"I don't even care that we aren't wearing our own faces," Stark said as he admired his reflection in the mirror on the elevator ceiling, "We look damn good."
"Speak for yourself," Rogers muttered avoiding looking at the mirror. Loki hid a grin. He had intentionally given Captain America a rather ugly face that looked perpetually greasy and acne ridden. He had not been able to convince the captain to stay home from their mission, so he'd done the next best thing.
The rest of them had average, forgettable faces atop their evening wear and would blend right in with the wealthy crowd they'd be infiltrating. Loki himself had forgone his signature green color for fear of being recognized and wore an all black tux with golden cufflinks, one of which doubled as a communicator. Romanoff was also in all black, though she wore a communicator disguised as a red gemstone necklace. Stark wore all gold, with red shoes, and a fake earring that doubled as his communicator. And Rogers wore a simple navy tux with a white shirt and glasses with a built in communicator.
Thor had wanted to come along, but everyone decided that he was not the best option for a stealth mission and sent him to investigate the Canadian forest more in hopes that he might stumble into Uriah Fenice's house.
Sam Wilson had also wanted to come to help Rogers in case Bucky Barnes was anywhere nearby, but Tony had only been able to secure four tickets and refused to give up his own because he claimed he was the only one who knew how to behave at an affluent party. Loki disagreed, having grown up in a palace, but he had his own reasons not to give up his ticket that no one questioned. Rogers was equally persistent, though no one was sure if it was because he was looking for Jak or he was looking for Barnes. As for Romanoff… no one could imagine going on a covert operation without the Black Widow.
So the Falcon was sent with Thor to make sure he didn't violate any international laws. Or blow the house to smiterines without properly searching it when he found it.
"Remember," Romanoff applied lipstick, studying her movements in the ceiling mirror, "We find Fenice, we gather intel, but we don't ask about Jak. We don't ask about Bucky. We don't ask about his missing Russian cook. We don't give ourselves away. At the end of the evening, we tail him and we try to learn more."
"And I'll try to sneak off and find a computer," Stark grinned, "See what connections his company has to Project Rebirth."
"If any of us is caught acting suspicious, we aren't Avengers," Rogers nodded, "We're corporate spies working for Bruceberry Produce."
"And if I happen to learn that Fenice is Jaklyn's kidnapper, I'll take him up to the roof for a little chat," Loki muttered to himself, already annoyed with the pre-mission chatter from the Avengers. They should have just sent him alone. He would have been far more efficient without them there.
The elevator dinged and let them out into an overly glamorous ballroom. There were even ice sculptures.
People dressed in jewel tones stood around, mostly chatting or exclaiming over the beautifully arranged food. Soft music filtered to their ears from the corner, where a string quartet was set up. Loki surveyed the space, scanning for Uriah Fenice. He'd burned the man's image into his mind and intended to be the first to get to him and fish for information. If not him, then he wanted Romanoff to get to Fenice. Given the way she'd uncovered his own plans in the past, she was the only one Loki trusted to get the job done properly.
"Alright people, let's schmooze," Stark circled his finger and then pointed forward as he walked toward the open bar. Rogers rolled his eyes and departed from the group as well.
"We can't kill him while Jak's still missing," Romanoff said quietly, standing next to Loki.
"I won't. Not until we get the information we need," Loki huffed.
"I was talking to myself," the Widow shot him a side glance before she swiped a champagne flute from a passing waiter and disappeared into the crowd.
Doing his best to blend in, Loki put on a smile and joined a group in conversation about the rare bird they were all donating money toward saving by being at the ball. He knew nothing about this bird, but luckily none of the other guests did either and he could easily pretend to be an expert on the subject while he observed the room around them.
"...and where is the man of hour anyway?" He asked a young looking woman who was dripping diamonds and wore a dress that revealed swaths of contradictory age-spotted skin. "I haven't seen Uriah in years! I was hoping to catch up with him tonight."
"Oh Mr. Fenice hasn't arrived yet," the woman assured him, aggressively pawing at his arm, "He's always fashionably late to these things. But you know, I heard that he has a surprise guest he's bringing with him tonight. That should be exciting. These things can get so dull with the same old crowd to talk to, don't you think?"
"Honestly, they ought to start inviting in people off the streets just to liven things up a bit," Loki agreed, interested in whomever the mystery guest might be. "Any gossip on who Uriah's plus one is?"
"Not a clue! My husband is on the board and he said that Uriah hasn't said a word about it to him or anyone else on the board as far as he's aware. Poor Mr. Fenice often comes alone to these gatherings, or with only his bodyguard."
"And his bodyguard certainly doesn't provide any meaningful addition to the conversation," Loki said teasingly, wondering if his lure had caught.
"Oh heavens no! That man frightens me," the woman clung even tighter to Loki's arm, "Such a lifeless stare, don't you think? I am sure he must be expensive to be so well disciplined."
"Quite right. Remind me, do we know what agency he comes from? I've had a few security threats myself lately and I'm sure a guard dog like that would make me feel safer."
"You are funny," the woman's eyes sparkled, but when Loki didn't respond she leaned in close to whisper conspiratorially, "You really don't know? I thought everyone in Uriah's inner circle had heard by now."
"As I said, it's been a few years since I've really been in the inner circle," Loki rolled his eyes, "Politics in my company have kept me overseas."
"Unions?" The woman asked sympathetically, "I just don't understand them. Why would we pay them more to work less? It doesn't make any sense. I think people just don't have the work ethic that they used to. My husband, you know my Daniel, don't you? He is always complaining about the unreasonable demands of today's youth."
"That sounds like Daniel," Loki laughed, not having an inkling of who Daniel was beyond being married to this conveniently chatty woman. "But I must know this secret about Uriah's bodyguard. You have me on the edge of my seat."
Loki had carefully taken slow steps with each sentence spoken to back away from the rest of the group they had been conversing with. There was no one within earshot to stop the woman from spilling secrets that weren't hers and she eagerly plowed onward.
"Evidently, he's an old tool of the, ehem, company Uriah worked with before," she fidgeted with her necklace and looked over her shoulder, "If you ask me, it's a bit un-American to keep up with those practices, but I suppose all the boys do like to have their little club. And my Daniel has inherited his membership from his father, which is, of course, a great honor."
"It truly is," Loki nodded, "And excuse me for gnawing at this same bone, but you can't possibly mean that Uriah's bodyguard is…" he trailed off meaningfully.
"He is," the woman nodded and then giggled, "But you can't tell anyone I told you so!"
"I wouldn't dare," Loki crossed his heart, still unsatisfied with her answer, but not willing to risk pushing too hard. To his ears it sounded as if the bodyguard in question was the Winter Soldier. But was that because it was what the woman was implying or because it was information that Loki was looking for? He couldn't be sure, but when he excused himself from her company, he scratched the back of his head and spoke into his cufflink.
"Uriah isn't here yet. I think his bodyguard may be Barnes, but I haven't been able to confirm. Be prepared," Loki was loath to spread the information on to Rogers, who would probably start foaming at the mouth as he frantically searched for his former friend, but he didn't want any of the Avengers to be caught off guard if the Winter Soldier appeared and killed them.
"He wouldn't bring him out in the open like this," the Captain responded, "People might recognize him from the news or-"
"If it is him, these people already know," Loki cut him off, deciding to focus on the elevator until Uriah Fenice arrived, "And they don't care."
"I get the feeling Ultron didn't take out all of Hydra like we thought he did," Romanoff said, "I just talked to someone wearing an octopus broach right above a Reichsadler pin with the swastika filed off of it."
"Yikes," Stark said. He'd disappeared from the ballroom, presumably to find a computer, "If these people are Hydra, we're gonna wanna get pictures. I'll see if I can steal the security footage while I'm snooping."
"We want to be certain before we start arresting people," Rogers said, "Loki, Romanoff, you're our best manipulators-"
"Ouch," Romanoff said at the same time Loki said "thank you."
"-find out more details. Don't be obvious about it though. Act like you're one of them."
"Obviously," Loki and Romanoff said at the same time before moving back into conversations. Loki would help them discover if this was a pit of Hydra supporters, but only because it furthered his goal of finding Jak. The Avengers were used to tracking down Hydra bases. They'd probably do a better job of finding her if she was hidden with the terrorist organization. Still, he kept an eye on the elevator to wait for Fenice's arrival.
"Yeah, be discreet guys," Stark chirped in the communicators, "Maybe try asking if they have family in Argentina!"
"Do you have any family in…?" Loki started to ask a middle aged man before Romanoff told Stark to shut up and stop being dumb. Not understanding Midgardian history and politics, Loki wasn't sure what exactly he had missed, but was now floundering for a way to finish his question.
"What were you saying?" The man asked.
"Err, I was just asking where your family hails from," Loki smiled, "Mine is from… Austria."
"Beautiful country, that," the man nodded, "I suppose mine goes back to that area on one side. But my father married into a South American family."
"Ah, really? How interesting! What part of South America?"
"Ha! Good one," the man laughed and patted his shoulder, the skin of his hands oddly wrinkled. "Have you had these hors devours? I'm not sure what they're made of but, by the gods, they are delicious."
Loki took one of the hors devours and agreed that they were delicious. "Perhaps chicken?" He suggested, trying to keep the conversation going so he could further his interrogations. After a moment, he realized that the man had sworn on the gods. Plural. That was unusual of modern Midgardians, wasn't it?
"As if Uriah would let us eat poultry at one of his events," another man in the circle chuckled, derailing Loki's train of thought, "Not to mention it's in poor taste at an event to save a 'rare endangered bird'. Caterers might ask questions."
"Nobody likes a nosy caterer," the first man nodded, "Especially if they make food as good as this and you have to let them go."
Was it just his imagination, or did everything these people say have an ominous tone to it? Why would a room full of wealthy people be speaking so secretively and ominously if they were not part of a shady organization?
"Yes, poor taste," Loki murumered, "Did either of you hear the news that Fenice is bringing a surprise guest? Any ideas who it could be?"
"A guest apart from that damned soldier? I'll believe it when I see it."
"He kept mentioning it at the board brunch this morning, but he was being cryptic about it, probably thought he was funny," the first man said.
"He has quite the sense of humor," Loki rolled his eyes, playing along and deciding to go out on a limb, "I suppose he thinks it's funny to drag that soldier around with him everywhere he goes. I've heard that the soldier isn't as stable as he used to be either. Liable to snap at any moment."
"Yes, I'm sure he's broken. How else would Uriah ever have wrestled him away from Alexander?" The second man laughed. "And now he brings him to us like a rabid wolf on a thin leash."
Loki stayed with them a few moments longer, but excused himself when they started talking about golf. He updated the team.
"They're referring to the bodyguard as 'the soldier' and evidently they think he's unstable and has been taken away from someone called Alexander."
"Pierce," Rogers breathed, "Alexander Pierce."
"Yep," Romanoff chimed in, "One of these women just told me I had 'beautiful aryan features'. Thanks for the blonde hair, Loki. Someone else asked me if any of my family had been personally acquainted with Johann Schmidt and I don't think he meant the Belgian pianist."
"Well that's suspicious," Stark said, "And so is this company. They hold charity events for endangered birds every year, donating millions to organizations dedicated to protecting them. Legit organizations, but here's the fun part: the rare birds they donate toward every year aren't real birds. They're just made up species."
"But do they all know that or is Uriah stealing from them?" Rogers asked.
"Some of these people do seem concerned about the birds," Loki commented, "So it's possible they don't know. But then why are they all starting to look like Hydra? Why would Hydra care about rare birds in the first place? And what does this have to do with Jaklyn?"
"Is Fenice here yet? We've been at this for an hour."
"Oh! Oh! I see a Rolls pulling up out front," Stark said, "And… yep, that's him. Good detective work, that's Bucky driving."
"Anyone else with them?" Loki asked, "He's supposed to have a special guest."
"There's a woman, but she's turned away from the camera," Stark typed away at the keyboard, "Yeah, no, I'm not getting angles of her. I'll keep trying."
"We need to get Uriah away from Bucky," Rogers said, "Then maybe we can break whatever magic he's using on his brain and get him away from here."
"If it is truly Bucky, then the odds that Uriah knows where Jak is have just gone up," Loki stepped closer to the elevator doors, "You go after your precious Barnes, I'll have a chat with Uriah."
"Let's not forget mystery woman," Romanoff said, "We don't know what her play is yet."
"Elevator is approaching," Stark said, "Loki, don't jump them. Let them get comfortable first. He's not going to tell us anything if he's spooked."
"I'm just watching," Loki hissed, "I've been doing this sort of thing for centuries, Stark. Leave me be."
The doors to the elevator finally opened. Barnes stepped out first, sweeping his steely gaze across the room. He looked at Loki for a moment longer than necessary, but could not see through the spell. Next came Uriah, holding his arm back into the elevator to escort his guest out. At first all Loki could see of her was her long red hair and the purple dress she wore, but she looked at her escort with a smile and turned her face toward Loki.
He felt his breath catch in his chest. She noticed him out of the corner of her eye and he was tempted to drop his disguise right then, but she looked back at Uriah and was soon enveloped into the crowd as the man at her side began introducing her to those around him as Jessica Fenice. Loki barely heard the "pleased to meet yous" as he watched her.
"It's Jak," Romanoff said in his ear. "He has Jak with him. And she has her magic."
Loki quickly turned his eyes to her wrist. Apart from a pale strip of skin that looked like a watch tan line, her arm was bare. For a moment he felt panic seize him. Had she actually been kidnapped? Or had she run away?
But then he saw the way she smiled - that grimace of politeness and the fear in her eyes when she looked at Uriah - and he knew that she might be able to use her magic freely, but she was more a prisoner than she'd ever been.