A/N: The first chapter was a teaser. Now we rewind to earlier in the day when the Avengers are training. Thor is in Asgard. Phil is at SHIELD Medical for a fitness evaluation to determine when he can come back to work.

Fallen Chapter 2 – Earlier That Day

The arrow flew faster than the eye could follow. It sped past the target about a foot high and buried itself six inches into the wall.

"Oops." Steve Rogers scratched his head sheepishly. That was the third arrow he'd sent into the wall, none of them close to each other.

Clint Barton frowned thoughtfully, then shrugged. "You're just too strong, Steve. I'd need to find a whole new way to string a compound bow to get the right draw for you."

"And then the arrow would go through a steel door," Bruce Banner commented. He was impressed by the deeply embedded arrows (and a little smug that he had hit the target twice, if only in the outer ring).

"I hate to tell you, but that wasn't nearly my full strength," Steve pointed out. "I was afraid the bow would snap if I pulled harder."

"That might be part of the problem, too," Natasha Romanoff told Clint. "He can't get any real control if he has to be so delicate."

Clint nodded while Steve went to pull his straying arrows out of the gymnasium wall.

"Tell me again why we're doing this?" Tony Stark complained, while he fiddled with the beginner's bow that Clint had given him. Tony had spent half the week doing meetings and PR and just when he thought he could escape to his lab to work on the six projects clamoring in his head, his team had dragged him to this bonding exercise. He was, frankly, as fidgety and cranky as a 2-year-old who didn't get his nap. Natasha was ready to slit his throat to stop his whining.

"We're just familiarizing ourselves with each other weapons, Stark," Natasha snapped. "We spent three hours last week listening to you rhapsodize about your repulsors. You can spend an hour learning how to hold a bow."

"But it's so archaic. It's older than Spangles!" Tony said.

"Gee, thanks," said the Super Soldier who was technically 90 years old, though he looked 25.

"I mean," Tony continued. "What can you do with a bow and arrow that you can't do just as well with a gun and bullets?"

Tony could handle guns. He was a former weapons manufacturer, after all.

Natasha muttered something about using Tony to exhibit her Widow's Bite taser bracelets when it was her turn to demonstrate.

As befits a sniper, Clint was more patient with his work-deprived friend. "I use a gun, Tony. You know that, but sometimes the bow is better. For one thing, it's quieter than the best silencer and I have yet to see a grappling hook bullet."

"But it's so distinctive," Tony pointed out. "Use an arrow and everyone knows you're the assas ... yowtch!"

Playing with the bow, Tony accidentally released the string, which sent the arrow sideways. The bowstring snapped back, missed the protective bow guard entirely and slapped his wrist hard enough to leave a welt. Tony yelped and dropped the bow as if it was on fire. He clutched his stinging wrist.

"It bit me! I'm not touching it again!" he vowed.

"Come on, Tony," Clint coaxed.

"I think I'm with Tony on this one," Steve said from across the room.

Everyone looked and saw the misfired arrow sticking out of Steve's side. Tony gasped. Bruce started forward.

"Relax," the Super Soldier said. "It's just caught in my shirt. It didn't have any force behind it."

When Steve moved, the arrow sagged, dragging at the side of his button-down shirt. Steve levered it out, frowning at the rip, and submitted to an examination by Bruce. The team's medical expert lifted the hem of Steve's T-shirt. There was a tiny scratch on Steve's side, already healing thanks to the Super Soldier serum. The arrow might have done more damage to a normal man, but it just glanced off Captain America's super dense muscles.

"See, no harm done. But I think Tony's had enough bows and arrows," Steve said with a smile.

Tony sat on an exercise cycle, fanning himself with relief.

"It's a good thing Coulson had his appointment with medical today," Natasha said in slightly malicious payback for Tony's whining.

"Yeah." Clint chided. "Damaging his hero. You'd have killed Phil all over again."

Bruce patted Tony's shoulder in consolation and Steve squeezed the other shoulder. "No harm done," Steve repeated, because Tony looked truly shaken. "Let's take a break ..."

The Avengers assembly alarm began to sound. Jarvis announced that Director Fury was on the line and news reports said men in jeeps with machine guns were terrorizing Brooklyn.

"... or not," Steve finished. "Brooklyn!" He rushed for his uniform, ready to defend his hometown.

To be continued