This is the first fanfiction that I have written, it is going to be multiple chapters. I hope you enjoy reading it.

Shadows – Chapter 1

Breakfast in Stark Tower was anything but restful, especially for Clint. Being the designated cook for six people was hard work and when two of them could eat enough eggs between them to kill a horse it sometimes took hours.

"I'm hungry!" Tony whined, leaning casually against the counter.

"Yeah, well tough it out because it won't be ready for another thirty minutes."

"But…" Tony's complaint was cut short by a ringing sound coming from Clint's tracksuit pocket.

"Hi." Clint was relieved he didn't have to talk to Tony anymore.

"Agent Barton, its Hill." Maria's clipped tone washed the grin off Clint's face.

"What?"

"They found you; you have to move now!"

"Really, now… Ok I'm on my way." The serious look on Clint's face drew Tony's attention and as Clint made his way to the door Tony shouted.

"Hey, where are you going? What about breakfast?"

Clint gave him an apologetic mile and left the kitchen, bumping into Steve on his way through the living room.

"Clint," Hill's voice was sounding rushed and Clint could hear the sound of typing over the phone, "they're definitely in New York and we have to move. Get to HQ now!" She hung up and Clint put his phone back in the pocket of his tracksuit.

"I'm sorry guys, something's come up."

"But-"

"Steve can cook breakfast Tony" Clint smirked at the shocked look on the super soldier's face. He walked to the elevator, ignoring the disgruntled splutters coming from behind him and pressed the button for his floor.

xxx

Natasha woke up to the smell of burning coming from the floor below. She quickly shoved on some clothes and ran for the elevator.

The kitchen was a mess and, as she left the elevator, she saw Thor trying desperately to put out some bacon while Bruce watched in despair as Tony poured water on his blackened toast.

"What happened down here?" Her smile didn't go unnoticed by the billionaire, who said.

"Well, Legolas wasn't cooking breakfast fast enough so I came in here to talk to him but he took a call, packed a bag and left. Steve took over but couldn't work the toaster so I tried to help and then they woke up and tried to burn the Tower down." Tony's arms didn't stop moving as he talked and Natasha was worried that he would break something.

"Clint just packed a bag and left?" That didn't sound like him.

"Yeah, you really need to sort out your boyfriend Spidey."

Natasha rolled her eyes. Tony had assumed that they were dating from the beginning and over the two months she and Clint had been living in the Tower, and all of the pointed looks that they got at SHIELD base, they had gotten bored of correcting him. Tony took it as a sign of defeat.

"Did he say why he was leaving" She directed this question at Bruce but it was Steve that answered.

"No, he just said something came up. Why?"

"Excuse me for one moment." She left the kitchen.

xxx

Tony was getting very hungry and the hope of breakfast was getting slimmer by the minute. Thor slowly moved away from the remnants of his bacon. "Why does she not answer Steve's question?"

Bruce pushed his glasses up his nose and sat down at the table "Maybe she's going to find out."

"Or," Tony sat down next to Bruce, "she already knows and doesn't want to tell us."

Steve was lingering in the doorway. "If it's a SHIELD thing then they can't tell us either way."

"Doesn't mean we can't find out." Tony started pressing buttons on the table top and called on JARVIS to help him. "Hey J. Hack Clint's phone and play back the conversation he just had."

"That doesn't sound like a good idea…" Bruce started but was interrupted when Hill's voice filled the room.

"The found you…" the short conversation that Clint had with Maria was relayed to the other Avengers and left them more confused than before.

The silence only lasted thirty seconds before Natasha re-entered the kitchen.

"Sorry about-"

"Who have found Clint?" Tony asked a startled Natasha.

"How do… Never mind. I can't tell you, it's-"

"Classified, sure." Tony heard that word every other day form the spies and was getting sick of it. Apparently everything SHIELD did was secret. "Where did you have to go that was so urgent?"

"Umm… That's private, Stark. So, what's for breakfast?"

xxx

Where had she gone, she went to her floor to phone Fury about taking her partner away. Of course he wouldn't tell her so she would have to wait for Clint to text her about it.

"Crap," Tony's voice pulled her out of her thoughts, "what are we going to do about breakfast?" He tuned to look at everyone with genuine concern on his face.

"There's a patisserie just round the corner Tony." Bruce reassured the scientist. "I'll go get some breakfast." Bruce turned to leave when Natasha's phone started to ring.

Steve looked at Natasha who was looking tiredly at the small square of metal in her hand. "Are you going to answer it?"

"Uh, yeah." She pressed the green button and put the phone to her ear. "Hello." The whole room sat silently, listening in on the conversation. All thoughts of breakfast were gone from their minds.

"Hey Nat, its Clint."

"Where are you?"

"I'm on a jet to… I can't say…"

"Why?"

She heard Clint sigh and he paused before saying, "It's the Shadow, Nat. They found me."