"Banner get your shit together," Tony said the minute Bruce picked up the intercom. "Green hulking rage monster would be great right about now."
"Is the thing with Clint?"
"This is most definitely the thing with Clint."
"Be right up."
The Avengers, minus Clint and Natasha, gathered at the top floor of the Stark tower. Tony had already laid out a plan of attack. Several plans, actually, but there was one he was really fond of.
"Flashy," Steve commented.
"You midgardians seem to be overly eager to utilize your explosives," Thor observed. Bruce was silent for a minute, and the others all waited for his opinion. They knew that without him it was unlikely that the mission would be a success.
"Your MO does seem to be go big or go home," he said finally.
"What's the fun in going home?" Tony grinned.
…
Why isn't she here? She should be here, Clint thought, desperately reopening all the doors and finding only empty cells. Oh god. She can't be-
"Looking for something, Hawkeye?"
He whirled around, an arrow already notched and pointed at the man's chest. His face was hidden by a turban, and all Clint could tell from his voice was that he was American.
"Where- is- she?" Clints voice shook with barely suppressed rage.
"Alive," the man promised. "So do not test me."
"Who are you? What do you want?"
"Who I am isn't important," the man snapped. "What I want, well, you're the spy. You tell me."
Clint tightened his grip on the bow. "You don't want information, if she's still alive after thirty five days. Nat would rather die before giving in to torture."
"Nat," the man mused. "How well you know her. More than just a colleague, I see."
"You haven't offered a trade, so it's nothing from SHIELD," the archer continued, ignoring him. "There've been no major attacks on New York, no power plays. You're down in a sewer, hiding. Why?"
"Ok, I'll throw you a bone. Super soldier," the terrorist whispered. Clint stilled.
"You want the serum."
"A serum, really. Anything to throw the government for a loop," the man laughed.
"You're crazy. You can't replicate it from her DNA, the serum wasn't even used on her."
"She screams for you," he laughed evilly. "Barton or Hawkeye, most of the time, Clint when it's particularly bad."
"Shut up!" Clint yelled, drawing back on the arrow so hard his fingers touched his ear.
"I didn't find a serum to create heroes," he continued thoughtfully. He drew a syringe filled with a clear liquid and held it up to the light. "I found a few to bring them down, though. Would you like to see?"
"I'd really rather not."
"Pity. The effect on Agent Romanoff was quite entertaining." He raised his hand, and a dozen hooded figures appeared on both ends of the corridor. "Detain him."
Before anyone else could draw their weapons, Clint fired an arrow at the leader's chest, only to have it blocked by a suicidal soldier. The corridor exploded into action, and Clint was forced to drop his bow in favor of hand to hand combat. Luckily for him, the tight space made it difficult for all of them to attack at the same time. No matter how many he killed, more pressed forward. Everything became a blur of black, colored occasionally with blood.
It may have been Clint's imagination, but he slowly became aware of an electric guitar. Risin up, back on the street… Ok, he thought as he delivered another disabling punch. Officially batshit crazy.
Went the distance now I'm back on my feet, just a man and his will to survive. Now the terrorists were pausing, and he managed to knock out two with minimum fuss as they looked around for the source of the music. Maybe not crazy. And suddenly the music was blasting so loud that the fight stopped completely.
It's the eye of the tiger, it's the thrill of the fight, rising up to the challenge of our rivals.
"Stark!" Clint shouted, grinning. "Get your lazy ass in here."
"I resent that," a voice replied, and then the hall lit up with fire as several of the men in black dropped to the ground. Thor, Captain America and Ironman appeared, all red and gold and blue amidst a sea of shadows. "You didn't think we'd let you get all the fun?"
Steve muttered, "I don't see how this is fun."
"WE WILL NOT LET THE HAWK FACE THIS ALONE," Thor thundered, swinging his hammer and taking out several men.
"Where's Banner?" Clint asked after wrenching his knife out of a terrorist's gut. Right on cue, a roar shook the tunnels.
"We learned he doesn't do well underground," Tony said, and despite the mask everyone could hear the grin in his voice.
The Hulk was too big to fit in the corridor; instead he pushed his arms through as far as they would go and batted aside as many men as he could reach. Soon the terrorists were scuttling away like insects, and it reminded Clint of Loki's analogy between an ant and a boot.
The gang took a minute to assess injuries; except Clint, no one had anything more than a few bruises and scrapes. After handing the archer a commlink, Stark quickly took command of the situation.
"Cap, take Thor and Banner and search the tunnels for stragglers. Try to keep some alive for questioning. I'll search for any type of lab. Barton, find Romanoff and get her out of here. We have an evac team waiting above ground."
"Because I never would have thought of that on my own," Clint muttered, turning away from the group and reaching a hand up to touch his arrows. Louder, he added, "Leader is an American male, masked, my height, age unidentifiable. Capture him alive."
"We shall call you the Fellowship of the Ring," Tony intoned in his best Gandalf voice, and Clint's heart clenched at the mention one of Nat's favorite movie. If she were here, she'd probably be calling him Legolas.
The team went their separate ways, the silence suddenly filled with purpose and determination. Clint closed his eyes and visualized the layout of the tunnels. It was to a certain extent a labyrinth, with many overlapping tunnels and several layers. He sighed. Now was not a good time to remember his claustrophobia.
The first level was deserted aside from a few terrorists who hadn't yet been found by the other Avengers. Clint took them out almost robotically, growing more frantic as each room turned out empty. What if… his rebellious inner voice started before he pushed the thought out of his mind. She has to be here somewhere.
…