Clint stumbled out of the building, dragging a woman and her teenage son with him, just as one of the windows on one of the upper floors blew out; raining glass down on them as they struggled over to Jess and Darcy.
Jess immediately looked over the teenage boy and his mother; both of which were fine, if a little short of breath, thanks to Clint
"Barton! Barton!" Thor shouted, running over to him.
Clint looked up and shot him a grin; "Am in trouble Lieutenant?" he asked with his usual air of arrogance and cheek
Oh God, he doesn't know Thor thought
Clint brushed off Darcy's concerns as she tried to check him over while he noticed the apparent lack of his partner yelling at him for his stupidity
"Wait, where's Nat?" he asked, looking from Thor, to Darcy and back again
"We, erm. We are not sure" Thor answered
"What do you mean you're not sure?!" the panic and anger was practically radiating off him as his eyes glanced back to the building
He stood abruptly, startling both Darcy and Thor. Clint made to head back towards the building, but Thor blocked his way;
"We will find her" he promised, gently pushing Clint back to sit on the ground so Darcy could finish checking him over
"Why would she- I never thought she'd-" Clint mumbled to Darcy as Thor turned to help his team
XxX
Steve stood awkwardly as Hank's wife arrived at the hospital. In a second she went from crying in Bruce's arms to shouting at him;
"He shouldn't have even been there! I've been begging him to take a safer job for years! A better area, out of the city. He turned down tons of promotions and look at what it got him! ...We have three kids Bruce! What do I do if I lose him?" she collapsed back into tears clinging to Bruce to support her
"I'm sorry Janet... I'm sorry"
Steve disappeared to get some coffee; it had been a long shift. He came back with three cups to see Doctor Foster and Doctor Reed approaching them, and he just knew. They had the same look in their eyes; sympathetic and sad, that his mothers doctors had worn when they'd told him the news...
"I'm sorry Mrs. Pym, we tried everything we could, but there was nothing we could do..." Doctor Richards informed them, before leaving
Janet fell back into heart wrenching sobs, collapsing into the chair Steve had previously been sat in. Bruce sank into the chair beside her, looking blank and vacant.
Even Jane Foster shed a tear; she'd been working this job almost as long as Hank had, and they'd come to know each other pretty well over the years
Steve felt like a spare part; all the people here knew Hank, really knew him, and Steve had only been working with him for a few hours... Yet here he was, witness to his death and the torment it left his loved ones, and all he could do was awkwardly offer each of them a bad cup of coffee from the vending machine down the hall...
XxX
"So you say the shooter was Matty Daniels?" Coulson asked, concern flickering all over his face
Ben glanced at his partner, who answered with complete confidence; "I'm certain of it"
"Central, radio 55-Foxtrot and get them back here" he asked, before turning back to the two officers sat in front of him;
"Thanks for your report" he dismissed them
"Sergeant Coulson, 55-Foxtrot are not responding" came the reply from Officer Cruz
Coulson rushed over to the main desk, leaving Ben and Sue to leave in their own time
"What was their last know location?"
"They called in a high rise fire at 21.05"
Coulson looked at the time; they'd been radio silent for almost an hour
"Who else responded to that fire?"
"Ambulance 51, truck 81 and squad 9. Truck 17 from firehouse 57 en route"
"Radio Lieutenant Odinson" Coulson instructed, "And send 55-David to that location!"
XxX
"Truck 81, this is Sergeant Coulson at 55"
"Lieutenant Odison, how can I help you Sergeant?"
"55-David is en route to you location, do you have eyes on 55-Foxtrot?"
"Not at the moment Sergeant, what is going on?" he couldn't bare to tell him about Natasha until they knew more
"You remember Matty Daniels?"
"Yes sir"
"Well he shot a paramedic earlier today. 55-David responded and Daniels was muttering about them being the 'wrong ones', we suspect he'll be looking for Barton and Romanoff"
Thor sighed, as Johnny appeared next to him "Yeah, well he's not the only one"
"Still nothing?" Thor questioned Johnny, after promising Coulson to inform the Officers about Daniels
"No nothing, and it's getting hot in there. Listen, are we sure she's even in there? I mean I know Nat, and there's no way in hell she'd go in there without a reason"
"She had a reason" Thor said, glancing back to Clint who was pacing worriedly while Darcy tried to talk him down
"Let's get back in there" Thor instructed, pulling his oxygen mask over his head and making his way back into the building with Johnny on his heels
XxX
"Stark, I have your partner assignment" Fury instructed as Tony strolled into his office
Nick Fury had taken over the role of Chief of Police when Howard had died, and he and Tony didn't always see eye to eye...
"No offence Fury, but I don't work with a partner"
"You do when you work the streets Stark, this was your decision, now live with it"
He groaned, Tony Stark was not known to play well with others
"Who'd I get stuck with? Please tell me it's not Sitwell"
"You, Mr. Stark, will be working with our new recruit"
"What? Babysitting duty?! Look, I know I chose to go back on the beat, but why are you punishing me?"
"This is not a punishment Stark, you are my only officer currently without a partner, so you work the desk or you take the new recruit"
"Okay fine, what's his name?"
"Her name is Sif Velez"
So I used Velez as Sif's surname because I have no idea what it actually is, and that is supposedly the surname of one of her aliases...
