Chapter 9: Risk

Before

Natasha clawed her way up through the murkiness of unconsciousness and reality rushed to greet her like a breath of fresh air after nearly drowning. Opening her eyes slowly, she clung to her senses as the drug in her system taunted reality to grow and shift.

"Of course Stark is still out," she thought, for once appreciating the torture training she received from her family at a young age.

Phantasmagorical shapes and shadows danced at the corner of her vision and she took a deep breath and dug her fingers harder into the palm of her hand, focusing on the painful sensation to ground her. She was tied, arms behind the back of a chair, feet bound in front of her.

She took inventory of the now empty room beside her:

No people, they must be expecting the drugs to have a longer lasting effect.
Might be experimental?
One window.
Door on the left.
Door directly in front.
A faint hum of office work could be heard in the direction of the second door, the first door is a bit smaller and the handle is dirty.
Must be the restroom.
Hands in a constrictor knot.
Can move my arms backwards.
Knife in shoe.
Feet in bowline knot.
They underestimate us.

Bingo.

Natasha twisted her feet out of the knot and nudged one shoe off with her other foot. She unsheathed the small knife hidden in her shoe and pushed it directly behind her. Using her cat-like agility, she leaned as far back in the chair as she could so that the chair was balancing on two legs and her hands touched the floor. The blade of the knife slightly pierced the flesh of her palm when she landed on it. She pushed off of the floor to return to an upright position, her feet serving to slowly lower the front legs back to the floor as quietly as possible.

Quickly, Natasha set to work on cutting her hands free.

"There's no way I can get Stark out of this by myself. We need the team's help."

Natasha wobbled as she stood and dry heaved. The effects of the drug hadn't worn off entirely, and nausea and dizziness pounced as Natasha made her way to the window. Natasha unlocked the wooden frame, pushed out the screen, and jumped down, narrowly avoiding the metal trashcans that adorned the back of the building.

"Damn it," Nat scowled, noting with annoyance that the woods she and Tony had come from was precisely in front of her, separated by an exposed expanse of nearly empty parking lot.

"COULSON, THE GIRL IS GONE!"

There was muffled shouting and commotion, Natasha looked up and locked eyes with blue ice and a scowl. Special Agent Hill lifted her gun, but Natasha never saw her pull the trigger. There was just the bang of a starting gun, as she sprinted dizzily across the parking lot. Something warm and fast whizzed past her as she ducked between the two cars left in the parking lot. The feet and voices were closing in on her as she ducked under one of the cars, and rolled out on the other side, a flash of red hair and a blur of skin.

"I just have to make it a few more feet. I just have to—"


"RUN, NAT!" Clint shouted, shooting straight up before coughing violently. Small hands pushed him back down onto the couch and stuck a thermometer in his mouth.

"Your fever finally broke," Bruce said after Clint had calmed down. "It's a good thing that you're coughing, but you need to spit out the phlegm instead of swallowing it back in. Here, now that you're awake, take this."

Thor, Steve, Loki, and Peggy came bounding in, a tangle of noises and affections. Even Loki's dour face was adorned with a small smile, and his gate was a bit quicker than that which his laconic personality so often required.

"Clint, you scared us, buddy!" Steve grinned and clamped a hand on Clint's shoulder.

"We were all concerned about your well-being, friend! Even my brother was concerned and cared for you!"

"I merely did not want any dead weight to slow us down in our travels. I am relieved that this will not be the case," Loki sniffed, rolling his eyes, but not removing his hand from its position on Clint's blanketed knee. Steve and Thor threw each other knowing smiles.

"W-w-where's Nat? And…who are…you?" Clint asked, the sentence punctuated by strong coughs.

"This is Peggy. She's the one who brought us medicine for you. More importantly, she's been my friend for almost all of my life."

Steve passed a loving glance to the now-blushing brunette, whose emotions were not betrayed by her cool, authoritative, and robust voice.

"It's very nice to meet you. You need your rest, please refrain from talking and moving."

"And Nat and Tony went out. They should be back soon," Steve said, adding the last bit more for the nervous looking bed nurse beside Clint. Bruce scowled in return.

After a few minutes of evaluating Clint's condition, Peggy collected her things, turned to Steve and asked, "Are you going to walk me home?"

Steve grinned and hopped to his feet, "Yes ma'am, I am!"


Natasha had made it into the woods, and the pitter patter of feet was a safe distance away. She reached into the panic satchel she snagged from the bush where she and Tony had hidden it before going in. The walkie-talkie crackled to life as she turned it on and hoped she was in range. The distress signal was their only ticket out of this.

A jolt of nausea surged through her bodies, and she found it harder to fight the blurry edges that were clouding her vision. She pushed the "talk" button as she fell to the ground, macabre shapes and the clip clop of police shoes filling her senses. She held the button down for as long as she could, hoping that one of them would realize what was happening.

"Got ya, you little brat. Stark really delivered on whatever this drug is."

"I thought it was LSD again, to be honest. The government likes that."

"Nah, we gave little Stark the LSD. This is something totally different. It's based on something herbal, I think. Apparently people use the organic drug to trip out during ceremonies, and Stark mixed what makes it potent with what makes LSD potent, and, well, we just knocked out a Russian descendent whose been trained to withstand various drugs already."

The two nameless agents talked carelessly as they collected Natasha, the panic satchel, and the walkie-talkie, and took them back to the station.


"The panic signal!" Bruce cried, running into the bedroom where a matching panic satchel was resting. "THOR!"

"There is no one speaking into the device…perhaps it is a mistake."

"I don't think it is. I think they're in trouble, I've had a bad feeling about this since they left!" Bruce looked up and locked eyes with Thor, his own brown eyes watering. "Steve won't listen to me, but please, please, he'll listen to you! Trust me!"

After a moment, Thor nodded and placed a hand on Bruce's head before running to catch up to Steve and Peggy, who had just made it down the driveway. He pulled Steve out of earshot.

"STEVE! There was a signal received, we believe that Natasha and Anthony are in danger!"

"What did they say on the signal?"

"Well, they…they said…" Thor paused for a moment, conflicted whether to tell the truth and potentially be ignored by Steve, or to lie and face the wrath of his righteous conscience.

"It was Natasha. She said that Tony had gotten caught by the chief of police, but she can't bail him out herself." Loki lied easily, slipping beside Thor.

"What's happening, Steve?"

"Sorry- give me just a second!" Steve answered, before turning his attention back on the brothers, "And you heard this, too, Thor?"

"I—"

"Of course he did, you dolt. Why would I be out here in this disgusting weather if it weren't important."

"Okay. We'll go and get them. Thor, Loki, get packed for a mission. Tell Bruce to stay and keep an eye on Clint."

Thor and Loki ran back into the house, as Steve's eyes trailed after them, a scowl on his face.

"Something isn't quite right with this…"

Just then, Peggy placed her arm around Steve's waist. "So, are you going to walk me home?"

She chuckled, but grew serious when she noticed that Steve wasn't walking anywhere.

"They…they need me to do something, Peggy."

"What is it? Can I help?"

"I'm afraid this is something we have to take care of ourselves. It's really hard to explain."

"Then make it easy and explain it!" Peggy exclaimed, placing her hands on her hips.

"I really can't. It's dangerous and risky, and…"

"…and you don't trust me? Is that it?"

"No! No, it's not that! I'd trust you with my life, but…the situation is bad for some of the others, and I can't trust their lives to anyone. It's up to them who they tell their secrets to, you know?" Steve sighed as Thor and Loki ran out of the house and tossed a mission pack to Steve.

"Hurry, friend!" Thor yelled, as they ran towards the main road, slowing when they realized that Steve was not following.

"Come on!" Loki sighed.

"I understand, Steve, go. Don't leave them waiting."

Peggy closed her eyes and placed a hand on Steve's forehead.

"May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine upon you and give you his peace, and may you always love Jesus first, above all else."

"Peggy, don't—it's not goodbye forever, they just…they need me right now, I'm sorry!"

Peggy turned and walked away with a smile.

"That's the thing, Steve. They always will."


After

"There was…an Agent Hill, and…an Agent Coulson. They work for the government agency called…called…SHIELD. And SHIELD is doing…some…research? I'm trying to remember, but whatever they gave me…it…it messed with my memories. I can't…I can't remember much." Natasha shivered.

Clint grabbed her hand and rested his head on her shoulder.

"Thank you for rescuing me. They knew who I was… or, well, they knew…they knew my family…they knew my name…I think they were calling my parents, and I was so…I was so… Just. Thank you. And thank you, Bruce for looking out for me. Thor told me how you received my signal. Th-thanks."

"You need to rest, Tasha. Go lie down, and I'll cook you something. They don't know where we're hiding. They don't know about us, but we know a bit about them, and that will be their downfall. You remember names and places, they just know our reputations and how we can fight together. We'll be ok, Tasha." Steve smiled warmly at her, although the warmth was considerably dampened by the sad, faraway look in his eyes.

"Wait… Where's Tony?" demanded Bruce, ringing his hands.

Natasha walked up to him and hugged him, before pulling back and shaking her head ever-so-slightly.

"We couldn't get him out in time. His dad had already gotten him, they said something about...a place…"

"Do you remember?"

"I think…it was a weird name. It was a place where they wouldn't be going. I think he said something about not going…not going to…Ypsilanti?"

Ypsilanti.

His thoughts span out of control, a flurry of activity and a sensation of being dragged to the bottom of a pool, air bubbles rising up, up, up, as everything grew darker, darker, and still even more dark.

There's an empty scream, a flurry of fists, a look of terror on Natasha's face, then nothing.

When Bruce came to, he felt hazy and muted. He was at the bus station they had been at a day before with a bag full of new clothes, a quarter, and a note.

"I'm sorry, Bruce. You're too dangerous to keep around right now when we're in a lot of danger. You almost hurt Natasha. People have varying degrees of trust for you, and that isn't good for unity or morale. We will find Tony, don't worry. Just focus on finding yourself some help. I'm sorry, but I had to do what was best for the team. – S"

He felt the familiar slimy tentacles of panic grip for his psyche, but quickly swam to shore. Two episodes in one day would probably kill him. His mind was silent, and his limbs were sore and heavy. If it weren't for the atrocities he committed when he blacked out, he'd almost enjoy the clarity and rest that followed them, his only respite from the nightmares that usually plagued his sleep.

He lay musing for an hour, and then he realized what he had to do.

Bruce pulled out the quarter from the satchel and walked to the phone booth that was nearby.

"Operator, can you direct me to Ypsilanti State Hospital, please."