"This." Coulson held up a small black stick, sharp at the edges, plastic case glinting off the lighting of Stark Tower.

Steve raised his eyebrows. "'This.'"

"You came all the way over here for a computer stick?" Tony gave Coulson an incredulous look.

"You called me all the way over here for that piece of trash?" Logan gave Coulson an incredulous look.

"This contains some of the deadliest information Earth can give," Coulson stated, shaking the flash drive for emphasis. "And I want you to destroy it."

"Ah, yes, the invisible space and it's Midgard usage." Loki's arms were constricted and he was in deep agitation from it, not used to being in anything other than a bent position or one at his sides. "I thought nothing that goes on there ever comes off."

"This is S.H.I.E.L.D. we're talking about."

"The internet?" Thor eyed the piece, debating on whether or not it would be less of a hassle to just smash it into little plastic fragments with his hammer. "What is it on there that is so different from other things which traverse the online plane?"

"Yeah, there's already some pretty deadly things on the intersphere. Although how Thor found out about it is a story I'd like to know." Stark went back to messing with his tech, this time giving slightly more attendance to what was going on around him. It was hard to tell whether he was actually interested and acting. "Good old Eyepatch's on board with this?" he added nonchalantly, not looking up.

"Well...no." Coulson faltered. "Once he finds out you have it or had contact with it, he's going to track you all down."

"Won't you lose your job?"

Coulson grimaced, which gave Steve the only answer he needed to know. "What goes on here is more important than my position." Coulson was trying so hard not to show he cared, but the tightness gave through. He continued, "I'll go as far as I can help with all I've got- clearance, position, intel- although that last one's classified."

"Yeah, super classified." Hawkeye rolled his eyes. "I'm assuming you can't tell us the details on this hard drive?"

"Flash drive. Flash drives are more compact." The technical geek got ahold of Coulson. "Then again, there's not much of a difference in application, but-"

"It's not that hard, Clint. You just gotta pull the right tabs." Tony snatched the drive out of Coulson's hand and reached towards his computer. "See-"

"Don't! If that information gets out, then it's over for everyone. Especially you." Tony stared at him quizzically, then towards the piece of metal in his hand. "What exactly have you got in here?"

"I already said that I can't tell you." Coulson's shoulders hunched forward.

Clint, however, was still not convinced. "Do you know what's on it, or is this some test?'

"I know enough to know it has to be destroyed. And no. It's not. But you still don't have much time. Through all the files on there, I'm fairly sure that Director Fury placed a tracker. Not in depth, but a tracker nothingless."

"And what if I say no?" Wolverine had been blending into the back of the wall, but now he came forward, arms dropping from the position across his chest. "What if I walk away and leave you all behind? I mean, it's not like it's our problem to begin with."

"Well, I suppose that you could walk away. You're kind of hard to stop. But everyone in this room is of now a fugitive from S.H.I.E.L.D. and has been since I told you about the Drive. And tell me," Coulson said, staring directly at Logan now, "whether you really want to see the world crash down around you because you told the others no?" Logan's mouth twitched but he never broke his gaze, and Coulson sighed. "There's a reason why I asked. And all of you, you especially," he looked pointedly at Wolverine "consented. So pack your belongings and run, or pack your belongings and stay. We have to leave at Noon." He almost reached for the Drive, still dangling in Stark's hand, but at the last moment decided to leave him be.

"I'll see you then."

Coulson walked through the door and disappeared.

"It's a Pandora's Box," Tony said, examining the Drive. "I guess we'll see how long I can hold out." He seemed to be addressing both the group and himself.

Natasha let out a low whistle. "Now I see why Banner wasn't subjected for this. On the run is not exactly the way he goes."

"Are you kidding? Banner's always on the run!"

"Well, yeah, but not officially. Besides, I suppose the…carnage...we cause...would not be as noticeable-"

"-if he decided to relax. Yeah, the poor guy needs it." Clint hadn't moved from his guarded position since Coulson walked in. "But what made him have to choose Iron Claws? I mean, he's not even our division!"

Steve tuned out while Logan loudly defended himself and instead tried to get his thoughts in check.

Steve had understood everything. Yet he was still, in one sense, utterly confused. But he knew how situations played out. He also knew that beneath the light banter, the tension between his teammates was stretching, and if silence held too long, it would snap.

So he managed to examine his surroundings and think.

In his mind, everyone was going to go. It was the most obvious to him, aside from the plain fact that he wanted them to come, and from the urging belief that they would. Natasha could help keep Clint at bay when it came to Wolverine, and Clint could help Natasha with Stark (though he was pretty sure Natasha would be more thorough than Clint in this matter). He supposed he'd have to watch out for Loki, although Thor seemed to have a pretty good mindset and a handle on him at the moment.

Then there was the problem of who would carry the Drive. To be honest, the only ideal he could see was Tony or himself, and although he wanted to trust Stark, he saw how quickly he'd almost caused disaster under two minutes ago.

Then again, he mused, there won't be many exports where we're going. Stark probably knew how to take care of it better than him.

He just needed Coulson.

"Steve? Where're you going?"

"Yeah, you had the glazed donut look for a bit there." If they hadn't denied it outright, Steve would have thought Clint and Natasha were a thing. But they weren't.

Which maybe was better for him.

"I'm going to my room. I'll see you at Noon." Stark had been kind enough to give everyone their own place to stay if they came. Of course, some already had places to stay, like Clint, but missions held them together more than they thought and from what Steve had seen the time between their own stay and Stark's place ended up being fifty-fifty. As far as Stark was concerned, Avengers tower would be their second home.

And since Steve didn't have an official housing of his own, it was conveniently nice. He nodded at the others (Loki was currently hunched over sullenly and Wolverine was retreating to a corner of the room) and left to pack his belongings.

He doubted there was much he needed- or had, for that matter- to pack.

And so it begins.

Thank you all for reading! A continuant should be up hopefully soon (This chapter used to be longer) to set the Avengers (minus 1 plus 2) on their adventuring path.

Smiles! :)