HI!

REVIEWERS!

Niom Lamboise; Don't jump the gun :P You guys seem determined to do that with this story :P All will be shown in this chapter! :) Glad you're enjoying it! :)

Guest; WHY YOU HAVE NO NAME, GUEST!? I WANNA ASSUME ALEUSTARK BUT I DON'T KNOW IF IT IS YOU OR NOT!
Ok, enough caps :P If I guessed wrong, I'm sorry guest! Everything's always alright! Unless something major happens and I'm in a bad mood and decide to kill them all off, things usually have hapy endings :P I'm glad you liked it! :) And thank you for your concern! I'm home and all now thankfully! Had a nice holiday in Tallaght Hospital :P Now I know why I always have Clint wanting to escape them in my stories!

Xin0Lan; Thank you for your review! I'm glad you're enjoying it :) Clint is definitely my favourite aswell, though the mean-ness I show him in my stories may not sound like it! I just love writing him and people seem to love seeing him hurt! :P Stark is a favourite of mine to write too, now not really this nice touchy feeling Stark, this is really odd for him, but I like writing billionaire obnoxious ass Stark! But, thank you for the compliment :)

Enjoy! :)

Disclaimer! *Walks away* Nope.

"So it'll be able to shock them enough, is what I'm saying."

He knew Clint couldn't hear him. But there was usually some loud rock music playing while he worked, or he'd be talking with Jarvis, so it just made sense for Tony to talk to Barton.

He hadn't looked back at the guy. He had no idea what kind of time window he was working with here, so he stayed by his chair and tried his best to turn the three little gadgets into some kind of weapon to help them out. If he could build the first Iron Man suit with nothing but scraps in a cave, he could do anything with the latest tech that was held in these devices. He just needed to distribute whatever amount of current he could muster from the little batteries inside them, that way he could shock to the guys long enough to get out and get help.

'Should work.' He signed behind him quickly, but frowned when he got no reply. Clint never really signed back, only with Natasha because she was just as fluent in ASL as he was. He always tried talk back, slurred as it always was, incase he uses some signs that are too advanced for the basics that the group learned for him.

That made Tony turn to look at the archer, and his eyes went wide at what greeted him. Clint was unconscious. He failed at keeping him awake, probably at keeping him alive!

"No no no Robin Hood.." He whispered quickly, dropping his work to rush over to Clint. He was so pale, and barely moving. Tony couldn't even notice a rise and fall of his chest, which just brought on more panic.

Carefully, slowly, almost like if Clint was touched he'd just fall apart; Tony held his fingers to his neck to feel for a pulse. A sigh of relief soon left the billionaires lips. Weak, but there. It was there, Barton was still there.

"Come on, man. Wakey wakey." Tony said calmly, though he then realised that Clint couldn't hear a thing.

Dammit, he just HAD to be deaf! Couldn't have been blind instead, no!?

So, he slapped his face gently. Then a little harder. He pulled his hair a bit, pinched his wrist, anything to try get a reaction .

But there was nothing.

And Tony was starting to fear the worst.

He had to get them out, like now. He had to get him some help.

His head snapped to the tent entrance when he heard the shutter being lifted, and he had to rush back to his seat so he wouldn't get caught out of place.

He grabbed the little devices he left on the chair and sat back down, his hands going behind his back like they had been previously. He could finish the little weapons off behind his back, he's done some stranger things in his time!

He waited, and watched, as their two captors strolled into the tent, a cup of coffee each in hand. Tony couldn't help but give a slight grin at the sight. That was usually how Natasha got Clint up in the morning. Let the smell of freshly made coffee woft into his room. It'd have him up in a nanosecond. Tony looked to the archer with an expectant face, almost hopeful that the same would happen now. But, sure, when did Tony ever get these things right!?

Not a movement. And he couldn't help but send a glare at the two men who were approaching.

"He still asleep?" Swordsman asked with a tut, shaking his head as if he were disappointed. He looked to Trickshot then with a pout. Tony really couldn't figure these two guys out. "Were you tough on him?"

"Not as bad as usual." Trickshot shrugged. Tony felt like lunging at him when he went and roughly pulled an arrow from Clint's chest, a fresh stream of blood following. He spun it around his hand then, probably expecting the pain to wake the archer. "When I was painting the target on him though, I did notice he had a burn on his chest. All nicely wrapped up. Think he had a fight before our fun."

Stark looked down to the ground at that, his hands still fiddling with the aids behind him. Alright, that one was on him..

"They aren't looking after him. He'd be so much safer if he had of stayed here with us!" Swordsman said, casually sipping his coffee as he eyed Clint.

A scoff escaped Tony's lips before he could stop himself, and it finally got the two men to pay attention to him rather than Barton. Well, at least he got something he wanted!

"Something wrong, Mr. Stark?" Trickshot asked, an eyebrow raised as if what his friend said was perfectly acceptable.

"You don't know a thing about him." Tony replied casually, shrugging slightly like it were obvious.

"Well, I know someone hurt him." Trickshot said with a frown, heading over towards Tony.

That's it, you bastard.. Just need both of you a little close..

"Yeah, you two pricks." Tony grinned, both men actually got visibly angry at the comment. "More than you'll ever know."

"The kid needs punishments, Stark." Swordsman growled, coffee thrown on the ground so he could approach the billionaire with Trickshot. "He did wrong. He abandoned us when we needed him most. He sold us out to SHIELD. We can't let such a thing slide."

"You can. You just won't because you're cynical old men with nothing better to do with their lives other than ruin my friends one." Tony smirked, and the way they stepped closer told him he was about to get a bit of a battering.

It's fine, he needed it. He needed them THAT close to him, to have their guard down, so he could stab each of them in the chest with his little home made tasers.

So he very happily took Trickshots punch to the jaw.

He even started laughing at it. "Guess Clint didn't learn fighting from you.. His blows would usually knock me out!"

"You better watch your mouth, Stark." Trickshot growled, giving him another punch across the jaw before grabbing the billionaire's collar and pulling him a little. He noticed Swordsman pull his favourite name sake weapon from it's hilt aswell. "Carry on like this and you won't be alive leaving here!"

"Threats? Really?" Stark asked with both eyebrows raised. He was answered by a sword being pressed against his throat. "You two are forgetting something.."

"Oh?" Swordsman asked with an amused grin, making the mistake of stepping even closer to the billionaire then. "And what's that?"

"He may have been and orphan, may have been with you guys for a while.. May have been your little play thing for a few years.." Tony started with a thoughtful hum, his lips set in a curious pout.

They weren't distracted, but they were close enough for his plan to work. So. he sprung into action.

As quickly as he could, he ripped his hands form behind his back and stabbed the modified hearing aids into the two men's chests, right where their hearts would be if the sick bastards actually had some.

The current that surged through them was weak, he knew that. It wouldn't kill them, wouldn't even knock them out. But, it was enough to make them spasm violently and go crumbling to the ground. He stood up and threw the aids ontop of their still convulsing bodies.

"But now? He's ours. He's an Avenger. And we don't stay down too easy."

He didn't have much time. He wished he had, if he had enough time he could break the chains confining Clint and be out with him in no time, off to safety. But they were already starting to recover, cursing under their breaths and threatening Stark some more.

He went right up to Clint first and foremost, leaning in as close as he could to the archer's ear in the hopes that the 20% hearing he had left was enough to let him hear Tony's words.

"I'll be back! I gotta get you help, but hang in there Barton! That's an order!"

Without another word, he ran. He ran from the tent as fast as he could, pushing himself through the crowd of circus goers who were no doubt having a better day than he was! He ran and ran, and ran some more. He ran out of the main entrance, off to the hill which separated the grounds and the town. It was far, by foot at least, but he had to make it to get help back to Barton.

He ran and ran and ran some more. He ignored the burning in his lungs, ignored how his head hurt from a concussion and no doubt dehydration. He ignored how his legs felt like jelly from sitting for so long. He ignored it because he needed to, he needed to get help as quickly as he could.

This is what Clint did..

All those years ago, he ran and ran and ran some more. He probably ignored arrow wounds, broken bones. He ignored years of abuse, emotional and physical. He ignored everything because he needed to, he needed to get help as quickly as he could. Both of them were doing the same thing. They were running to save Clint's life.

Clint's life..

Dammit, Clint's life..

He just doomed Clint's life..

Those guys were more than likely regaining themselves right now. They were probably pissed off, they were getting their strength back, and the 'genius' of the Avengers had left Clint all alone with them.

Why the hell didn't I kill them!?

Had he of killed them then and there while they were on the ground convulsing, then he could be freeing Clint right now and getting him the help he so desperately needs!

He stopped and turned halfway up the hill, panting heavily. He looked back over the circus with slightly wide eyes, his head slowly shaking from side to side.

What the hell do I do..?

He had two options; either run back, burst in, hope they hadn't had enough time to recover, and try rescue Clint alone. His other option was to keep going, get to the town, call for help, and try rescue Clint.

Both ended in death.

Both ended in Clint's death.

There was no chance he was saving him..

He had tried so hard to escape, but he just signed Clint's death warrant instead! Again!

He left the guy there, in his worst nightmare, alone!

How the hell could he do that!?

He let out a strangled breath and fell to his knees on the grassy patch, his hands going to cover his face as he tried think out a plan.

Battle plans, he could do. Him and Steve busted out some pretty amazing one's back in the day. Give him complex equations the worlds best mathematicians struggled with and he'd have them done and dusted in no time. Leave him with instructions to design an arc reactor to power a city and he'd have it designed, built, and running within a week.

But, ask him to choose which way one of his friends, one of his family, was to die..?

This was where Tony was at a loss.

This was where the genius failed to make his brain work.

Both ended with Clint's death, and he couldn't accept that.

He froze when he heard running. Someone was approaching him, and fast. But their legs should still be jelly right now, and he had a good bit of a head start on them.. They couldn't have caught up yet.

He didn't move his hands from his face, as if hiding behind them would suddenly make him invisible.

"Hey, hey look at me!"

That wasn't the voice he was expecting at all..

He moved his hands and looked to the owner with an eyebrow raised. Sure enough, Steve was running over to his position, in full Captain America gear, shield and all on his back.

Tony just stared the captain down as he kneeled infront of him, Steve's hands going to grip the billionaires shoulders as he scanned his face for anything.

"Talk to me, Stark." Rogers commanded, but Tony was just a little too lost for words. All he could do was gape at Rogers.

The hell did you come from..?

"Got Stark. Coming back to you now." Steve said to, well, himself. Tony guessed comms though, just later on when his mind was actually able to process what was going on. Steve was holding that 'This wasn't the mission at all, god damn it!' look to his face.

Steve's hands were lifting Tony up to his feet a second later, and then they were running again, to the opposite side of the hill they were on. When he got over it a little bit, one of SHIELD's jets came into view, and he looked to the Captain in shock.

"How long have you been here?" He asked quietly, he had to stay quiet because he was about to blow up at the guy if this answer was the wrong one.

Unfortunately, it was.

"Yesterday evening." Steve replied calmly, letting go of Stark, he guessed because he got over whatever shock he was in.

Tony stopped, his eyes wide as he started at the back of the Captains head. Steve had stopped to turn and look at him with an eyebrow raised.

"And you didn't think to, oh I don't know, come save our asses!?" Tony yelled, his arms being thrown in the air in exasperation.

The sound alerted the others obviously, because Natasha and Kate had come running from the jet to see what was happening.

"We couldn't rush in Tony." Steve said calmly, his hands up a little to show he wasn't a threat to the billionaire. But, right now, he was. "We needed to figure out where you two were and wait for civilians to leave.."

"What kind of fucked up plan was that!?" His voice was getting to an un-naturally high pitch right now. But if they had of rushed in when they got here instead of camping out like a bunch of tourists, then Clint wouldn't be shot up so badly right now and probably dead for all Stark knows!

"It was the proper one." Natasha said calmly, and Tony noticed an un-natural look of worry on her face. It was directed to him, not Clint. But he was entitled to have a bit of a meltdown.

"I just wanna say I wanted to rush in and kill everyone!" Kate piped up with a frown, her hand raised like she would in school to get a teachers attention. He liked this kid. Now he knew why Barton chose her!

"We told you, Kate. That would have killed them." Steve said through a sigh, pinching the top of his nose gently. Tony guessed this isn't how Rogers wanted this mission to go.

"He's already dead!" Tony yelled, his arm motioning down to the circus below the hill.

The three of them froze at those words, but Tony didn't care. They could have saved them hours ago and they didn't because it was 'Too risky'? He trusted Steve with his life most times, but sometimes his military plans sucked!

"What?" Natasha whispered in shock, being the first to recover from the outburst Tony showed.

"Did you bring my suit?" Tony said through gritted teeth, too pissed off now to explain that, alright, maybe the guy wasn't actually dead. But, in Tony's mind, he was as good as.

"Tony, what do you mean he's dead?" Steve asked sternly, stepping closer to the billionaire.

Stark was having none of it.

"Did you bring my suit?" He growled once more, squaring up to Steve a little. They had their arguments from time to time, mostly about this sort of stuff, how to lead a battle or rescue or anything really.

"Jarvis made sure we did." Kate pipped up, stepping a little closer to the two Avengers before an all out war broke out. "It's in the back of the jet."

"Thanks kid." Tony said quietly, shooting the archer a smile before patting her shoulder and running to the jet. Natasha was hot on his heels though.

"Report." She said sternly, though there was a waver in her voice. He cursed himself a little bit, realising he just said her boyfriend was dead without any further explanation or thought. If someone did that with him and Pepper, he'd be going insane right now.

So, he paused halfway through the jet, turning to give the spy a sad smile.

He did forget sometimes that she was nearly as human as Barton, just a little more evil.

"I don't know.." He whispered with a shake of his head, and the way her shoulders relaxed told him that it was enough to give her a little hope. "He was breathing when I left.. He's been shot full of arrows and is hanging seriously painfully from the ceiling of the main tent. I pissed them off, I fucked up Natasha.."

"You got out." She corrected, shaking her head a little as she checked her gun for bullets. She was no doubt about to follow him in to save her partner.

"I could have killed them.." He whispered with a frown, for the first time in a long time he actually felt himself close to tears at the thought. This was the first time he's ever had to deal with something like this, having to leave a comrade behind when he could have been saved. He didn't know how Strike Team Delta did it for so many years, with someone they love aswell. "They were down, the sword was there, but I.."

"You were too focused on getting him help." Natasha finished for him, her voice soft as she spoke. She shouldn't be the one comforting him, it should be the other way around, but he nodded in confirmation. "That's not a bad thing, Tony. That's what you should do, you should be thinking about nothing else but getting out to get your partner some help. I bet everything on the fact it's the exact same thing Clint was doing, thinking of nothing but getting you out."

His mouth fell open slightly at her words, and he was getting a little too sick of being shocked today! But, that was probably true.. Looking back on it, Clint did do alot of thinking when he was first captured, hell he got captured TO save Tony. That whole time, he knew he wouldn't get out of the shackles.. But he was still thinking of an escape plan. He was thinking of a way to get Tony out and that was all.

"It's just what we do." Romanoff smiled, and it was rare she'd use that on anyone but Barton. She pressed a button above her head and he turned to see the back wall of the jet opening up to reveal his suit, and damn was it a sight for sore eyes! "Suit up. We have an idiot to save."

He grinned and nodded, his suit opening right up for him as he approached. Slipping into it made him feel a million times better, and as the familiar sensor panel lit up, he knew everything would be ok.

"Welcome back, Sir." The familiar voice of Jarvis rang through his ears, and he was never as happy to hear his AI than at that moment in time.

"Hey J. We got an Avenger to save!"

"It would be an honour to, sir."

Stark grinned at the reply and followed Natasha out of the jet. He didn't care if the others came along or not, Natasha and himself could handle this no problem.

He may not be officially a SHIELD agent, may not be anything other than a guy with a suit.

But right now, as the two of them rushed down the hill towards the circus, he felt more a part of Strike Team; Delta than anyone else.

And man, that was a pretty great team to feel a part of!