Little Bird's Vengeance Chapter 5 Memories of Loss

"So, what happens with the kid?"

Tony sipped his whiskey. Usually Pepper insisted on waiting until after dinner before breaking out the booze, but Steve needed a drink after he, Tasha and Clint returned from the helicarrier. Of course, Steve didn't get drunk (although Thor had offered to get him some Asgardian mead to see if that could intoxicate him), but still got a little kick from spirits. And something was depressing him…

"We don't know." Steve took another draught of schnapps. "By the time we finished, there was no sign of him."

"He escaped?" Bruce Banner said. "Can't you check the security feed, see where he went?"

"The system got smashed," Clint told him, rifling through his quiver to pick out the arrows in need of repair- which happened to be most of them.

"Steve convinced Fury to let him out, but we lost the camera just as he entered the Main Tech Lab." Tasha clarified. "We found the tech guys unconscious and his equipment missing."

"How were these tech guys attacked?" Thor asked, swigging bourbon direct from the bottle. Why was Thor drinking bourbon? Tony shrugged inwardly and dismissed it. Probably liked the picture on the bottle or something.

"Some sort of dart," Steve said. "Tipped with sedative."

"You didn't tell us he had darts," Tony said accusingly. "You said he had a load of high-tech stuff. Darts, pretty low-tech."

"Well, remember we said Fury wanted you to come up and have a look at the gear?" Clint said. "That's because we couldn't get at any of it. We only managed to unlock a few of the storage compartments."

"Why did you wait so long before asking me anyway?"

"Tony, last time you were on the helicarrier, you hacked the computer," Steve reminded him. "Fury doesn't trust you."

"You went poking around in the cargo hold."

"I also have a reputation for following orders, in general."

"Apart from that time you went into the Italian base despite being told not to. And the whole poking-around-in-the-cargo-hold thing."

"I'm a soldier. I obey my commanding officer. Maybe not without question, but Fury respects that."

"You also have a way of getting on people's nerves," Bruce interjected. Tony turned to him, outraged, and Bruce continued. "I wanted to hear what happened to the kid, but you seem to want to talk about Fury not trusting you." He turned to Tasha. "You said that you last saw him going into the lab? Where could he have gone from there?"

"We searched thoroughly while looking for the drones," she said. "There was no sign of him anywhere."

"Then where?"

"The cell was dropped. If he was there at the time, he…" She looked down at her remaining half-shot of vodka. "He most likely didn't survive."

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The death of a child is always a tragedy. The death of this child was no less despite the lack of familiarity. He had been a fighter, a soldier, a warrior, and every warrior faced their enemies one final time. But to die in a conflict you should never have had a part in, against an enemy you had no reason to offend…

For Steve, it was like the reports he'd heard, of people conquered by the Nazi regime. For Tony, it was like the patrol that had been killed when he was captured. For Thor, it was like the people of the small town in New Mexico that was smashed when Loki sent the guardian. For Tasha, it was like the innocents she'd been hired to kill. For Bruce, it was like the people left homeless when he "broke" Harlem. For Clint, it was like the people he'd killed while in Loki's thrall. One death reminding them of many others.

It was a quiet evening in Avengers' Tower.

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Once again, they were sitting with drinks, waiting for the three members of their team still on SHIELD's good side to return. Eventually, the Quinjet descended, and landed in the hanger originally intended for a helicopter. No-one bothered to get up as Steve, Tasha and Clint entered and sat down.

"We didn't find him," Steve said. "We found the cell, but it was empty. No body."

"So, either the…body, got swept away, or he survived?" Bruce asked.

"There was a Hammer Tech drone on the sea floor," Tasha answered. "Part of the chest had been exploded. Fury ordered an analysis, but the shrapnel pattern doesn't seem to match anything we use."

"The kid did it? That's what you're thinking?" Tony jumped in.

"It's not that outlandish a proposal," she replied. "You didn't see him, talk to him. He could fight. He could take a lot thrown at him. He had survived adverse conditions before."

"You think he may still live?" Thor queried.

"I hope so," Steve replied. "I don't think we'll see him again, but until we have a body, I want to think so."

"You have great respect for this mortal child," Thor noted. "But you are still concerned for him?"

"He's a refugee," Steve explained. "He's got nowhere to go, no-one to turn to, a head full of secrets that mean nothing but he still has to guard, and a profession that can only get him killed. He needs help, and we're the only ones who can give it."

"Not sure how willing he'd be to admit it," Clint said. "He's definitely independent. He went into a three-day trance to avoid asking us for basic necessities, remember? He might accept help, but on his terms."

"Yeah, he's brave and strong-willed, but he's still just a boy," Steve responded.

"A boy who has, apparently, been risking his life fighting criminals for eight years," Tasha said. "The medical report confirmed scars about that old."

"He sounds like a warrior," Thor said. "It would have been a pleasure to meet him."

"Well, isn't there an Underworld on your World Tree?" Bruce asked. "You could always look there."

"You don't think he survived?" Pepper asked quietly.

"I…want him to have, but I just don't see how. He wasn't Thor, he didn't have a Big Guy to take care of him, his blood wasn't full of serum, he was just a normal human." He shrugged. "How could he survive?"

No-one countered him; he was speaking the truth. Red Robin had no hidden advantages. It would be a miracle if he'd survived.

"Sirs." They looked up at the voice of Jarvis. "An unidentified object is approaching from the air."

Steve, Tasha and Clint picked up their weapons. Thor pulled his hammer from his belt. Tony called out "Deploy"; his armour zoomed out and honed in on the locator bracelets. Bruce pulled Pepper back, restraining the beast within.

Five Avengers burst onto the balcony as a small, black-and-red form glided down and landed in a crouch. It straightened up, taking stock of the crowd he'd landed in front of. "Woah, guys, stand down. It's only me," said Red Robin.

AN: Did I scare you? Did you think I'd actually killed him? C'mon, I wouldn't do that...

Would I?

*insert smiley face*

I'd say sorry for making you wait so long, but I'm not really that sorry. I enjoyed getting back to Black and Red. To those of you who flicked over to look at it, which I presume is at least some of you lovely readers, I hope you enjoyed it. I am also working on a longer, continuing fic entitled Wayne's Boys (I have mentioned it before, I believe), which is currently split into Family Ties and Flashback. I would be thrilled if you read it; this week I'm starting a five-chapter miniseries in Flashback featuring our favourite aerialist. Also, I have a number of shorts and one-shots hanging around my page. I love getting feedback on anything I write, so don't feel shy about checking them out.

Yeah, er, please review, if you want to ask me a question, anything at all, drop a PM or ask in a review. Don't get shy, I don't bite. Except, you know, food.

See you next week.

Katara Harkness.