Bruce shook his head. This flight was a nightmare, and he couldn't help the fear knotting his stomach. He wasn't afraid of a plane crash, the other guy would see to it that he survived that, but the fact that none of their teammates had come forward was immensely disturbing.

Feeling like a whiny kid, but fearing his control was slipping, Bruce asked, "Are we there yet?"

Tony nodded his head at the view. Ahead, he could just see the clouds stacked up against some hills. "Almost. We're going to bank left, okay?"

"Yeah." Bruce grunted. For the next several minutes, the two men were quiet as they concentrated on getting the wounded bird safely to the ground. Bruce came to realize that helping hold the plane steady was actually making it easier for him to control the beast within.

As they cleared the hills, they saw the clouds were lifting, leaving a ceiling a bit above their level. Through driving snow, it was hard to make out anything, but Bruce suddenly pointed to a flashing light. "There."

Tony nodded, opening his mic. "Galena, this is SHIELD one niner seven, we have your beacon in sight, and are ready for your instructions."

This time the answer was immediate. "SHIELD one nine seven we have you on our radar, come to heading three one one. You are two miles out. The runway lights are on. On my mark change heading to one three one."

"One three one. Roger that, Galena." Tony was all business, but the winds together with the snow, had Bruce wondering if they really could land safely.

"SHIELD one nine seven, you are coming up on course change... and... mark."

Tony banked the jet smoothly enough, although there was a worrisome jitter in the left wing. The voice from the airport was calm and cool. "Okay, SHIELD one nine seven, you are lined up. Be warned, there is wind shear at 2000 feet. Rising terrain can create an optical illusion. There is a dike before the runway,

"Understood, Galena. We have your runway lights in sight."

Bruce started at that. He'd been concentrating on the instruments, but now he peered out the windshield and saw to his surprise that they had already passed the dike the controller had mentioned and were mere feet above the snow covered runway.

Tony set the jet down lightly, and heaved a relieved sigh that Bruce echoed. "SHIELD one nine seven, taxi left to the terminal and we will get you an assignment. Welcome to Galena."

"Thank you, Galena, we owe you big time."

Tony taxied the jet to the terminal, where they were directed to a parking space on the tarmac.

As soon as they stopped, Tony pushed away his safety harness and leapt up. "You do the shutdown. I'm going to go kick me some assassin butt."

Ignoring the order, Bruce was right behind his friend saying worriedly, "If they could have gotten here they would have."

Tony grunted as he led the way to the hatch. Shaking his head, he said, "I'll never know why they have this bulkhead between the cabin and cargo areas."

Bruce shrugged. Even in stressful situations, his friend couldn't keep extraneous thoughts from occurring. He was pulled up short when Tony stopped at the hatch. "You know, you're right. Barton or Rogers should have been in our faces about this. Maybe you should go first. In case we need the Other Guy."

"All right," Bruce replied tentatively, and pulled open the hatch. He looked through, Tony crowding behind him. He frowned at the scene.

Near the bulkhead, Steve was crouching over Natasha who was apparently unconscious. In the middle of the hold, Thor was standing guard over Ivory, who was also on the floor, a red gash in his head. Ivory's body was wound in every cargo strap in the place. In the far wall was a hole about three feet across.

The hole drew Tony's attention immediately. He crossed the hold in a few strides, looked at the hole, looked back around at his fellow Avengers, and said in a dangerously soft voice, "Thor? Where's Mjollnir?"

Feeling a trickle of trepidation, Bruce barked out, "Screw the hammer, where's Clint?"

"Gone."

Bruce whirled to face Steve. "What do you mean, gone?"

His face stiff to hide his emotions, Captain America said tonelessly, "He was thrown out of the plane. Ivory did that swelling thing. He had Tasha and me pinned to the bulkhead. Barton was over by the door controls. Thor came in and threw Mjollnir at Ivory. When he collapsed, there was no sign of Barton."

"Oh, God," Bruce whispered. The criminal, Keith Ivory, had a rogue 'talent' that allowed him to expand his body to almost Hulk-like proportions, without the Hulk's strength.

Tony looked around wildly as if he'd find Clint hiding behind a brace. "We've got to get out there. I need to get suited up. Thor, get your damn hammer and get ready to fly."

Steve came over, and grabbed Tony by the shoulders. "Tony… Tony, listen to me. It was a 40,000 foot drop..."

Tony shoved Steve back. "Until we find a body we can't be sure. He's a spy, for god's sake. For all we know he had some gadget that becomes a hover board stuffed in a pocket."

Steve looked helplessly over at Bruce. With a sad sigh, Bruce walked over and put his hand on Tony's shoulder. "Come on, we'll go check the damage."

"Damn it, Bruce, if I could survive Afghanistan, there has to be at least a chance he could... could..."

Bruce looked helplessly back at Thor and Rogers. Thor wore a serious but bemused frown, and Rogers had that thousand yard stare he got when he was re-living his losses in World War II. Shaking his head, he threw his arm across Tony's shoulders and led him outside.