A/N: Just a quick warning, there's a slightly gory scene in this chapter close to the end, so be aware.

Laura sat crying on the couch and Clint paced anxiously back and forth. A spaceship. Someone with a freakin' spaceship had kidnapped his children. With an angry grunt, he punched the wall in the frustration.

"Clint," Laura said softly. He looked at her and his anger melted only to be replaced by guilt. He went and sat by her and they embraced each other.

"It'll be alright," she whispered. "We'll find them… somehow.

"Damn right we will," he muttered back. She pulled away and placed her hands on his shoulders.

"Clint. Look at me." He looked into his wife's steady gaze and she told him, "Don't think for even a moment that this is your fault."

"But-"

"Ah. No, this isn't your fault. You did everything you could to prevent this, so don't waste time feeling guilty when you need to be focused. Besides, none of us could have expected… that."

Hawkeye looked into Laura's eyes and nodded.

"Ok," he said. "I'll try."

They sat there and comforted each other until there was a knock on the door.

"About time," he muttered as he answered it. Natasha stood on the threshold.

"We'll find them," she said immediately. His lips quirked and he gestured for her to come in. She went immediately to Laura, gave her a hug, and told her the same thing.

"I told the team what's going on," she informed him, turning back around. "But I told them to just let me come for now."

"Except we didn't listen," Tony said, entering the room followed by the rest of the Avengers. Natasha glared at him.

"I told you guys to wait in the car."

"We were impatient. So what have we got to go on Barton?"

While mildly annoyed with Tony barging in, Hawkeye couldn't deny he was glad to have their help.

"Two intruders broke in through the second story window into the kids room. They exited that way as well and got away in their ship. As for where they're headed, your guess is as good as mine."

"Ship?" Steve asked. Clint nodded.

"It was a spaceship, I'm positive. And whoever I ended up tackling was not human." Thor perked up a bit.

"You made physical contact with them? We could get a residual sample and send it back to my homeworld to get an identification." They all looked at him, a bit shocked. Despite popular belief, Thor was not dumb.

"Right, yeah, that's a good start. Any ideas on how we could figure out where they're going?"

"Well I wouldn't trust any of the scientists at SHIELD right now," Natasha stated. She turned to Bruce. "You have any friends we could call?"

"I think the big guy's got us covered there too," he replied nodding to Thor, who was grinning from ear to ear.

"I'm sure my lady Jane would be happy to assist us in finding your children."

"Thank you Thor," Clint said sincerely.

"Do you have security tapes I could take a look at?" Tony asked.

"I'll show you where they are," Laura said and led Tony farther into the house.

"Thor and I will work on getting the DNA stuff sorted out. Steve, if you'd be willing to call up Jane. And Nat-"

"Bruce and I will get some tea going."

"Thanks."

Steve and Wanda settled in a corner of the room to try and contact Doctor Foster while Thor beckoned Clint to follow him outside.

"Why are we coming out here?" Clint asked as Thor continued across the front lawn.

"I do not have the tools necessary to take the sample we require. Therefore, it makes more sense to go there directly and get the results immediately as well."

"Wait, are you saying we're going-"

"To Asgard?" He grinned. "Oh yes!"

::::

"Looks like this one's finally coming to, Boss." Cooper groaned as he struggled to open his eyes.

"Cooper! Cooper, are you awake?" He finally managed to pry his eyes open and was greeted by his little sister peering over him nervously, holding Nathaniel in her lap.

"Hey Lila." She smiled brightly, but Cooper didn't miss the tear streaks that ran down her face. Suddenly, he heard loud boot-steps approaching.

"Well look who's returned to the land of the living." The man that towered above him was bright blue with piercing red eyes and a metal mohawk. "About damn time too. We were wondering if the tranq had been too strong for a Terran like you."

"Wh-who are you?" Cooper stammered, finally managing to sit up and take a look at his surroundings. He and his siblings were huddled in the corner of what looked like a storage room. Large crates and cages lined the walls and his gut twisted further when he realized that they were in a cage themselves. The man gave him a wolfish grin.

"Name's Yondu. I'd suggest you kids get some rest while you can. Got a while before we land at the next station and after that, your lives are gonna get a whole lot harder. Jerry," he said, addressing the dark green, bald man in the shadows behind him. "Give 'em some rations then get your sorry butt back on deck."

"Sure Boss."

"Wait!" Cooper called out after him. "Why are we here? Where are we?" But Yondu was already gone. The kids turned to Jerry.

"Ya wanna know why you're here?" He tossed a bag of freeze dried food in. "Too bad. Now hush up and don't cause trouble." He grinned, showing off his sharpened teeth. "Or something bad might happen." He stalked off, laughing.

Once Jerry was gone, Lila worriedly place her hand against Cooper's forehead.

"Are you okay? You were knocked out for a couple of hours."

"I'm fine. Just a little dizzy… and a lot confused. Are you two alright?" She nodded, but had tears in her eyes.

"Nathaniel hasn't cried at all yet, so that's good. But Cooper… I'm scared." The twelve year old pulled his sister into a hug.

"We'll be fine. Dad will find us, I promise."

"Really?" she asked.

"Knowing Dad, he won't stop til he does."

They didn't have a way to tell time and the dim lights of the cargo hold never shut off, but eventually the three of them managed to drift off to sleep. Lila was using Cooper's legs as a pillow and Cooper was leaning against the bars while holding Nathaniel. He grunted and shifted slightly, trying to find a more comfortable position. He finally gave up and just sat there, looking around.

There was really no point in trying to escape, not with a one year old and certainly not in space. But maybe he could figure out a way to try and contact his parents.

His train of thought stopped when he heard a door open and people coming down the hallway.

"I'm thinking the oldest. Collectors like the younguns and the girls."

"And you're sure Yondu won't mind?"

"Not as long as we share. And we don't have to eat the whole thing."

Cooper's blood ran cold. Eat?

He didn't know what to do and ended up sitting there paralyzed with indecision until the aliens came into view.

Jerry led the other three aliens over to their cage. Cooper finally made a decision and kicked Lila awake.

"Hm. Wha-" She gasped when she saw the crewmen. Cooper quickly handed Nathaniel off to her and stood protectively in front of them, even though his knees shook.

"Heh, well this sure makes things easier," Jerry said. He swiped some sort of card in front of the cage and the door popped open. Before Cooper could react, one of them grabbed his arm and tugged him out of the cage. He barely managed to keep his footing, but ended up running into the chest of a very large man with ridges decorating his face. Cooper quickly backed away only to run into another one; he was surrounded. Jerry smirked and suddenly caught Cooper's jaw in his hand, turning his head side to side.

"None of us have ever tasted Terran before. Last one we picked up joined the crew, but that won't be happening again."

"Get off me!" he grunted and wrenched his head free. The crewmen laughed/

"Hey!" Lila shouted, then threw her shoe at Jerry, managing to hit him in the head. "Leave him alone!" Jerry frowned and turned around.

"Little girl, you are in no position to make demands."

"If you don't let him go, I'll scream and then Nathaniel will scream, and he won't stop." Jerry glared at her then, quick as a whip, pulled out his gun and shot. Lila crumpled to the ground with a groan.

"Lila!" Cooper screamed. Nathaniel whimpered in confusion and Jerry raised the gun to him. "Don't shoot him!" Cooper cried, grabbing his arm and trying to wrestle the gun away.

"Oh hush up!" the guy said, shoving him to the ground. "It's only a tranq. Let's grab him and go," he told the others.

"No! No! Lila! Nat!" he yelled as they dragged him away kicking and was (understandably) terrified. He kicked and fought and punched, but to no avail. They dragged him into a smaller cargo hold and one of them pinned his arms behind his back.

"What now?" another one asked as Jerry shut the door behind them. Jerry grinned.

"Well I'd say dig in, but I'm sure the boss will want some left to sell." He looked Cooper up and down. "Left leg should be enough for all of us. Plus it'll be easier to hide with his pants."

"What the- no!" Cooper yelled, trying to struggle. With one quick motion, they pinned him to the ground and held him there; the twelve year old kid was simply no match.

That's not to say he didn't struggle. He fought as hard as he could, but to no avail and it wasn't long before he felt someone's fangs bite into his leg.

Cooper screamed. Long and hard before someone put their hand over his mouth. He redoubled his efforts to get away, to draw attention, to do something to get out of this situation.

And thankfully, someone heard.

"What in the Nine Realms is going on!" Yondu shouted, bursting in. The crewmen quickly let go and backed away from Cooper, as if it would help them avoid the blame. Finally free, Cooper did his best to hold back another howl as he curled in on himself, in pain. His leg felt like it was on fire and when he touched it his hand came back red with blood.

"Whose idea was this?" Yondu shouted, looking around at the now silent crew members. Someone shoved Jerry forward. He tried to move back, but it was too late. Yondu whistled, and Cooper didn't see what happened, but a moment later, Jerry was dead.

"The rest of you idjits are getting no shore leave when we dock! And two hundred credits off your next pay!" There were some angry mutters, but a warning whistle from Yondu shut them all up.

"Now get out of here."

They left quietly, one of them kicking Cooper as they went. A deep sigh and an angry swear and then Yondu was helping Cooper sit up.

"Let's get a bandage on that and get you back to your sister. Can you stand?" Cooper nervously shook his head yes, and with the blue captain's help, managed to stand. He helped him over to a crate where he sat down while the man went to go fetch some bandages. The boy was still sobbing quietly, permanently scarred by what had just happened. He rolled up his pajama bottom to get a look at his leg, then quickly looked away to avoid throwing up.

Yondu came back and quickly bandaged the wound, working efficiently, yet surprisingly gently. He licked some blood off his hand.

"Hm. Salty. Here, drink this," he said and handed him a small vial. "It'll help with the pain."

"Th-thanks," Cooper stuttered. He quietly drank it and passed the empty vial back to Yondu.

The captain helped him to stand again and led him back to the bigger storage room. He talked as they walked.

"I recall you wondering where you were and why you were here." He looked down at the boy, who nodded. "Well," he said, looking forward. "We were hired to grab you and your siblings and run. As for where you are, the simplest answer is "space.""

"Kinda figured that one out," Cooper replied in a whisper. Yondu laughed.

"Fair enough kid, fair enough." He unlocked the cage they had since arrived at. It appeared Lila had woken up and ended up falling back asleep with Nathaniel. "Now get back in there. Those fellas won't hurt you no more."

"Thanks. Uh, Yondu?" The captain turned back. "I, uh, heard the last hu-I mean Terran, you had on board joined the crew." Yondu grinned.

"That's right. Name was Peter. Great kid. Not a chance. Now shut your yap and go to sleep."

A/N: Alright, first chapter and I've already managed to traumatize a kid. Sorry if it got a bit grisly, but I hope you guys enjoyed it! Thank you for all of your lovely reviews! They mean the world! Next chapter should be mostly Clint on Asgard and a quick check in with the Barton chilluns. Thanks for reading and, if you can, leave a review.