Next chapter! A little more action maybe? Or not, but it is longer! I don't know. I have this story planned out until the end now. I want to introduce some OCs but I want to do it, you know, well. So we'll see what happens.

Chapter 2

Two Weeks Later

Steve Rogers Residence

Steve woke up to the sound of a delivery truck outside his place early Friday morning. A few moments later a knock on the door. He rolled up, put on a shirt, and shuffled to the door.

He could see a UPS guy in the brown getup though the peephole. He had a medium sized brown box. Seemed bored with his life.

Steve signed for the box and took it into the kitchen. He considered it. Seemed harmless.

From: Buteo Jamaicensis, Jr.

What?

He shook it gently. No sound. Seemed to be packaged well. He typed the name into his Stark phone and his email. No hits. He googled the name to see what country it came from as he ate his breakfast.

Buteo Jamaicensis, also known as the Red-tailed Hawk or chickenhawk, is the most common hawk of North America.

Oh. Oh.

So this was an important package from Hawkeye. Clever enough, Steve thought. And hopefully safe to open.

Unless it isn't really Hawkeye, could be a trick.

Yeah, but this had Barton written all over it.

Steve got a knife and began carefully cutting through packaging tape. He opened the top slowly. Packaging peanuts. That was it. He stuck is hand slowly through the peanuts and found a peace of paper. It was Barton's messy scrawl in sharpie on a piece of yellow lined notepaper.

If you're a patriot open this package

What was it with Romanoff and Barton and their smiley faces?

Steve pulled out a box with a high tech gadget of some sort. He tried turning it on. No on button. No instructions. A few more pieces of gear, looked like an external hard drive maybe? And a few USB memory cards. Some cords. A big tablet thing of some kind. It had no logos on it. Not commercially made then. So no one who could tell him how to work it.

Steve was actually very proficient in technology all things considered, but this wasn't familiar in the least.

Sam texted, Running today?

Something just came up. You any good with computers?

Did you get a virus watching porn?

It's avengers related

!

Steve wasn't sure what that meant exactly but he was guessing Sam was on his way over. He fiddled with it while he waited but he couldn't find any switch or button on anything.

Sam showed up only ten minutes later.

"Dude! Avengers shit. Where? What's up, did you like get an assemble email or something?"

"I got this," Steve handed him the piece of tech.

"Woah, this is like some Stark shit right here," Sam said, taking it and turning it over in his hands.

"So this isn't some new ipod thing I just haven't learned about yet."

"No, this is like some fancy science equipment. What did you need help with?"

"I can't turn it on."

Sam died laughing.

Forty minutes later they were still sitting at the kitchen table trying to find an on button.

"So, you think maybe Hawkeye thought this would be really funny, to just send you some broken piece of crap and watch Captain America try to figure it out?"

"I really hope Hawkeye isn't watching this," Steve replied, flipping the hard drive onto the table in frustration.

There was a knock at the door. They made eye contact. Weird time for a visitor.

Steve looked through the peep hole. Natasha.

"Hey."

"Hey. Did you get it?"

"It? You mean the box, full of computers parts?"

"So that answers question two."

"Two?"

"Did you turn it on yet."

"Hello there," Sam said.

"Right, ok," Nat said, striding right into the house towards the kitchen.

"Yeah, make yourself at home," Steve said, closing the door. Sam had his shit eating grin on. "Please do."

Natasha was sitting down at the table unplugging all the cords Steve and Sam had plugged in earlier trying to figure the tech out. "I'd make some joke about the 1940's and antiques but Sam is half responsible for this."

Sam huffed. "This stuff isn't standard issue, for Apples stores or the Air Force."

"It's also got some tight security measures," Natasha said, pulling out the tablet looking device. "What's really funny about this is how much energy Barton put into this. He's a tech nerd. Probably had a blast putting this together."

She laid her palm flat against the screen of the tablet. A green light across the screen scanned her palm.

"Black Widow: authorized."

"Fancy."

Steve just waited. Fancy, maybe, but he wanted to know what the heck Hawkeye would send him via UPS that needed such high security measures.

"What is so important that Hawkeye would need to send me?" Steve finally asked, impatiently watching Natasha type away on the machine.

"Hand me that cord and the GPS right there," she said, gesturing to a USB cord and the other mysterious piece of tech. "I think he's giving you coordinates, but I'm not sure."

"Why is Hawkeye sending me coordinates? Of what?"

"Is this place secure?" Steve nodded.

"Barton has been working the connection between Winter Soldier and hydra since we fished you out of the Potomac. He knew finding the Soldier would be at the top of their list, and they'd take risks to find him. He said a couple weeks ago he was making big progress. Looks like this is it. He just called and told me to get over here to help you with it. Good thing," she added, smiling.

"I still don't understand. How can he follow a connection between hydra to Bucky? Nobody's seen Bucky since DC. There's nothing for hydra to follow."

"Not until two weeks ago," Natasha said, spinning the tablet around for Steve to look at.

"What is this?" Steve was looking at a map of Eastern Europe with a blinking red dot on it.

"Bucky's location. Live. Hydra has a track on him. Looks like Barton got you hooked into the same tracker. You've got a constant location on your friend."

Steve wasn't sure he believed it. An accurate, live location on Bucky any time he wanted?

"So we can go find him?"

"You can go find him. Right now."

"You're not coming?" Sam asked.

"Hawkeye still needs a contact person here. Plus, I've already let this guy shoot me twice. I'd rather not give him another chance."

"Fair enough," Steve said, putting his determined Captain America face on. "but I'm going after him. Tonight."

"Thought you'd say that," Natasha said, smiling. "So I got you a private jet. It's got international airspace clearance. Technically it's one of Fury's, but I didn't tell him who I was giving it to or why. It'll get you anywhere. "

"How is Fury managing all this without SHIELD?" Steve asked, incredulous.

"Don't dig too deep at the mystery that is the man," Natasha advised. "Anyway, here's the jet info and your international clearances. Thank the new World Security Council for that. Good luck." She turned to go. "Oh, and Steve. Be careful. He's not with hydra, but he's not Bucky anymore."

John F. Kennedy International Airport

Thor was traveling with Coulson, Darcy and a few bags of luggage to the peacemaking games. Special treatment was something Thor was familiar with, and the Midgardian airport was no exception. He was whisked past security and straight to a private terminal with Coulson and a few security people, plus Darcy bopping along with her music and comic book patterned backpack. She'd wanted to come to see Thor in diplomatic action, and Thor thought it would be fun for them both to have her along.

Thor was very interested in catching up with Coulson, who'd been having quite an eventful life since Thor last saw him. He talked about his new team a bit and some of the stranger things they'd encountered along the way.

Thor was especially interested in the berserker staff Coulson had found.

"That was the first warning sign we saw. Once some people got a hold of the staff, they felt a sense of superiority over everyone else. Since then, we've seen a surprising number of groups sprouting up in Europe with very aggressive claims."

"What kind of claims are being made?"

"Some nations claim they have right to territory they've never governed before. Some country's want more seats in the UN, more stock in the world bank. A few sub-national groups are making claims of superiority; they think they should be governing the planet in tandem with you."

"I would support no such arrangement."

"We know that. But they don't, and the world is frightened. Making friends with everyone except those countries and politicians claiming higher status would make a huge impact."

"That was my intention. Who do you recommend I speak to first?"

"There is a family coming to the games. They'd like to set an example for the rest of the Scandinavian countries. We'd really appreciate it if you shook hands with them quite a bit."

"What is their name?"

"Gerardus. Glenn Gerardus. He's bringing his two sons, who will inherit his position and his estate. Very influential, wealthy people. Gerardus is the nicest person I've met in a long time, and he's very keen on keeping the conflict to a minimum."

Thor hoped Coulson was right. He wasn't sure he could handle the guilt of causing yet another episode of violence in this realm.

They got Thor settled at the hotel on the game grounds. He was in the room between Darcy and Coulson, a large luxurious suite. He could hear Darcy through the walls making exclamations over the size of the bathroom. He could see the large quad where the games would be held from his room. There was a large stadium and a pavilion to view the games from, as well as a special section surrounding the perimeter of the field for each participating to set up camp. Asgard would not have a spot of its own. Thor had decided it would send the wrong message to present Asgard as its own nation.

He still had a day before the opening ceremony. Most of the world leaders had already arrived, and there was a dinner tonight for them that Thor was expected to attend as the guest of honor.

Apparently, the theme this year was 'history'. Everyone was to come in their country's historical garb, to show the history of their nation. Thor had elected to show up in his leather shawl and armor, rather than his red cape. He didn't want to be too flashy.

As dinner approached, Darcy and Coulson came over to walk down with Thor. Darcy was in a beautiful floor length blue gown and Coulson was in a tux and bowtie. Subtle but nice. He wouldn't be eating at the dinner, but watching the proceedings for Thor. Thor had donned his armor and his shawl. He hesitated to leave Mjolnir in the room but, "No one can steal it," Coulson assured him. He was right of course.

The dining hall was huge and decorated in a collage of different cultural pieces. Each nation that had chosen to attend was represented. Thor picked out a few designs that looked Asgardian, near the tables of Northern Europe. He would be sitting near them. The variation of clothing and appearances was amazing. Asgard was not this diverse, Thor thought.

"To your right at the table, that will be Gerardus. I've had the seating arrangement put together so that Gerardus will be closest to you and the French representative to your left."

"Thank you, Son of Coul."

Thor was announced and the crowd of people turned to clap politely. The buzz of chatter in the hall increased tenfold. Thor was used to being the center of attention, and handled the crowd easily. He moved smoothly to his spot at the table and made to shake hands with Gerardus immediately.

Gerardus was a large man with a handsome, aged face. He was immediately likable. He had shoulder length hair and Thor noted his clothes: robes similar to Asgard, and animal furs. Clasps of silver with Asgardian symbols etched on them. Most likely a fan of Asgard, then. He shook Thor's hand firmly and smiled a large, genuine smile.

"It is a pleasure, Thor of Asgard."

"Likewise, Glenn Gerardus. I am looking forward to our friendship."

"As am I. May I please introduce my family. This is my son, Richard, my eldest. And here," he nodded to a son of equal stature and close in age, "is Robert, my second eldest."

Both sons were dressed in robes and furs like their father and had strong handsome faces. Thor was complimentary and tried not to think to hard about Loki.

Dinner was a droll affair. Thor and Gerardus spoke very briefly about politics, but Gerardus made it clear he supported peace and would work with Thor and Coulson in any way he could.

"My sons are eager to help as well."

Thor considered both his sons. Both looked very much like small Asgardians themselves wearing robes and furs. They were stoic faced and gave Thor a look that he interpreted as determination.

"I would appreciate that very much," Thor said to them.

Dancing followed dinner, and Thor was obliged to dance with several wives of politicians and dukes and so on before he could excuse himself. Darcy popped up at his shoulder at the end of the waltz.

"Thor, your majesty, or whatever. You're needed in the study."

"Thank you. If you'll excuse me," Thor detangled himself from the duchess of something or other and followed Darcy to a side room off the dining hall.

"I thought sending Darcy would be more prudent than trying to pull the duchess off you myself," Coulson greeted.

"Yes, thank you for your assistance."

"We do have some business to attend to. Gerardus is waiting in the study for you."

Thor greeted Gerardus and his two sons again.

"We're anticipating some issues," Gerardus began. "There is already some talk that you've been paying too much attention to certain countries."

"I've danced with every representative, shaken hands with every man. Is there more I can do?"

Coulson jumped in. "We've just been discussing the best way to diffuse the situation. Perhaps simply playing this game is the issue."

"We're proposing that perhaps you focus on the smaller nations," Gerardus explained. "This dinner was a good test run, and it showed us that no matter what you do, any interaction you have with the bigwigs in there will cause some controversy. Best to separate yourself entirely to avoid conflict."

"We're hoping to introduce you to a few of the smaller nations, some of the developing countries that are making an appearance," Coulson explained. "If you can spend some time with them tomorrow during the opening ceremony, more than you do with the US or Europe, it may help diffuse the tension we've seen tonight."

Thor was a bit nervous. For all his political experience, he hadn't detected any tension. Perhaps in a world were power could be bought rather than inherited, things were done differently. He would need to learn quickly.

"Also," Coulson added, "there's been a security issue at the check in gate. Apparently a package that may or may not have been a home made bomb was recovered in the garage. It looked like a bunch of piece of C-3PO if you ask me, but they're concerned. Your getting extra security until it's been resolved."

"Of course," Thor said, wondering what a C-3PO was.

Somewhere over the Mid Atlantic

Steve was suited up with Sam next to him in the cargo hold of former SHIELD plane. He checked the GPS again. Bucky was in Macedonia and hadn't moved in a while. According to the GPS history, he had been in DC for a little while. Steve had chased him that night. Bucky had stayed in town another day before suddenly taking off for Macedonia.

"How is he traveling?" Sam had asked.

"I don't know. But the fact that he can travel means he's going to be hard to pin down."

Steve didn't know what he'd do once he actually found Bucky. Would Bucky run or attack? Would he wait around long enough for Steve to talk him down? What would Steve even say?

Sam glanced at the GPS again.

"What I'm confused about his how Hawkeye stole this from hydra," he said, scrolling through the GPS history.

"He didn't steal it, he's just hooking us into hydra's GPS," Steve said, remember what Widow had told him.

Sam looked at him hard for a moment. "Steve, have you thought about what that means?"

Steve stopped adjusting his gloves for a moment and stared at Sam.

"Hydra knows his location too."

"Yeah, and we might be walking into a hydra meeting right now."

"Or it's like Natasha said, and they're after Bucky too."

"Then we gotta get to him first. We really, really need to get to him first."

"Shit."

Notes:

Hope you liked this one! It's a little slow, I know. But I'm trying to set things up for some action soon. And I promise the boring made up political drama with Thor will become relevant soon. Also holding out hope for a couple more OCs to join the party.