Clint stared at the phone in his hand, turning it over in his hands quickly.
"No. No," he repeated. "That's not possible. I dropped my phone upstairs! In the hallway on the 7th floor…" he turned the screen on and looked at the time. 4:08 am. Stumbling backwards slightly, Clint leaned heavily on the wall behind him, not taking his eyes off the time. "No." he repeated again, numbly.
"What isn't possible?" Steve asked, starting to get worried. "Clint, are you feeling okay? Maybe you should go wait in the car…?" Clint just shook his head, turning the screen on his phone off and back on again. 4:08 am.
"No. I…" he trailed off, hearing noises coming from upstairs and immediately looked up the stairwell.
"-All I'm saying is, if we knew what it was Clint saw-"
"-He just said it was 'complicated'-"
"-That isn't exactly-"
"Stark! Banner!" Clint took off up the stairs and almost ran straight into Tony again as he rounded the corner.
"Woahhh, there, Barton. Wanna watch where you're going?" Tony quickly stepped back up a few steps and stopped, Bruce a few steps behind him, Thor taking up the rear.
"Oh, thank god I'm not crazy," Clint sighed in relief, running his fingers through his hair before freezing. "Steve?"
No answer.
"Wait, we found Steve?" Bruce asked quickly, passing Tony on the stairs.
"Steve!" Clint tried again and jogged back down the stairs. Steve stood frozen at the door leading into the hallway, his back turned to Clint and his hand gripping the handle. Clint suddenly felt uneasy as he slowly walked towards Steve. "…Steve? Where are you going..?" Bruce walked onto the landing and peeked over Clint's shoulder.
"Steve?" Within seconds, Tony and Thor were behind Clint and Bruce, all of their eyes on Steve.
"Oh, uh… I, heh," Steve slowly turned to face them, a nervous grin plastered over his face. "I was gonna look for... For Natasha this way…"
"Why?" Bruce asked as he took a step forwards next to Clint. "You know her apartment is five floors up."
"And anyway, we have to go down to the basement," Tony chimed in, moving out from behind Clint's other side.
"Well I- she- She could be anywhere, really," Steve forced a chuckle, his hand still firmly on the door handle.
"You're acting weird as hell, Rogers," Tony crossed his arms, one eyebrow cocked. "What's goin' on?"
"What aren't you telling us?" Clint demanded, crossing his own arms. Thor glanced back up the stairs and then at Steve, tall enough to see him clearly over Tony, Clint and Bruce's heads. Steve merely shook his head.
"You guys can look wherever you want. But I'm going this way," he insisted and was immediately through the door, slamming it behind him.
"Damn it, what the hell?!" Clint charged forwards. "Steve!" he yelled as he swung open the door, only to stop in his tracks. Running down the hallway with its back to the boys was the creature from upstairs. The only difference now being the blond hair and skin that was peeling away from it and dropping to the floor in chunks. Scattered among the skin and hair were Steve's shoes, clothes and phone; all covered in blood. The four of them stood completely motionless in the doorway as they watched the creature round the corner out of sight.
"What," Bruce finally managed after a few moments of silence.
"The fuck," Tony added immediately.
"Was that?" Bruce finished almost numbly. Tony's jaw was hanging open slightly as he continued to stare at where the creature had disappeared to.
"'Complicated'," Clint repeated from earlier. "Make a little more sense now?" his voice was slightly high.
"Uh huh!" Bruce squeaked out before slowly exhaling and backing away from the doorway, wringing his wrists nervously.
"We should go find Natasha," Thor suggested, finally taking his eyes off the clothes and skin on the floor.
"Yep!" Clint practically slammed the door shut again and took down the stairs again.