Chapter Seven
… …
"Damn, damn, damn," Tony swore as he flew over Brooklyn, finding no sign of Steve or Arella. Actually he was only looking for Arella since she was a hell of a lot more visible than a blond dude in the centre of Brooklyn. He could see no sign of angel wings in the streets below. Thor, standing dramatically on a rooftop, surveyed the area. They had been looking for nearly two hours and still no glimpse of their friends.
"Tony?" Pepper's worried voice came from inside his helmet. "Bruce is gone. I just went out to fix him something to eat, when I got back he'd left." Tony swore again.
"Okay, I'll double back and see if I can find Hulk. Are you anywhere nearer to finding the Cap's signal?"
"No, I think his phone's been damaged. What else do you want me to do?" He could hear the panic in her voice and remembered that Pepper didn't do well in kidnap situations, they hit too close to home.
"Okay, calm down first. Then call Clint. I don't want S.H.I.E.L.D. involved but we need as many eyes as we can get. Explain everything to him and then see if he can locate Bruce," he told her.
"Right, yeah. I'll tell him."
"Oh, and Pepper? Tell me if the ransom note comes." Tony really wished he hadn't had to say that but he knew that there weren't very many reasons for a kidnapping of two adults. If it was ransom, they had a good chance of getting both Steve and Arella back unharmed. Revenge for one of Captain America's past deeds or something connected with Arella's home world had less certain outcomes. She disconnected without another word.
"Iron Man!" Thor yelled over to him. "This plan is not working!" Tony couldn't help but sigh at the God's obvious statement.
"If you have a better one, please tell me!" he yelled back. Thor didn't answer, his usually unbearably cheerful face darkened. They didn't have a plan to find Steve and Arella. They were the Avengers; no-one could simply kidnap two of them. Somewhere along the line Tony had begun to think of Arella as another Avenger, another oddity. The only way both she and Captain America could have been captured and remain hidden was if they were wounded or dead. If he had given God a moment's thought, he would have prayed for the former.
… …
"Bruce!" Natasha yelled, causing Clint to swerve the car in front of the oncoming convertible. She jumped out and was by the driver's seat in a flash, Hawkeye following once the car was safely on the verge. It was a clear stretch of road but being careful never hurt. Bruce stared at them in surprise.
"What the hell are you two doing here?" he asked. Natasha had her hand ready to lash out if he tried to move the wheel.
"Tony sent us to find you. You have to come back to New York," she told him. Bruce made the mistake of moving. The Black Widow's hand snapped around his wrist. She glared at him defiantly.
"Let me go, Natasha," Bruce said very quietly but made no attempt to dislodge her.
"Not until you explain why you're driving out of NYC whilst everyone else is busy looking for Captain America and some girl." All colour drained out of the scientist's face.
"What?" Came the strangled yelp. Clint stepped in, knowing how unfeeling his partner could be.
"Pepper called us. Captain America and someone called Arella have gone missing. Tony received a distress call about two hours ago. She told us to come and find you before we headed up there to lend a hand. Who's Arella?" he asked.
"She's from somewhere like Asgard, Thor was meant to take her back soon," Bruce said, a confusing tint to his voice that the other two didn't understand.
"So why are you out here?" Natasha pressed.
"I didn't know! That's the first I've heard of it! I just wanted to leave for a bit. It doesn't matter now, we've got to go back and find them." Quietly, Clint pulled Natasha away.
"Right, let's go," the archer said to Bruce. "Leave him alone, something's up and we can't make him angry," he told his partner as they got into their car. Natasha studied Bruce as he turned around and set off back toward New York. There was the cold, calculating aspect in her gaze that meant she was working out every way she could neutralise any threat. Clint didn't like it when a fellow Avenger was deemed a threat; he had been on the receiving end of that gaze before.
"I'm not planning on hurting him," she said eventually. "I'm trying to work out what's made him come out here. Banner likes to run away, for some reason they make me go and find him. They'll know about this soon enough though, you give the weakest excuses ever." By 'they' she meant S.H.I.E.L.D. Natasha began to tap away at the car's dashboard computer. Pepper's face appeared on the screen in front of her, pale and anxious.
"Hi Natasha, Clint. Did you find Bruce?" she asked.
"He's right in front of us driving back to New York. I wanted more information on Arella. Description, what she's got to do with us etcetera," said Natasha. Pepper, happy for something useful to do, complied.
"Bruce found her about eight weeks ago near Geneva. She literally fell out of the sky. She looks just like a normal twenty-something except, um, for giant angel wings." They both swallowed that, it no longer seemed in the slightest bit odd. Pepper continued. "There was something about the portal used to get here; residue needed time to settle down so they had to stay for a while. Bruce got angry at something earlier and Hulk showed up in Central Park. I got the distress call from Steve but it was cut off. Tony and Thor just got back, they've had no luck. Um, she's about the same height as Clint, slim, brown hair in curls coming down to about her elbows. Green eyes not exceptionally pretty but sort of got a symmetrical face with nothing unusual. I guess she'd be easy to pass by if not for her wings. They're… Hang on, I've got a photo." Pepper displayed a picture of the girl she had described, complete with large feathery wings, standing with Tony on the roof of Stark Tower.
"Hey, Pepper, did they find Bruce?" Tony asked from somewhere in the background.
"Yes. They're on their way." The line ended, leaving the photo still on the small screen. Suddenly Clint let out a quiet bark of laughter, causing Natasha to jump.
"I know what's gotten into Banner," he said. "Look at what she's wearing." Natasha didn't know how he had managed to pick up the details of the girl's outfit form the brief glance he had spared the screen. Arella was dressed in leather clothes and a familiar kerchief sporting red and white stripes.
"Damn," the Black Widow said.
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