Even for The Black Widow, sneaking in to The Capitol was a stupid idea. She devised other ways to spy on The Winter Soldier's leads. The first challenge was to get their addresses. Easy enough. She asked Fury for a secret meet. He asked her why she was investigating these people in particular. Not why she was investigating democratically elected American Representatives. He knew her too well for that. She answered that they'd got hints from 'stolen HYDRA hardware' and left it at that. He didn't press her. He didn't have the authority any more.

Twenty-four hours later, he came through with the goods: all four Washington addresses.

Then she and Clint got to work. One by one, they scoped out and bugged, buildings and vehicles. They wire-tapped, set listening devices in lights and doorframes, found internet network names and followed cables. The best play had been Edgar Munn's laptop. He'd left it unattended and open to answer a door at his home. With the window open wide enough for a spider to get in, and out, while Edgar complained that his dinner order was wrong and argued with the poor delivery driver on the doorstep.

Unfortunately, all that had revealed was that Edgar Munn probably wasn't HYDRA, more likely a blackmail target. For a person who'd voted against gay rights for his whole career, he'd downloaded quite a lot of Brokeback Mountain fanfiction.

Time would tell, and unfortunately Senator Cheney had gone quiet.

,

Natasha found herself explaining all this to the other Avengers at training on a Tuesday morning.

"So one ruled out, three not out?" Rhodes asked. "What do you do if you find one?"

"That's the question." Clint said. "We can't just turn them in anymore because we're not federal agents right now. We need to get someone to investigate them, haven't quite got to how yet."

"The files we got from the raid in Maryland mention a Senator who's theirs: Mistletoe. But only ever as Mistletoe. Not even gender pronouns as a hint."

"Is this what you do all day?" Barnes asked.

Natasha shrugged. "I go dancing two nights a week."

"Seriously? People still do that?" Barnes asked.

"It's probably a little different now." Natasha replied. "I do Adults Advanced with NYC Ballet on Sundays, and Artistic Pole on Tuesdays."

"Bit different." Stark said. "Purely for professional reasons or..?"

"At first. I couldn't fight the way I do if I hadn't been brought up on ballet, pole is a different way of using the same skills." She checked the magazine on her pistol. "And sometimes it gets me in the door. And hey, everyone needs a hobby. I highly recommend evening classes."

Bucky snorted. "Like what?"

"Rogers does art at a community college." Clint said.

Barnes gave Rogers a look.

Rogers shrugged. "I forgot to sign on this term, I was busy."

"Sir," Jarvis said. "we're receiving through Stark Industries main switchboard a call from a police department in Puebla, Mexico, suggesting that they have an emergency situation developing."

"Do you think they're genuine?" Stark asked.

"At this, point, Sir, I'm inclined to assume so, the call was made from a police station."

"How else do you get through to the Avengers these days?" Rhodes asked.

"Okay, mark training postponed." Rogers said. "We go look at this seriously, decide whether we go to it, or stay here and shoot things down."

,

Jarvis knew Tony well enough to have pulled up a terrain map by the time they got up there.

"Okay, Jarvis, connect the call." Tony said.

"Yes, Sir."

"This is The Avengers, what do you have?"

"Thank you. Thank you, Sir. We have monsters."

"Okay, can you be more specific? What kind and where?"

"Big monsters. Big monsters with big teeth. We shoot them, they keep running. Two policemen are dead, I ordered the rest to run away."

"That was smart. Any images you can wire us?"

"Yes. One."

"Good, Jarvis, get on that. And where?"

"Atoyac River. Between Tzicatlacoyan and San Antonio Juarez."

"How far currently from civilian populations?" Rogers asked.

"Two or three kilometres."

"They on the move?"

"Not now."

"Any idea where they came from?"

"Our first call was to an explosion in the river valley, we can't get close."

"Sir, we've received the image."

Tony tapped where he wanted Jarvis to put it.

"What the hell is that?" Katniss asked.

"A big monster with big teeth." Tony said.

"It looks chitauri." Cap said. Tony didn't disagree. Judging by the car next to it, and the thing that looked like a body at its feet, it was probably twelve feet tall, twelve feet long. It looked like a chitauri, a kangaroo, and an allosaurus had had a drunken threesome. And, yes, it did have big teeth.

"And you said bullets don't touch it."

"Not so far."

"We don't need anyone's approval." Clint said. He didn't say 'yet', but Tony heard it. "I say we go in."

"If they're bullet proof and that size," Widow said. "I'm not confident I'll do much to them."

"But they came from somewhere." Cap said. "We all go, ideally you," he looked at Bruce. "If you're willing. The faster we drop these things the better."

"There are civilian populations nearby." Bruce said.

"Exactly." Tony said. "We've got to get them down before they see humans, the big guy'll keep them busy."

"Okay, we're coming. We'll be with you in…" Cap looked at Tony.

Tony shrugged. "Two hours? Two and a half?"

"Steve?" Barnes asked.

Steve drew a breath. "No. This will get photographed, then we're in trouble. Stay here."

"Jarvis," Tony said, as soon as he was out of earshot of everyone else. "Keep two locked doors between him and any other person in here until we get back."

.

"Eyes on." Barton said. "I see them."

"Make the flyover." Rogers said. "Stark, Rhodes, you're with Banner, keep your distance until we know what they might be capable of. How many do you see?"

"Three? Four?"

"They're licking the cop car." Romanoff said, as though to herself. "Okay, jump in ten, nine," Banner started taking his shirt off. He was already barefoot. "eight, seven, six, five," The back of the plane opened. They were low enough that the pressure wasn't bad. The wind was. Romanoff held up her hand to finish the count.

Stark didn't give Banner the option not to jump.

He pushed him, and fell out himself in the process.

Rhodes jumped.

The back closed.

"Get us down!" Rogers shouted. "Quick as you can safely. Sam, you're getting Barton in to range. Romanoff and I are looking for handlers."

As soon as they were on the ground, Romanoff got coms going.

"Chanel open. Iron Man and War Machine, report. Over."

"Yeah, I'm sitting this one out." That was Stark. "They're so heavy that the repulsors don't bother them so much, their hide is difficult to penetrate with lasers or projectiles, the Hulk has got this one."

"What's he doing? Over." Rogers asked.

"Grabbing them by the head and pulling really hard. He's chasing the last one due North."

"Copy. Change of plan. Falcon, get altitude, watch the Hulk. Barton, you're with me and Romanoff. Iron Man, War Machine, spiral out, check for others."

.

Tracking Chitauri-Kangaroo-Dinosaur hybrids really wasn't hard. They found a blown out bunker on the side of the river valley, the tracks came from there. There wasn't much left to identify the base by. Chunks of rock were scattered thirty yards in every direction, what electrics they could see were crushed beyond recognition. They got twenty feet in to the crater before an earth shuddering thud and a roar came from behind them. Hulk.

Then Nat did something Clint would not have thought to do. She greeted The Hulk calmly, walked straight past him and down to the water's edge. He followed her on all fours, like a stray dog smelling food. Clint made himself let go of the arrow. It wasn't like he'd be able to stop The Hulk anyway.

Nat had crouched down on a chunk of rock which was sticking out of the river and started playing with the water between her hands. The Hulk crouched on the bank and copied her. Clumsily, but that was clearly what he was trying to do.

"Let's keep our distance." Cap had said quietly. "If she can keep him here, we don't risk losing him in the woods."

"And we just wait?"

"Yeah. He always comes down eventually."

It took nearly an hour. Cap and Stark went off to talk to the police and explain what they'd found – who knew Stark spoke Spanish? Clint just sat quietly, a couple of hundred yards out, and watched The Black Widow and The Hulk playing quietly with the water. Eventually, Nat stood up and jumped back to the bank. The Hulk didn't baulk. She said something, she was too far away and facing the wrong way for Clint to lip read and reached to put a hand on The Hulk's arm. He moved, so his hand was under hers.

Clint had never seen it go this way before. The Hulk snorted like a startled deer, pulled back, staggered, shrunk, then was suddenly Banner. Nat caught him, took him by the hand and led him, stumbling, back towards the jet.

"Should I call you The Black Lion Tamer?" He signed at her. She just gave him a look.