"Shit," Clint whispered to himself, quickly moving to look down the stairwell. "Steve! Steve!" he whispered harshly into the darkness. Silence. He'd have to go back for Steve once he found Tasha. Taking a deep breath, he turned around and walked slowly to the door again. Stopping abruptly, he literally smacked himself in the forehead for being so stupid this entire time. Digging in his pocket, he got out his phone and turned on the flashlight. "Get it together, Barton."

Hesitantly, he opened the door again, this time shining his light through the opening. As far as he could tell, the hallway looked completely normal- save for the power being off. Taking one last glance behind him, he walked through the door, closing it as quietly as possible behind him. He couldn't remember which hall to take to get to Tasha's apartment, so he took a few steps forwards and shined the light on the nearest door to read what it said. 'Custodial Supplies. Well. Damn. Isn't that just the most useful fucking thing.' he thought bitterly to himself, walking further down the hall to another door. The plate had been actually ripped from the door.

"Oh, for fucks sake," he accidentally said out loud and immediately froze. The hallway took on an eerie silence as he stood, holding his breath.

"Clint Barton," a low voice came from all around him, echoing in his ears, causing him to shudder. Quickly shining the flashlight around, he looked around the still-empty hall.

"Who are you?" he challenged, eyebrows furrowed. "Where are you?" Clint jumped slightly as he heard the sudden sound of nails dragging slowly across a wall.

"I'm going to kill you, Clint Barton…" the voice sounded again. "Just as I disposed of that little brat, Natalia…" Clint sucked in his breath and glared, still trying to find where the voice was coming from.

"Where is she?!" he yelled, tightening his grip on his phone. "What have you done to her?!" The voice chuckled slowly. "Answer me!" Clint demanded as he spun around to see a creature standing right in front of him, towering over him. It had several arms of varying lengths sticking out at odd angles from both its sides and back. Each of the hands were bony and far too long, the skin on its fingers appearing as though it had been worn away, leaving only the sight of decaying bone. Each one of its ribs were clearly defined under its skin, its legs long and deformed. Its face was almost translucent, stretched too tightly, showing every detail of its deformed skull. Its eyes were three times the size of any normal human's and pure black. A crooked grin was plastered on its face, its teeth sharp and pointed, completely covered in blood.

Clint let out a yelp and jumped backwards, dropping his phone on the ground, the flashlight facing down. The creature only chuckled more at Clint's reaction.

"Your time is up, Clint Barton…" it hissed as it licked its lips with a long, forked, black tongue. Clint immediately kicked it back as he took down the hallway away from it, squinting in the darkness, trying to read the names on the doors. "You think you can run?" the creature asked, almost sounding amused.

"Yup!" Clint yelled back over his shoulder as he rounded a corner, starting to remember where he was in relation to Tasha's apartment. The creature merely chuckled darkly again. Quickly skidding to a halt in front of a door, Clint reached up and felt the letter that was on the door. 7B. He'd found her. He sighed shortly in relief and tried the doorknob.

Locked.

Groaning, he glanced down the hall the way he came, expecting to hear the creature- or at least see a faint outline of it- but there was nothing. Quickly he knocked loudly on the door.

"Natasha? Tasha! Can you hear me?" he yelled through the wood before putting his ear against the door, trying to hear. "Shit. Alright, Tash, if you can hear me, I'm about to break open the door! Okay?!" He paused. Still nothing. Glancing down the hall again, he let out a squeak as he saw a large shape at the end of the hall slowly moving towards him.

"Cliiiiintttt…" the creature teased as it came closer. Without another moment's hesitation, Clint took a step back and kicked the door hard, causing it to fly open. Sprinting inside, he quickly slammed the door behind him, praying he didn't break the lock.

"Tasha?" he called into the dark apartment. "Please, Natasha, answer me! Where are you?" He flinched as the creature dragged several pairs of fingers slowly down the door.

"You can't hide from me, Clint Barton…" its voice still echoed in his ears, even through the shut door.

"Fuck off," he yelled back at it before jogging more into the apartment, trying to find Tasha through the darkness. "C'mon, Tasha… Tasha?" The front doorknob slowly began to move as the creature made to open it. Spinning around, Clint watched the door, his jaw clenched. After a few seconds the handle went still. Locked. Clint sighed in relief. "Oh, thank god." Quickly making his way through the apartment, he found the bathroom Tasha had been texting him from before.

"Nat?" his voice was quieter as he poked his head through the door. There was a wet towel on the floor, the shower door still wide open. Tasha, however, was nowhere to be seen. "Where are you?" Clint asked frustratedly as he made his way back and towards the living room and kitchen. Quickly looking under tables and counters, over couches and chairs he glanced at the closed bedroom door.

Thud.

Clint jumped and looked back over at where the front door was. The creature was trying to bust it down. He didn't have a lot of time left to find her. If she wasn't in the bedroom, he'd had to keep looking elsewhere. She had to still be in the building, and he would search all damn night if he had to.

Thud.

Jogging over to the door he tried the handle, but it was locked.

Thud.

"God damn it, Tasha, you better be in here," licking his lips he took a few steps back and ran at the door, ramming into it hard with his shoulder, the door frame breaking as it opened. "Tasha..?" he said quickly, walking through the doorway.

Thud.

The front door cracked loudly and went silent.

Reviews:

SH Ships Sherlock- (Chapter 4) Ahh, the keys in the freezer. Mmm. Possibly. Maybe. Actually, I might turn that into a one-shot fic of its own. I do like the idea. (Chapter 5) Isn't it just the worst thing? Where you don't want a happy ending (how cliche) but don't want anyone to die?! Agh.

Devony- (Chapter 4) Do you still think Tony's pulling a prank?

FanGirl- (Chapter 4) HAH this was literally one of my favorite recent reviews oh my god. Alright, alright, here's your update! I hope it lived up to expectations!

La Madone- (Chapter 4) Oh my god I KNOW I would have already been dead, too, don't worry.

Callionope- (Chapter 4) Alright, THIS REVIEW was my ALL TIME favorite! Because I love love love love Tony and Bruce and love writing them and really hoped it was okay 'cause it's my favorite thing and just. Thank youuuuu ahhhhhh 3

Azaisya- Well, yes, terrifying the masses was in fact my intention! So thank you!

Broken Infinity- Yeaaaah, sorry about that, darlin'. It's kind of a bad habit of mine- leaving things in cliffhangers? Yeah... Heheh.

SmileMore- Thank you so much! I'm glad that you were actually looking forwards to it! :)

RoxasGuyXIII- Yeah, both the update was really short... That's why I had two chapters. I just kinda had to establish what was going on with Tony/Bruce/blah blah blah.

Rennier- Nahh, Steve was with him past foor floor! They were counting back 'n forth, remember?

Devony- (Insert River Song gif here) Spoilers! ;)