If you recognise it… I don't own it.

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The NCIS team were clearly preparing for an assault when the Avengers arrived at the small New Orleans Office.

Hawkeye was slightly surprised that there were only three people present, but reckoned that they were only sending a token force, leaving the main attack for the Avengers.

"You're the team?" The younger of the two men asked.

"Yes," The Black Widow replied, "Where's the kidnapper? I will talk with him."

"No need." The woman countered, "We've got the location."

"Do you want the NOPD involved?" Pride asked.

"No." The Captain was firm, "A small group moving fast will get this done. We can take it from here."

"No," Pride shook his head, "You're going after Tony. We're coming with you."

"Stark is not involved with NCIS." War Machine countered, "You have no jurisdiction."

"One," Pride started ticking off on his fingers, "We picked up your kidnapper. Two, we know where we're going. Three, Stark supplied approximately ninety percent of the computer security for the Pentagon, so his kidnapping makes it a National Security Threat. Four, National Security Threat means it's us, Homeland Security or the FBI. Five, he's a friend. LaSalle, get Charmaine."

"Of course, King." The younger man moved to a safe and removed a box.

When it was opened, Hawkeye noted the good condition of the Nickle Plated Colt Python .357 Magnum revolver inside. Clearly old enough not to have been from the last batch, but not one of the originals either.

"Are we going to argue about this?" Pride raised an eyebrow, "Or are we going to get Tony back?"

It wasn't worth the argument. After all it was only three people. It wasn't as if NCIS was sending the entire office. They could be used to move Tony. Not that Hawkeye thought that the Captain would let anyone other than himself carry Tony out at first. Though Hawkeye could probably sell it with the advice that the Captain could protect Tony better if both his arms were free.

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The French Colonial House must have looked quite grand at some point in its dim and distant past. But time and neglect had reduced it to a ruin of what it once was. Someone had clearly made an attempt at restoring it.

However the attempt just made it look even more worn and pathetic than it would have otherwise.

"Here?" The Falcon frowned.

"Hidden base underneath." LeSalle supplied softly.

"I would have thought that impossible." The Captain was surprised, "Given the soil conditions in this area."

"Anything's possible if you're determined enough." Pride shrugged.

"And have enough money." LeSalle agreed, "We gotta a tunnel under the city going nowhere and doing nothing."

"Entrance is through the coal cellar door." Brodie(?) declared, moving towards the side of the house.

"They don't have coal cellars in Louisiana." War Machine stated, "Do not ask me how I know."

"But the guy who set this place up wasn't a local." Pride countered, "So he saw a house without a coal cellar and added one."

"I'll… Stay with the cars." Doctor Banner decided, "I think the Hulk might not be a help right now."

"That's okay." The Black Widow reassured, "Your skills might be more useful should Tony be hurt."

It was a sobering thought, but one they had to consider. Who knew what had happened to Tony in the time they had taken to find him?

Silently the group made their way to the coal cellar doors and then down into the underground.

AIM was overconfident. There were no guards for a fair way into the tunnels.

And by the time Hawkeye got to the guard station, they weren't even a threat.

For once there wasn't a place where he could provide Overwatch from. So he was covering the rear of the group. It was an important job.

However, that still didn't stop him feeling slightly annoyed that he hadn't had a chance to get his own justice for Tony. Though he comforted himself with the knowledge that he would likely get many more chances.

There were a whole lot of AIM Goons who were probably in the base, after all.

So Hawkeye simply walked past the knocked out, gagged and handcuffed minions.

There was no noise as they moved through the corridors and down the stairs. Deeper and deeper inside the lair.

When they came to a split in the passageway, the NCIS Agents took one direction, while the Avengers took another. Though Hawkeye tagged on the end of the Agents.

It made sense. This way the two groups had a liaison between them.

Hawkeye remained covering the rear. His eyes constantly scanning for any threats. His bow ready to be drawn at the slightest motion.

The three Agents cleared each room quickly, professionally and silently. It was a clear display of their competence, something Hawkeye appreciated.

However, he didn't initially understand when Brodie(?) stopped in an empty room.

Well, it was empty of people. There was a rather lumpy looking mattress in a corner and a metal bedframe, which for some strange reason was standing on two legs only, meaning that the bed was upright.

"Pride, I think this is the room." She called out softly.

"I agree with her, King." LaSalle had gotten out his phone and was looking at something on it, "It matches. This is where they were holding Stark."

"You have photos?" Hawkeye snapped, "You didn't show us?"

"They were not relevant." Pride countered quickly, blocking Hawkeye's attempt to see LaSalle's phone, "Nobody needs to see the footage."

"Says who?" Hawkeye could feel his ire rising.

"Says me." Pride stepped forward, into Hawkeye's personal space, "No one needs to see them, because they aren't relevant. And I will do anything to keep Tony from having those pictures splashed all over the front of some tabloid. He doesn't deserve that. No-one does."

There was a story there, but Hawkeye wasn't in the mood to ask. And even if he was, they didn't have time to talk about it.

"This was where they were keeping him." Brodie(?) glanced around the room again, "Either they've managed to get him to make them what they want, in which case he's in some sort of lab…"

"Or they know we're here and they're moving him." Pride nodded.

Both situations had their good points and their bad points.

"Hawkeye to all points," Hawkeye whispered into the comms, "Stark is not in his cell. He has been moved. Look for an interrogation room or a lab."

There was no response. But there didn't need to be. All the Avengers knew what could be happening to Tony. Or what could have already happened.

But Hawkeye wasn't going to think about that. He couldn't.

He had to have confidence that Tony was worth more alive than dead.

They hadn't got much further into the complex when Hawkeye felt the building shudder.

"Hawkeye!" The Captain's voice came over the comm, "The Mandarin has Stark. Headed your way. He's collapsing the tunnels. Move!"

Hawkeye immediately set himself to the back of the group again. He didn't want anyone getting hurt or killed.

Part of his mind was frantically processing the information that the Mandarin was involved with AIM. It wasn't something that SHIELD had known before. They had never known who ran AIM. They had never got high enough in the organisation before discovery to find that out.

SHIELD had always believed that the Mandarin ran the Ten Rings. And only that.

This drew a link between the Ten Rings and AIM.

It also made things more dangerous for Tony. After all the Ten Rings had held him captive in Afghanistan. No doubt they held a grudge towards him for his escape and the deaths of his captors.

But Hawkeye couldn't think about the consequences of that right then. He had to get out. And he had to get the NCIS Agents out.

He did, however, pause at the junction where the two groups had originally split, just in case he could see the Mandarin and Tony approaching. Or even the other Avengers.

All he could see was the tunnels collapsing.

He ran after the Agents, pushing them and himself as fast as he could go. There was no time to stop to try and retrieve any of the downed AIM minions. They would have to be dug out later, probably by Rescue Crews. Hawkeye did not envy whoever got that job.

He hoped that the other Avengers had found another route out. Though considering that they had Thor and War Machine it would be incredible if they hadn't. Those two could just punch through the soil to freedom.

He also hoped that they had managed to grab Tony. As he knew it would take several hours to find anyone in the collapsed systems. And with Tony's compromised lung capacity, he probably wouldn't last as long as a healthy person would.

When he emerged into the sunlight he was greeted by a sight that both pleased and displeased him.

It was Tony.

The situation was both good and bad.

He was standing under his own power – Good.

He was blindfolded – Bad.

He appeared relatively unharmed – Good.

His hands were chained to his waist – Bad.

Okay, there were other bad points as well. Such as the collar and leash around his neck. And the fact that the Mandarin could only just be seen standing behind him, pointing a gun at Tony's head.

But there was one overriding good point…

Tony was alive. And Tony was right there.

It didn't matter what nonsense was coming out of the Mandarin's mouth. What he said had no bearing on what was going to happen. He was not going anywhere with Tony. Hawkeye was going to get Tony back.

He carefully aimed his arrow.

But there was a problem. The Mandarin was too firmly hidden behind Tony. And while Hawkeye was confident of his ability to hit any target, no matter how small or how difficult the shot… He couldn't be sure that the Mandarin wouldn't react and kill Tony in the aftermath of the shot.

The shot would have to be perfect.

And he would have to move to get a perfect shot.

Hawkeye only had half an ear listening to the conversation going on in front of him, as the NCIS Agents attempted to negotiate.

He knew the negotiation would go nowhere. The Mandarin was not the type of person to stand down. And Hawkeye wasn't going to let Tony be taken away again.

Vaguely he was aware of Banner trying to stay out of everything. Desperately trying to stay calm and in control. The Hulk would not improve the situation.

With the two distractions, Hawkeye knew that as long as he kept his movements slow and fluid he would most likely not be noticed as he repositioned himself for the shot.

The human eye tracked movement, it was true. But the human brain would focus on the loudest thing first.

As long as Hawkeye was not the loudest and was not perceived at the largest threat… He would go unnoticed.

He was almost in position, mentally aiming his bow when it happened.

Tony cried out and both he and the Mandarin fell down.

Hawkeye charged forward, his heart pounding.

Tony couldn't be killed by the twitchy trigger finger of a NCIS Agent.

The Agents arrived at Tony's side at virtually the same time as Hawkeye. Hawkeye's attention was on the expanding blood stain that came from Tony's shoulder. Not for the first time Hawkeye wished that there were sleeves on his standard Hawkeye outfit. Then he'd have something to tear off, to use as a bandage. He had a jacket when he was Agent Barton. He really needed to talk to the Supply Section.

He used his hands to try and stop the bleeding. His focus was reduced to the man beneath his hands. He simply trusted that the Mandarin would not be a problem.

Vaguely he was aware of something being moved out the way. Or was it someone?

Some fabric was shoved on top of his hands and he quickly used it as a pad.

He was doing all that he could, but he could sense that Tony was still losing blood.

"Welcome back, my little Prince." A gentle voice spoke in the panic of the moment.

The calmness and sheer affection in the tone broken through Hawkeye's laser focus; he looked up to see Agent Pride kneeling next to Tony's head. A hand was laid on Tony's cheek, softly stroking a thumb over the skin. Clearly an attempt to provoke some response from Tony.

"I'm not a Prince, King." Tony's voice was hoarse and slurred, but clear enough despite that.

"You will always be my Little Prince." Pride returned, calmly, "Now stay with me. Talk to me."

"How's Laurel?" Tony asked, "Last I heard she was at University?"

"Majoring in Music," Pride agreed, "She's got a boyfriend, Orion. Think this one might be the one."

"You feed him yet?"

"Of course I've fed him." Pride laughed, "It's what I do. I feed all my people. I even have bromances with them, according to Laurel."

"Want me to do a full check?"

"You think I haven't already?" Pride smiled, "When you bringing that husband of yours to my city?"

"Didn't think I was welcome."

"Always." Pride was firm, "Any day, any time. You know where I live, I presume?"

"Your office." Tony went to shrug.

"Ah, ah…" Pride chided, "Don't move. You're injured. LaSalle?"

"Mandarin's dead." LaSalle replied, "Brodie?"

"Bus will be here in five." Brodie put in, "Think you can hold on that long, Mister Stark?"

"Just watch me, sweetheart." Tony had a bit more force behind the words this time, "I walked through the Afghanistan desert with significant chest trauma. I can do this. Walk in the park."

"There's my Little Prince." Pride grinned, "Still got that fire, huh?"

"Some flames are hard to extinguish." Tony pointed out.

"You haven't been showing them much in the Press." Pride countered.

"Been busy." Tony retorted quickly, "When it's all sorted then… Why do you care?"

"You are responsible forever for what you have tamed." Pride seemingly quoted.

"Let me take a look." Bruce put in as he finally joined the group.

"What kept you?" Hawkeye hissed.

"Had to calm the Other Guy down." Bruce declared softly, "He is not happy about Tony being hurt."

"So you tamed me?" Tony outwardly ignored Bruce and Hawkeye.

"Well, there was a lot of watching each other out the corner of our eyes." Pride seemingly reminded.

"But also a great deal of talking." Tony was apparently arguing, "Lots of words."

"Well, you're no fox." Pride grinned, "I find words work better with children."

"Hey, Brucie-Bear!" Tony addressed Bruce, "Meet Dwayne Pride. King to his friends. The King of New Orleans."

"Hold still." Bruce gently pushed the arm that had come up to pat him down again, "You've got a through and through."

"A through and through and through." LaSalle put in, "In him, out him and into the other guy. One hell of a shot."

Part of Hawkeye agreed, but the main part of him was furious that someone had shot Tony. Even if it was only to hit the Mandarin.

Vaguely behind him, Hawkeye heard footsteps. But he didn't turn around. He knew the fall of those steps, both sets.

"How is he?" The Captain murmured to Hawkeye, Steve dangerously close to emerging from behind the mask and shield.

"Point Break!" Tony greeted Thor enthusiastically, "Bit late to the party, buddy. You missed out on some smitting."

"Verily Tony," Thor smiled gently, "I am grieved to have missed such. You are well, little Scholar?"

"I'm not sure if that's an insult," Tony frowned, "I'll be alright. Thor, this is Dwayne Pride. King to his friends. The King of New Orleans."

"A mighty name." Thor declared, "And did he earn this name with a mighty deed?"

"Indeed he did." Tony replied immediately, "And he's a great cook. Part of the heart and soul of New Orleans. We should visit sometime. The food is great and the music amazing! Or is it the music that's great and the food's that amazing?"

"Well, the night is always young," LaSalle put in, "Even when it's morning. And your chariot awaits, my Prince."

"Only King can call me that." Tony instantly reprimanded, "He knows why. And where am I going?"

"Hospital." King stated, even as the ambulance crew started to sort Tony out for transport.

"Do I have to?" Tony wined.

"Yes." The word was chorused by everyone.

Hawkeye watched as Tony was carried into the ambulance. Pride was only moments behind, easily managing to climb in with the crew.

Captain America went to follow, but Hawkeye caught his arm. While the Archer was in no way shape or form able to exert enough force to physically stop the Super-Soldier, the pressure was enough to catch his attention.

"You can't." Hawkeye murmured, "There's only space for one. And we don't have the right."

"He's my husband!" Captain America snapped.

"No," The Black Widow put in, "He's Steve's husband. But you're Captain America. We'll take the cars and get to the hospital that way."

"Tony will be fine." Bruce added as they made their way over to the cars, at a fast pace, "The bullet missed all the major blood vessels and all the nerves as well."

"You're sure?" Hawkeye didn't miss the way the Captain's voice wavered on the two words.

"If it had hit a major blood vessel," Bruce declared as Hawkeye started to drive, "He'd be dead already. And if it'd hit a major nerve cluster he wouldn't have been trying to move it so much. It was an expert shot."

"Only to be expected." The Black Widow sniffed, "Hawkeye would do nothing less. Even with a gun."

"It wasn't my bullet." Hawkeye shook his head, "Wasn't my shot. I was moving into position. Trying to get a clean shot that wouldn't hit Tony. That wasn't mine. I didn't hear it. The angle was wrong for anyone else close. That was a sniper's shot."

Hawkeye could feel the tension in the room rise. He knew it was a good thing that Thor was travelling by Hammer and that both the Falcon and War Machine were flying to the hospital. Otherwise it would have been unbearable.

Also Thor would have probably lost his temper.

After all the fact that the NCIS Agents had brought along a sniper and not told them was completely infuriating. It was essential mission orientated information.

As it was, Spiderman had climbed on top of the vehicle in an attempt to avoid the tension in the air.

When they arrived at the hospital they were ushered through to the Surgical Waiting Room. But Pride wasn't there.

Hawkeye twitched to enter the ventilation ducts and watch over Tony's operation, which they were told had begun almost the moment he had arrived at the hospital. However he knew that the Surgical Rooms were on a separate system to prevent contamination and he would not fit into those vents.

Also going into the observation area was not a possibility as the NOPD had shut down all entry and exit from anywhere which could harm Tony. Clearly at the orders of NCIS. And they wouldn't even allow the Avengers through.

War Machine had managed to help the situation by hacking into the security cameras of the Surgical Suite. So he was being kept updated by through his HUD. He couldn't show what he saw to anyone else, without making the doctors suspicious. Though he did keep the other Avengers informed.

Spiderman had slipped outside, remaining on coms. His explanation that he didn't feel that everything was right was sufficient for most members of the team.

"Hey," Hawkeye bumped the Captain's shoulder gently with his own, "Tones'll be alright. You heard what Bruce said. Besides he always bounces back. Remember the black eye he had last month?"

"Playing catch with Butterfingers." The Captain murmured.

"And the electrical burns before that?" Hawkeye reminded.

"Dummy was trying to help him wire something." The Captain nodded slightly.

"And the dislocated shoulder?"

"Caught himself while working on one of his cars."

"Remember when he burnt his eyebrows off?"

"He walked in covered in fire-suppressant foam from an over-enthusiastic Dummy." The Captain found it hard to be unamused by his memory.

"That's nothing," War Machine grinned, "You should have seen him at MIT. There was this one time he walked straight into an exam, left wrist in a cast, split lip, bandage around his ankle. He'd missed nearly two weeks of school. Still sat down and set the curve for the exam. Never did find out where he'd been partying for that time. He never talked about it."

"Never?" The Black Widow frowned slightly.

"No." War Machine shook his head.

"Anything else strange happen around then?" The Falcon asked.

"Well," War Machine cocked his head to one side, "He changed his Thesis Project. It was originally an AI. He'd gotten a real way into the coding too. Jarvis wasn't anything like what you know now. But he could answer the phone, keep a schedule and remind Tony about classes and messages. Tony had just programed him to be able to turn the coffee machine on. He changed it to some weapon thing. I can't even remember what it was. I know Stane was enthusiastic about it. Tony kept working on Jarvis, but it was a personal project, not his Thesis."

"You ever consider," The Falcon muttered, "That he wasn't partying? That he was kidnapped? That Stane got him out and that Thesis Project was payment?"

"He never said." War Machine breathed, "Tony never said anything like that. He… He would have said."

"Would he?" The Falcon raised an eyebrow, "Don't get me wrong, I never met him before he wandered into the Centre, but… What I remember from the tabloids is that he never had very many people he could rely on. He wasn't the sort of guy who would go to someone else to solve his problem. He's changed since then. He came to the Centre seeking help. Even if he couldn't bring himself to actually ask for it. He's a complex man. Whole books could be written about his psychology… Only most people have already made up their minds about him when they first meet him."

They sat in silence for a while, contemplating the Falcon's insight. Despite not having a formal psychology degree, he was quite good at analysing and helping people psychologically.

"They're done." War Machine declared, "No panicking. Everyone relaxed. It went well. He's being moved out the Theatre… Surgeon enroute."

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Virtually as one, they rose to their feet to greet the surgeon, who was more than slightly taken aback by the massed ranks of the Avengers. Probably not so much the numbers, after all they only numbered seven, but more their size.

They weren't exactly small: Thor, the Captain and War Machine in his suit.

The Falcon with his wings, even folded away, looked intimidating with all the straps and guns.

Much like the Black Widow, though her intimidation was more due to her aura. She always seemed to be five times bigger than she was, unless she didn't want to.

Hawkeye knew that with his bow and arrow he was often dismissed as a threat. But with the current situation he was almost radiating danger.

The only "safe" member of the group was Doctor Banner. And he wasn't exactly safe.

So the Doctor had a good reason to be afraid.

"Family of Tony Stark?" The Doctor asked nervously.

Together they stepped forward. Thus causing the Surgeon to take a step backwards.

"Family." He repeated.

"I'm his brother." Colonel Rhodes stated.

The look up and down that the Surgeon gave him was clearly disbelieving.

"It's okay, Doctor," Pride stepped into the room gently, "They're good people. You can tell them."

The Surgeon relaxed.

"The wound was easy enough to stitch up." The Surgeon reported, "A clean path. No damage to major blood vessels or any nerve clusters. Probably the cleanest bullet wound I've ever had to treat. If it was accidental, I'll eat my diploma. The area in a shoulder where a bullet will not hit anything is an inch wide at most, more likely half an inch in Stark. Gentlemen and Lady, you have a very skilled sniper on your team. Three or four months and you won't even know he was shot. But he could be using it sooner, to a limited degree. Some of the other injuries he was given were actually more concerning, but all of them will heal cleanly. I can say with certainty that this time next year he will be at one hundred percent, if he doesn't get himself into more trouble. Most likely sooner."

Hawkeye relaxed slightly. It was good news.

"Thank you, Doctor." The Captain smiled warmly, "When can we see him?"

"Usually I wouldn't allow it for a few hours," The Surgeon replied, "However, given the circumstances, he'll be settled in his room in ten minutes. You can see him then. Please remember, that a lot of the monitors and machines he is hooked up to are purely precautionary in nature. It is not as bad as it looks."

"When can he travel?" Colonel Rhodes asked.

"I wouldn't recommend he move for at least a week," The Surgeon stated, "Preferably two."

"Thank you." The Captain nodded.

Hawkeye knew they were going to ignore that. Once they had assessed the situation themselves. After all there was a huge difference between "Doctor's Recommendations" and "Will kill you".

The Surgeon scurried away, clearly relieved to be leaving the situation.

"You had your sniper posted?" The Black Widow prowled forward, like some deadly cat, "And you never told us. You never warned us."

"My sniper?" Pride blinked, "I don't have a sniper."

"Of course you do." Hawkeye snapped, "That shot didn't come from nowhere. You set one of your office up for that shot. They took a huge risk. That shot could have killed Stark!"

"Just how many of us do you think are in the New Orleans Office?" LaSalle asked, coming up behind Pride, with Brodie.

"Certainly more than three!" Colonel Rhodes snapped, "You handle cases from the Mississippi River to the Texas Panhandle."

"There used to be only two of us." LaSalle shrugged, "Until Brodie joined us from the Greater Lakes office."

"What?" All of the Avengers jolted.

"We're a small office." Pride repeated the fact, "We just cover a large area. Doctor Loretta Wade of the Jefferson Parish Medical Office does our autopsies for us. Our forensics are run by her assistant Sebastian Lund. Neither of whom would be able to fire a sniper rifle with that degree of accuracy and nor would they even try."

"And our computer evidence is run by Patton Plame." LaSalle agreed.

"Could he…" The Captain began.

"He's in a wheelchair." Brodie cut the question off, "He couldn't have gotten to the location, even if he could fire a rifle like that. I certainly wouldn't want to try to make that shot."

"Nor would I." Pride nodded, "I only know of two Agents in NCIS I would trust to make that shot. One is Special Agent Blythe of the LA Special Operations Project. She couldn't get here in time. We moved too quickly. The other is my brother, Special Agent Gibbs of the DC Office. He couldn't get here in time either. Not that I tried to call either of them. We also didn't contact any of the other Alphabet Agencies nor the NOPD. We thought the shot was from one of your people."

"What you see is what you get." Hawkeye declared, "We don't have anyone else."

"Hawkeye's our sniper." The Captain stated, "And he prefers his bow."

"Then who made that shot?" LaSalle asked.

Running feet caught the group's attention, all of them turned to face the door, several weapons being drawn, almost automatically.

A skinny, tall man rounded the corner clearly moving towards the group. A tablet was in his hand.

"King," The man skidded to a stop in front of the Agent, "You aren't going to believe this. I mean, this is incredible. I couldn't believe it. But all the evidence so far backs it up…"

"Sebastian," Pride caught the man's shoulders, "What did you find out?"

"I matched the bullet." Sebastian (Lund?) declared, "It's not exactly a common make. The supply of .338 Stark Lapua Variation bullets has dropped to seriously low levels since they stopped production. Naturally so, I suppose. Still it's a shame. They have a much higher degree of accuracy even if they aren't used with the corresponding Stark gun range, which this one wasn't. The stria match. I never thought I'd get that result on my system ever!"

"Who?" LaSalle seemed to have a better grip on the torrent of words flowing from Sebastian's mouth than Hawkeye or any of the other Avengers did.

Ice water flooded Hawkeye's veins as he heard the three words that Sebastian blurted out.

"The Winter Soldier."

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Please Review.

Thanks to my reviewers:

Saphrae – Sorry, I feared that if I went any further with this strand, it would become too crime focused. But don't worry, I have no intention for Tony to be a damsel in distress too often.

DaemonWolfe – Of course, everyone knows Tony. And thanks for the compliment regarding the NCIS/5-0 crew.

Autumnsfire1 – Not for a while yet, sorry. But it will happen.

Kodoku Neko – Thanks for the review. Clearly I need to work on my summaries. But I'm glad you found it and liked it.

Once again thank you.