Jane couldn't remember ever feeling as stunned as she was right now. She wondered what game her ex-was playing at, what reason could he have had to talk up their relationship? Jane wondered why the being had decided to talk up the woman, to the extent that he did. It was a mixture of both flattering and mind-boggling that the being spent so much time talking up a relationship with a woman that he barely saw. Jane started to wonder if she had simply thrown away a relationship before she even had the chance to see what else was in that relationship.

Catching sight of a warning look that her former intern sent her, Jane shook her head once to clear her mind of the unanswerable questions. Suppressing a brief snort of amusement while she wondered to herself what her former grad students would think if they heard what their bitch of a professor was thinking. No doubt she would get only signs of condensation, how dare the woman who for long only preached about going out to find the answers they sought. Shaking her head with a wry snort as she wondered what it would take for anything to begin making sense to her.

"Okay, so it seems as if my complete genius of an ex-talked me up to all and sundry, is there any way that I can get out of this mess?" Jane sarcastically asked.

"No, but for now we are going to have a deal with some more issues, at least before they become too big for us to handle on our own. We need to get you to a haven before it is too late for us to make sure that you are kept safe. Is there anywhere that you would like to be taken?" Jyn answered the woman, sighing when she spoke to the woman.

"I can't think of anywhere off the top of my head. I guess that it's too dangerous for me to head back to New Mexico?" Jane rhetorically answered the question, with yet another question.

"Yeah, it seems as if Romanova has taken it into her head to send enemies towards you. It seems like she had herself half convinced that if she could save you, or put you into danger then Designation: Thor and Designation: Iron Man would look kindly on her for protecting you. I don't think that it entered into her head that she would be the whole reason you were in trouble." Jyn answered, troubled.

"That doesn't make any sense, that's like cutting the brake lines on someone's car with the intent to save them before they died." Jane spluttered.

"We know it doesn't but don't forget that the woman is slightly messed up. She might be starting to think that up is down and down is up. She might feel that this is the only path left to her that still makes sense. Jane, have you been watching more soap operas again?" Dacia snorted.

"Yeah, they are addictive to watch while I'm waiting for the data to compile. You were the one to get me into soap operas!" Jane protested.

"Yeah, they were interesting to watch when we were trying to work out the intricacies of human behaviour, at least in this Universe." Dacia tried to defend herself, holding her hands up in a peace sign.

"Alright, can we move past that and start focussing on something else for a while? Like how we are going to be to keep Dr Foster safe while we try to resolve this whole mess." Cassian sighed, trying to draw attention back to the topic that they were currently exploring.

Jane coughed slightly, becoming more irritated when she realised that the group were once again talking about her as if she wasn't in the room. Glancing over at Darcy, Jane waited for the woman to make up a decision. She didn't feel like she could decide for herself in any case, not while she didn't understand all of the players in any case.

"Jane, how do you feel about the possibility of us taking you to Stark Tower? I know that you won't be able to get a lot of star seeing down from the middle of Manhattan but for now, I need you somewhere safe. Don't ask me to watch you get hurt; you can't make me do that." Darcy apologised when she thought through some of the things that she was likely to come up against.

"Yeah, that will be fine, for now, I don't want to put myself in unnecessary danger. But it won't be for long right?" Jane checked.

"No, it should be for too long, Jyn email Ms Potts, once we have got an affirmative answer, I can plot a course to the Tower. In the meantime though, what do we do with the Prisoners?" Cassian instructed, already being sure of what he wanted.

Jyn looked over at Dacia stunned that Cassian had opted to give her instructions, she wasn't sure if she should follow them. Dacia simply shrugged lazily back at her, so Jyn decided to do as the guy asked and began to type up an email ready to be sent to Ms Potts.

To: Ms Potts, Ms Hill

CC: Lewis, Dacia & Andor, Cassian.

From: Erso, Jyn

Hello, I am writing to you guys with another problem; we were able to intercept conversation that one Natalia Romanova had another target in her sights. One Dr Jane Foster, the now infamous astrophysicist, as of yet we haven't been able to determine why Romanova might think that attacking the scientist was a good idea.

We aren't sure, yet, if this looks like it could be a legitimate problem, but in any case, we decided to remove Dr Foster from harm's way. We may have another lead on where we could find the woman, but we need somewhere to safely hide Dr Foster, at least while we follow up on some leads on the whereabouts of Romanoff. As you know, it is of critical and paramount importance to us that the woman is kept as safe as she be, at least to us, while this mess is being further investigated.

We can't be sure whether or not we have found definitive current whereabouts of Romanoff. In any case, we can't trust ourselves to keep the woman safe if we drag her on a manhunt. I hope that it is not too much to ask, but could we ask if she could be hosted in Stark Tower? Our thinking goes that at least there she might have the opportunity to do a bit of sciencing.

Let us know what you think,

Jyn Erso.

"Okay, I sent that email to Ms Potts. Hopefully, we might get an answer before we need to act. Do we have anything else that we can work on right now?" Jyn asked, coming out of a fugue type state as she wrote the email.

Jyn noticed that it looked as if Dacia was hunched (probably painfully) over a computer while muttering herself. Balancing on her tiptoes while she tried to spot what the woman was looking, it was for nought though. Exchanging a look with Cassian, the two of them look, when they managed to hear what was the woman was saying to herself. Glaring at the man and daring him to speak, right now she didn't trust herself to speak.

"Dacia, what are you looking at so intently on the screen? Is there something that we need to be worried about?" Cassian tiredly asked, not sure whether or not he should start to panic yet.

"Nothing, I keep checking the feeds from the prison cells, I keep expecting to see them doing well anything. But none of them is doing anything. I can't be sure if so far it has escaped their notice the mess they are in. Or at least if they have, they don't seem to have progressed past the point of blaming others for them not opening their eyes and not recognising the gravity of the situation they just leapt into." Dacia complained, running a hand through her hair in frustration.

"It's possible that for some, they aren't ready to accept that their actions have consequences, we can't get ourselves into something that we don't understand, not before we have worked through all the consequences for ourselves." Jyn theorised to the two, not sure of what she was trying to get at.

"I know I can struggle with understanding things at times, especially if it involves looking at something from a different perspective," Cassian muttered.

"Yeah, but we don't occasionally feel like taking a two by four to the back of your head when you refuse to try and understand anyone else's perspective. Never mind looking at a problem from a different angle." Dacia muttered.

Jane snorted in the background, wondering not for the first time what she had gotten herself into. She was sure that even though she did not entirely understand these people, not thoroughly in any case, that she had thrown her lot in with the right people. Even their banter was amusing she thought to herself, she felt that she had seen enough of these people when they were under pressure for her to feel comfortable that they could handle any threats that came their way. Or at least the vast majority of threats.

"True enough, but for now we need to keep an eye on things, at least we have other things for us to keep an eye on first. At least before we start worrying ourselves about silly things." Jyn tried to get their focus back on track.

Jane simply snorted to herself, content to watch the idle bickering of her friends for now. Watching as Jyn closed her eyes, having become frustrated with her friends' lack of focus, Jane felt her eyebrows inching up her forehead in shock, Jyn was usually the first that could be persuaded to goof and have a laugh. That wasn't to say that Jyn couldn't be quietly serious and intense whenever the mood struck her, because goodness knows that she could be.

Watching as Jyn rolled her eyes, Jane found herself empathising with the woman; she knew how frustrating it could feel when somebody didn't do their work in the way that she knew they could. Noticing when Jyn turned to pierce the computer with a pleasant look of surprise, Jane made her way over to the woman, knowing that right now the woman could be looking at something uniquely serious.

"What is it?" Jane hissed at the woman concerned.

"We've got an email back from Ms Potts, and it's not what I was expecting," Jyn muttered back at her.

"What is it? You know that we can work through whatever it is right?" Jane gently asked.

"no, I know that, but this isn't what I was expecting in a million years. Here, look at yourself and tell me if that is what you might have expected." Jyn told the woman, gesturing at the screen in front of her.

Jane gave the woman one last beseeching look, even though she was not sure what answers she sought and peered at the monitor. Without even noticing what she was doing her lips began to form the words as she read:

TO: Erso, Jyn

FROM: Potts, Virginia

Ms Erso, it may be better if you leave Doctor Foster at the Compound in the north of New York State. I say this because we don't want to run the risk of someone finding where Doctor Foster is. It would also be helpful to remember that at least at the Compound she may be able to do a little stargazing on the grounds, at least the option would be there whereas it wouldn't be there if she were to stay at the Tower there would be too much light pollution.

Let me know if this would be good for you; we can't take custody of the Rogue Avengers just yet, some elements needed to be moved before we can take custody off.

"Okay, well that sounds fair enough. Where did you think you spotted Romanoff?" Jane asked when she had read through the email.

"We haven't been able to find her properly, but we have received confidential information that she has been spotted moving across the Middle East. At first, we couldn't work out why she had picked the Middle East, but I have been able to pin down her motives for choosing the Middle East. At the very least countries across the Middle East does not currently have extradition treaties with America. Neither does Russia, but for obvious reasons, she wouldn't feel comfortable going to ground in the country that trained her. It's likely that there are some incredibly dangerous individuals in the country with an axe to grind." Cassian cut in, obviously having cut into the two's discussion.

"I can't understand why she hasn't chosen China; there is no extradition treaty there either. It would probably be safer in one aspect if she chooses to hide out in China, goodness knows its big enough that she could disappear with relative ease." Dacia muttered.

"She might have some enemies in China, don't forget that is not a lot of information we can easily rely on when it comes to the might of the security services there. She might have forgotten the country and decided that at least now, she would like a little more sun. In any case, I don't feel comfortable speculating, at least not before I can see further proof, but we need to find her." Cassian answered.

While the two were having a discussion, Jyn had shown the two of them the email, leaning back against the table and chewing a little on some of the thoughts that had occurred to her. One of the things that Jyn couldn't pretend that she was unfamiliar with was racism. Though in her Home Universe it was more likely to be specism that she was more familiar with, sometimes more familiar than she was comfortable with.

Realising that this planet was familiar (and adept at the practice) with racism, especially over something (as insignificant she thought) as a place of birth or the colour of your skin, was disheartening. Jyn hated to become a cliché, but she wished that for a change everybody could get along. She had watched a movie a few years, and she wished that she could bake cookies with everyone.

First, she would have to learn how to bake without setting fire to the house.

There was a reason that Dacia and Cassian wouldn't allow her near the kitchen when she wasn't intending on working with sweet foods.

She could work with some savoury foods, like stews or lasagna or even roast dinners but it would seem like sugar was a step too far.

Odd that.

"Okay, well Daca, do you have anything else that you think could tip us over the edge?" Cassian asked once he noticed that Jyn looked as if she was considering a serious problem.

"No, we should work on getting Jane situated before we try to divine motivation from that woman's actions. Cassian, can you get us there? Don't feel like you have to push this bucket of bolts." Dacia ordered with a smile.

Cassian nodded back at the woman and left the room with nary a sound. Dacia didn't notice Jyn and Jane looking at her, peering at her while they tried to figure out what was going through the woman's head. Dacia was too busy, clutching her head with one hand, while she tried to sort through some of the thoughts that were now running through her head as if they had been fireflies trapped in a bottle for too long.

WHOOSH

After a while, when the ship had landed, Dacia looked around her, hoping to find a hint of something or anything she could use. It wasn't to be; they had to work quick, shaking her head once again she peered around the room looking for Jane, knowing that now she had to make sure that she got the woman to safety. Smiling softly over at her former employer (though did it count if she wasn't paid) and upon noticing the packed bag at her feet, Dacia felt that for now at least she knew what she would have to do.

Walking quietly over to the woman, with her arms spread wide as she wanted a hug from the woman before they had to leave her behind to go chasing after yet more ghosts in shadows. Smiling a little when Jane also held her arms out to the woman, she wrapped the woman in her arms and took a deep breath in, wanting to remember the woman's unique scent of labs and flowers.

Hmm, it seemed like the woman was still using the same perfume. It had always been a relief when even if the woman forgot to shower (which could be nauseatingly often) she would always spray a bit of perfume over her body. It was a bit of a toss-up whether or not the woman over sprayed the perfume, which could be sickeningly sweet at times.

"You might not see us for a while, but we promise to be back as soon as we can, look for me follow all their instructions. You know that it would kill me if anything were to happen you, not while I could have been there to help you. You should be fine here, just call one of the three of us if you are having any difficulties, okay?" Dacia checked with the woman, once she had stepped back from the woman, her eyes running over the woman in concern, not sure what she was looking for.

"Yeah, I know, just please for me, be careful and don't take any unnecessary risks unless you have to. I know that I can't hope to protect you, but that woman has decided that I'm the person she wants to go after, I couldn't handle it if I thought that any of you guys got hurt on my account." Jane told the woman in a rare show of emotion.

Dacia looked over at the woman, nervous about what she was asking. Sighing a little to herself when she realised that it was possible that one of them get hurt while they were hunting down Romanova, the woman was simply too dangerous not to be treated without caution. Dacia wondered at what point the tiny astrophysicist had wormed her way into her heart, but she found that she didn't mind it. Jane might have become something like a mascot for the crew, a genius and overworked scientist; she represented what the trio was looking for all along. It was, as always something for them to be concerned about, at least now it seemed as if they had something to play for. Nodding to herself, she agreed with the woman.

"Jane, you know that anything could happen when we are out there, we are going to be chasing after someone who could have a lot of power, I can't promise that nothing will happen. But I promise you that we will fight to make our way back. Is that okay?" Dacia sighed, running a hand through her hair stressed.

"Okay, I let you guys go." Jane sighed, before reaching round for Jyn and trying to comfort her.

Jyn looked over at the woman and made sure to hug her tightly, before stepping back to wrap the woman in a hug. Letting go of the woman, Jyn looked over her shoulder as Cassian came back into the room. Cassian simply nodded over at the woman, unable to make himself hug the woman, his stoic side still showing through.

Allowing Cassian to take the woman from them, Jane made her way from the spaceship, feeling as if all the stress was coming off her, turns out that the stress of feeling as if she was in more danger, could stress out a person.

WHOOSH

When Jane had stepped off the spaceship, it seemed as some oxygen left the ship, shaking her head and stepping forward to resume her work once again. Scrolling a hand over the tablet in front of her, Dacia frowned when she realised the magnitude of work ahead of them. Breathing slowly she tried to consider whether or not it was time for them to begin working quickly.

"Okay, so what are our next problems?" Dacia prompted the small group, wanting to get them back on track.

"Does it seem as if the woman would prefer to hide in large cities, or out in the country? If we knew that, we could know where to check first." Jyn muttered.

"I have been thinking about that, and it occurs to me that the woman would be more likely to hide in larger cities, where she could disappear more easily. After all, who is going to notice a new woman popping up, not when she could fall back on the excuse that she was brought by a desire for work. She could also keep an ear to the ground for any potential changes to the Sokovia Accords. She would need to know whether or not it was safe for her not to come out of hiding again." Cassian began.

"Right, that would make sense, somehow though I can't see the woman giving up on a chance for herself to step back into the limelight. She might have gotten used to the spotlight, no matter how much she might have protested it. She would maybe decide that she didn't like the idea of hiding out in the country, because she might stick out even more. It wouldn't have been as easy for her to simply hide, because you guys know as well as I do, that a newcomer would stick out like a sore thumb. Especially if everybody already knew most of everybody else." Jyn continued the man's thought with a shiver going up her spine as she considered some of the implications of what she was saying.

"Okay, so if we turn our sights to the larger cities, do you guys think we might be able to find her. Do you think that we cast a large net for the woman, we might be able to find her?" Dacia checked.

"It is entirely possible that we might be able to pick the woman up, but we need to find out if we can find the woman. We are going to need to find the woman, are there any warrants out for her arrest? We know that she hurt Black Panther, could Wakanda have a warrant out for the woman, his later actions would cast aspersions on the man's thinking processes." Cassian supplied.

"For now though, we have to operate under the knowledge that they are looking for her. The only thing that we can rely on right now though is that no matter how powerful the Dora Milaje, the country has been isolated for so long that they don't have any extradition treaties with other countries. One of the downsides of being so far cut off means that you can't rely on other countries to go out of their way to do anything you ask them, because they can't trust that you will be likely to honour your previous commitments to other countries. I can understand why they would think like that because many countries operate with a bit of you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours, sad to say but it's true. Wakanda at this stage is an unknown entity before it was believed to be a developing nation, able to fly under the radar because no one expected them to be much. At the same time, we can't be sure whether or not the Dora Milaje could simply march in with and take custody of the woman, who gives a damn about relations?" Dacia, muttered remembering some of her studies as Darcy Lewis.

Strange how things could come full circle at times.

"Okay, but even though Wakanda have access to Vibranium, would they still risk showing their hand so early? What would be the benefit of them starting a war? Sure they could finish it, but would they want to risk it? Especially for just one woman?" Cassian asked, still not sure whether on some things.

"It's possible that Wakanda has become arrogant in their isolation. Think about it; if they believe that they can finish any war, they might have told themselves that it is unlikely that they have anything to lose, should they be pushed into a situation where war looks like a legitimate answer." Jyn provided.

"Yeah, that could be true, but I think we could tell anyone that it seems that there is always a higher cost of war. From our backgrounds, we know that anyone could get hurt, and it doesn't matter on what side you stand on. Is it even possible that Wakanda is not as familiar with a higher cost? Something tells me that they might not be ready to pay for their actions in a court, would they hold their actions, until they could be sure which way the winds are blowing?" Cassian asked.

"For now, we have to work through the current matter. Jyn have you found anything we can use to tell us where the woman is? I don't think I need to point out to you how crucial our next few moves could be." Dacia asked, drawing their attention back to the matter at hand.

"I have been scanning through some of the matters that we might be able to find; we need to find her. So far, I can tell you that the woman is flying under far under the radar, we will find the woman. K have you been able to find any proof of the woman?" Jyn, not sure what answer she was likely to get.

"I have been scanning, and it seems as if the woman has some information to tell her to move more and more frequently. She might have been changing her lair or her living accommodations every so often, most likely to avoid detection, at least as far as she could." K-2SO provided.

"Alright, is there a chance that she could find any proof or something to indicate to her that people are looking in the Middle East for her. We don't want to tip her off and follow a red herring to a point where we run the risk of becoming so confused that tire ourselves out looking for some answer that doesn't exist." Dacia asked, wanting to be sure.

"For now though, I have found a possible apartment block, on the outskirts of Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, she might be holed up there for now. Would you like me to scan the surrounding areas for any cameras that might be able to tell us where she is?" K-2SO told the group triumphant with some of the things that he had managed to find.

"Yeah, in the meantime though, we had better find some disguises, we don't want to stick out like sore thumbs," Dacia told the AI, before leading Jyn from the room.

WHOOSH

Steve looked up confused, he wasn't sure why the spaceship was moving and for now though he was confused he didn't feel like he could ask. Nor could he bring it up to any of the people in the other cells, they still didn't understand why he had taken the actions that he had. Steve couldn't understand why they refused to listen to him; he had known that Bucky was innocent, why would no one believe him?

He had had to protect Bucky from Stark in that bunker; Stark could have killed him, even though it was more likely that he would have simply hurt the man, for all the power of the suit, the man was weak. He wasn't a soldier, he didn't know the cost of war, of taking someone else's life. Steve had been right all those years ago; Stark wasn't ready to lay down his life to protect other people. He had never been ready.

Steve had suspected that the guy had known that his trip into the wormhole wasn't a one-way trip. Steve had known guys like his ilk before, out for nothing but themselves and so greedy to take all the advantages they could. Steve felt nothing but dismay and disgust curl in his belly as he thought of his former 'friend'.

It worried Steve at times that the Avengers, the rightful Avengers had fallen so deep into Stark's shadow, were they all hoodwinked to believe the best in Stark? The only thing that brought him any comfort right now was that at least they had fought alongside him against the insidious influence of Stark.

Maybe he didn't have to lose all hope in them.

Stark had fallen so far and so fast, his father had been such a good man, he had provided the Howling Commandos (how he missed those guys) with gear in the European theatre of war. He regretted that his friend's face and body had been used to kill his friend, that had stung a little Steve could privately admit. But Steve knew that Howard would never have blamed Buck for murdering him. Howard had understood how things lay, at least he could have trusted the man that much.

Tony had been so blinded by rage; he hadn't stopped to think about the implications of his actions, he never had. Tony had always simply thrown his money at his problems and forced the rightful Avengers to look after themselves. Steve promised himself that from now on he would make sure that his team was kept away from Stark's dirty money and influence. He would have to make sure that they were kept far away from anything that could turn them from his influence.

The only thing that troubled him now was, that Wanda seemed so bloodthirsty, he wondered how the woman had kept a tight reign on her anger.