Rationally, she knew this was definitely a trap. The note shook her to the bone. Unfortunately, the non-rational part of her brain was winning.
"No, no, no, no, no," she murmured over and over, searching the room desperately. Where could Pepper have gone? There was no sign of her anywhere. "FRIDAY, call the team." The sound of a phone call echoed through the room.
"Call failed, I'm afraid. No one is answering." The tightness in her chest curled and squeezed her heart. Something had gone horribly wrong.
"Keep trying," Bree ordered, pulling on her shoes. "Do you know where Pepper is at all?" A video popped up on the wall in front of Bree, making her jump. The video showed the windows shattering and the ball rolling in. The camera must have gotten damaged because everything was fuzzy from that point on. Pepper came on the screen moments later, investigating the sound. Bree watched in horror as she got to the balcony. A nearly-invisible and silent helicopter, cloaked by the darkness, flew up to the open window. A man jumped out and grabbed Pepper before she even could react. And then they were gone. Bree felt like collapsing, but she squared her shoulders and took a deep breath.
"Alright FRIDAY,' she said, trying to stay calm. "What's the quickest way to get to St. Ambrose's School in Connecticut?"
Steve watched helplessly as children filed into the gymnasium. It was so early in the morning that some of the boys were almost sleep-walking. He kept his eye out for a ginger-haired eight-year-old but an almost amusing amount of the kids were wearing onesies with hoods.
"See any threats?" Clint asked from the comm in his ear. He scanned the area again before reporting back with a negative. The others did as well. He sighed and walked over to where a few police officers were helping direct the children.
"Any word, Captain?" one of the guys asked and he shook his head.
"Not yet. Trust me though, this is necessary."
One of the officers shook his head in disbelief. "We were asked by Captain America and the Avengers to help them. Trust us, this is the most exciting thing we've had all year."
Steve stifled a chuckle and nodded authoritatively. "We appreciate it. We'll keep you posted." Right then, Tony yelled into his mic, making him wince.
"Ten o' clock, coming in hot!" Steve glanced up to see a flash of blue shoot out of the sky, exactly like what Sam had been hit by.
"Sam?" he asked and Sam nodded, landing next to Steve.
"Exactly like that. That's what hit me." Steve narrowed his eyes at where it came from. The school was in a suburban area, but the neighborhood was surrounded by trees and forests.
"Are all the kids evacuated?" he yelled, sprinting in the direction he had seen the blast come from.
"Let me check." There was some rustling and Wanda came onto the comms. "One teacher says two of her students are missing, but everyone else is accounted for." There were some mutters and curses before Clint spoke up.
'I'll find them." Steve nodded as he was running towards the back of the school.
"For now, let's split up into our groups," Cap said. "Vision, Sam, Rhodes, you guys watch from the sky. Watch out for whatever the blue blasts are. Natasha, Bucky, Tony, you guys come with me. I'm heading to the back of the school, where the blasts came from. Bruce and Wanda, keep the gymnasium sealed off. No one gets to these kids." In all the commotion, none of the Avengers noticed the static starting to come over the comms or FRIDAY's very faint voice.
Clint hurried over to where Bruce and Wanda were guarding the entrance to the gymnasium.
"Did you get the names of the missing students?" Both shook their heads, Bruce looking incredibly nervous.
"Are we sure we want me this close to children on a mission?" Clint looked at him with a small nod of his head.
"You've got this. I'm gonna go get those names and find the twerps, then I'll be back." He swung the doors open, expecting the noise to be overwhelming. Instead, he found a bunch of kids sacked out asleep on the floors. He carefully stepped around the sleeping bodies before he saw a teacher flagging him down.
"They're tired," she said with an apologetic smile. "They don't have any clue what's going on except the Avengers are here. Frankly, the teachers don't know anything other than that either." Clint forced himself to give a casual smile and nodded.
"Sorry, we really can't tell you much else right now." She waved her hand in dismissal.
"Oh, I didn't mean it like that. We're just happy you all are handling whatever the situation."
"Right." After an awkward silence, Clint cleared his throat. "Do you have the names of the two missing students?" She nodded and gestured over to another teacher who was wringing his hands and pacing.
"They're from his group. He's worried sick, claiming that they were with him on the walk over here but disappeared somewhere along the way. THeir names are Felix Johannes and Benton Chasky." Clint's heart sank. Of course, Benton Chasky would be one of the two. This complicated everything. He thanked her and carefully made his way back through the piles of kids and out through the doors into the pitch-black night.
"Guys, we've got a slight problem," he announced, sensing the rest of his teammates were listening. "Benton Chasky is one of the two kids missing." He picked up his pace into the main building. "The teacher claims they were with him on the walk over to the gym but disappeared."
"Alright," Steve said with his 'in-control' voice. "Trying to find them just took a new priority. Rhodes, go check with Clint and split up the school. There could be others after him and the other kid." If they don't already have him, was what he didn't add but everyone was thinking it. Clint slipped through the halls of the main building, scanning each of the halls. Finally, he saw a sliver of movement from one of the classrooms. He cautiously opened / the door, bow at ready at the first sign of a threat. When the door closed he put both hands on his weapon, scanning the room. The movement flickered again and he relaxed, slipping the bow back over his shoulder.
"Hey kid," he said softly. Large eyes stared back at him from under the teacher's desk. Unless Bree looked nothing like her little brother, this boy had to be Felix. His black hair was in a disarray from sleep and tanned skin was a sharp contrast to Bree's bright ginger hair and pale skin. "My name's Hawkeye, okay? You know who I am?" The kid nodded and he sighed in relief- that made things a lot easier. He knelt down to the kid's eye level. "What's your name?"
"Felix," the boy answered, voice shaking. Clint stepped closer and thankfully, the kid didn't back away.
"Well Felix, there's some bad people here at the school, so I need to get you to safety. Why were you hiding under the desk?" Clint asked.
"We were in the bathroom when the alarm went off. At first, they said it was a shelter in-place alarm, which means we're supposed to lock ourselves in the classroom and hide under our desks. But then the teachers started bringing classes out and I couldn't find mine. So I've been hiding in here." Clint breathed a sigh of relief. They didn't necessarily have Benton Chasky.
"Do you know where your friend is? Benton?" Felix nodded, pointing out the door, saying,
"He stayed in the bathroom. Benny was scared and didn't want to come out." Clint nodded and took a step towards Felix.
"Alright, buddy. Can you come out of there? We need to find Benny and make sure he's safe too before I take you to your teacher." Felix nodded and scrambled out from the desk, grabbing Clint's hand tightly. They walked out and Clint tried to tell him teammates but the comms were picking up some serious static. Felix directed him to the bathroom and he cautiously poked his head in. One of the doors at the very end was locked.
"Benton Chasky?" Clint asked before taking a step further. There was scuffling and he could see blue Avenger shoes poking out from under the door to the stall and a big eye stared at him through the keyhole. "My name's Clint. I've got Felix here too. I'm going to get you guys to your teacher, alright?" The eye disappeared for a second before the door swung open to reveal a very tiny child. Clint had to suppress a smile. It made sense- if Bree was four foot eleven and she was sixteen, the eight year old would probably be quite small. Benton's curly red hair was all messed up like he had been sleeping and he was in his pajamas (and tennis shoes). Benton grabbed Felix's hand without another word and they exited the bathroom.
"It's Hawkeye, Benny! Isn't that so cool?" Felix gushed as they walked out of the main building. Benton just shook his head and Felix leaned it towards Clint. "He doesn't talk much. Kinda quiet." Clint smiled and shook his head. He should bring Bree and Benton out to his farm one day to meet Laura and the kids.
"Benton, I know your sister. Did she tell you that?" That got his attention. The kid nodded his head as Felix's eyes grew wider.
"Really? You never told me that!" Clint had to laugh a little as they entered the gymnasium. He quickly handed the two off to their teacher and Felix made him promise that the two boys could come meet the Avengers sometime. He stepped out, brushing off his hands.
"I've got the two kids back safely," he said, heading over to Bruce and Wanda, before yelling it over the static in the comms.
Sam landed beside Clint and asked, "Should we contact Bree? Tell her what's going on?" The static picked up and Clint could barely make out Tony's response.
"No can do. FRIDAY's been having trouble working. I can barely get a full sentence out of her before everything goes haywire. It's like there's a strong EMF blocker around here." Clint's heart sunk- he had an uneasy feeling about this.
(A/N: We are starting to near the end of Red! Don't worry, there is still quite a bit of story to go. :P
Special thanks to FlowerChild23 and nightmarehunter676 for reviewing! ^-^