Ugh, my brain! There is so much talking in this one, but it really can't be helped.

I just looked at the total word count, WAHOO! When this is finished it will actually be book length, and I've got to say, that does wonders for my self-esteem, since I have been worried about actually being about to write a novel, so YEA Confidence!

+"The quinjet's tracker was disabled." Coulson said, standing close to the elevator, looking out at the team, feeling the tension in the air. "It was found on an abandoned air strip in Pennsylvania. Witnesses are saying that a jet landed just before it and then took off five minutes later headed Northwest, but it could have easily changed it's course once it disappeared in the clouds."

Tony stood by the bar, staring down at an untouched glass of amber liquid. Bruce was on the couch, head in his hands, still working off the tranquilizers he'd been hit with. Natasha walked into the room and handed him a cup of tea. Steve stood across the room by the far wall, arms tightly folded across his chest looking at nothing.

The room was silent. But over the last two hours there had been plenty of yelling.

Coulson continued. "The facial recognition programs at SHIELD still haven't been able to identify the medics."

"Tony?" Steve asked.

Tony shook his head, his voice bitter, "Nothing. Can't track them. Can't find them. For once I'm as clueless as SHIELD." He picked up the glass, with a humorless laugh. "We lost Thor." His grip tightened and he yelled, hurling the it at a wall, shattering it, "We lost him, goddamnit!"

No one made a move to calm him.

"He's helpless." Bruce murmured. As unnatural as it was to think of Thor that way, Bruce was right. Thor was unconscious and completely at his captures mercy.

"How the hell did this happen?" Steve demanded. It would be more accurate to say 'Captain America' demanded, because Steve looked like he was ready to take down a Hydra base singlehandedly. As soon as Coulson had called, no one could keep Steve in his bed, he was up and in mission mode.

"Careful planning, I imagine," Coulson answered, "Aided by severe incompetence on SHIELD's part."

'Thor's been taken.' Thor's been taken. The words circled round Steve's mind. Clint was barely alive again to them before they lost another team member. This wasn't the same, though. They knew Thor was alive, they wouldn't stop looking for him.

By the time anyone knew that something was wrong it was too late to do anything. Two hours. Two hours of angry words and accusations. Steve was sorry to say that Coulson took the brunt of it. He did his job and stood between the Avengers and SHIELD. No one was impressed with SHIELD right now, not only for losing Thor but for the way Bruce was handled. Tony was ready to set the place on fire, digitally, apparently.

"Let's go over what we know," Steve said, walking over to the couches, "so that we're on the same page." When no one spoke, he continued, "Fourteen months ago someone faked Clint's death and took him. Was it possible they were after Thor instead? That taking Clint was a mistake?"

"No," Tony said, calming his breath and followed Steve's lead, joining the group, "Clint was specifically drawn out. He was the only one with EMPs, the only one who could have helped me, and the only one who wasn't under direct attack."

"Alright, so they wanted Clint, we'll call that step one."

"So we're thinking the one's who took Thor are the same people?" Bruce asked.

"It's too coincidental otherwise, the timing is too perfect." Natasha said.

"Why? Why now?" Bruce wondered. "Are they… no, they can't want him for the same reason as Clint. As soon as Thor becomes aware enough, he'll call Mjolnir."

"Unless," Coulson interjected, "they found a way to somehow block the connection, or they keep him just sedated enough that he can't or won't be able to focus on calling it."

"How did they even sedate him at SHIELD?" Bruce asked, looking to Coulson.

"I don't know the specifics but from what I understand it's a similar compound to the Hulk tranquilizers."

Bruce frowned, "But how did SHIELD even know that would work? Thor refused to submit to tests or blood work."

"He did allow a basic physical assessment and that's more than we've ever gotten from the Hulk."

Bruce sighed and looked away, shaking his head.

"So step one, take Clint. Why Clint?" Steve asked.

"A means to an end," Natasha said, frowning, clearly not liking her answer.

"They tortured him for a year, broke him, so they could get Thor?" Tony asked, in disbelief and anger. "I don't buy it. If they wanted Thor why didn't they just take him in the first place? Why take Clint first? If they wanted someone who could get Thor, Hulk would have been a better choice, no offence."

Bruce waved him off.

Phil spoke up, "We don't know that Thor was the ultimate goal, so we can't work on assumptions. What we do know, he attacked and tried to kill you all."

"Did he?" Steve wondered, and everyone turned back to him, "He shot Thor with an uru bullet, if he really wanted him dead he would have shot him in the head."

"Thor was moving," Bruce reasoned.

"Clint could still make that shot," Coulson denied. "And he still didn't hit the heart."

"Alright," Steve nodded, feeling like they were making some progress, "Thor, injured but alive. What about the rest of us?"

"He was going to shoot me," Natasha said, simply, "Head shot."

"He basically shot me in the heart," Tony said, shrugging, trying to play off his unease "but I fixed it."

Natasha turned to him, "Remember what we talked about when you woke up, Tony? If Hulk hadn't come back when he did, we wouldn't have gotten help in time."

And, yes, Tony was trying to not remember that fact. Clint had gone for the reactor instead of Tony's actual heart. Because he didn't really want to kill Tony? Because Clint wanted him to suffer more before he died? Or was it because he knew that going for the reactor would hurt Tony more than anything else? It was a big glowing bullseye displaying Tony's weakness. Tony couldn't forget about it for even one day, he could feel it's pressure with each breath he took.

"But Thor was already healing, wasn't he?" Bruce said, bringing Tony back.

"So this really was about Thor all along?" Tony asked, incredulously.

Suddenly JARVIS's voice sounded, If I may interject?

Coulson looked up, "Go ahead, JARVIS."

At Sir's request I have stored medical files for each member of the Avengers, yourself included, Agent Coulson. I have only just updated Thor and Captain Rogers files concerning their most recent time spent in SHIELD medical and have come across some information that has led me to conclude that Capt. Rogers would not have died.

"What?" Natasha frowned, "The doctors at SHIELD said he would have died if the medics hadn't gotten there when they did."

"Are you sure, JARVIS?" Coulson asked.

Quite. The unknown compound in the dart, among other things, lowered Capt. Roger's core body temperature. I cross referenced the effects of the compound to the information recorded upon Capt. Roger's rescue from the glacier. The parallels are undeniable.

Everyone grew still, going over this new information.

Steve shivered, remembering his dreams of the cold. Someone had intentionally made him relive that. Was it Clint's idea? Did he really hate them that much now?

Coulson spoke up. "The doctors told me he would have died, but they also said that after their initial assistance, his body broke down the rest of it. What if it was meant to look like Steve had died but he was actually being put in some kind of frozen coma, and the doctors unknowingly brought him out of it?"

"Assumptions, Coulson," Natasha warned, but she looked thoughtful.

Coulson shook his head, "It's not an assumption that before I came to the Tower, when I was checking on Steve, I stopped him from being transferred to the Helicarrier."

Steve looked to him, surprised, "What?"

Tony could almost feel something in his mind click into place. "Son of a bitch," he said, in wonder.

Coulson continued, "If Tony and Natasha were dead, Hulk on the run, me across the Atlantic, Thor and Steve both injured, dying; they could have been immediately transferred together to the Helicarrier and lost in transit, just like this."

"Why would they both be transferred?" Bruce asked.

"Dr. Hemming, was on the Helicarrier. He was needed for Thor's surgery, to get the shrapnel out. Our top toxicology team is occupying a lab on board, they moved their two weeks ago to study a poison that was being used against our agents in multiple locations." At their looks, he continued, "This was all in the reports I went over before I came here, while I was checking on Steve and then now, verifying the doctor's whereabouts. When this all happened, Dr Hemming was recalled to the New York office, but he was in surgery at the time. Steve and Thor would have been moved there together rather than using two quinjets in different directions. But before anything could happen, Steve's body caught up and Thor was already waking up and refusing help."

"So, possible endgame," Tony said, rubbing his forehead. "Take out the Avengers. Kill Natasha and me, gain a god and the super soldier as test subjects?"

"Wait, if they wanted super soldiers why not take Natasha as well?" Bruce asked.

"That's not common knowledge, Bruce." Natasha reminded, "It's not even in my 'eyes only' file. Besides, it's a variation, not nearly as effective as Steve's."

"Still, you're what, sixty, seventy?" Tony asked.

"Not important right now, Tony."

"Apparently neither are you and I. They didn't even want us. I'm offended. I could have built them amazing stuff."

"Shut up."

"What about Bruce?" Steve asked

There was a noticeable hesitation from Natasha and Tony.

Bruce gave a sad smile, "You don't have to spare my feelings. Without a team, there would be no reason for SHIELD to continue protecting me."

"That's not true," Steve denied. He turned to Coulson. "Is it?"

Phil didn't look happy. In fact he looked very regretful. "Being a functioning member of the Avengers goes a long way in convincing others of Bruce's importance and… his need for freedom."

Tony's eyes narrowed and he opened his mouth to speak, but was stopped by Bruce.

"We're not going to talk about this right now Tony. We need to focus on getting Thor back."

Steve nodded. "So, the question is, how much does Clint know? How apart of this was he?"

"What the hell does that mean, Rogers?" Tony demanded.

Steve stood straight. "It means that they had him for a year, Tony. A year to get him ready for this. We all agree that they took him on purpose, and I think it's pretty obvious why. Loki was lucky Clint was there when he came through the portal, he wouldn't have made it as far as he did, in such a short period of time, without him."

"Hey!" Tony objected.

"I already spoke to Clint about this plenty of times. Stuttgart was his plan. Loki wanted to be captured and Clint got away with Iridium. The Helicarrier attack? His plan. Loki got away. Everyone else, including Clint, was expendable, so he planned accordingly. Clint can plan a mission with the best of them, because he is one of them. And they knew that. Who better to take down the Avengers than one of their own? Who would know us better? Who could tailor an attack to fit us and have the skills to carry it out?"

Natasha sat down on the couch arm, looking away, "Clint." She pursed her lips, "His death would also be the easiest to fake."

"The only reason the plan didn't work was because Hulk smashed their toys faster than expected. That wasn't Clint fault. So, yeah, we need to find out how much they turned Clint. If he knows where they've taken Thor."

"What's the plan?" Coulson asked.

"We go talk to Clint, as a team," Steve announced. "Maybe seeing us together would help."

"Or he withdraws further because he feels like we're ganging up on him," Bruce said.

Natasha stood, "I don't think it would hurt."

Tony opened his mouth to snark something, then stopped. He wanted to go with them, to hear Clint's voice talking, if not to him then in his direction, so he stayed silent.

He could feel Natasha looking at him but kept his eyes on Steve; being quiet was, apparently too suspicious, "So, lets get moving, Thor's not going to save himself… but if he does that would really help us out."

8888888

This wasn't going to work. Clint wouldn't even look at them.

Steve eyes grew sad when he finally saw Clint, sitting in the same place Tony had left him.

Tony was actually mad at Steve. Which wasn't fair and the feeling was probably closer to envious, but Tony was sticking with anger. They had given Steve the basic rundown about Clint, but he hadn't read the file yet and Clint was wearing his shirt; so he didn't know, not really. Hell, none of them really knew, but Steve was at least clueless enough that when he spoke to Clint he didn't have to pretend as much to act normally.

Steve told him what happened to Thor and Clint blinked, his eyes shifting a little, but he continued to stare at nothing.

"We need to know where they took him, Clint."

Finally Clint eyes moved up to the group, and he took a moment to look at each of them in turn. Steve and then Natasha. He paused at Bruce his eyes growing intense, making the doctor shift uncomfortably. Instead of simply moving on, Clint's eyes looked down for a second before turning to Tony; making Bruce think he had won something, but what, he wasn't sure.

Tony suddenly wished they had waited for Coulson to finish up with Fury before they came here. One more person to go through before Clint went back to staring at the reactor. Tony briefly closed his eyes and shook his head, Clint wasn't going to talk while Tony was here. This was part of his punishment. It felt like the reactor was pushing on his lungs. "I'm going to go."

"What?" Steve asked.

"I've got other things I can use to try to find the jet, so I'm just going to-"

"I thought you said that you didn't-"

He went for flippant. "I'm a genius, Cap, I'm always coming up with new ideas, it's why I'm also a billionaire. So, if you need me I'll be in my lab," he finished and made a quick exit down the hall before anyone else could object.

As soon as Tony was out of earshot Clint spoke up, "So you lost Thor. I don't see how that's my problem."

Steve looked at Clint, surprised, then back to Tony as the elevator door closed. His face showed realization before it hardened as he turned back to Clint.

"It was your bullet that shot him."

"Wasn't mine," Clint denied, "It was on loan." Clint smiled and Steve felt his throat constrict. "I guess they wanted it back."

Steve took a deep breath and turned to the others, "Will you give us a moment?"

Bruce nodded and left, followed by Natasha after some hesitation.

Steve turned back to Clint, standing firm, "We need to know where Thor is, Clint."

"Why?" Clint demanded, "Are you actually going to go get him? The others aren't here now Rogers, you don't have to pretend that you care anymore. Go tell them you tried your best but I won't talk; they'll believe you."

"Pretend that I care? Is that what they told you?" Steve could feel his anger grow, "That we didn't care enough to come for you?"

"Well you didn't. That kind of speaks for itself."

"No, you're right, Clint, we didn't come for you. We didn't even look. Because we thought you were dead. You have to know that I would never willing leave you behind," Steve insisted, then was surprised when Clint's whole body flinched away from him at his words. He went on, "I know that doesn't change what happened. I know that it must been unbearable to-"

"Stop!" Clint snarled, "Don't even...How would you even know how I feel, Captain America? When have you ever been abandoned? Left behind and forgotten? Seventy years and they were still looking for you! Did you even go back for your pal Bucky?"

Steve tensed.

"Or did you just shed a tear and move on? Just another nobody you failed."

Steve consciously loosened each of his fingers before he spoke, carefully, "Bucky was my brother. He was never a 'nobody' to me. But I did fail him. And as unknowable as the situation was, we failed you, Clint. As your team, we should have had your back and we didn't. Because no matter what happened, what was done or said, you are still a member of this team."

Clint swallowed, looking passed Steve, at the wall, "That's easy to say, when you need something from me."

"You never stopped being an Avenger, Clint."

Clint's eyes turned to Steve, daring, "So you didn't replace me?"

"No."

"Captain America, lying."

"Do you mean the snipers we were forced to work with?" Steve snapped back. "Who didn't have half your talent, or versatility? Who couldn't really watch our backs like you always did; we had to constantly watch them, because they didn't know how to work with such a varied team in open combat." Steve took a breath. "I'm not trying to compare experiences, but this year has been hell without you here."

Clint held his gaze a moment longer, then looked away. "Get out of here Rogers," a beat, "I don't know where Thor is."

"What about where you were? They may have taken him-"

"I don't know!" Clint yelled, "I don't know anything you want to know, and anything I do know, I'm not going to tell you!"

"Clint…"

Clint dropped his head into his hands and groaned, "Go save your teammate, Rogers."

Steve didn't move, "I'm trying to save both of them."

Clint didn't respond to him after that; just shook his head and turned around to lay down facing the far wall, ignoring Steve until he finally turned left.

How were they going to fix this?

The elevator opened to Natasha, standing with her arms crossed.

Steve sighed and walked in, "So?"

"So, Coulson's gone back to SHIELD to help organize the search. Tony's locked himself in his lab, working on the problem." At Steve's look she continued, "That's all I can get out of JARVIS, Tony is 'working on the problem'. So, all of them?"

Steve shook his head, "Clint wouldn't talk to him. Do you think he said anything when Tony went to see him before?"

"No," Natasha said, with her usual bluntness.

Steve let out a frustrated huff, leaning against the elevator wall.

Natasha turned to him, lifting an eyebrow, "You're not expecting a hug are you?"

Steve laughed, rubbing a hand over his face. "No," he returned her look, "unless that was your way of asking for one. Then I've always got hugs to spare," he said, slightly raising his arms, it felt good to smile.

Natasha quirked a smile as the doors opened and she walked out.

He lowered his arms, "Alright." He paused, letting her move far enough away before asking, "JARVIS?"

Yes, Captain?

"I know this goes without saying, but could you keep a close eye on Tony? Let us know if he needs… anything, anything at all?"

I will do my best, Captain, but Sir has become quite adept at preventing me from calling for, what he terms 'unwanted help'.

"Your best is all I'm asking for. JARVIS. Thank you."

Always, Captain.

Steve just hoped Tony would let the team help him this time. For months after Clint's 'death' he had pulled away, only beginning to allow them close again when Bruce and the Hulk had come under heavy mediafire. Now, Clint's silence toward him seemed to be setting him back again.

Clint.

'How would you even know how I feel, Captain America? When have you ever been abandoned?... Did you even go back for your pal Bucky?'

'I already spoke to Clint about this plenty of times.'

Whoever was behind all of this was wise to choose Clint. After the business with Loki and the Tesseract the entire team had come to him, individually, to help him passed it. They had opened themselves more to him than anyone else on the team. And now he was using the closeness they had shared against them.

Steve couldn't help but wonder again, how were they going to fix this?