Continued from here clark/Iron Age the gateway part 4

Shield transport over Upstate New York.

Queen Danvers calls in to the Shield agents on board, "I'm assigning one of you to stay with them. It seems like every damn time we loose track of them for a second all hell breaks loose."

Agent Quartermain sits up, "Doesn't it seem a bit wasteful to make a Shield liaison post for two guys?"

She gave a blank stare as Quartermain sighed. Agent Walker raised her hand, "I'll do it."

They gave her a curious look but Fry shrugged, "Good luck with that."

***

David Hardy and Creed 7 exited the transport with Walker a few minutes later. David gave her a wary look, "So we need a baby sitter now?"

Walker shrugged as she picked up her bag, "Guess so."

"So how'd you get the gig?"

"Drew the short straw."

7 then walked past, "Looks like snow, better find some shelter."

David noticed Walker pick up her pace a bit to keep by 7 and muttered to himself, "That's weird."

***

The three had found a cave and sat around a fire. Walker felt a bit awkward as they sat quietly, David reading a beat up copy of some ancient book. Walker wondered why Hardy would be so amused by a travel guide for Hitchhikers. And seven sat tinkering with a gadget, "So this is what you two do when the world isn't ending?"

David looked over, "This is the first time I've got to relax in like a month, don't jinx it."

Suddenly they heard an odd jingle coming from David's pocket. He pulled out his holo phone and moved to block the view of the other two, "How the stark did you get this number?"

"Just listen, I need help."

7 turned at the sound of her voice, "Hell no."

David sighed, "Damn it."

He then turned as 7 stood, "Hang it up."

Raven looked to 7, "They're gonna kill me."

"Who?"

"Zemo."

7 sighed as he pulled up a hard light keyboard, "What's the number for that phone?"

He typed in the number that she gave before tossing arm bands to Walker and David and looking to the phone, "If this is a trap or a con, I will snap you neck."

Walker looked at the band, "Something I borrowed from fake Doom."

He then put a band on his arm, "Body slide by 3."

Down Town San Francisco

The three suddenly found themselves standing behind Raven as 7 asked, "Why is Zemo trying to kill you?"

She shrugged, "Who knows, he's crazy."

7 gave a wary look as he eyed her bag, "What's in the bag?"

"Just clothes and stuff."

David yanked it away and looked in, "Crap."

Walker looked to him, "What is it?"

"Glowing brick thing."

She sighed, "A glowing brick thing?"

"Glowing always means bad for us."

7 took the bag and looked in it, "Goddamn it."

Raven attempted to take it back but 7 held her back, "No, you don't need to be anywhere near this thing."

"I don't want to be near it I want to sell it....what is it?"

7 snatched her up by the throat, "Where did you get a starking Cosmic cube?"

He then sighed, "You stole it from Zemo."

***

Claudia von Strucker stands over the now headless corpses of the men who were meant to deliver the cube. She looked to Lash and Cutthroat, "You two are coming with me. What did they say this thief called herself?"

Cutthroat watched her wiping the blood from her blade and fought the urge to comment, "Jennifer Banner, but odds are its fake. Luckily she nabbed corpse number 2's phone. Tinkerer placed it in San Francisco."

***

Raven looked annoyed as 7 crushed her phone, "Was that necessary?"

"Where'd you get it?"

She seemed to have a moment of realization, "I panicked a bit, I've never pissed off a legit super villain before."

Walker chimed in, "So, what's the plan?"

7 looked to the bag, "First we need to get rid of this. Any ideas?"

David shrugged, "Do we know how to get a hold of anyone who would even know what to do with it?"

7 sighed, "I have one option."

He started typing in coordinates as Raven asked, "What about me? Just gonna leave me to the wolves?"

David looked to 7, "We can't just let hydra kill her."

7 didn't look up, "Why not, she'd do it to you."

"We're the good guys, its the job description."

7 sighed, "Fine, but when she stabs us in the back, and she will, I'm blaming you."

Raven tried to keep up her game face but hearing these two, who were probably the closest thing she had to friends talk about her as if she were an albatross around their necks, stung a bit.

7 tossed her an armband, "Body slide by 4."

(to be continued)