A/N: This is a short ficlet set in my Stunning Silence verse, about 2 months before the events of Stunning silence. Can be read as a stand-alone. For those unfamiliar with it, in it Tony Stark is younger, only 19 years old and is mute- having had his vocal cords cut out irreparably in Afghanistan when he was 15. No one knows because he made a translator that basically reads his lips (assisted by JARVIS) to speak out loud for him. For those familiar, I swear I will update soon and look out for more ficlets like these.

Eerie

Stepping into the darkened hallway, Tony shifted uncomfortably.

'This is weird. And it echos. It's eerie"

Clint gave Tony a incredulous glance. "No one says eerie. What the hell? And it's safe, if filthy."

Tony scuffed his shoe against the side. "It's filthy all right." He wrinkled his nose.

Still snickering, the ran down the hall, intent on leaving the building before the charges went off.

"How long do we have?" Clint asked, dead serious now.

Tony looked at the remote he held "6 minutes."

Clint winced. He was wearing body armor, but Tony wasn't. He didn't want Tony hurt. None of the Avengers did. He was the youngest of them at 19 and while he could take care of himself they all worried about him.

"Hurry." Clint tried to mask his concern. "We don't want to be in here when it blows"

They ran for several minutes in silence, only their footsteps to be heard, echoing eerily off the walls.

Just as they reached the door, floor seemed to explode under their feet.

Tony stumbled slightly, grabbing Clint's hand and leading the way onto the roof, struggling to balance on the burning floor as it crumbled beneath their feet.

The sprinted across the roof and jumped into the open quin-jet.

Right as it took off, the roof was finally engulfed in fire.

Clint and Tony laughed, glancing at each other in pure relief.

The flight crew looked at them oddly. Why were they laughing?