DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING

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The level of destruction was even worse in person and Tony couldn't help but let out a small whistle of appreciation of the work of their missing friend. The fires were still being put out by the time he, Bruce, and Cap arrived on the scene, and dead bodies of both mutated humans and scientists were still being rounded up.

"Definitely didn't show any mercy here, did he?" asked Bruce in a whispered tone after surveying the wreckage.

"After being kidnapped by these fuckers for months, he shouldn't have to," growled Tony as he kicked a large piece of scrap metal across the floor. The three Avengers were then approached by Agent Jasper Sitwell, who was overseeing the recovery and clean-up.

"Afternoon gentlemen," greeted the man. "I assume you've heard the news about Barton."

"You assume correctly," replied Steve before giving the man a stern look. "Though, I wish we could've heard about his disappearance sooner."

Agent Sitwell flinched at the disappointed look that Captain America was giving him before trying to sputter out a excuse. Agent Barton was known for occasionally disappearing for long periods of time while on a mission, but he always returned home. SHIELD just didn't want to get the Avengers riled up for no reason.

"Yeah, well that plan certainly backfired, didn't it?!" yelled Tony. "I knew I should've broken that promise to Clint about not hacking into SHIELD's computer systems. We could've found him and saved him. Clint could've been home, safe and sound with us!"

Agent Sitwell opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off by Steve. "The very next time a mission goes wrong with either Natasha or Clint and they go missing, I expect SHIELD to tell the Avengers about it immediately. Is that understood?"

Jasper gulped slightly from the bigger man's stern tone and nodded. "Understood."

Bruce quickly cleared his throat in order to break up the tense atmosphere. "So what kind of clues has SHIELD found here so far?"

Relieved by the subject change, Sitwell explained to the men everything that they've found. Four of the mutated human bodies were confirmed to be the same students that went missing while Dirk Jackson was still out in public. Judging by the degree of their mutation, it appeared that they were his very first projects. There was hardly anything left of decaying bodies that resembled anything human.

Bruce shuddered at the thought of his friend being trapped here and being experimented on for two long months. What kind of horrors had he endured before finally escaping and wreaking havoc on those who had captured him? The sound of Clint's voice was so weak and wrecked on the recording, and he even said that it was too late for him to return to the team, his family. What had that…that monster Dirk Jackson done to his friend?!

"…And this is where we believe Agent Barton was held due to the amounts of his…blood that accumulated there," continued the agent, gesturing to the broken glass capsule. Several robotic hands hung above the glass prison, some of them held menacingly sharp needles that were most likely used to inject dangerous chemicals into the captured archer.

Stark's fist clenched angrily, Rogers' body trembled in rage, and Banner could barely keep himself from hulking out as images of Clint being held down and being used an experimental human pin cushion flashed through their minds. No doubt the injection process had been severely painful if the amount of blood that stained the floor was anything to go by.

Bending down Bruce collected several swabs of Clint's blood and placed them in a clear plastic bag. Hopefully the samples would give a glimpse into what kind of mutation Clint was subjected to. He then told Sitwell that he would be needing a sample of every transformed human as well. Sitwell seemed adamant about giving into the gamma scientist's request without the Director's consent, but all protests were stopped when he received an angry green eyed glare for his trouble.

Stark had taken up walking through the ruined laboratory, glancing at anything that hadn't been completely and utterly destroyed. There was computer monitor that lay on the metallic floor that still glowed with life while the others had been shattered or set on fire. As he got closer Tony wondered if this was the computer that Barton used to send out the information he gathered to SHIELD before spotting something else in the corner of his eye. Over by an over-turned work table lay what seemed to be some type of large dead animal. On closer inspection it appeared to be a wildcat-lizard hybrid that…had an arrow sticking out of its jugular.

"Hey guys, come over here quick!" shouted Tony. When Bruce, Steve, and Jasper arrived he pointed to his discovery. "Look what the SHIELD agents missed."

Agent Sitwell immediately bristled at the comment. "We are still working on getting everything collected, Mr. Stark. This is a very large facility and it takes time to get everything sorted out properly!"

Steve rolled his eyes as the two men bickered back and forth before reaching down to remove his team-mate's arrow from the creature's neck. But as soon as the arrow was free from its flesh, the hybrid's eyes shot open and a feral growl erupted from its lips, causing the four men to jump back in shock and fear.

"T-That thing's still a-alive after being stabbed in the throat?!" shouted Tony as his Iron Man suit began attaching to him.

Rogers quickly readied his shield for battle. "Apparently..."

The creature let out another growl, this one much louder than the first before lunging at Steve. Its long, sharp claws scratched uselessly against the shield before it found itself being thrown back by the soldier's superhuman strength. Tony followed the move up with a repulsor blast that sent it flying into the wall. The beast's broken body lay motionlessly on the ground.

"So, you've been playing possum all this time, huh?!" Iron Man blasted hybrid again for good measure. "There, that'll learn ya!"

Bruce let out a sigh of relief when everything was over. "Well, that was…interesting."

"Yeah," agreed the agent shakily before touching the radio device in his ear. "Attention all SHIELD personnel, make sure that everything that's dead now, stays dead!"

XxXxXxX

Natasha threw the bald headed scientist that had the misfortune of being the first one to wake up against the wall, hard. Her hand had a vice-like grip around his neck to keep him from moving lest he wanted it snapped like a twig. The way her bright green eyes were narrowed dangerously spoke in volumes on how close she was to killing him slowly and painfully. "Listen and listen well, Dr. Lemmings," she growled venomously. "I want you to tell me everything you know about Clint Barton."

"Who?" the man asked before letting out a yelp when the angry female's hand tightened around his windpipe. "I-I don't k-know anyone b-by that name!" the man knew he answered incorrectly when he received a sharp blow to the stomach which caused him to cry out in pain.

"It would be wise to tell us the truth, tiny mortal," growled Thor. He wielded his hammer close to the scientist's head to show how serious he was.

The bald man gulped around Natasha's fingers before trying to sputter out an answer. "I-I am still fairly new to Dr. Dirk's research t-team and none of the o-other scientists referred to the s-subjects by name. I-If you would…would give me a description of this Clint Barton then maybe I could…"

The female assassin finally removed her hand from the man's throat and watched as he slid helplessly to the ground, trying to catch his breath. "Clint Barton, male, late twenties, around 5 foot eight with short sandy-blond hair and blue-grey-green eyes. He would've been at your facility for around two months."

Realization ran through Lemmings' dark eyes. "A-Ah I think I know of whom you speak of. T-There had been talk around the lab that Dr. Dirk had found someone s-snooping around the area and decided to use him as an experiment. He was kept locked away in the b-b-back because he was simply to dangerous to left out in the open. He was rumored to be the perfect test subject. Young, at peak physical condition, healthy—ack!"

Thor's hammer had come mere centimeters from knocking the scientist's head clean off his shoulders. "You will not speak of our friend like he is some animal for you to use and throw away!" the demi-god snarled. He looked like he was ready to swing his weapon again.

Lemmings quickly nodded his head in fear of being murdered on the spot. "Honestly, I n-never managed to see the man. The o-only people who had any contact with him was Dr. Dirk and several others. I-I was away at the time when the l-laboratory got d-destroyed and when I returned there everything…everything was already in shambles. I didn't even see who knocked me out!"

Natasha continued to study the quivering man before deciding that he was telling her the truth for the most part. "Thank you for answering our questions, Dr. Lemmings," she said before placing a well aimed kick to the man's temple. Once the scientist was back in the land of unconsciousness, she and Thor left the interrogation room.

"So what do we do now, Lady Natasha?" asked Thor. He was still trying to shrug off the anger bubbling in his chest that Lemmings caused.

The red head shrugged. "We wait for the rest of the team to get back and hear what they've learned." She then smirked at her male companion. "And if anymore of the captured scientists wake up we'll interrogate them. And this time, you get to knock them out afterwards."

Thor returned the woman's smirk with one of his own and spun his hammer proudly. "Indeed!"

XxXxXxX

Clint buried his head into his pillow and refused to acknowledge anything anymore. The pain that thrummed through his body had been overshadowed by the pain that was building in his chest. He knew it was a bad idea to look, told himself a thousand times in his head that looking would only bring him grief. But he had looked anyway.

Tears that Clint had held back all this time were now leaking down his cheeks and being soaked into the fabric of the small pillow. His body lurched slightly from the sobs that he refused to release.

Over in the corner of the small room lay the stolen laptop that was now on its side with a large crack in the screen. On the broken screen was a message that had been sent not too long ago.

Clint, please come home

END CHAPTER

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Chapter two is finished! I was surprised at how many reviewed this story.

Thanks for the reviews from Guest, RS13, Padria95, ELOSHAZZY, Sandy-wmd, ZhaLenn, and Fyroni.

Until next time, BYE!