Yay! Winner of the poll was: 2! Which means nothing right now. But YOU'LL SEE LATER.

Funny to be posting from my computer instead of from my iPad. But eh. It's nice. :)

In any event, enjoy this chapter. I'm changing my profile pic, just as a heads-up. So you won't get confused. Not that you'd care.

Ramble over!

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The quinjet landed seven blocks away in the pre-dawn darkness. They quickly turned all lights off and slid out the back. Claire and Nathan decided to take the roof route, and quickly scaled their way to the top of a nearby office building.

They scrambled over the roofs, muddling their way across Budapest, until a spotlight came out of nowhere and almost caught them.

Nathan swore and yanked Claire behind an air conditioning unit. They stayed still until the light swept off to their left.

"Brenda, any sightings of guards?" Claire asked softly, barely a breath in the night as she crawled around the corner of the unit.

"Um- One on each corner of the building, two two-man patrols on the ground. Don't have any visuals on the men inside or on rooftops."

"Great. Thanks, Bren," Nathan murmured. "Any suggestions?"

"There's a few cars at the... south entrance. If you light them up, you should be able to create a distraction."

"Lena?" Claire said. "I believe you're up."

Claire and Nathan didn't have to be on the ground to see the evil grin spreading across Lena's face.

"Make your way to the warehouse itself," she ordered. "Wait for my signal."

"Yesm," Nathan said quickly.

They crept to the edge of the roof and peered down over the dark yard. Claire had to focus to see Lena creeping around the perimeter of the yard.

She didn't have to see the commotion that was suddenly caused.

An explosion rocked the small compound and shouts echoed across the yard. Claire grinned and shot a glance at Nathan.

"Ready?" she asked him quietly as she reached for a grappling arrow.

He nodded and Claire drew her bowstring back to her ear. She sighted carefully, aiming for a point right above a large hole that was once a window.

"Firing," she whispered, and released.

The arrow flew true, and buried itself deep into the concrete. Claire anchored the other end of the tether into the rooftop and clipped her zipline harness onto the cable.

Nathan did the same and quickly leapt off the edge. Claire watched anxiously as the line bowed, but held, and he slid through the window with no problems.

She followed behind and prayed that no one would think to look up.

Nathan caught her as she flew through the window and almost fell off the rafters. Claire forced herself back, trying not to fall.

They steadied themselves and simply stood there for a brief moment. "Brenda?" Claire asked after a moment. "Where're Dad and Natasha being held?"

"One sec," she said. "I'm trying to hack the security cameras..."

They waited for only a few more moments before Brenda said, "I'm in. Looks like they're in the back left corner?"

"You don't sound certain," Nathan murmured.

"I'm sure. Had to look again."

"I'm gonna trust you on this," he murmured, and sarcastically gestured for Claire to go first.

She smirked at him and took his invitation, sprinting along the rafters. He followed behind her until Claire suddenly halted, hands to her mouth.

The two assassins were facing each other. Clint was standing, limp, gagged and tied to a pole, while Natasha was in a chair, bolted to the floor, also tied up and gagged. They looked much the worse for wear, and Nathan growled softly.

"Got them. Back left corner just like you said, Bren. Very bad condition, the two of them. Be careful getting them out. We'll need you guys to sneak in and get them out of here. Claire, smoke bomb. Now," Nathan muttered.

Claire nodded and hit a few buttons on her bow. She pulled an arrow out of her quiver and pointed it at the ground, exactly between the two assassins. Breathe in, breathe out- fire.

Natasha spotted the arrow first. She caught Clint's eye and looked at it. His own eyes widened- and Claire activated the arrow.

Smoke poured out of the arrow, concealing the area with the two assassins easily. Nathan watched carefully as several dark figures snuck forwards, undid the bonds, and helped Clint and Natasha limp out of the smoke and back into the shadows.

The smoke took two minutes to clear, and when it did, the kidnappers were left running around like chickens with their heads cut off. Their hostages were nowhere to be found.

Nathan placed the bomb and set the timer for one minute exactly. "Everyone clear?" he asked quickly.

"Halfway to the quinjet," Stephanie reported.

"Good. Lena with you?"

"Right here, Nathan," Lena said over the comm. "Right next to them."

"Kay, we got a minute to get out, Claire," he hissed.

"Got it. Moving out."

Together they ran across the rafters and slid down the front wall of the building, hidden in shadows. Out they went into the front yard and skidded to a halt.

"Crap- the guard is back on duty," Claire hissed.

"Then distract them!" Brenda said quickly. "You have thirty seconds left!"

Claire shot another arrow in front of them, which exploded. That summoned all of the other guards and drew their attention as they ran away.

"Crap. Brenda, give me a time!" Nathan muttered.

"Ten seconds-"

"Tell me at five."

"Five!"

"Get down!" Nathan shoved Claire to the ground and shielded them both with his arms.

The building behind them went up in a rush of flames and smoke. The shockwave was enough to send them rolling across the ground.

"We're ok!" Claire shouted, as she rolled to her feet and held out a hand to Nathan. He grabbed it and stood quickly, falling into step right beside her as they began walking back. "How're Clint and Natasha doing?"

"Not good. Clint seems to have lost a lot of blood. I don't know what they did to him but it's bad- what?" Stephanie seemed to be listening to someone, then said urgently, "Get back here. He needs a blood transfusion and you're the same blood type as him."

Claire and Nathan immediately began running back to the quinjet.

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"Ok, he's stable at the least," Claire said through their comms.

"Oh thank God," Brenda said with feeling as the whole team let out a heavy sigh.

"I'm glad to hear that the mighty archer shall be fine," Thor said. Lena nodded and smiled from her place right next to Thor.

Natasha rubbed her arm quietly, trying not to show the ache in her left shoulder. It had been dislocated, and had to be snapped back in.

Quite suddenly, Natasha looked up. "Afghanistan. Tony's in Afghanistan. I don't know exactly where, just get the file on his time there being hostage and get the co-ords for the cave."

Tasha was up and running before Natasha could finish her sentence.

"This is starting to seem verrrrrry convenient," Lori commented. "Each of you knowing where the next is hidden. It's like they want us to find you..."

"You're right. Brenda, what did you gather on the UN meeting?"

"Long schedule. We need to know WHO is doing this in order to figure out if this is the target," Brenda said, frustration evident in her voice.

"Natasha, Thor, were there any symbols that you could see?" Stephanie asked.

"No. We were under the single lightbulb in the warehouse. We couldn't see a single thing," Natasha said wearily.

"I was tranquilized for my entire captivity, Lady Stephanie. I know nothing that could be of use."

Lori and Loki walked in, just as Tasha came running back in. "Got it. Coordinates are here-" she slammed a finger onto a small map in her other hand- "and we leave tomorrow."

"Tomorrow? What if they're torturing him?" Nathan asked in concern.

Tasha's shoulders sagged in sadness. "I pleaded for today, but Fury wants us to get as much rest as possible. 'You'll need it,' he says. 'You won't do any good if you fall asleep during a mission,' he says."

"Very good points," Lori said dryly.

"Shut up! You're supposed to agree with me, not disagree!"

"Look, calm down and get some rest. First thing in the morning, we move out."