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This chapter is dedicated to Clintasha123. I am sorry if I haven't made this clear, but this person does NOT have an account. This person is a friend. But an awesomefull friend.

If you love me pleasepleaseplease go to my profile and take my poll. Right now. This chapter will always be here, but the poll will not. Besides, I've changed up my profile quite a bit, so ya might want to check that out. The fandoms I write for are in your hands. And if you don't love me….oh well. Why are you here then? And sorry for the excess of breaks in this chapter.

A shout out to Pip4, Qwerty124, FanficFixation, and Fangurl000 for talking to me. I love to talk to readers!

Warnings- This is gonna be graphic. Slight…horror almost. Not enough for an M rating, but be warned. We all know that all of the Avengers had…difficult backgrounds, for lack of a better word. FEELS!

Disclaimer- Not mine. I am not making money off of this. I do it out of need for entertainment.

Chapter 28-Promise Me You Will Stay

Natasha sat up, wincing slightly. They had fallen at least 20 feet, maybe more. The Black Widow stood up and inhaled sharply as she put weight on her ankle. It was definitely sprained, if not worse. She groped around in the darkness.

"Guys?" she called. The only response she received was her own voice echoing through the pitch black. The screaming she had heard earlier was gone, but it was almost as if she wanted it back. No sound on Earth could be worse than the eerie silence that enveloped her, its bony, long fingers twisting her gut. She called out a bit louder this time, trying to ignore the fact of how weak she sounded at the moment, how vulnerable…..

Natasha pressed her hand to the comm. link hidden within her ear, letting out a sigh of relief that it was still there.

"This is Black Widow. Does anyone copy?" Static buzzed through the device as the assassin's heart thumped like a hummingbird in her chest. If she could get a response, from anyone, it meant hope, no matter how slim. Hopefully the tunnel wouldn't block her reception.

"This is Captain America responding. What is your status?" Steve started, his voice cutting through the static.

"Oh do shut up," Tony interrupted, his voice blaring in Natasha's ear. Tony changed his voice, as if trying to mock British royalty. "This is Sir Spandex Talks-A-Lot responding. Do you check in? You do? Oh, jolly good. Can I have some tea while you're at it? Maybe a biscuit too?

Natasha rolled her eyes. "I fell and lost Hawkeye and Bruce; I can't get into contact with them."

"Let me try to find them," Tony said, "Hopefully my heat sensors still work." He muttered something briefly to JARVIS. "Well, the reception here is terrible. I can't find Bruce, but from your position Hawk Boy should be about 400 meters straight ahead. Just do your assassin running and you'll find him."

"I'm on it," Natasha replied. "Black Widow out." She walked forward, her body slightly shaking. There was nothing to be afraid of, but for some reason she couldn't quen ch the plummeting feeling in her stomach. She took a deep breath, closing her eyes temporarily. She just had to find Clint and the others, kill the bad guy and leave. It was that simple.

She started running towards where Clint should be, disregarding the twinge in her ankle. Her light footsteps sounded loud and heavy in the tunnel. Hopefully Clint and Bruce were together; it would be rather simple after that.

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The first thing Clint noticed when he opened his eyes was the amount of green in his vision, even if it his other surroundings were dark.

"Hey Big Guy," Clint said, realizing that he was currently wrapped in Hulk's arms. Hulk was sitting down, the top of his head bumping the ceiling of the tunnel. "I'm awake; you can put me down now." Hulk grunted as Clint slid out of the giant muscled arms.

Then Clint felt his stomach drop. Natasha wasn't with them. He searched around frantically, his eyes having a hard time adjusting to the dark. "Hulk, where's 'Tash?!"

"Red not here," Hulk replied, his voice rumbling. He paused a moment, wanting the archer to notice his own problem. "HULK STUCK!" he roared, his voice reverberating throughout the tunnel.

"I know buddy. Don't stand up, all right? Or else the ceiling will fall and I will die," Clint said, grateful that he hadn't hurt anything on his fall down. Hulk snorted. "What's so funny?" Clint asked, standing up.

"Shooty Bird Man no die," Hulk said as if the fact was obvious.

"I hate to break it to 'ya buddy, but I'm not like the rest of you. I'm just a normal human. I can die," Clint stated, reaching behind his back to check that all his arrows, as well as his bow, were still intact. They were. Tony, in a stroke of brilliance, had come up with a collapsible bow for Clint that practically fit into his quiver. It was brilliant, and it shot just like his normal bow, not to mention how it was lightweight.

Hulk shook his head as if irritated. "NO. Hulk catch Shooty Bird Man. Shooty Bird Man no die."

Clint felt a spark of warmth in his chest at the goliath's words. It was nice to have a team that always had your back. Hulk was shifting restlessly, trying to stand up.

"NO! Hold on bud, we'll figure this out," Clint said. He reached for his comm. link. "This is Hawkeye. I am with the Hulk; does anyone copy?"

"Clint?" Natasha asked, her voice slightly wavering through the static.

"Yeah. Where are you 'Tash?" Clint asked, feeling the weight on his chest lighten at hearing her voice.

"I'm a couple hundred meters behind you apparently," she said. "At least that's what Stark said. Give me a minute and I'll be there. Black Widow out."

"THIS IS THOR, SON OF ODIN! I CO-" Thor's voice blasted through the tiny mechanism.

"Holy sh*t !" Clint yelled as he ripped the piece out of his ear before Thor could finish. When the ringing in his ears stopped, he put it back in.

"Thor, there is no need to yell! We can hear you just fine. Tony, god, explain the comm. to Thor, will 'ya? We can hear him fine when he whispers, let alone shout, and with all the echoing in here….Tony, you gotta fix that man before I lose my hearing."

"I am sorry dear comrade," Thor muttered, his voice very low, quiet, and peaceful. "I am still not sure how Midgardian items like this work."

"It's fine, just bring it down a bit. I would have given anything to see you talk through a phone for the first time."

"Indeed Hawkman. When first using a telephone, Lady Jane informed me that I needed to use an indoor voice. However, I was using a telephone outside, I believe you Midgardians call it a 'payphone.' It was a very confusing experience," Thor said, his voice on a much friendlier level.

"I bet," Clint muttered. He heard Natasha curse over the comm. "What is it? And where are you?"

"Tony, your sensors must be messed up," Natasha muttered. "I've hit a dead end."

"My suit says you two are ten feet away from each other," Tony said, confusion lacing his voice.

Natasha banged on the wall near her in frustration, cursing in Russian. Clint's eyes widened. "Wait!" he yelled. He ran over to the wall next to him, where he could hear pounding. "We are close, there's just a giant wall in the way. I'll just blow it up with one of my..."

"Don't," Natasha shouted. "The whole thing will collapse. And it's too risky to have Hulk try to punch through; we can't predict the way the wall will crack. It's fine. I'll just retrace my steps and find you guys."

"No," Clint said strongly. "The tunnels are too confusing; you'll get lost. Just hang tight and we'll get you out."

"No," Natasha said. "Besides, if I get lost Tony can tell me where I am. He can't tell where the tunnels are, but he can tell me where I am position wise. I might even come across their lair." Clint sighed. He didn't like this plan one bit. He had already lost Natasha once, and he wouldn't do it again. But….after all those missions together, Clint knew what she was capable of.

"Alright," Clint muttered in defeat. "We need to find out where these people are hiding. I don't like the way this place feels."

Or maybe it's that I don't like the dark.

Many people always assumed that fear of the dark was only for children. Well, that was wrong. Clint hated the dark. It made him feel exposed. He relied on his sight for his strength, and without the ability to see, he was useless. Sure, he knew hand-to-hand combat well, but that hardly made up for anything compared to his shooting. It was sorta ironic. When he worked for the circus, the dark was an adrenaline thrill. At the time, it was the best feeling- to have the circus top completely dark, and then to have colored lights swinging back and forth as the announcer called for the "One and only amazing Hawkeye."

But time passed and Clint's shooting was not for entertainment; he shot for his life. It was funny how one action, one small mistake, could change one's priorities.

"So, what do we do about Hulk?" Clint asked, furrowing his brow. "He's stuck; he takes up the height of the tunnel when sitting down, and even hunching at that."

"Can he transform back?" Steve asked.

Tony snorted. "No way. Jolly Green Giant hasn't been out to play for a long time. There's no way he'll willingly transform back. The best option is to leave him."

"No way!" Clint said. "I'm not just gonna leave him. If he gets bored, he'll just start tearing up the tunnel. Then it'll collapse and we're all dead."

"Well, if this is some sort of hideout, it has to get wider at some point. You know, like a center. Somewhere, these tunnels have to lead to a wider area where the main meetings and such happened. Hydra was a huge collaboration; these narrow things wouldn't hold any of their army," Steve said.

Clint reached into his quiver and pulled out a flare arrow. Tony, of course, had customized many of his arrows, and they were extremely useful. Notching the arrow, he fired straight ahead, watching as the red glow raced throughout the tunnel. Towards the end, just before Clint lost sight of the scarlet blaze, he noticed it slowly expand and reflect off of the walls.

"I think our tunnel expands, so yours should," Clint said. "There is probably more than one way into the center; Hydra might have been smart, but if there was only one way into the center, half of the stupid soldiers would have gotten lost and died. Hulk's coming with me; you guys find Natasha and walk straight ahead. Hawkeye out."

Clint then looked at Hulk. "Alright buddy, I know this is gonna be uncomfortable, but you're gonna have to crawl for a bit. Once we find the center, you can stand up." Hulk huffed, and got on his knees. It took all Clint had to not laugh. It was strange to see Hulk so….childlike.

After a couple of minutes, Clint felt…. 'strange' was really the only fitting word. His head was pounding, and there was a sort of sinking feeling in his stomach. It was then that he noticed that he was slightly sweating, but was cold. Every step he took sent a shiver up his spine, but Hulk seemed to be fine.

"Big Green, are you feeling alright?" Clint asked, hoping it wasn't just him.

Hulk nodded. The archer's head was pounding worse now, and Hulk's voice echoing off of the tunnel might just kill him right now.

Clint continued walking, noticing how the tunnel was slowly widening, and becoming higher. It wasn't large enough for Hulk to stand up yet, but if it continued to grow at this rate, it would be in no time.

Feeling a sudden sense of paranoia, Clint slung his bow out of his quiver and notched it, pointing it straight ahead.

There's nothing to be afraid of; it's just a long, dark tunnel. There's probably no one even here. Maybe that woman was crazy after all.

Finally, the two Avengers reached that they presumed was the 'center.' It was a large, circular area, as if the underground structure had been completely hollowed. Hulk was finally able to stand up. Metal tubes entwined all over the walls, and Clint could see transistor radios littering the many tables, which were collecting dust. There were broken-down machines that had many buttons, many of which looked like they could be taken down with one punch.

See, there's no one even here! It's just an old base that people presumed was haunted. Why are we even here?

There was a light hissing sound but it was barely audible. It was coming from one of the rusty pipes. What looked like steam, but thicker, was escaping from one of the pipes. It looked like the mist that lingered in the tunnels. Clint walked closer, inhaling the mist. He coughed as it overpowered his senses, making the world spin sickeningly. A male scream pierced the air and Clint spun around, bow still notched. He was slightly shaking; if he shot at this point, the infamous Hawkeye would miss.

The archer looked over at Hulk, who seemed unperturbed. Had he not heard the scream?

"Is anyone there?" Clint asked, his voice shaking slightly.

This is pitiful. Pull yourself together man.

Suddenly, a low light flashing caught Clint's eye. It was coming from one of the machines. Looking around one more time for the source of the shriek, the archer walked closer to the console. This one wasn't covered in dust, in fact, new fingerprints could clearly be seen, only leaving one conclusion…..

Someone was here.

Clint heard light yet footsteps in the left corner, and quickly turned to face the source. The corner was darker than the rest of the room, hardly visible through all the shadows. A figure staggered out from the area, his feet dragging along the ground. Clint almost threw up.

He was looking directly at Phil Coulson.

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Tony was irritated. Beyond irritated actually. They were getting absolutely nowhere with these cursed passageways. Not only that, but the tunnels where made of steel. He was still wearing his armor. The sound caused by each step was not exactly pleasing, as it was harsh and echoed greatly. Then you combine that with the heavy footfalls of an Asgardian god….

He really wished he had some booze right now. Or Advil. Or both.

"JARVIS, pull up the positions of everyone," Tony muttered to his suit, as he still had the helmet on. Clint and Hulk were way ahead of them, yet towards the right. Natasha was retracing her steps from previously, and she was almost on their path.

Tony looked backwards. Capsicle, proud as ever, was walking with impeccable posture. Thor was blinking rapidly, as if he was seeing things.

"You alright Goldilocks?" Tony asked.

"Indeed comrade. However, I believe that I am imagining things. It will pass shortly," Thor replied.

Tony frowned. Both Clint and Natasha had complained about hearing things, and now Thor? Maybe they were getting sick. Then Tony remembered the briefing Fury had given them.

"They were all terrified, but of different things they claimed to have seen in the 'place.'"

"All were in shock, and wouldn't stop muttering about the terrors they had seen."

"No marks on their bodies, nothing, except that they were very distressed by whatever they saw."

The bad guys had scared some people, but not physically. So maybe it was an injection of some sort to scare visitors? But that didn't make sense, since Thor, Clint, and Natasha had been within their sight the entire time. Tony looked over at Steve, who was wiping his brow. Tony didn't blame him. The mist in the tunnel was going to rust up his suit if they didn't hurry.

Before Tony could finish his thought, he felt a surge of power rush through the suit, and power read 400%. Then he realized he was smoking.

"What the hell Point Break?" Tony yelled, as the Asgardian was holding his hammer up, lighting still sizzling around the weapon.

"I am very sorry Man of Iron. I am not sure what came over me. I believed that you were someone else. I am deeply sorry," Thor muttered, looking downcast.

"You thought he was someone else?" Captain America asked, confusion lacing his voice.

"I do not wish to speak of it," Thor said, and Tony noticed the god was sweating. "I am not sure what is happening." However, the thunder god didn't put his hammer away, and he kept it pointed at the dark tunnel ahead.

"Thor, what are you afraid of?" Steve asked.

Thor looked incredulously at the other two heroes. "Do you not hear it?"

"Hear what?" Tony asked, frustration masking his voice. This was getting ridiculous. There was nothing to be heard- the only sound was their footsteps booming through the mildew-filled passageway.

" 'Tis my brother, Loki! His voice….he is yelling. The Chitauri are punishing him because he failed….He needs our help!" Thor bellowed, clearly worried.

"Thor, I think you need to calm down. It's just your imagination. Just take deeps breaths…" Steve said quietly.

"I SHALL NOT!" Thor yelled. "Stop jesting with me and hurry, or we shall be too late!"

Tony raised an eyebrow. This was really getting spooky. The engineer looked up at the ceiling, where pipes were spurting out more white mist, coating his armor in condensation.

Tony stopped dead. It was so obvious.

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Coulson was pale. He looked like he had come back from the dead, but worse. Clint felt like screaming, puking, and just dying. But a small bud of hope sprouted within him.

"Phil?" Clint whispered past the lump in his throat, not believing the sight before him. The agent nodded.

"Who else would I be?"

"I thought you were dead."

"So did a lot of people," Phil continued. He briefly smiled. "Besides, I would never leave this world without Cap's signature."

Clint shook his head as his brow furrowed. "I went to your funeral. I saw your body. You had a gaping hole in your chest."

The agent shrugged as if it was nothing. Clint slowly walked towards his mentor, feeling tears spring to his eyes. He hugged the man, disregarding how thin he was, and how unmanly hugging was.

Then Coulson screamed.

Clint backed away immediately, and watched in horror as blood flowed out of Phil's chest as the cavernous hole returned in a bright crimson. Phil looked at the archer in terror.

"You did this to me," he rasped as blood started pouring out of the corner of his mouth as well as his chest. "If you hadn't been so weak I would still be alive." The agent collapsed, clutching his chest. "Why did you betray me? Clint, I thought we…nnnhhhggg… ever since I started training you, I thought…arrrggggghhh…you were the son I never had, and m-my best friend. Why would you do this to me? W-why?!"

Coulson screamed again, and Clint felt his stomach drop when he realized it was the screaming he had heard earlier. He gathered the twitching SHIELD agent in his arms, putting pressure around the bleeding.

"I didn't… Phil, I never wanted to hurt you! Loki messed me up. P-Please just stay awake. I can't lose you again," Clint rambled, trying to keep from crying.

"Loki had nothing to do with it," Coulson spat, blood flecking Clint's face. "It w-was you. You were weak. And it didn't just a-affect me. What about everyone on the H-Helicarrier….gruhhhhh….you think they forgive you? All those lives that were worth s-so much..aaaahhhh… and you blame magic? Tell their families that."

Clint watched in horror as his mentor slowly faded from his arms. But the blood didn't disappear. In fact, the crimson liquid coated his arms, and was flowing all over the floor, spreading. The coppery tint of the substance in the air was overpowering, making Clint gag.

Glowing blue tinged his vision, consuming him. He heard the voice he feared and loathed most, cackling in mirth.

You have a heart.

The archer tried to get up, to run away, but he slipped on the blood on the floor. Out of the Tesseract's blue essence, Clint could see Loki approaching. The trickster god had a smirk on his face, beckoning Clint closer.

It's the unspoken truth of humanity that you crave subjugation.

How desperate are you that you call on such lost creatures to defend you?

Clint realized that he was panting, but could care less. Loki was coming to get him! He couldn't do it; he would die before ever listening to that monster again.

Where was Hulk? The archer couldn't see anything beyond the blue tinge of the Tesseract's power, as well as the god.

In one fleeting moment of hope, Clint fired an arrow at Loki. A hit to the shoulder. Better than nothing.

Clint froze.

Since when was Loki's hair red?

Clint blinked rapidly, trying to clear his vision.

It was then that the archer noticed the blue haze was gone. He could clearly see…..

His heart plummeted.

Natasha!

Natasha was standing in front of Clint, clutching her shoulder, gasping in pain. Her normally graceful eyebrows were knitted, as well as her teeth grinding.

An arrow was sticking out of her shoulder.

"Nat...tasha!" Clint cried, running unbalanced towards her. His head was spinning, and spots were dancing across his vision. "You've gotta run! He's h-here. I can't. 'Tasha, I can't! Run! He's gonna make me kill you!"

The Black Widow squatted down, grinding her teeth. She placed a hand on his shoulder. "Clint, what are y-you talking about? Clint?! I need you to listen to me! We've all been drugged. It's all in your imagination." Natasha pulled Clint's shirt up to cover his nose and mouth. "Keep your shirt here; hold it like this. It's in the air. Tony told me; it's all this mist. He ran it by JARVIS and has chemicals in it to try to scare us." Natasha stopped talking when he noticed that Clint was only half listening. He was staring at the arrow sticking out of her shoulder.

"I shot you."

"Clint, I'm fine. I've had worse," Natasha said calmly, trying to pull him up from off the ground.

"I shot you," Clint repeated. His voice started to get frantic. "I swear, I didn't mean to. I thought you were Loki…he was right there! Oh god, I shot you!"

"It's fine Clint. Come on, I know where the others are, we need to go!"

"We can't. I hurt you! You need to sit down. Come on," Clint said, pulling his shirt off of his nose and mouth. He was feebly attempting to pull Natasha down. His voice had taken on a sort of delirious tone. It was obvious he wasn't going to be moving for a while. Natasha put her hand to her comm. link.

"Hawkeye's gotten too much of the m-mist," she said gravely. "We might be here a while so I can try to calm him down. It's pretty b-bad."

Steve's voice rang over the small device. "Alright. Are you ok? You don't sound so great."

"F-fine," Natasha said. "Clint just made a mistake. I-It's fine."

Steve instantly knew what had happened. "Where?"

"Left shoulder. I-I'll be there as soon as he's calmed down. Black Widow out."

Natasha looked at Clint, and gently pulled his shirt back up to cover his nose and mouth. Her other hand she used to apply pressure to her shoulder. The bleeding was gradually stopping. He looked at her with wide eyes, questioning everything she was doing. After a couple minutes of this, the mist's effects seemed to be slowly diminishing, as Clint no longer had a wild look in his eyes. He looked exhausted and was slumped against the wall. The bags under his eyes were much more noticeable; he hadn't been sleeping, and this mission was wearing him out. He leant his head on Natasha's non-injured shoulder.

"I'm so sorry," he muttered, his eyes closing briefly. "I just don't know what's real anymore."

Super long chapter for y'all. Hope you like! In the next chapter all is revealed! =D Might be a while 'till next update cuz I'm going on vacation for a week with limited computer access! But not too long!