French Quarter, New Orleans, 3 o'clock in the morning [NFB for distance]

[heroic_jawline]

Steve absolutely knew better than to be on a touristy neighborhood like this, which was part of why he'd chosen it as a safe place to meet the other Avengers who were still hiding from Ross and the fallout of the Sokovia Accords. Anyone who happened to catch sight of their faces, he hoped, would either be too drunk to remember or too focused on robbing those too drunk to remember to bother anyone about it. Steve was moving quickly despite the sweltering heat--he was not born to amble--and began to wonder if Sam had suggested a New Orleans meeting in August as some sort of payback for being taken to the Raft. He felt the sweat beading under his "don't notice me" ball cap (even super-serum had to work hard against Southern humidity) as he dodged around drunken, surprisingly handsy revelers and tried not to breathe in the unique blend of fried dough, pot, puke, seafood, and spilled Hurricanes too deeply. He was definitely not looking to see what was sticking to his sneakers. He was a city kid and there were some questions you never wanted the answer to.

He turned down St. Philip Street after passing the blacksmith bar and heard Sam's voice in his head warning him about not being a moron and staying on this side of the road and leaving the LaLaurie Mansion the "hell alone, I mean it, Steve." He was blaming watching the house for why the arm around his neck dragging him into a nearby darkened courtyard caught him by surprise.

Comments

[hailhailgangsallhere]

"Could use it on us," Sam suggested. "Maybe a nice car. A fancy hotel. Someplace that doesn't smell like vomit and bad decisions."

[heroic_jawline]

"But no one would expect to find us where it smells like vomit and bad decisions," Steve said with a grin. "Anyone else here?" he called out.

[hailhailgangsallhere]

Well, that was just asking to get an arrow pointed at you, Steve.

"Who's the new guy?" Also, why was he green?

[heroic_jawline]

"Our new problem," Steve said with a wry smile. "Hello. Thor's not the only alien you've met."

[hailhailgangsallhere]

"Of course we can't deal with just one crisis at a time," Natasha said dryly, pushing Clint's drawn arrow down. "This is what you wanted Fury for, isn't it?"

[heroic_jawline]

"Exactly," Steve said, putting the Skrull into a corner where he could keep an eye on him. "Meet the Skrulls, an alien species that can shapeshift into looking just like us."

Right, Sam?

[hailhailgangsallhere]

"An experience I'd rather not repeat," Sam chimed in. "We're tying them up, right?"

[hailhailgangsallhere]

"How do we know you guys aren't Skrulls with that guy as a double blind?" Clint, no.

[hailhailgangsallhere]

"They appear to be fully themselves," Vision chimed in, parting from Wanda's side to come investigate the commotion. "A detection device for each of you would be the optimal plan for such an occurrence in the future."

[heroic_jawline]

Steve held up the sunglasses Tony had given him. "I have gifts," he confirmed. "Fury is being tightlipped about how many Skrulls are on Earth, but one's already been pretending to be Rhodey so there's someone trying to make a play. That can't be the only Skrull in a government."

[hailhailgangsallhere]

The fact that one of their own had already been replaced at some point sort of changed the mood of the assembled group. Weird, that.

"Read us in," Natasha said, crouching down to start tying up the Skrull.

[heroic_jawline]

Steve nodded as he texted Maria for a Skrull pickup in the morning. "I'm going to see T'Challa and Tony later," he began, "because T'Challa couldn't get from Wakanda in time," --or deeply didn't want to be lurking in the French Quarter at three in the morning. One of those-- "but here's what we've figured out so far."

He flipped his phone up to show a three-dimension projection of a Skrull. "Okay. This is a Skrull," he began, starting the briefing.