Natasha and Clint made it into the underground center where Bruce was being held, and both rolled from the truck just inside the tunnel rather than riding all the way in and risk being found.
Both assassins drew their weapons as they slipped along the walls of the long tunnel, sticking to the darkness. The tunnel carried on for at east two miles, which took them about fifteen minutes to clear in complete silence. At the end of the tunnel was a barred set of steel doors, large enough for trucks to pass through when opened. Natasha looked over at Clint, who shrugged.
"Before we do this the fun way, maybe see if is even locked first?" Clint ask, steeping forward and pushing on the doors, which did not budge.
"Looks like its the fun way." Natasha nods, indicating Clint's quiver. Clint shrugged the quiver off his back enough to punch something into the control keys and an arrow clicked into place and lifted itself, which he loaded into the bow. The archer then took aim and loosed the arrow into the concrete above the door, where it embedded in the wall and sent an electronic pulse through the wall, causing the doors to quietly release.
"I like the fun way." Clint said, loading a standard arrow to the bow as Natasha brandished her pistol. He held the door and they silently crept inside.
Clint took the lead, bow at the ready, and slid along the dimly lit edges of the room. Natasha stayed close behind.
Near the center of the room, under an old warehouse light, stood a group of men, all standing around the suit Tony had sent. The bust of the suit was opened, revealing where the samples from both Vision and Steve were contained. Their voices echoed through the thick walls but were garbled together and did not allow for Natasha nor Clint could quite make out what any of them were saying.
All eyes seemed to be occupied by their new prize, and Natasha slipped silently over to the containment crate that they'd seen in the video feed. It opened with almost too much easy, and Natasha felt as if she'd been stabbed in the chest when the crate ended up being empty.
"You think it would be so easy?" A voice echoed through the metal container behind her. She spun on her heels, weapon drawn on the owner. A man in all black, still wearing a mask, had Clint in a choke-hold, a gun to his temple. Natasha's lip quivered but her resolve did not falter, and she she steadied her aim.
"Let him go." Natasha instructed.
"We shall see, Widow." The man commented, jerking Clint around harder, gagging the archer. "I cannot believe you would act so predictably; to be honest, it is a letdown. Your reputation has proceeded you- and has proven false. Love has made you wea-"
The bullet sank between the man's mask eye sockets before he could even finish his sentence, and he fell limp at Clint's feet. Clint straitened up and took a couple deep breathes before drawing his bow.
"Thanks, but we're going to have more company now." Clint said, craning his neck a bit to work the soreness of being held out. He kicked the body out of the way to peak out of the crate. "I can't believe he almost called you weak."
"Almost." Natasha agreed in an annoyed huff, moving to the other side of the opening and peering out as well. "We have incoming."
Natasha gave Clint no time to respond before she spun out of the crate, firing into the crowd who had opened fire in return. Natasha fired several rounds off and ducked back into the crate to reload. On cue, Clint took a turn stepping out, firing on the opposition. He sank arrows in at least two of the men before ducking back inside.
"Where do you think they took Banner?" He ask, pulling his quiver around to secure more arrows.
"Not sure, but he's not on site here. They knew I would come for him." Natasha said, snapping the magazine back into her pistol.
"Well, I mean... Here we are." Clint said with a half laugh.
"Here we are." Natasha agreed. She nodded to the door and together they stepped out, into what had be suddenly become a quiet warehouse. Outside, they spotted Vision, who had the last man standing in a similar choke hold to the one Clint had just endured. The rest either lay dead or unconscious on the ground around them.
"Hey Vis, thanks for coming." Clint joked, getting a smile from Vision. He then turned his attention to the very young man Vision had held.
"Where is he?" Natasha demanded, stepping over to the young man, taking his face roughly in her hands.
"I- I know nothing." The young boy shook his head, eyes cast down. He looked terrified.
Natasha tightened her grip and got so close her nose was almost touching his. "Where. Is. He?" She demanded again through gritted teeth. He nails began to sink into the flesh of his cheeks, drawing blood. It was then that Clint stepped forward and gently took her wrist, pulling her hands away.
"Listen, son, your friend over there, let's call him first blood. He decided to tell Natasha that her love for our man you have made her weak. But... it hasn't. It has, however, made her insane. Unstable, even. And I may be her best friend, but even I can only do so much to control her. And it seems like whoever was in charge here left you to die. That could still very well happen... Look around." Clint gestured to the bodies on the floor. "I can't see how one more is anything here. You're young, tell us what we need to know and I can get you a nice, cushy spot in a heated and cooled American prison."
"Whoever took him also took the suit when the bullets started to fly." Vision commented, dropping the young boy, who fell to his knees, gasping. "Tell us where they planned to take that, at least."
Natasha stepped forward again, pistol aim set on the young man. She flicked the site on and the red scope dot appeared on the young man's chest for him to see.
"Tell me." she spat.
"There is a safe house." He finally volunteered. "Is... Is not too far. Maybe fifteen kilometers. Due east. Is just an old church on top, we have set up underneath."
"Is that where they planned to take their ransom?" Clint tried to clarify.
"I cannot say for sure. I am... New." He confessed. "My sister is sick- They said they would pay well." He looked up at Clint. "She is just eleven."
"Fuck... Nat..." Clint groaned, and Natasha looked away, but kept her pistol sighted on the young boy.
"Look, kid..." Clint sighed. "We can't let you just... go, you know that, right? I mean, it is a rough lot that you had to do this for her- but I can keep my promise about prison... and we can get your family what they need for your sister. Okay?" Clint said. the young man nodded, silent tears sliding down his cheeks.
"Thank you, sir." He nodded again. "Thank you."
"Vision, can you go ahead of us and see what you can find in terms of the church?" Natasha ask. "Clint and I will have to find some wheels."
"Of course." Vision nodded, and floated on up through the ceiling.
"This is a mess, Nat." Clint groaned, taking his Stark communicator out of his vest pocket and turning it on.
"Not a mess we made." Natasha snorted. "This was not us, we did not start it... But I will end it."
There was a growl to her voice that sent a chill down Clint's spine. He'd never seen Natasha so focused or angry before. He seen her fighting while shot, in the midst of terrible battles- but never like this. He knew her love for Bruce had taken control of her normally cool headed battle mind. He simply nodded and made a call to Tony.
As Tony hangs up with Clint, he hears Steve entering the room.
"Cap'n! Just the man I was about to be looking for!" Tony called in an over the top, chipper voice.
"Me?" Steve questioned with an eyebrow raised.
"You. I know how much you love to be in control of... well... almost everything. We're shipping out." Tony explained.
"I- I don't 'love being in charge'..." Steve defended. Tony laughed.
"Sure, Cap." Tony nodded. "Seriously though-" Tony gestured over his shoulder with his thumb. "We gotta go."
"Where?" Steve ask as he jogged to catch up to where Tony had already started to walk off.
"Barton called." Tony said as he walked. "Between Vision, Romanoff and himself, they pretty much wiped out the first base they landed in. But some of the men got away with the suit, samples... and Bruce. Barton also cut a deal with one of the newer recruits of these folks, and he has agreed to give all information he as in exchange for a safe place in an American prison and money for his family- apparently that was the reason he signed on for the life of crime in the first place. Younger sister apparently has some pretty serious cancer."
"Oh, man." Steve sighed.
"He also said Natasha is starting to slip." Tony added.
"Slip?" Steve questioned.
"Get more violent and less controlled." Tony elaborated. "Clint's worried. So we have to find our Brucie boy before she kills everyone she comes across."
"Natasha isn't some mindless murderer..." Steve defended. Tony halted in his steps and looked the blond man over for a moment, then smirked. "What?"
"Have you ever been in love, Rogers?" Tony ask. "Really?"
"I- er-" Steve shrugged, shifting uncomfortably in his boots.
"It makes you do super weird things." Tony said, grabbing Steve's forearm and started them back to walking. "Bruce was going to propose to her. She had the life she always wanted right in her hands, and these people, whoever they are... They just plucked him away. She's not going to stop until he's back with her. She is, I need to remind you, not only our friend and teammate, but one of the most deadly women on the planet. Ever." Tony laughed. "Try not to forget that part."
"So-" Steve says as he and Tony come into the jet hanger, "Who is going over?"
"You and me." Tony says casually. Steve paused briefly before heading over to his locker, following Tony's lead. Tony was already loading a couple different versions of his armor, which was already packed into neat suitcases, onto a cart. Steve opened his locker and began to take out his things.
"Why not anyone else?" Steve ask, trying to keep his voice even.
"Who else do we need?" Tony asks, looking over and giving the other man a wink. "No, seriously though. We're going in to pick up the kid Clint made the deal with, and be ready to pick up Bruce and the others. We need everyone else, which is just..." Tony paused and thought, looking up, mouthing to himself, "Sam, Rhodey, Wanda... We need them here. These folks are out to hurt us. Gotta watch our back door."
"Fair." Steve nodded, taking his shield out of the locker. "Let's get wheels up, then."
Steve followed Tony into the jet and took a seat just behind the cockpit while Tony took controls and took the jet out of the hanger and into the sky. They flew in silence for a few minutes before Steve cleared his throat, pulling Tony's attention back to him. Tony glanced back over his shoulder.
"Yeah?" Tony said, spinning around in the chair after clicking on the autopilot.
"You're going to help the kid's family, right?" Steve ask in a small voice. Tony smiled.
"Yeah, I thought a good mil aught to make up for his lost income." Tony shrugged. Steve blinked back at him. "What?" Tony ask, confused.
"A million?" Steve ask, a bit shocked. Tony shrugged again.
"You think that'll cover them?" He ask. Steve nodded eagerly.
"Yeah, I'd say so." He chuckled. "That's... that's super generous of you, Tony."
"Thank you?" Tony shrugged, turning back around.
"What? What's that?" Steve ask, standing from his spot and coming over and propping up on the cockpit stepdown beside Tony.
"What's what?" Tony ask, annoyed, ignoring the Captain's presence.
"You said 'thank you?', like a question." Steve explained.
"And you said it was generous of me, like as in out of character." Tony said dully.
"Well-"
"You think I'm some sort of self centered asshat, don't you?" Tony ask, whirling around and crossing his arms. "Even after all you've seen of me, everything we have been through together as a team... You still have that background perception of me."
"No... No it's not that..." Steve shook his head. "I'm really sorry you feel like I do."
"Then tell me, Cap. Explain it to me." Tony said, on his feet now, toe to toe with Steve. He looked up at the taller man, the hurt shining in his large, honey-brown eyes.
"You just always surprise me, Tones." Steve almost whispered. "In all the best ways."
Tony looked Steve up and down, then clicked his tongue against his teeth.
"Hmm." Tony hummed, and he retook his seat in the cockpit. "Grab a quick nap, if you'd like. We have a couple hours." Tony said, changing the subject.
Steve could sense how much he's unintentionally hurt Tony, and he internally kicked himself for it. He sat down and kept quiet, but kept an eye over on the other man at the jet's controls. He sighed and shook his head, thinking to himself how Tony really was right- He knew nothing about love.
SO- how we feeling? Better than Natasha, I hope!
Please let me know in a review, and thank you all so much for reading!
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