Clint sighed deeply. While it sucked that Hydra had Steve, he was partly relieved to know what was going on with him. The not knowing seemed to have bothered him more than the knowing, even if it was the worst situation for the man. Honestly, Clint hadn't realized that he had been so stressed with not knowing what had happened to his captain. Wanda looked over from her cooking and noticed that the archer was done talking to whoever he had been speaking with. She gave him a warm smile that Clint didn't notice as he was searching the living room for something.

"So?" she asked, wondering how the conversation went. She had been nice and not spied on the archer unlike Stephen and Pietro. Not that either man knew what was really said as they only heard half the conversation but it was the thought that counted. Jerked out of his thoughts, Clint looked over to see not only Wanda looking at him but Stephen and Pietro as well. He groaned, knowing that he didn't really get anywhere with Coulson on what his next step should be.

"Not much… Got some leads, but don't really know," Clint told them. He focused on Stephen. "Got a computer round here?"

"Better than we had before," Pietro joked even as Stephen pointed to an armoire that Clint hadn't noticed. The archer nodded as he headed over to it. Upon opening it, he was surprised to see it suddenly shift into a regular looking desk. Stephen shrugged when the archer traded a look with him. It was something the Supreme Sorcerer had given to him. When Stephen received it, it already had the cloaking spell in bedded inside it. Clint shook his head and opened the laptop that now was clearly visible on the desktop. It was already in a standby mode so turning it on was easy, getting to S.H.I.E.L.D's secure e-mail site was even easier. As Clint logged into his account, Stephen moved into living room. From what looked to be a coffee table or a chest of drawers, a hidden TV appeared. Pietro raised an eyebrow in surprise at the sudden appearance. "Really?"

"Hey, I was normal until I got into that crash. Just cause I have these powers doesn't mean I don't miss normal entertainment now and then," Strange laughed as he turned the TV on. Wanda shook her head. As much as she wanted to not admit it, Pietro thought the same thing of her own abilities. No matter how much she explained that she couldn't watch Once Upon a Time or Walking Dead in her head, Pietro still asked. And when he was really bored, he'd ask for hints on upcoming Game of Thrones episodes.

"Breaking news, a terrorist spy was just found at Culver University in Virginia," called a male reporter on whatever station Stephen had last left the TV on. Clint's head jerked up. He knew that university. Why did he know that university? Wanda glanced over at Clint, sensing the random turmoil in his mind for a moment. Pietro scoffed at the TV and turned to steal some of the food that Wanda was cooking. Stephen frowned at the TV and moved to grab the remote to change the channel. Clint finally turned to look. The building seemed even more familiar to Clint but he still couldn't place it until the reporter continued on. "Dr. Bruce Banner is-"

"HEY!" Clint cried as Stephen changed the channel halfway through the report. Stephen nearly jumped as he turned to see what the archer wanted. Pietro froze with a piece of meat hanging halfway to his mouth. Wanda paused, looking to Clint then Stephen and finally to Pietro, whom she smacked for stealing some of the partially uncooked food. Clint focused on Stephen now. "Go back."

Stephen quickly turned the channel back but now the news reporter was silent as he let the images speak for themselves. On the screen was a rather large crowd of college students watching the marching of six local police officers. In the center of the officers was a rather sedate looking Bruce Banner. While sedate and moving steadily with the officers, Banner still seemed distraught and almost like he was about to start crying. Clint stiffened as he focused on the screen. Pietro glanced between the screen and Clint while Wanda and Stephen just focused on the broadcast.

"Please! I didn't do anything! I'm not a terrorist!" Bruce begged but still steadily moved along. The officers began roughing up their treatment of him even as he begged and continued to proclaim innocence. Clint frowned even as his eyes narrowed to glare.

"Isn't that one of your friends?" Wanda questioned softly, moving closer to Clint as if he needed her comfort right then. Pietro shifted his weight between his feet in concern while Stephen turned to watch the archer. Clint sighed deeply, making it sound more like a growl of annoyance than anything.

"Banner had a lab accident early in his career. It… It made it that when he got angry, he became a green giant named Hulk," Clint explained as one officer pushed Bruce a little too hard and the scientist stumbled to the ground. They then roughly dragged him to his feet. Clint hissed in anger when he noticed they had now cracked one of the lenses on Bruce's glasses. Slowly, they dragged Bruce to a black van. Clint's frown deepened as the doc was shuffled inside. Without the attention of Bruce to show, the cameraman moved to get a better angle on the vehicle and ended up showed the side of the van. A rather large S.H.I.E.L.D emblem was painted there in dark gray paint. While it slightly seemed to match well in the dark paint, Clint could see it clear as day. He cussed in anger. Stephen turned to see the emblem while Wanda and Pietro frowned at the sight as well.

"I'm guessing that's not actually S.H.I.E.L.D," Stephen more stated than asked. Clint shrugged. So far all he could see was the local police officers from that area. But judging by everything that had been happening lately, the archer could only assume that Stephen was right. Hydra now not only had Steve, but they had Bruce as well. This was a show of their power. While Clint could try all he wanted to fix this world, they could easily collect his old friends and kill them here. And it would be his fault.

"We gonna rescue him?" Pietro asked as the news reporter came back on to give an update on more information that they had gotten. Clint tuned it out as he tried to figure out what the next step should be. The news now was just more lies that Hydra was spreading to justify collecting a member of the Avengers (well, a member of society considering the Avengers didn't exist). Clint half wondered how they'd be able to get Tony before shaking the thought from his head. Tony was safe…

"You know it'd be a trap," Stephen pointed out as he turned down the volume on the TV. Clint nodded, not looking at anyone in the group. He was still distracted by his thoughts on what to do and so he missed the other three trading a look. Stephen focused back on Clint first. "You still want to save him, don't you?"

"As much as Bruce doesn't remember me, or the Avengers… He doesn't deserve what happened to him. It was bad enough he couldn't work in the science community, now marking him as a traitor. It's just too far," Clint grumbled as if the others didn't understand. Stephen nodded, looking to be mentally preparing himself for a battle that looked like they might not win. Clint glanced around and noticed that Pietro and Wanda were doing the same. He frowned. This wasn't right.

"So… Where we off too?" Pietro wondered, shifting his weight back in forth in anticipation. Clint sighed. As much as it seemed like a good idea to try and go help Bruce, there was something about it that struck Clint as wrong. Almost like this was a distraction. Well, of course it was a trap but… Clint wondered if it was something else as well. Shaking his head in a decisive manner, Clint spun back around to the laptop and scanned over the data Coulson had sent to him. Stephen turned to Pietro, figuring Clint was working on a strategy for them.

"They wouldn't want to bring him too far, so they should stay around the city," Stephen suggested.

"Well, they could go to Washington…" Wanda mentioned. But as Clint stared over the data, he was surprised to find no base for Hydra near the university. Heck, there wasn't even one near New York. Clint frowned and continued looking through all the different sites.

"Would they bring him to a S.H.I.E.L.D base?" Pietro inquired. Clint paled. There was a base in Washington D.C. The same base that Steve and Natasha had brought down when they first announced S.H.I.E.L.D to the world in his reality. He must have made a noise or done something cause suddenly everyone was looking at him. "What?"

"Give me a minute," Clint hissed, trying to ignore the looks he was getting from the others. He stalked off down the hall before pausing a moment. Right now he needed a phone.

"There is a phone in the bedroom, second door on the right," Stephen called out as if he understood what Clint needed. The archer didn't reply but he did head toward the room that the mystic had told him about. Thankfully no one followed him. Once he was alone, Clint grabbed the phone that the man had mentioned and dialed a number long ago memorized.

"Who the fuck is this and how did you get this number?" Fury's voice snapped over the line after the first ring. Clint chuckled, it was the man's typical greeting whenever the archer called. Hearing it now, it felt wonderful and relieving all at the same time.

"Did you order Banner to be taken in as a traitor?" Clint questioned, skipping over an annoying argument that would last a few minutes. Fury grunted. Apparently he wasn't going to let it drop that easily. Honestly the archer wasn't surprised.

"Clint? How did you ever get-" Fury started to state. Again, typical of their normal banter. Clint shook his head as if Fury could see him. He didn't have time for this anymore. No matter how wonderful it felt to have something normal happen.

"Did you label Banner a traitor?" There was a long pause. One in which Clint half wondered if Fury had simply hung up. The Director had done that to Clint before. And if he did it now, Clint would be more than annoyed at the man.

"No," the man finally stated. "The World Security Council did. Hill sent a small team that she trusted rather than whom they chose."

"Was it Alexander Pierce?" Clint growled darkly, already picturing the man's head on a spike. In his world, Natasha and Steve swore that he was the newest leader of Hydra. Or at least one of the many heads. Clint wouldn't be shocked if he was here as well. Fury's non reply of surprise was answer enough for Clint. The archer cussed. "He's Hydra."

"Clint, I'm sorry. There isn't much I can do. He convinced the entire council," Fury explained. Clint cussed again and drew the phone away from himself. He cussed more and more, trying to find some sort of calm. After a moment, he returned to the phone. Fury was ready. "They tried to get Stark too but…"

"Stark builds our tech," Clint finished, having seen that information before. Fury hummed in agreement. "What are they doing now?"

"A team of their choice is watching him."

"Who?"

"S.T.R.I.K.E."

"Rumlow? He's never been good at spying!" Clint cried, amazingly not surprised that Hydra was watching Tony. But he was glad to hear that Tony was protected simply by being a weapons manufacturer. As much as the Tony from his reality would hate this, Clint wasn't going to change anything. Fury sighed.

"Look, I'll do what I can for Banner and Stark but-"

"There isn't much. I get it," Clint hissed as if it made a difference. He sighed. This wasn't Fury's fault. Even before Hydra was announced as part of S.H.I.E.L.D, Fury was always at the whim and fife of the World Security Council. "Thanks."

"Just fix this," Fury demanded as if he knew the other reality was best for everyone. Clint snorted and hung up before either one of them could say anything else sentimental. Glad that Bruce was going to be watched over by Fury and people he trusted, Clint was back to situation one. Which Hydra base had what he needed? As he moved to go back to the information dump, something made him stop and look out the window to the high rise in the background. Half a second later, pain flared in his right shoulder. The same area that his heart had been in only moments before.

"FUCK!" Clint shouted even as the force of what hit him made him drop to the ground. A second something skimmed past Clint's face, making the archer glad that he was falling down. As he landed, his brain caught up to what was happening. It made sense just as a hail of bullets entered into the room. Clint grabbed at his shoulder, pissed that someone was attacking him and he had no idea who it currently was. But, judging by the shooting pattern, the person was either a bad shot or not used to the weapon they were using. The archer could tell it was an automatic gun based on the speed at which the bullets ripped into the room. Actually, it rather much reminded him of a new gun that Stark Industries had been working on before Tony came back from Afghanistan in his reality. Over here, Tony must have perfected it. "Shit."

"CLINT!" Wanda screeched before entering the room. Clint spun in time to see the door wrench open before a wall of red entered. Then Wanda and Stephen entered the room. There was a blur and then Pietro appeared in the room opposite of Clint and behind a couch. Wanda's shield easily held off the hail of bullets but at her arrival, the bullets started to focus more on her. That gave Clint a quick chance to sit up from his position and spot where the shooter was from. He ducked down in time for the bed to explode into a cloud of fluff.

"Pietro," the archer called over the noise. If there was a response, Clint didn't hear nor could he see if Pietro heard him. "Five blocks down, thirty stories, five from the top, third room."

The fluff suddenly cleared and blew past Wanda and Stephen. Stephen was frowning at Clint before understanding what the archer intended for the teen. He turned around and opened a portal before stepping through after the young speedster. Moments later the shooting stopped. Wanda waited a minute more before ending her use of her shield and rushing over to Clint's side.

"Jesus, you're hurt," she said as if Clint couldn't notice what happened. The archer grimaced as the witchling began to look over the damage.

"A through and through. Don't worry," Clint grunted, sadly knowing the difference between various types of gun shots. Wanda frowned, knowing exactly that that was what Clint had meant. Deciding it was better not to comment, Wanda carefully grabbed for some cloth that had been blown to pieces and started to tie the wound closed. Clint groaned and leaned back, mad at himself for getting shot. Just as she finished tying the knot, a portal opened back in the doorway. Clint immediately tensed and sat up while Wanda readied her shield to protect the two of them. Stephen stepped through with a young man. His ragged hair covered his eyes but Clint didn't need to see that to know who it was. The silver metal arm that Stephen held did it for him. Pietro sped through a second before the portal closed. "Bucky Barnes."

"Name's Winter Soldier," the man growled, shifting to make his shoulder a little more comfortable. Clint rolled his eyes. Natasha had mentioned to him after her first meeting with Bucky that he was the same way.

"Should've known," Clint sighed deeply. Winter Soldier had been controlled by Hydra since Captain America first thought to have destroyed it. Even in this reality, Steve existed, so why wouldn't Bucky? And Winter Soldier was a ghost story of all assassins. But then he looked at where he was shot. Bucky was a better shot then this. So… Why did he miss so bad? Clint then glanced over Stephen and Pietro, both men looked fine other than a little flustered from a quick and easy fight. Stephen looked between Clint and Bucky in surprise.

"I think I am missing something," the sorcerer commented, pushing Bucky into a nearby chair. The movement made Strange's containment magic glint in the light. Clint almost smirked in respect. He had half wondered how Stephen and Pietro had kept the Winter Soldier so calm. "You guys friends or something?"

"Not really. Bucky was… Is Steve's best friend during the war. He went missing on a mission, assumed killed… But Red Skull aka Johann Shmidt, the leader of Hydra, found him. They tortured him and brainwashed him into being the Winter Soldier. An impressive assassin and sniper that many believed to be a ghost story for a long time," Clint explained. Stephen raised an eyebrow and looked to the man he and Pietro had captured. With that impressive of a resume, how had they taken him down without any injury?

"My name is Winter Soldier," Bucky snarled but something in the man's eyes glinted. Clint tilted his head curiously as he stared at the man. After dealing with Natasha and his own mind control with Loki, Clint could almost see Bucky trying to break through the Winter Soldier persona that Hydra created. Remembering that feeling, Clint glanced over to Wanda. He wasn't going to let Bucky suffer if there was something that could be done.

"Wanda, can you-" Clint asked, cutting himself off as he didn't fully understand what he was asking her to do. He couldn't ask her to break all the brainwashing… That might do more damage than good but could she take off the most recent? Wanda smiled, understanding what Clint wanted even though the archer did not. She moved to stand behind Bucky and placed her hands on either side of his head. Bucky had a moment of shock and relief on his face before Wanda's power flared on either side of his head. Both grimaced in a ton of pain and Clint was about to stop her when Bucky suddenly screamed.

"My… Name… IS… JAMES!" the man screamed as Wanda helped break the brainwashing done to him. Both of them then screamed and Wanda let go. Bucky dropped down in the chair, nearly falling out while Wanda stumbled back into the wall behind her.

"WANDA!" Pietro cried, rushing to his sister's side to steady her before she fell to the floor. She was already looking to be mostly clearheaded, better than Bucky for sure but not fully there.

"Oh god!" she moaned, grabbing her head to try and erase whatever memories she accidentally received. Bucky took that moment to start to come back around and shake his head from the remnants of what had last been in his head. Clint slowly stood up and moved closer to Bucky.

"Bucky?" Clint questioned, figuring the brainwashing had been mostly cleared. He was also using this moment to see how much had cleared. Bucky shook his head again before looking up at Clint. His eyes looked scared and tired.

"Stevie... They... They have Stevie," Bucky stuttered. Clint's blood ran cold. His worst fear for what happened to his friend was realized. Hydra had their perfect Super Soldier. Now they could use Steve's blood to make more. Everything was so much worse than he first thought. "They want you dead."

"Yeah, getting shot by you was my first clue," Clint grumbled, looking back to the wound on his arm. Stephen shifted to see what his limited magic could do to help. Clint tried his best to ignore the man but he could feel the magic and it reminded him a bit too much of Loki. No one missed his flinch. Stephen backed off, the wound still there but now bleeding as much as a paper cut.

"Glad it wasn't a kill shot," Bucky grunted. Clint smirked.

"He's apparently hard to kill," Pietro mumbled, helped Wanda move to the destroyed bed by Clint in an effort to help her. She moved slowly and was still lost in whatever she had gotten from Bucky but she looked a bit better. Clint shifted to help her and steady her. As soon as his fingers touched her skin though, his mind was buffeted by pain, anger, and fear. He quickly let go, shocked.

"Maximoffs... Retrieval by any means necessary," Bucky droned as if he were a computer. Clint frowned and glanced between Bucky and the twins. Pietro stiffened but Wanda didn't seem to notice. Bucky shook his head again, trying to get rid of the new program information that popped into his head. It was gonna take awhile before he'd be able to break it all. After a moment, Clint couldn't help but cuss. He had forgotten that Hydra was the ones who gave the twins their powers. They must have escaped their handlers in order to come and help him. And naturally, Hydra would want them back.

"Fascinating... Am I the only one who didn't piss these people off?" Stephen joked into order to release some of the built up tension in the room. Clint turned to glare at him, not pleased. Bucky looked up to the sorcerer and was partly stunned that Stephen was right. He had no pre-programmed information on the man.

"Don't worry. You will soon," Bucky stiffly told him. Stephen nearly looked like he paled. Bucky shook his head again and leaned back in the chair. Clint looked to Wanda and saw that she didn't look that improved.

"Stephen, is there a place Wanda can rest?" he asked. Stephen nodded and moved to help Pietro bring her to the second spare room on the other end of the hall. Why Stephen had such a big place, Clint didn't even want to think about but then again, Clint wasn't the type to go on frivolous spending sprees like many rich people he knew. Bucky looked up at Clint and the archer watched the assassin's eyes flash. The programming may have been pushed to the back, but it was still there.

"Don't stay in here with me," he snarled. Clint frowned before it hit him. Bucky's last program was to kill him. If the archer stayed there, it would be harder for Bucky to continue fighting it. Clint nodded and left the room, carefully not putting his back to Bucky which the man seemed far too grateful for. Clint paused in the hall.

"I would close the door but… I think you broke it," Clint said as he shifted what remained of the doorway to show that it was barely a sliver left. Bucky couldn't help but give a quick laugh at that. Clint smirked, glad he helped the man in that small way. Bucky nodded and tried to shift but Stephen's containment magic flared and the man couldn't move. "The magic will hold. I'll give you a bit before coming back."

"Thanks," Bucky whispered so lightly that Clint nearly missed it. Knowing that Bucky was showing a bit of weakness there, Clint simply nodded and left. He met Stephen in the living room.

"What are we doing now?" the sorcerer asked. Clint sighed and rubbed his right hand across his face. Stephen smirked. "You have no idea."

"None… But something about Bucky... I just feel like he has the answers we need," Clint told the man. Stephen nodded.

"He is giving off a similar aura to yourself." Clint frowned at that and looked at Stephen. The sorcerer shrugged and walked off. Still thinking about what Stephen said, Clint turned and looked back toward the room that Bucky was in. Could all of Hydra know about the other reality?


Ugh… Nearly another whole month went by without a post from me... Jeez. I am horrible. Currently ill while typing this and wishing I could just rest. But so is the life of a stay at home mother when husband has to work a dang double cause the second job doesn't understand 'please no more doubles'. CAN I WIN THE LOTTERY!? Please….

Anyways, Clint and Darius are doing well. Not sure if I mentioned this before but Clint is officially potty trained and doing well. Accidents are rare and usually the fault of the adult in charge rather than Clint. Darius is getting Early Intervention for a few different traits that he's behind in. Since getting treatment for the past few weeks, he's already done so much better with using words. Many are coming and going still but he is retaining more than just two words or so. Just this week learned a new technique in boxing up similar toys into storage containers or gallon Ziploc bags in an effort to keep the house cleaner. Working well but only the third day in, lol. Will update you all whenever I post next…

Favorites: Queen of the Beasts (and 5 Times the Avengers caught Clint with a secret), pottyandweezlbe89, Amelia Thompson (5 Times the Avengers caught Clint with a secret)

Follows: Katie MacAlpine

Reviews:

AngelWings98 - Thank you for your well wishes and glad you liked the chapter.

Katie MacAlpine - I loved following your many reviews through the story. I laughed at so many of them. It was great to see you progress throughout the time as you learned more of what was happening. I hope that soon you can understand what is happening and I'm really glad you seem to be enjoying it.

Sammygirl1963 - I'm sorry to hear you had the flu but glad to see you got better. And no, I am totally not basing my posting styles on when you review, it just seems to happen like that, lol. Yes, I am not going to be done with Clint for awhile. Yeah, writing the Supreme Sorceress was a pain in the butt so I'm glad I left her behind. I personally never tend to trust someone who has that much knowledge on something and refuses to share it so that said person or persons can learn a lesson. That just bugs me, so I guess it played off a bit in my writing of her. And I doubt the Ancient One will come back into my writings, but you never know. Hee hee, New York. Pietro is a fun character to play around with as in both Fox's portrayal and Marvel's, he wasn't touched upon much so I can do seemingly whatever I want with him. Yeah, I was upset that Marvel had to kill the GOOD PIETRO as well. Not much we can do about contract fights in the corporate world. Wish the buyout could have happened before Age of Ultron, then the better Pietro would be left alone and not Peter from the Fox's X-Men series… Anyways, glad to make your day with my posts, wish I could be more consistent but very, very limited time to work on anything, let alone writing. Hope to get better soon given my news above.