ultron once again, preparing their suits and their weapons.

"Here," Natasha handed them a gun, "you know how to shoot, right?"

"Learnt from the best," they smiled, taking the gun from her hand. "So you and Bruce, huh?"

"So you and Thor, huh?" She redhead bit back playfully, sitting down next to her friend.

"You say that like you haven't known for ages," they laughed. Natasha dryly laughed along , stretching her legs to keep loose. "Stop trying to change the topic. Tell me what's happening with you and Banner."

"Well, you know how he is," she said in a hushed voice, "Shy, nervous, constantly avoiding things."

"And you, off all people, fell in love with him."

"I wouldn't say love, I just..." Natasha tried to find the words, "appreciate him for who he is more than others typically would."

"Wow, that's a complicated way of saying you have a crush on someone,"Riley quirked an eyebrow, the ends of their lips turning slightly. Natasha nudged them with her elbow playfully, causing the two to laugh.

"Enough chatter you two," Steve told them as he walked by, "we're here." Riley's small smile faded, the realisation of what they've gotten themself into finally sinking in. They took a deep breath in as they stood up. They fixed up their makeshift suit that they quickly threw together before the team headed out.

The quinjet landed and everyone got out when the door opened up. As Thor walked onto the ground, he noticed Riley's heavy breathing and them looking around quickly. He placed his free hand on their shoulder, making them look up to face him.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"Yeah... yeah, I'll be fine." They nodded, taking another deep breath in between their sentence

"Good, because you're going to have to keep up with me," he grinned, putting his arm back down beside him, a shit-eating grin plastered on his face. Riley rolled their eyes.

"Don't flatter yourself too much," Riley scolded him, "soon you'll have to be sharing that hammer." Thor chuckled as the group made their way over to where Ultron was, ready to fight the mechanical villain once again.