Frack!
“Okay, what do you know about this Bartowski guy,” K asked John as they went through all of the data that JARVIS gathered.
“The guys a moron. Smart as hell. Can fix almost any computer out there but a moron non the less. He tends to not only attract trouble but actually make things worse whenever he gets involved. The only thing going for him is his mind,” Colonel Casey said.
“So this guys just has names and stuff pop into his head?” Tony asked.
“He said it sorta like flashes through his head with different pictures and words. I don’t know exactly, I just know that sometimes he is walking down the street and passes someone who flashes through his brain and suddenly we know where an assassin is spending his summer vacation.” John said as he pulled the information that would be most helpful. There was a picture of a young man with brown hair and brown eyes. He was wearing a white shirt with an honest to god pocket protector.
“Yeah, looks like a winner here. What do we know about his disappearance?” Tony asked.
“He was working at the local Buy More when they got a call about a computer that needed fixed so he jumped into his little Nerd Herder Car and drove over to the guys house”
“Wait, He has all this knowledge and he works at a Buy More?” Tony asked.
“It was his cover. Did you really think that a world renowned spy would be working in a little idiot driven computer store?” Colonel Casey growls out. “Thing is, I was stuck working there too in order to be his body guard. Job sucked.”
“Okay. Go on,” Tony waved his hands in a circle to get John talking.
“Well, we got up to the guys house, no big deal. Went into his office and then bam! Crack to the back of my head and I was out. Didn’t see it coming and I was looking for it. Still want to know how they got me unawares. Woke up to an empty house.” John was looking down and very very angry.
“Okay, this guy calls and you go to do your job and he ends up being a kidnapper. So, why don’t you just interrogate this guy and see where they took him?” Agent K asks.
“That guy they found with the cement shoes? Yeah, that's him.”
“So you look into his finances and see where he got his money.”
“You think we haven’t tried that?” John said as he got into Agent K's face. “Look, Pops. The CIA tried everything. We have his phone records, all of his known addresses and aliases. All known associates and family members. Heck, we even put a bug on his kid. Nothing. The guy is probably what he seemed to be: clueless. I am not sure but I think he was put up to it and has no connection other than being convenient for the real kidnapper.”
Agent K didn’t back down, he simply took a step back to reevaluate the situation. “Okay. Let's go over how he could be convenient and then see how Abby’s team is doing.”
XXX
“Oh, fleshy,” Zack looked at what was left of the body. It was laid out on a table. There was a group of scientists trying to use their lab but Clint and Natasha were informing them of the wonderful time they would have practicing their combat skills instead of working on their projects for the foreseeable future.
Abby took a bunch of samples and disappeared into the computer bank on the far wall. Zack reached into a bag he had gotten out of his locker. He pulled out a jar full of beetles. After securing a glass partition around the top of the table he pored the beetles onto the body.
“What are you doing?” Coulson asked curiously.
“Well, we have everything we could possibly get from the flesh so I am removing it so that we can get some information from the bones.” Zack answered.
“You keep beetles in your kit?” Clint looked over Coulson’s shoulder and shuddered a little.
“Sure. Why not?”
“Are you going to dispose of them when you are done?” Clint asked.
“No. Why would I?”
“Because they are bugs?”
“Hey, they have names,” Zack frowned.
“Ooookaaaaay. I’ll just be over here then. Let me know if I can help.” Clint walked over to an empty seat and perched atop the back rest.
Natasha didn't say anything. She just left with a phone in her hand. Her contacts probably had no information but it never hurt to ask.
Coulson had been handed a box to send to the Jeffersonian care of a Dr. Jack Hodgins. “What is in here?”
Zack didn’t even bother looking up from his beetles. “The usual, clothe particles, hair samples, water samples, larva and a leech your scientists found on his left leg.”
“We have people here who can analyze these.”
“Yes but you do not have the leading expert in entomology who knows more about spores and minerals than anyone else in the States. Please send that overnight. I would hate for the larva to develop while it is in transit.”
XXX
The screen showed a man with curly brown hair who was smiling at Dr. Addy as they talked. “Your man had recently been near a fracking site.”
“Fracking? How do you know?” Zack asked.
“His shirt contained a mess of chemicals that are usually found in fracking but the true tell is the Halyomorpha Halys. It’s a stink bug introduced to the United States back in 1998. Started in Allentown and spread into 37 counties. There are a few sitings outside Pennsylvania but with the chemicals on his clothes and the larva I would say that he was most likely a recent visitor to Northern PA region.”
“Thanks, Jack. I appreciate it,” Zack smiled at his friend.
“So when can we come up and visit? Or is your new job too secret to let you talk to simple citizens like us in case we find out something we shouldn’t.”
“I will ask as soon as we find Mr. Bartowski.”
“Well, Angela sends her love and Dr. Brennan wanted to make sure that you are sleeping right.” Dr. Hodgins said before Zack said his goodbyes and they logged off.
Just as soon as the computer blacked out it lit back up with Tony’s face. “So, Upper PA huh? Not too far from here but far enough that we may not have looked there. So, when do we get moving?”
Natasha came and took over the video call. “Stark, there is a lot of ground to cover, unless we have a precise location moving in would only alert the kidnappers.”
“Right, right. So hey, it turns out that there is an old abandoned mental hospital in the middle of nowhere near St. Mary’s, PA. Hydra once used it for human experiments but was shut down by SHIELD. The building was never damaged or sold. Do you think John’s Fulcrum buddies would be there?”
“That is a real possibility. Let us check out a few things and..” Natasha hates it when Tony interrupts.
“Yeah, already pulled up your satellites. There is definite movement in the area and it doesn’t look like your bored teenagers. We’re talking truckloads of movement. So, when are we assembling?”
“I would be careful if I were you,” Zack said. Everyone looked at him questioningly. “Look, see how all of the vertebrae have a similar cracking and the pelvis looks like it has been crushed? These things happened while he was alive. I would even guess that it was a likely cause of death. You guys know anyone who can crush the middle part of the body but leave the ribs and other bones alone?”
“No,” said Clint. “But I have a feeling we are about to find out.”
"That's not the only thing," Abby said as her smiling face came into view. "He was also poisoned. He has low traces of believe it or not, a chemical found in the peace lily in his blood. Looks like his wife may be a suspect so keep your eyes peeled."
"Great," mumbled Clint. "And did any of you geniuses think to look into the wife."
"Of course we did," John's voice could be heard over the speaker. "She disappeared the same night as flounder over there."
"Oh, this just keeps getting more fun," Zack said as he rolled his eyes. "You guys go avenge. Let me know how it turns out."
"No," Agent K said. The authority in his voice actually causing everyone else besides Coulson to take a step back. "This is a family affair, we all go. You can just stay in the van until you are needed."
Tony decided it was his turn to talk. "Okay, looks like we have a plan. Avengers Assemble!"