He was gone in a flash of green light. One moment he was there, arm raised to throw a punch, then there was a blinding flash of light. As it faded, and Natasha's sight returned - he was gone. Steve was gone.
For an instant, she stood, rooted to the ground, unable to do anything but watch as their foes turned and scattered. Then she exploded into movement, sprinting after them, swearing under her breath. She'd been duped, tricked into leading Steve and his team of - well, whatever they were - into a trap. She pivoted and sped down an alleyway, her aim to head Steve's attackers off at the other end, cursing herself as she ran. It had been a set-up; how had she been taken in? Was she losing her touch?
As she burst out of the alleyway and barrelled into the man who'd been the source of the strange green light, her focus narrowed to taking him down. Time enough to lick her wounds later - now, she had to find out what they'd done to Steve, and how to get him back. And she didn't have a lot of time - HYDRA agents were trained to kill themselves rather than be taken alive, and she needed him alive. He'd gone sprawling under her weight, his unusual weapon skittering across the ground away from them. She landed squarely on him, winding him; before he could recover, she grabbed his hair and slammed his head into the tarmac. He went limp - immediately, she was up and off him, rolling him over and reaching for his head. She yanked out the cyanide-containing fake tooth - there'd be no way out for him. Then she ran her hands over him, searching for and removing other weapons, before pulling the comms unit from his ear. She smashed it with the butt of his revolver - no one would be coming to his rescue either.
As she completed her search, Sam landed behind her, and Clint's familiar footsteps echoed down the same alleyway she'd taken. Sam reached down to pick up the weapon. "Be careful," Natasha warned him. He gave her a sideways look, taking an exaggerated care as he picked it up. On the surface, it looked like a magic wand - a stick with an green stone on the end. But it was glowing with its own unearthly light, and a chill ran down her spine. She'd seen its like before.
Clint came up alongside her - he breathed in sharply as he saw the weapon. "Another one?"
She shrugged - she wasn't sure, but she'd had the same thought.
"Great," he continued. "That's all we need." "If it is an Infinity Stone, who knows what it's done with Steve," she replied. "He could be anywhere."
Before anyone could reply, the fifth member of their team emerged from the alleyway. "There was no one there. The place was empty. Has anyone checked in with Steve?" Natasha winced as Sharon spoke - his disappearance would hit her hard.
"It was a trap." There was no sense in trying to soften the blow. "A trap to lure Steve out, so they could…" She trailed off, unable to say it.
"So they could what?" The tension in Sharon's voice was unmistakable. No one answered - none of them wanted to be the one to say it - to make it real.
"So they could what?" Sharon repeated. Clint and Sam looked furtively at Natasha, willing her to speak. With a sigh, she finally answered.
"We're not exactly sure. But Steve's gone."
"They captured him?"
"No. They - vanished him into thin air."
"What? How?"
"With that." Natasha nodded towards the weapon in Sam's hand.
"Is that-?" Sharon's voice was full of the same dread that curdled in the pit of Natasha's stomach.
Natasha sighed. "I don't know. But I think so. Thor said there were six of them, and that they were making themselves known. He'd heard of four so far - I think we might have found number five."
"Do you know what it does?"
She shook her head, but motioned towards the unconscious man in front of her. "No. But he does. And he'll tell us soon enough."