A/N: the fourth, final, and my least favorite chapter. Reviews are and always will be appreciated, loved, and cuddled, so thank you.

Chapter Four:

The Avengers were on the trail of the thief.

Bruce and Tony had figured out how to track the odd energy signature the . . . thing, emitted, and now they were following it. By car.

It seemed odd to Bruce, having all those agents, plus Tony in his armor, plus . . . well, him, altogether in one car, but according to the readings the object hadn't been taken far away, so there was no point in going by helicopter, or helicarrier, or whatever other crazy science fiction like devices SHIELD currently had in their possession.

It was currently the most awkward car ride he had ever taken part in, and he honestly couldn't wait for it to be over.

It didn't help that he was the one driving.

Apparently Tony couldn't drive while suited up, and they needed someone who could follow the readings on the sensor they had jury rigged to the car. Thus leaving him as the only other option.

He was currently tuning out an argument between Tony and Captain America- something about how flying would have let them avoid traffic- and only barely managing to pay attention to the roads enough to avoid getting totaled by an angry New Yorker. He could practically feel his stress levels rising by the minute.

He gave a happy sigh as the device made a beeping sound- meaning that they were within a thousand feet of the object. Now if he could only find a parking space . . .

He managed to get into a parallel parking area, and after he got out of the car, he stuck some coins in the meter, and turned to the rest of the team.

Tony was just pointing.

Bruce blinked, and turned to see what was so . .

No way.

There was just no way-

But it couldn't be a coincidence.

The favor, was it-

He gritted his teeth.

There, not two blocks away, was the tea shop.

He pulled out the sensor from the car as quickly as possible, and pointed in that direction.

Of course.

He sighed.

"It's that way." He muttered, and began walking.

The others followed, apparently picking up on his mood. They said nothing.

When they reached the wooden gate, the machine gave a final beep, and the screen blacked out.

"The trail ends here." Bruce said.

He squared his shoulders and walked over to the sliding door- it would be best if he was the one who knocked- but before he had even raised his hand, a tired looking Kurama in sleeping robe opened the door.

"Ah, Bruce, good to see you." His eyes traveled over the rest of group, and he gave a small smile. "It doesn't look like you're here for tea though."

"Yeah," he glanced over at them, then back to Kurama. It seemed that they were content to let him do the talking for now. "We're looking for a stolen object. We tracked its energy signature, and it ends here."

Kurama raised an eyebrow curiously. "Really? How odd. What item was stolen?"

"That's classified." Natasha stepped forward. "And just so you know, you are currently our only suspect."

"Of course. I suppose you'll want to search the building?" Kurama stepped out of the door way, and held out an arm, as if welcoming them inside.

Natasha brushed past him with an air of authority, which was when Bruce noticed that Agent Barton was gone.

Probably covering them from some high up building nearby. Bow and Arrow wasn't really a close combat weapon.

Tony walked by, and Kurama quirked his eyebrow. "Mr Stark. You look a bit overdressed. Can I get you anything to drink?"

The Iron Man face plate folded in on itself, and Tony grinned. "The regular."

"And you Bruce?"

Bruce's eyes flickered between Tony and Kurama, unsure of what to say. He knew he really shouldn't drink something from a possible suspect, but he felt like if he didn't do something to calm his nerves soon, the building he was currently in would quickly become a pile of toothpicks.

"Anything is fine."

Kurama nodded, and disappeared, as the rest of the team entered the humble tea shop.

"Can't you just turn that thing on, and find it that way?" The Captain asked, looking pointedly at the sensor Bruce was holding.

"It shorted out when we got close. Either because it ran out of power, or because the energy hit such a high level that it couldn't take it."

Tony frowned. "That's not right. It should've had enough power to last at least a few more hours, and we designed it so it could take the same amount of energy that the object we're tracking has."

Bruce shrugged. "But we don't know what the device does. Maybe when it's being used, it exerts more energy, or it was equipped to something more powerful." He glanced at Tony. "Maybe we could modify it or something?"

Tony rubbed his chin, then winced, apparently he had forgotten his fingers were covered in hard metal. "That could work, let's see . . ."

The pair walked over to a booth, and Bruce sat, while Tony paused, then after a few moments thought, removed his armor with a command, and sat as well.

They fiddled with it for a few minutes, until Kurama brought out their drinks.

Natasha gave them a hearty glare, before turning to search the kitchen. The captain, who had been trying to find anywhere that could hide a large whistle shaped object, glanced at them, then gave Kurama a scrutinizing look.

Kurama turned and smiled. "Would you like a cup of coffee as well?" He held up an extra cup filled with steaming black liquid.

"Uh, no thank you."

"Oh don't worry, I haven't added anything lethal to it." And before Steve could protest, the cup was in his hands, and Kurama was back in the kitchen. Steve eyed Bruce and Tony, who were both already drinking their beverages, then sniffed the coffee.

It smelled normal enough, so he took a sip.

His eyes widened comically, and he glanced down at the coffee. It was really good. He looked at Bruce and Tony again, who were still sitting comfortably at the low table, although now they were back to fiddling, and decided it would be best if he just kept looking around.

He wandered into the kitchen, to find Kurama scooping a serving of rice into a bowl.

"How is the coffee?" He asked without looking up.

"It's great." There was a pause, and he coughed. "So, where did Agent Romanov go?"

"To search my room. It's right through that door if you want to join her."

"Thanks." Steve said, not really sure how to respond. He walked over to the door and watched Natasha search for a moment, before he glanced at something on the wall. He frowned. There were several small rectangular papers pasted on it, with some asian characters on it.

"What's that?" He asked.

Natasha glanced up at him, then followed his gaze. "Japanese ofuda. They're used to seal spiritual objects and creatures." She frowned. "They're written in the name of Inara, which is odd- she's usually for crop fertility."

"Okay . . ."

He watched her a moment more, but there really wasn't anywhere to hide anything in this building. Everything was pretty simple, almost to the point of being bare, but not quite.

He walked forward and looked at the 'ofuda' more closely. Steve reached his hand out curiously-

"Please don't touch that."

He jumped and turned. Kurama had somehow managed to sneak up on him- which was no small feat.

"It's very fragile. I had to seal it quickly, and the ofuda won't last very long. Physical contact will make it even weaker."

"Right." Steve paused, then asked, "What exactly is it supposed to be sealing?

Kurama smirked. "I doubt you'd believe me."

Natasha walked over. "Tell us anyway."

"Well, if you insist." He gave a small, rather amused sounding sigh. "It holds a portal to another world."

Steve blinked. A portal to . . . well, there had been that portal with the aliens, but this was most definitely not anything like that.

Natasha gave him a look, then tilted her head slightly toward the door. He nodded. They needed to go check on Tony and Bruce. The two left the room, and arrived back at the table, where the two scientists were glaring at the sensor.

"What's going on, have you got it working yet?"

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes, we have-"

"But nothings showing up-"

"The trail is, it's just not here."

"So, someone moved it?"

Steve glanced at Natasha. "See if Barton saw anyone leaving or entering the building."

She nodded, and spoke quietly into her discreet headset, then turned back to him. "Only us."

"So, your sensor fritzed out because it was nearby, and now it's gone, but it couldn't have been here."

He was pretty sure he saw Bruce sigh in relief. "Alright people, this is a dead end, let's head back to base."

They began to walk out, and Kurama appeared at the kitchen door. "Did you find what you were looking for?"

"No, thanks for the tea though." Bruce said as he began to reach into his pocket.

"Don't worry about it. I'll be expecting you tomorrow."

Bruce smiled. "I'll be here. Thanks."

As they all got back in the car, Steve frowned. "There's something weird about him."

Tony shrugged. "Who cares. He makes great coffee."

The End~

A/N: Lamest ending line ever, I know, but I'm bad at ending things. My conclusions always suck. Anyway, While I was writing this I had a sudden urge to make Steve somehow break the seals, open the portal, then get trapped in Makai and or Reikai. It would have been awesome, but I'm lazy, and the end was in sight, so I cut off that imaginative little tangent and cauterized the wound. If anyone wants to write an alternate ending to this or something though, this crossover category could use some more stories. X 3