Taking the quinjet to the helicarrier was quiet and I used the time to adjust the settings on my prosthetic, I'm half sure it was created by Stark just from how high tech it is. Originally it had a tracker in it but when I found it I had a staring contest with Nick that ended with a panic button instead. It took a while to get used to having such a huge change to my body, so many of the movements I took for granted have changed. With some minor adjustments to the shock absorbing quality I can better prepare for whatever Nick needs me to do.
"We should be the first ones back, the others will take awhile to fall in." Nick says, he reclines into the plane and he relaxes for the long ride back. I like planes. I get the chance to watch as electricity flows through one bit to another. I find myself lost in scanning the plane, letting my eyes wander over the pieces.
I blink back to the world as we set down on the deck. Getting out into the open I watch as everyone scurries about and salute as we walk past them. Turning around I open up my eyes and look over the edge of the ship and out to sea. When we take off I could see miles and miles of clear sky. I wonder what I could see if I looked at the ground from so high. When we get inside I skip up to Nick and keep in step with him. With a big smile on my face I see his eyebrow raise before he steps into the control room and schools his features.
"Agent Maddog, you will help your new teammates, when they arrive, to locate Loki and the tesseract. Until then please study the files and familiarize yourself with the cube."
He says over his shoulder as I sit at the large table in the command center and scroll through one of the screens. I look at him after a second and watch him look out over his agents and order them about. I like this a whole lot like than the army. I think to myself. The screen I am at displays the files for the other avengers, Captain America, Black Widow, Ironman, Hawkeye, and the Hulk. I kept track of Bruce for awhile, made sure general Ross stayed off his trail. I followed him from Nigeria to India and from India to the Philippines.
The Captain was an interesting guy. When Fury was losing hope of finding him he asked me to take a look at the case. Following the trail I lead the team right to him, watching as they excavated him from the drowned plane. Seeing him in the ice reminded me just what having powers meant. You protect people until you die or you get taken down. When I was told he was revived all I could think of was how much more he had to suffer now. But that doesn't matter, now that he is here he gets a second chance at life. Hopefully he gets something more than just SHIELD. The other folks I am not worried about, I have worked with Natasha and Clint before and Stark isn't all that intimidating when I could probably turn off his suit.
With I sigh I lean back and keep an eye on the windows. This whole deal is bigger than my usual job. I tend to work recon, tracking, or guard duty, this is dealing with a wayward power hungry God. Getting back to files I skim over the tesseract, looking at videos won't help me. I pick up what I can and move on to Loki. A few paragraphs in I hear chatter over my shoulder and turn my chair to see the four people approaching.
Doctor Banner hasn't changed much since I ended my tracking assignment a year ago, the Captain hasn't either. Natasha and Phil are a happy sight and I smile at them from my seat.
"Hi guys, how was the flight?" I ask as they look around and walk fully into the room. Banner looks nervous, understandably so, whereas Rogers looks almost at ease. Natasha sends me a wink and a nod from across the table. I can't imagine how angry she must be at Clint being taken, losing your partner is an incomparable experience. Phil seems to gravitate towards Rogers, knowing him I hope he didn't fanboy out too much.
"Smooth sailing, it's good to see you Kel." Phil says with a smile and I nod back at him, Phil is a great guy and missions with him always go smooth. Fury turns back to us and Rogers walks up to him and looks out over the balcony, passing him some money. I catch Fury's smile and turn back to the files. Coming back to the table they all sit down and Fury starts the briefing.
"Captain, it's good to have you back, I don't believe you or doctor Banner have met agent Maddog yet. Codename pathfinder. She is a tracking specialist within SHIELD, she is responsible for finding you in the ice and keeping Ross of your back." He says, looking at each of them in turn. Roger's eyebrows rise and he looks at me with surprise, I smile and nod to him in acknowledgement. Banner has a crease in his brow and I know he isn't too happy with being tracked.
"You can call me Kel, it's a pleasure to meet you both. Sorry about revealing your location doctor Banner, I understand why you would want to hide from us."
I say quietly, Banner shrugs and I let my attention return to Fury. Nick and Natasha walk back over to the control panel and computers.
"As of this moment we have facial recognition software searching for any sign of Loki or our friend doctor Selvig. When we find a match Captain, Natasha and Pathfinder will go and capture him. Doctor Banner will stay here and begin searching for the cube." He tells everyone, the captain nods and Banner fiddles with his hands as he is led to his lab. The techs continue typing away and Natasha taps away at her commandeered computer. Humming to myself I watch the flow of electricity through the computers and into the ship, the bright blue of the signals weave together before my eyes. Rogers makes his way over to me and I offer him the chair next to mine.
"Even with all the spectrometers set for gamma rays and the facial recognition software it will take some time to find them." I lean over and tell him. Scooting over I gesture to the screen I had been using, scrolling back to the top. " I recommend looking over at least the basic files. Maybe Barton and Loki's to start." I suggest with a shrug, his expression changes to confusion and his eyes roam the screen without reading it.
"I wonder if I will ever get used to the new technology." He says with a shake of his head. He looks at me with an apologetic smile and I smile back with understanding.
"It is a lot to take in. I can understand how it feels to wake up and see your world has changed," I say with a head tilt, rolling up my pant leg I show him my shiny metallic prosthetic. His eyebrows rise and he opens his mouth to apologize but I shake my head to continue. "It isn't the same I know, but sharing makes it easier to connect to new people. Your file was shared with a lot of people but you probably haven't seen our records." I finish, pulling my pants back into place and stretch my legs out of reflex.
"I appreciate that." He says with a coy grin. "So many people know who I am and I don't know anyone here. How did you lose the leg? If you don't mind my asking of course." He asks politely. He seems to genuinely want to know so I don't take offense. I am sure he has seen plenty of similar injuries from the war.
"I was in the army's bomb disposal unit and our convoy got hit by a grenade launcher. It happened so fast I couldn't do anything." I answer with my eyes on my hands in my lap. Remembering it I wish I had been keep a better eye out.
"What do you mean? You can't stop a grenade when it's coming at you." He says with a frown. My hands lock together and I keep my eyes on them as he gives me an assessing look.
"I can see things differently than other people, when it comes to IEDs or grenade launchers I can see inside the mechanisms and cut the connection that makes it detonate. It works with other signals too, I could shut off the Internet to a computer or stop someone's pulse. It comes in handy when scouting." I explain in a rush, even though he has powers too it can be hard to tell people you could stop their heart. I look at him as he takes it in and looks away from me. "I don't like hurting people, I tend not to if I can. Mostly I track people by their scent trail or heat signature." I add half heartedly. His eyes come back up to mine and he gives me a half smile.
"How do you see someone's scent?" He asks with a huff of laughter, trying to break the tension. I smile at him and let my nerves out with a giggle.
"Everyone has their own pheromone mixture that is visible on some spectrum, I can see that mix and find people by following the trail of the pheromones that are left behind. My friends used to call me their personal bloodhound." I tell him with a grin, his answering grins lets me know we are good. Thankfully it is right then that a technician lets Fury know he has Loki's location. Turning to Rogers and I Fury gives us the go ahead.
"You're up captain."