If you recognise it… I don't own it.
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"Jarvis," Steve's eyes narrowed, "Find out when Detective Williams and Tony interacted."
"Spring Break," Clint piped up, "Has to be. I know he went to Hawaii on Spring Break one year."
"Negative, Master Clint." Jarvis countered, "Detective Williams is originally from New Jersey, having only moved to Hawaii in the last few years. I can be more precise if you so desire. During his time in Hawaii, Sir has not been in Hawaii himself. I cannot find any instance in Sir's schedule and Detective Williams' records where they would have interacted. However my records are not as accurate for the period of time before I was brought online."
"Ignore that for now." Steve waved a hand, "Can you find out what the problem with the DNA is?"
"Of course, Master Steve," Jarvis' voice was calm, "Hacking HPD systems."
"Shouldn't we be objecting to Jarvis breaking the law?" Sam asked.
"I just hope he's discrete." Clint shrugged, "I'll have to contact SHIELD. Check that they are aware."
"I knew something was wrong." Steve murmured.
"Sorry." Clint whispered.
"Master Steve," Jarvis spoke up again, "I have identifies the DNA anomaly. HPD discovered two blood pools at the site of the Luau. One has yet to be matched against any profile in CODIS; however I can categorically state that it is not Sir's. The other has returned a report of 'Classified'."
"Blood?" Steve paled.
"The larger blood pool," Jarvis continued, "Is the unidentified blood pool, and judging by the amount discovered at the scene, it is highly doubtful that the victim is still alive. The smaller blood pool, as I have mentioned, belongs to a Classified person, according to the Hawaii Crime Lab the amount loss is less than a pint. There is an annotation that you would lose more going to the Blood Bank; certainly survivable. There was a lack of blood leading away from the smaller blood pool, indicating that it was treated to some degree."
"Classified," Clint breathed, "Most likely a SHIELD Agent."
"Jarvis," Sam spoke up, "Do you have any way of locating Tony?"
"Of course, Master Sam," Jarvis responded, "However I have not conclusively located Sir. His phone is turned off and I cannot reactivate it nor its internal GPS system. His Power Bands are currently reporting two very different locations."
"What are those locations?" Steve demanded.
"One is stationary in a warehouse district of Hawaii," Jarvis answered, "Specifically on Sand Island, formerly known as Quarantine Island. The second is currently making its way towards Los Angeles, California, if it continues on its current course."
"Plane?" Sam pressed.
"Most likely a boat of some kind, Master Sam." Jarvis countered, "Considering that it is moving much slower than a plane would be. I anticipate it arriving in Los Angeles in less than one hour. I am forwarding this information to Honolulu PD, particularly the Five-Oh taskforce."
"Forward it to SHIELD as well." Clint knew it was too late to stop Jarvis from telling Five-Oh, but he could at least make sure it went to the right people.
Not that Five-Oh wasn't good, but this was way out their league.
About ten minutes later Clint's phone rang. He didn't recognise the number, but answered it.
"Barton." He answered it formally.
"Clinton." Phil's reassuring tones came across the line.
The use of Clint's full name told him that it wasn't a secured line and civilians were within earshot. However they weren't deemed a threat.
"What happened?" Clint asked.
"They drugged the punch." Phil replied, "I didn't drink any. Nor did Tony. Others were… Less sensible. I'll be having words with people later; I sounded the alarm, but no one responded."
"There's a chance they were taken out first." Clint stated, "Five-Oh is checking the hotel. You didn't notice?"
"Reaction times were the only thing really affected. Slowed down. Almost mimicked alcohol, only worse. I managed to get my gun out. Hogan tried to rush one of them. Give Tony an escape route. They didn't even bother shooting him. He's on his way to the hospital with a concussion. It's… Bad."
"What about Tony?" Clint pressed.
"He was definitely the target." Phil sighed, "They honed in on him. I tried to protect him. He bargained for our lives with his agreement to go with them. Threatened to bite off his tongue and choke to death on the blood if they didn't give in. He was… Rather graphic in his description."
"Always knew he could get a little morbid. And a lot protective." Clint had to smother a smile, "So everyone's alright?"
"I… I was shot. Leg wound. Through and through. Tony patched it up, before they took him. Slipped one of his bracelets onto my wrist. That how you found me?"
"Yes. You sure you're okay?"
"I'm fine." Phil repeated, "We need to locate Tony. It was AIM. And they clearly had prior warning that we would be here."
"Why aren't you on the way to the hospital?"
"Who says I'm not? The medics are not happy with me being on the phone." Phil snorted slightly, "I've contacted the Director. And you avoided my instruction."
"The other band is nearing Los Angeles." Clint supplied, "SHIELD has the intel."
"You keep him safe." Phil commanded, "You go keep him safe."
"Sir, yes sir." Clint smirked, "Not like I'm not already heading that way already."
"Don't be a wiseass." Phil reprimanded teasingly.
"I thought that was what you liked about me." Clint snorted.
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Just over an hour later, Hawkeye was flying a Quinjet to Los Angeles. They were about half an hour out from their destination, and the predominant thought running through his brain was that they needed to get Tony to upgrade the wretched things!
It should not take a little over an hour and a half to fly from New York to Los Angeles. The Blackbird could do it in a shade over an hour, so why couldn't SHIELD work towards that as a target?
In the back section of the Quinjet, Captain America, the Falcon, Thor, Doctor Banner and Spiderman sat quietly waiting. The Black Widow was in the seat next to him, just in case.
The lack of conversation was more due to the underlying tension in the air.
In actuality the Avengers didn't need to make this trip. The SHIELD Agents in California could easily secure Tony and move him safely back to New York. But the Avengers didn't feel comfortable with that as a group.
In some strange way Tony had become a sort of private mascot to the team. Even the Black Widow had warmed up to him, once she'd gotten more exposure to him. Seen his more hidden, vulnerable side. And she'd really changed her tune, when she'd seen him turn down and/or flinch away from over a dozen sexual proposals after the Battle of New York.
Hawkeye noticed when Spiderman got up from his seat and wandered towards the cockpit. The teen barely aware of the turbulence which would have knocked any normal person off their feet. Clearly climbing to walls was not the only way the teen used his ability to stick to things.
"Hawkeye," Spiderman's voice was questioning, "Is it possible to contact the LA Office of SHIELD. I'd feel better knowing that they'd picked Tony up."
"They will have done so." The Black Widow half-reprimanded.
"I know that." Spiderman shrugged, "But I'd feel better if they confirmed that. It's a thing with me, okay?"
"Proof?" Hawkeye offered, getting where Spiderman was coming from. A scientist wanting to confirm a known theory, "Alright. Give me a moment."
He quickly flicked a few switches, connecting the Quinjet with the LA branch.
"This is Hawkeye of the Avengers Initiative." Hawkeye spoke clearly, "Can you please confirm that you have picked up Stark?"
"Stark?" The question came back immediately, "He's not in LA. We'd have been informed if he had. Why would we have him? Why are asking us if we do?"
Hawkeye felt the blood drain from his face.
"This is the Black Widow," His partner took over immediately, "Assistant Director Hill contacted your Regional Director approximately an hour and a quarter ago. You were to be instructed to pick up Mister Stark from his kidnappers when they docked. A locating device providing Mister Stark's precise location was also provided."
"The Regional Director for the West Coast," The Agent spoke gently, "Had a heart attack a bit over an hour ago. He'd just called in a leader of a STRIKE team to discuss something when he dropped down. He was pronounced in the last five minutes. We had no idea that Stark was kidnapped. Never mind that they were headed in our direction. We've been scrambling to try and keep the Regional Director alive. None of us thought that the mission he wanted the STRIKE team for was particularly urgent."
"Well it is," Hawkeye snapped, "Stark. Kidnapped. Last night. Boat. Your direction. Should have docked about a quarter of an hour ago. Check in with Assistant Director Hill for the precise location. Get that STRIKE team moving now!
Hawkeye barely registered the quick reassurances that the STRIKE team would be moving, before he turned the link off. He really, really wanted something to hit right then. Or shoot.
Shooting would be better.
"Fuck!" Hawkeye snapped. Getting a lot of stress out in that one word.
Silence reigned in the Quinjet as all of them tried to take in what they had just heard. It seemed impossible. A fluke of timing.
Hawkeye couldn't quite ignore the unsettled feeling in his gut that told him it was something more. But he knew he had no reason for the feeling. After all it was SHIELD, they were the good guys. None of them would benefit from Tony being in the wrong hands.
"How?" Spiderman breathed, "How can that happen?"
"Heart-attacks can come from nowhere." Doctor Banner shrugged.
"No…" Spiderman looked like he wanted to run a hand through his hair, "I meant… How could someone else not know? Isn't there a protocol to prevent stuff like this?"
"Not that I know of." Hawkeye shrugged, "Coulson would know better. This shouldn't have happened though. I'm sure of that."
"How could they assume it wasn't time sensitive?" The Captain whispered in a voice that shouldn't have carried, yet did.
"Fear not, Brother Steve," Thor boomed, "We shall rescue thy husband, our Tony of Stark. We shall protect him. Not one villain shall lay a finger on him. I swear this to you, Brother Steve."
"Thanks Thor." The Captain managed to get out.
"Easy, Captain." The Falcon laid a gentle hand on his shoulder, "We'll get Tony back. We'll piece him back together."
"You think he'll be broken?" Doctor Banner breathed.
"I think that Tony's retreated after every time he's been held prisoner before." The Falcon shrugged, "He had issues even before Afghanistan. Pepper and Rhodey take into account some of his quirks far too easily."
"The whole thing about taking things from people?" Spiderman remarked, "Yeah, I noticed."
"How?" Steve frowned, pulling back his cowl, "How could you have known that? How did you even notice that?"
"I…I…" Spiderman cast a glance towards Hawkeye.
"Hey," Hawkeye flashed a grin, "You told me in confidence. I don't speak out of turn."
"I said you could." Spiderman reminded.
"Still wasn't my secret to tell." Clint pointed out, taking off his mask.
He couldn't keep Hawkeye up. Not when he was this angry. He needed a way to vent. Clint could do that a lot easier than Hawkeye.
Spiderman glanced around, then sighed and pulled off his mask.
"Peter?" Steve breathed, "I never even…"
"I'm invested in Tony." Peter stated, "I care about him. Okay? I'm not going to let someone hurt him. Don't think just because I don't live in your Tower that I don't care about him. There's quite a few of us who keep an eye out for him. Who care about him. We're just not all in a position to do anything to help most the time… At least not for the big stuff."
"Others?" Natasha leaned back towards the conversation, her curiosity peaked.
"Mostly SI employees," Peter answered, "Though on the Hero side, the X-men are somewhat protective of him. Wolverine especially. And I don't get why. Neither does he apparently. The Fantastic Four are protective in their own way. Even if Richards and Tony don't really get along most the time. Of all people, Daredevil was the one that surprised me the most. But apparently Tony's been putting money into Hell's Kitchen for a while. And he only stepped things up after the Battle of New York. Daredevil appreciates people who honestly try to help. With no ulterior motive. I don't know how he knows, but he said that Tony is honest in his desire to help."
"How many heroes do you know kid?" Sam breathed, "And how?"
"I was having issues with my powers at one point," Peter shrugged, "So I went to Xavier's place. He couldn't help, but we still talk. I got caught up in a portal and met the Fantastic Four. We still talk as well. Johnny even comes to hang out with me in costume sometimes. Daredevil and I bumped heads over a kidnapping. We don't meet a lot, but there's times… After the Foyer Incident I asked all of them to keep an eye and ear out for anything. I was a little surprised at their willingness, at first, but they all had their reasons, which they gave easily enough."
"Verily Brother Spiderman," Thor beamed, "You have proven yourself to be a skilled Ambassador for our team. Our fellow warriors will no doubt assist us in this matter and others, should we ever be unable to face our foe alone."
"We won't need them this time." Natasha was firm, "However it is good to know that others acknowledge the value of our Tony."
"Acknowledge the value?" Peter snorted, "They're protective. Highly so. Though I get slightly disturbed by the fact that Deadpool seems to have an interest."
"Deadpool?" Clint breathed, "That nutter? He's even crazier than Loki!"
"Deadpool?" Steve frowned, "I've never heard of him."
"We like to try and keep the completely crazy away from you." Natasha declared, "He's also known as the Merc with a Mouth. He can drive someone close to suicide with just words coming out of his mouth."
"Merc with a Mouth?" Banner frowned, "I think I've heard of him. Said to be impossible to kill."
"Don't know about that," Sam shrugged, "But I've heard of him too. Think I even met him once. Wade Wilson. Came into the centre. Kept on talking and talking and talking. About things that made no sense. Worst was when he went on about decapitation of himself and an end credits scene. He was upsetting everyone else."
"Was Tony there?" Peter asked.
"Yeah," Sam realized, "He was. But that was back before I knew who he was. Back before I first cornered him. I don't know if he spoke to Tony."
"Maybe he did." Clint suggested, "He might have realized who Tony was. Some crazy people see clearer than sane people."
"None of this matters!" Steve snapped, "Tony's out there. Captured. Alone. Possibly injured. God only knows what they're doing to him! And all we're doing is chatting!"
"No, Steve," Natasha was firm, "We're going to find him. We're going to bring him home. It doesn't matter what is happening to him right now, because we're going to stop it."
"And what if they kill him?" Steve challenged.
"They won't." Clint was firm, "Tony's worth is in his genius. They'll want to use that. And he's stubborn. We all know that. Stubborn and fierce. And brave."
"And smart," Peter put in, "He got himself out of Afghanistan. Lord only knows how… What he built. But he got out. By himself. He gets a chance, he'll go for it. And if we don't find him by looking? That's when we'll find him. When he shows us where to look."
"You have a great deal of faith in our Tony of Stark." Thor acknowledged.
"The man is a genius," Peter shrugged, "He may not be a warrior, but he is a fighter."
"Stark men are made of Iron." The line was chorused.
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"What do you mean we were beaten there by NCIS?" Captain America glowered, "What is NCIS? Why do they have any information about this case?"
"You might know them better as NIS." One of the older Agents supplied.
Captain America continued to look blank.
"ONI?" The Black Widow offered.
"Office of Naval Intelligence?" The Captain cocked his head, "What have Navy Spies got to do with anything?"
"They're more like Navy Cops these days," The Agent shrugged, "Naval Criminal Investigative Service."
"So how did Navy Cops get there before you?" The Falcon pressed.
"How did they even know anything?!" The Captain demanded.
"McGarrett," Hawkeye supplied, "He's a Seal. Navy. Probably has a few friends in NCIS."
"We had to deal with Henrietta Lange." Another Agent piped up, "We ended up calling the Director to negotiate with her."
"Henrietta Lange?" The Captain frowned.
"Think Fury's manipulation," Hawkeye stated, "With Coulson's competence and the Black Widow's deadliness. All combined into one little package. I mean seriously, she makes Stark look tall."
"A fearsome warrior indeed." Thor acknowledged.
"That's not important." The Captain snapped, "What do we know? Where is Tony?"
"He wasn't there." A female Agent spoke up, "NCIS reported that the boat only had two occupants. Neither of whom was Tony. However the vessel did slow down upon approach to LA. So it is possible that they transferred him to another craft. NCIS have the two in custody at present. The Director is negotiating access."
"Black Widow," The Captain breathed slowly, "You go see what you can do. Falcon, go with her. You deal better with organisations. We are not trying to infiltrate. We get in intel. We get Stark back. Thor, do a fly over. Anything suspicious report back. Do not charge in. There's a lot that LA does differently. Spiderman…"
"I'll partner with Thor." Spiderman declared calmly, "I'll do a swing around. See what I can see."
"Good," The Captain nodded, "Doctor Banner see if you can use the Arc Reactor to locate Stark again. Hawkeye…"
"I'm staying with you," Hawkeye interrupted, "No offence Captain, but I'm not leaving you alone."
"Fine," The Captain gave in, "We're going to be checking out Malibu."
"Why Malibu?" Spiderman frowned.
"Because if I wanted to hide Tony somewhere where no one would look for him…" The Captain returned, his voice forcibly calm, "I'd hide him in his own house in Malibu."
"You've actually given this some thought." Hawkeye accused.
"More than once." The Captain almost looked embarrassed about the confession.
Hawkeye didn't have to think twice about why. He'd considered doing pretty much the same thing to Coulson on occasion. And they got more time together alone than Steve and Tony managed. There was always someone in their home. Tony had opened the doors to all of the Avengers who lived in the Tower, and they took advantage of it. Often preferring to hang out there than in their own quarters. Even Jane and Darcy wandered in and out.
Steve never objected. Tony neither. In fact the Genius seemed to enjoy having people he trusted around him. He seemed to thrive under the gentle care and attention. Sure he wasn't anything like what the Public perception of him was, but he was turning more into a social person. More like the person Clint got glimpses of when Tony was with him or Steve or Rhodey or Pepper. But it was only ever glimpses. It was almost as if Tony was too scared to let his true self out. Though given his history, Clint couldn't exactly blame the guy.
Clint wasn't sure anyone else had noticed that Tony still wore one more mask, even when he had let the rest of his masks fall. But he was called Hawkeye for a reason. And even so it had taken him a long time to see the final mask.
However there were a few certainties that Clint, Barton and Hawkeye were sure of:
One, Tony loved Steve with everything he had.
Two, Tony would do anything to protect those he cared for.
Three, Tony had been hurt by too many people in his life to let anyone close easily.
Four, Patience would be the only way to get through Tony's masks.
So patience would be what Clint would have, until such time as Tony believed it. He would keep proving to Tony that he was worthy of his trust so that Tony would finally, finally let down that last mask, and let the world see exactly what sort of wonderful, generous, kind person he was.
A little voice in the back of his mind, which sounded worryingly like Darcy, pointed out that extending trust would work a lot better. That he should just tell Tony he was Hawkeye. Because then Tony might consider telling his secret that necessitated keeping that last mask in place.
Barton pondered what Tony's secret might be all the way to Tony's Malibu Home. He'd managed to narrow it down to something to do with Afghanistan, but no further than that. It was clearly some trauma Tony had experienced there, which still haunted him. Yet Tony clearly could find no easy way of discussing it with anyone else.
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With traffic it was just over two hours later that the pair arrived at the Malibu Mansion. The two of them didn't do a lot of talking. They were too tense to do so.
Hawkeye used the time to change back into his civilian clothes. He didn't want to step into Tony's territory as Hawkeye, but as Clint.
Besides, any kidnappers would underestimate Clint. They wouldn't underestimate Hawkeye.
Steve and Clint entered quickly clearing each room.
"Master Steve, Master Clint," Jarvis spoke up, "May I ask why you are here?"
"I thought the kidnappers might use this place as a hideout." Steve sighed, "Because no one would think to look here."
"Unfortunately I can confirm that no one has entered this Mansion since Sir left for Hawaii." Jarvis stated.
"Tony hasn't been to Malibu for a while," Clint frowned, "Who's been using this place then?"
"Mistress Pott has been known to use this Mansion when she is in LA." Jarvis replied immediately.
"Of course," Steve agreed, "Pepper has full range of all of Tony's properties."
"Then why doesn't she live in the Tower?" Clint asked.
"Tony offered her a floor," Steve shrugged, "She turned it down. Said she didn't want to live so close to her work. Said Tony would be forever expecting her to sort stuff out. She got an apartment nearby instead."
"I suppose it makes sense." Clint conceded, "Probably saves money that way, not needing a hotel. Though what does she do for food?"
"Takeaway?" Steve suggested, "Well, he's not here."
"What happened to that car?" Clint stared, "It's a wreck!"
"It was destroyed after Sir's return from Afghanistan." Jarvis replied, "Sir was working on some issues."
"What?" Steve blinked.
"Old therapy." Clint answered as they left the garage, "Take a sledgehammer to a wrecked car. Quite therapeutic actually. Bit like going to the shooting range. Though considering its Tony, I'm not surprised he took it to the next level."
"Why would he destroy a perfectly good car?" Steve frowned, "Oh, wait, it's Tony. He was probably going to fix it himself and forgot."
"Sounds like Tony." Clint grinned, "Now let's go find him."
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About a week later there was still no confirmed sign of Tony. The majority of the local investigation was being run by the NCIS team as they seemed to have a better grasp on the local area than SHIELD.
Which was something Barton was going to take up with SHIELD as soon as Tony was safe…
Well, no, he wouldn't. He would unleash Coulson and Romanov on them. It was much easier that way.
There'd been a couple bits of information. Sightings and such. Though the one torture video that they'd found had turned out to be a very convincing fake. Not that that bit of information had changed the fact that Captain America had gone and destroyed just about every punching bag in the place.
Despite Doctor Banner doing his best, even resorting to calling Reed Richards for help (a fact which stuck in Clint's throat), there was no way to use the Arc Reactor to locate Tony. It seemed that AIM had learnt from last time and were shielding it somehow.
War Machine had turned up late the first evening. It turned out that he had an agreement with Jarvis, where if Tony suddenly dropped off the grid, was gone significantly longer than he should be or was kidnapped that he would be contacted no matter where he was or what he was doing.
"I've got something!" Rhodes declared, running into the Ops Centre.
"What?" Captain America spun around to face him.
"God bless Tony's paranoia." Rhodes shrugged, "There's a subroutine in War Machine I didn't know about. Automatically alerts me if Tony sends a message out. And he sent a message."
Rhodes handed over a flash drive to one of the Tech Operators, Hawkeye thought the man was called Beadle. And the woman he often seemed to be talking to might have been Jones.
It was quickly plugged in and the sole file was shown on the screen. It was an audio file. Quickly it was played. Music came through the speakers.
"What the…?" Was the collective question.
"The MIT Drinking Song." The Tech Operator spoke up, "I'm a CalSci grad myself. I'll work on finding the source where this came from."
"There doesn't seem to be any hidden message in the soundtrack." A female Tech Operator declared.
"You're not looking for the right thing." Rhodes sighed, "Tony's a tricky son of a gun. Can you isolate certain tones?"
"Easily." She replied, "Which ones?"
"Nobody tease me about this," Rhodes cleared his throat, "This, this and this."
He produced three perfectly clear notes.
"Okay." Her fingers started to dance across the keyboard, in almost perfect harmony to the male's.
"I've got a source!" Beadle declared, "Mobile phone."
"Well done, Mister Beale," Lange congratulated, "Now locate it."
Beale, not Beadle. Well it was close enough.
"Already working on it." Beale agreed.
"I've isolated the tones." Jones(?) announced, "But there's no message in them."
"Not the way you're reading them." Rhodes leant over her slightly, "The high notes are short. The low notes are long. The mid-notes are breaks. Each syllable is separate beat."
"This isn't something just anyone would come across." Jones(?) frowned.
"It's Tony Code." Rhodes shrugged, "He invented it during MIT. I never got the reason why. I think I'm the only person who knows about it."
"Then why would he use it?" The floppy-haired agent asked.
"Because he's Tony." Rhodes replied, "He's not sending a message to the world. He's sending it to me. When I found him in Afghanistan I told him, next time he rode with me. He has very few people he trusts to get him out of these sorts of spots. I'm the one who's been with him the longest. So when he gets into these sort of messes, his default is me… Actually it's him, then me. I'm the longest standing fixture in Tony's life. And the only one left who hasn't hurt him. So, yeah… He's not calling for help. He's calling for me."
"That's Morse Code." Captain America watched the dots and dashes appearing on one of the screens, "T. S."
"N." The dark skinned agent also knew Morse Code it appeared, "But… That's not letters."
"It's binary." Rhodes agreed, "The N with the double break means the next section is numbers. And he always codes numbers in binary. Short are Zeros. Longs are Ones."
"Did he not want this code to be cracked?" The dark skinned agent muttered.
"Agent Hana," Lange reprimanded, "You know that intercepted codes can do a great deal of damage. Mister Stark is merely being cautious."
"Co-ordinates." Rhodes realized as he jotted down the numbers.
"You read binary?" Barton was surprised.
"Tony's former lab partner." Rhodes shrugged, "I read a lot of things that people wouldn't expect. Including ASL, Solresol, Elvish and Klingon. Binary? No problem."
Somehow that made sense. Even if Barton had no idea what Solresol was!
Though he made a mental note about the ASL. It might come in handy one day.
Rhodes handed the co-ordinates to Jones(?) who quickly worked to bring the location up on the screen. Just as Beale stood up to present his location. He slid the two maps over each other so that only one image could be seen, with two points virtually on top of each other. However they spread out as he zoomed in. But not too far.
"What are they doing in New Orleans?" Spiderman cocked his head to one side, "Have we been searching the wrong city?"
"The wrong state." The Black Widow agreed, "Why are there two locations? Shouldn't they be the same?"
"No," Rhodes shook his head, "My co-ordinates are where the phone first was able to connect to send the message. Beale's is the current location of that phone. Tony slipped the program into it."
"How?" Beale asked, "They wouldn't have let him keep anything. Nothing that could store a program like this."
"He didn't need to." Rhodes shrugged, "Tony remembers everything he's ever programmed. And he types faster than you think. Plus he didn't need to program the whole thing. It's actually hidden on the deep web. He just needed to tell the phone where to find it. He'd have needed less than five minutes. Tony won't be with the phone though."
"How can you be sure, Colonel Rhodes?" Lange pressed.
"Because if he was, he would have called Jarvis." Rhodes replied, "He would have gotten himself back to New York."
"Well, ladies and gentlemen," Lange spoke up, "It seems that our guests have some travelling to do. Miss Jones, bring up the New Orleans Office."
"Right away." Jones nodded.
The screen cleared for a moment, before a new image appeared. Hawkeye took in the restricted view of a fairly open-plan office space. A man stood in the foreground looking upwards.
"Henrietta," The man smiled broadly, "And how can the New Orleans Office help you today? I take it this is not a social call."
"Agent Dwayne Pride," Lange nodded in acknowledgment, "We are sending two sets of co-ordinates to you. The moving location is a cell phone. The owner is believed to be involved in a kidnapping of a High Value Target. We need him alive. And he cannot alert anyone that we have detained him. They cannot even suspect."
"Of course," Pride agreed, "Who's the HVT?"
"Tony Stark." Lange replied calmly.
"Little Tony?" Pride jerked slightly, "Consider it done. There's a lot of reasons not to go home in the Big Easy. Very few of them related to the law."
"And we just hit pay-dirt." A new voice spoke up, "He's at a club. We move fast King, we could have him all wrapped up in a pretty bow before the hour's up."
"That's our cue." Pride smiled, "Send us the details Henrietta. You sending your team?"
"No, Dwayne," Lange shook her head, "We're working with one of our Sister Agencies on this case. Their team will be enroute to you. Find out where Tony is, if you can. But do not go after him, until they get to you."
"I'd never put Tony at risk." Pride declared firmly, "He's a good kid. Send the team, Henrietta. We'll have the location when they get here. LaSalle, grab Brodie. Let's go learn things."
The connection was cut.
"Seems he knows Stark." An Agent spoke up, "Do you Hetty?"
"I was an acquaintance of his father's." Lange shook her head, "Howard found me intriguing."
Barton hoped she didn't mean what he though she meant. Because although he was okay with consenting adults, he did not need that image in his head. He would need a lot of brain bleach to deal with that.
"A concealed weapon on me is not exactly a concealed weapon." Lange continued.
Barton relaxed slightly at that remark. It seemed it was completely innocent. And yes, he could see Howard being interested in a young, feisty Government Agent, of not exactly standard proportions.
"The man was an ass," Lange hadn't yet finished, "But man, what an ass."
Yep, he was going to need some brain bleach, to get the image out of his head.
"Lady and Gentlemen," Lange addressed the Avengers, "You had best get going. Special Agent Pride isn't one to hang about. You don't want to keep Tony waiting. Shoo."
Still slightly in shock, both at the implication of Lange's words and her almost matronly dismissal of them, the Avengers started to traipse out of the room.
"Did she just imply…?" Spiderman tailed off.
"Yes." Two of the Agents chorused, as they accompanied the Avengers to the parking area.
"So she really…?" Spiderman couldn't quite put it into words (Not that Barton was blaming him).
"Don't know." One of the Agents shrugged.
"Not asking." The other finished.
"How much brain bleach do you get through here?" Spiderman queried, "Only… None of you did any more than blink."
"You get used to it."
"No, you really don't." The two Agents disagreed with each other.
"Look," The shorter of the two smiled, "Hetty is Hetty. We know her. We love her. Just every so often she breaks our brains."
"You go get Stark and get him home safe." The other Agent added.
In the end, that was all that needed to be said.
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Please Review.
Thanks to my reviewers:
Cautionald – Thank you. And I make you a promise… I will not kill Phil.
DaemonWolfe – Well, someone needs to.
Once again thank you.