"Not until you explain what's going on!" Thor shouted back at Clint, refusing to move from the doorway.
"We don't know for sure! All we know, is Natasha is in trouble. She just called from my cell and told us to go down. There's something in the building. I think. It's…" Clint groaned in frustration, running a hand through his hair and resting it on the back of his neck. He was sweating. "Complicated."
"So, Nat," Bruce glanced between Thor and Clint. "She's in the basement?"
"I think so, yes. She just said 'go down. Keep going down and don't stop' and we'll find her." Clint responded quickly before glaring at Thor, his tone dropping. "So move, before I make you move." Thor continued to glare at Clint for a few moments before turning sharply to let him pass. Rushing past, Clint glanced at Tasha's phone. 4:40. They had wasted at least five minutes.
"Still don't really understand what the hell is going on," Tony said quietly to Bruce, "but if birdbrain says she's in the basement, I guess we're going to the basement."
"Do we even know what sort of 'trouble' Natasha is in? This 'something' in the building?" Thor asked Tony and Bruce as he followed close behind the pair.
"Well," Bruce furrowed his eyebrows, trying to remember details from the video he and Tony had watched. "It's got a really deep voice. And kinda sounded like it had-"
"-Claws. Real sharp claws." Tony grimaced, finishing for Bruce. "But other than that? Not a clue."
Taking the stairs two at a time, Clint didn't even bother to check if the others were still following behind him. Skidding to a stop as he reached the second floor, Clint stared at the stairs in front of him. The lights downstairs were still all off. Why hadn't Tony or Bruce asked about the lights when they met up with him and Thor? Clint furrowed his brow and glanced behind him.
"Hey, Bruce, Tony, did you—" he stopped short, realizing Bruce, Tony and Thor were nowhere to be seen.
"Wonderful," Clint heard a scoff from the stairs behind him and spun around, eyes wide. "Just what I was hoping for." Squinting, he saw someone turn and start up the stairs. Clint jumped back, his back hitting the wall behind him, almost dropping Tasha's phone again. "Two…" Within seconds, Steve was standing in front of him, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Clint? Why are we stopping?"
"Where were you?!" Clint gasped quietly. Steve just looked more confused.
"What are you talking about? I've been right next to you this entire time…" He put his hand on Clint's shoulder to steer him towards the stairs going up to the third floor. "Come on, we still have to get to Nat." Clint blinked at the stairs he had gone down only moments earlier, finding them now completely darkened.
"What the hell is going on?" he muttered softly to himself before shaking his head and moving back towards where he was going down. "No, Steve, she's not up there. We have to go down."
"Down? We were just down! And how do you suddenly know where she is?" Steve crossed his arms.
"I was just up there! In her apartment. I lost my phone, found Tasha's… I had Thor, Tony and Bruce with me and we couldn't find her. Then Tasha called me from my phone and told us to go down. So now, we're going down."
"Clint," Steve stared at him, his tone careful and level. "You've been here with me the entire time."
"No, I swear to Christ, I was up there with—"
"Then where are they?"
"What?"
"Where are they, Clint? Where's Thor, Bruce and Tony?"
"They," Clint exhaled sharply and ran a hand through his hair quickly again. "Fuck, I don't know, they were right behind me."
"Clint…"
"Here, look, I've even got Tasha's phone to prove it!" he showed Steve the phone in his hand.
"Clint." He glanced at the phone and his heart almost stopped. "That's your phone. Natasha's is black."