A/N: Hey guys! I'm so so so sorry that this chapter is so late! Kristyn and I have both been extremely busy with life and finals! Thankfully, the semester is over now, so I'm hoping I'll be able to get more chapters out to you guys! Anyway, here's the next bit! It picks up right where the last chapter left off!
Disclaimer: I do not own the Avengers!
Chapter 13
"Hey, do you guys think we're going to find anything?" Bucky asks curiously.
"I hope so," Tony responds. "Otherwise this is a huge waste of my time."
"Do you think your . . . talking house can help us out?" Bucky inquires.
"Technically, he's artificial intelligence that I created to make my life easier. So, yes," Tony responds. "JARVIS?"
"Preforming a real time scan of the area as we speak," the AI answers.
While JARVIS works, the three men continue to walk through the wooded area. The entire forest is silent aside from the sounds of their footsteps, and the creaking of Tony's armor. A crow cawing in the distance breaks the silence, followed by the fluttering of wings. The men find a dirt path that appears to lead further into the forest. Even though they all silently doubt that they'll find the grail along a dirt path, they decide to follow it anyway.
Various windows pop in Tony's field of vision, showing inconclusive results. "Am I the only one getting a weird vibe?" he asks cautiously.
"From this place? Oh yeah," Bucky agrees, looking around with distaste.
"No, that's not what I meant," Tony answers as he comes to a halt. "Although, this place is fucking creepy."
Steve pauses in his stride and turns to look at the other man. "Are you okay, Tones?"
Tony shrugs before realizing that Steve can't see the motion. "Yeah, I'm . . ." he begins before cutting himself off. He brunet sighs, already regretting the lie he didn't get the chance to tell. He can't lie to Steve, not to his face anyway. "No, I'm not okay."
"What's wrong? Are you feeling all right? Do you need to go back to the Quinjet?" Steve asks, concerned as he steps closer to Tony.
"What? No, Steve, I feel fine physically, I promise," Tony reassures. "I just—I can't get rid of this uncomfortable feeling."
Steve furrows his brow. "Is it Bucky? I can make him go away."
"No, no, it's not him."
The Captain pauses. "Is it the trial?"
"It's the entire concept of the trials," Tony says in a relieved tone. He lifts his faceplate revealing his troubled expression. "Something doesn't sit right with me, and it's not just the ancient magic." He scoffs. "I'm probably just being paranoid again."
"Hey, no, honey," Steve says gently before placing a hand on Tony's armored shoulder. "Don't dismiss your concerns as paranoia—we can't help the way we feel! Back in the war, I used to tell the boys that, "your gut is always right. Never doubt it."
The corner of Tony's mouth quirks upward. He feels guilty for bothering Steve with his emotions and distracting him from the mission, yet he's relieved for finally being able to tell someone how uncomfortable and suspicious these trials make him. "Well, my gut is telling me that we shouldn't have gotten involved with these trials in the first place, even though we're trying to stop Skull. I just—I just feel like there's some horrible catch."
"Like when you try to enter an online sweepstakes, only to have your computer infected, crash, and not turn on?" Steve suggests.
Tony nods. "Yeah, exac—wait, what did you do?"
"We can talk about that later. What's important is that you're opening up," Steve smiles. "I'm proud of you."
The billionaire gives Steve a suspicious look. "Uh-huh. You're not off the hook, Rogers," he responds in a light-hearted tone.
"Oh, I think I'll find a way," Steve answers with a flirty smile, which Tony returns.
The sound of rustling bushes appears from the right before Bucky's figure emerges. "Hey, Twilight, can we get a move on here?" he asks, not fazed by the pairs offended glares.
"You know what Twilight is?" Tony questions.
"Dennis told me about the book, and I told Steve," Bucky responds. He opens his mouth to continue speaking when he's interrupted by a sneeze. He sniffles and Steve rolls his eyes. "I have allergies, Stevie. There's nothing to be allergic to in New York."
Steve shrugs. "Okay."
"Alright, boys, let's save this argument for another day," Tony announces, trying to keep the peace.
"Fine," Bucky responds while Steve shrugs. "So . . . what're talking about?"
"The trials, and how suspicious they are," Tony answers in vague terms.
"Oh, you guys think so too," Bucky says. "Personally, I believe that when we hit the last trial, shit's gonna get even rougher."
"You think?" Tony questions.
Bucky shrugs. "That's what happens in the movies!"
Iron Man rolls his eyes. "This isn't the movies, Bucky; it's real life."
Bucky snorts. "Doesn't matter. We both know that shit happens whether it's reality or fantasy. Hey, back me up Ste—" he cuts himself off as a puzzled look crosses his features.
Tony follows Bucky's gaze to his left and notices that Steve is no longer standing next to him. A confused look falls over his features. "Honey?" he questions in a concerned tone.
"I'm over here," Steve calls from a distance away. "I think I found something."
Tony and Bucky exchange a curious glance before walking in the direction that Steve's voice came from. They find the Captain moments later in a small clearing, kneeling in front of a large rock.
"What are you doing all the way over here?" Tony asks as he moves to stand next to Steve's right.
The blond looks up at Tony and answers, "I heard a rustling noise and when I went to investigate, I saw something glinting in the dirt." He gestures to the glistening patch that's barely peeking out from underneath the dirt.
"You think it could be the grail?" Tony asks.
Steve shrugs. "I could be. I have a good feeling about this."
"Well dig it up, old man!" Bucky exclaims.
An offended look crosses Steve's features as he turns to look at his friend standing on his left. "You're older than me so, you have no right."
"Oh, who cares, we're both old! Now dig!" Bucky responds with impatient enthusiasm.
Steve rolls his eyes, and begins pushing away the dirt with his hands. A minute later, the object is uncovered, and Bucky bursts into laughter.
"A watch—it's a fucking watch," he exclaims. "Oh, look at me, I'm Steven Rogers and I'm the watch whisperer. I'm fucking done!"
Steve huffs and brushes the dirt off the watch, revealing the golden strap, golden face, and diamond incrusted numbers.
Tony raises an eyebrow and gently takes the watch from Steve. He carefully turns the watch over and inspects it. "Dude this is a Rolex . . . and one that is in damn good condition too."
"What?"
"I want it!"
Steve scoffs. "Well, you can't have it—you laughed at me." The blond takes the watch back from Tony and secures it around his left wrist before giving Bucky a triumphant look.
The brunet gives his best pouty face.
"That face won't work on me, Barnes. I am the one who taught you how to do it." Steve stands from his kneeling position, and glances between Bucky and Tony. "Now, let's keep moving. This forest isn't going to comb itself," he says before walking back towards the original path.
Bucky scowls.
Tony places a comforting hand on Bucky's shoulder. "Failure happens to the best of us," he says before closing his faceplate. He walks in the same direction that Steve went, listening to the sound of Bucky reluctantly following.
The three men have been searching the forest for over an hour and have little results to show. JARVIS has been scanning continuously and has only found expensive jewelry that Bucky claims he is going to pawn when they get back to The States.
The billionaire sighs and turns to Bucky. "Find anything?"
"Just this gold wedding ring," Bucky responds absently before blowing the dirt and dust off the piece of jewelry. "How much do you think I can get for this?"
"Not much. There's a huge crack in the side," Steve answers.
Bucky furrows his brow and inspects the ring before finding the crack in question. The brunet huffs and tosses the ring aside, hearing it land in the dirt some distance away. He wipes his hands off and stands before stretching.
"Any luck with JARVIS?" Steve asks curiously.
"He's found nothing aside from the jewelry," Tony responds in an exhausted tone.
"Where should we search now, O Captain, my Captain?" Bucky asks.
Steve frowns and says, "We should probably split up for a while. We'll be able to cover more ground that way."
"Sweet, I'm going to look over there," Bucky says pointing to the left.
"Don't go too far. We have to stay in range of the comms," Steve warns.
Bucky sighs and rolls his eyes dramatically. "Okay mom," he says in a mocking tone before walking up the path to begin his own search.
Tony snorts. "Does that make me dad?" he says with a smirk that no one can see.
"Honey, don't encourage him," Steve responds, watching as Bucky tries to stealthily approach a squirrel only for the animal to become startled and flee in fear.
Tony watches Bucky huff before returning to the pair, defeated. "Aw, but babe, look at how miserable he is."
The blond rolls his eyes in faux irritation. "You two are terrible together. I'm going to look over there," he says before walking away.
"Kay, let us know if you find any more watches," Bucky responds.
The Captain turns his head and glares at his friend. "I'm going to hurt you."
Bucky snorts at Steve's idle threat. "Ohhh, I'm so afraid of the great Captain America. Whatever will I do when he unleashes his wrath," he teases with a smile.
Tony shakes his head before turning away from the other men and walking away to begin his individual hunt for the chalice.
Bucky groans in frustration from a place on Tony's left and the brunet can't help but echo his torment. The three Avengers have been searching through the dense forest for almost two hours with no luck in finding the grail. The billionaire sighs to himself, wondering if their efforts are for nothing. Steve was right—the damn grail probably doesn't exist and the Avengers are just wasting their time.
A deep sigh comes from Tony's right, signaling that Steve isn't having any luck either. He hears the brush rustling until he sees Cap appear out of the corner of his vision. The brunet turns his body to face the other man, who comes to a stop in front of him.
"Anything?" Steve asks in a hopeful tone.
"Zero," Tony sighs. "I'm starting to think that we're being mocked."
"Sounds like conspiracy to me," Steve jokes.
Tony snorts. "A Shield conspiracy? Actually, I wouldn't put it past Fury to actually arrange something like that."
Steve chuckles. He opens his mouth to respond, and is cut off by a joyous cry of, "OH MY GOD, I FUCKING FOUND IT!" The blond and brunet exchange a hopeful glance before making their way in the direction of the screams.
The two Avengers find the source of the noise a few minutes later. Bucky's crouching on the ground and staring wide eyed at the chalice in his hand, which is made of a shiny, gold material with alternating blue and red gems placed around the mouth. The brunet tears his gaze from the cup and grins at the two men standing in front of him. "I fucking found it," he whispers in disbelief.
"JARVIS," Tony says.
"Scanning," the A.I. responds.
Barely a minute later, the results come in and Tony rolls his eyes from behind his faceplate. "That's not the grail, Bucky; it's just a fancy cup."
Bucky scoffs and glares at the offending object before casually tossing it behind him. He smiles in satisfaction when the cup shatters against the tree. He rises from his crouching position and walks away from the two men.
Tony turns to Steve and says, "Should we follow him?"
The Captain thinks for a moment. "Nah, it's best to let him get is frustration out now. Otherwise, he'll be even more of a terror later on."
"Hm, understandable. Rhodey's the exact same way," Tony responds. He looks around the area before pointing in the opposite direction that Bucky went. "You wanna check over there?"
Steve shrugs. "Sure," he says before leading the way through the brush.
Another hour passes before it's time to head back to the clearing. Since they went in opposite directions, it takes Steve and Tony forty-five minutes to find Bucky and another fifteen to convince him to give up the search. Due to these delays, they return to the Quinjet almost an hour and a half later than the original meeting time. In the clearing, they find the other four Avengers sitting against a fallen log near the jet waiting patiently for them—well, everyone except Clint.
"It took you long enough," the archer greets impatiently from his perch on top of the log.
Bucky shrugs. "We got lost because someone doesn't know how to navigate."
Steve scoffs. "Speak for yourself."
"So, did you guys find anything?" Tony asks as he lifts up the faceplate.
Clint snorts. "Of course not. Bruce, how about you?"
"Nothing," Bruce responds. "It's almost as if the grail doesn't want to be found."
"In my travels, I have heard legends of objects that only reveal themselves to those who are worthy," Thor speaks.
"I guess none of us are going to find it then," Clint complains.
Natasha shakes her head in disappointment.
"Sir, I have completed the scan of Shield's servers. Would you like to see the results now?"
"Please." Tony's faceplate flips downward and the suit comes back online. Several windows immediately pop up in the genius's field of vision. He quickly scans the words, his brow furrowing with each new detail.
"Everything okay, Ton," Steve asks concerned. Even when the brunet's face is covered, he can still tell when something is amiss.
"Yes and no. JARVIS just finished the scan of the Shield database," Tony announces.
"And?" Clint asks eagerly as he hops off the log.
"It turns out whoever hacked the system came from some town in the Middle of the Midwest—ha, say that five times fast— called Holdrege," Tony informs the team.
"Wait, Holdrege? As in Holdrege, Nebraska?" Steve says with a surprised tone.
"Yeah. Why, what's up?" Tony asks, concerned.
"When I was invading the Hydra Headquarters during the war, I saw a map that showed the Hydra bases located around the world. Holdrege stuck out because I have a cousin who lives there."
"You mean to tell me that this town in the middle of the fucking United States that no one has ever heard of is linked to one of the most powerful and villainous organizations in the world?" Clint asks, trying to clarify the information just given.
"Pretty much," Steve responds.
"Oh shit, we're doomed," Clint says before Natasha hits him in the arm.
"We're not doomed, you fool," she says in a scathing tone before turning to Steve. "Right Cap?"
"Right . . ." Cap responds. "We'll just have to be—"
"Captain, something is rapidly approaching our position!" Thor warns in a worried tone, looking at something in the distance.
The other Avengers follow the man's gaze and see a large, military type missile rapidly descending towards them.
"Holy fuck!" Clint exclaims taking a few steps backwards.
"Not again," Tony remarks in disbelief, staring at the missile with widened eyes.
"Shit! Watch out!" Cap yells.
Thor rushes to Clint's side, grabbing the archer around the waist before swinging his hammer and taking to the air. Bruce transforms into the Hulk and sprints from the area grabbing Steve and Bucky on his way.
Tony shakes his head, trying to clear his mind of all thoughts and starts up his jet boots. He flies low to the ground before grasping Natasha's outstretched hand and raising them both into the sky.
The missile strikes down on the clearing destroying the Quinjet and causing a massive explosion. The shockwave pushes Tony off balance, which causes Natasha to be ripped from his grip, and sent plummeting towards the earth.
The billionaire quickly regains his balance and kicks his boosters into hard drive, speeding towards the female assassin, who's trying to get her flailing limbs into a position that will cause her less damage. When Tony finally reaches her, he grabs the woman tightly around her waist and flies away from the explosion.
Natasha wounds her arms around Tony's neck, feeling the cold metal seep through her clothing. She stares at the massive destruction behind them, with a look of complete horror.
Tony lands a few miles away from the original clearing and sets Natasha on her feet, watching as the woman immediately leans on a nearby oak tree for support. Tony lifts his faceplate, feeling his heart hurting at the sight of the normally collected assassin showing absolute fear on her face. The billionaire's mind is whirling with words that wish to be spoken, but forces himself to remain silent to give both Natasha and himself time to recover.
Moments later, Natasha takes a deep breath and schools her features, returning to her usual collected look. She pushes herself from the tree and stands directly in front of Tony. "I am indebted to you," she says quietly.
Tony gives her a small smile, hearing the unspoken "thank you" in her voice. "You're an avenger," he says simply. The genius has come to care about Natasha, just as he cares about the rest of the team, and he doesn't want to see any harm come to her despite their uneasy past. Tony's hoping that she was able to get that from his tone, and based on her grateful look, she does.
". . . Can . . . hear me?" a voice says over the comms.
Natasha immediately places her right hand to her ear and says, "This is Black Widow. I'm with Iron Man. Who is this? I can barely hear you."
"It's . . . with Th— . . . hello?"
"It sounds like Clint. He's trying to reach us, but I can't hear him," Natasha says. "Can you try?"
Tony places two fingers against his helmet and taps it three times. "Hawkeye or anyone, can you hear me?" His words are met with silence. "Shit." He closes the faceplate and the suit comes online again. "JARVIS, scan the area for the other Avengers."
"Scanning . . ." the AI is silent for a few moments before saying, "There are two heat signatures located four miles west of your location, and three heat signatures located twelve miles south- east of your location."
"Thanks JAR," Tony says. To Natasha, he announces, "Thor and Hawkeye aren't too far from our current location. Cap, Bucky, and Hulk appear to be in the city of Winchester itself."
Natasha nods her head, listening to the sounds of jets scrambling overhead, most likely meaning that the United Kingdom military may be making an appearance. "Then, we better get going."
Iron Man and Black Widow quickly leave the area and fly to the location west of their position to find Thor and Clint. Widow spots Thor first, seeing the God laying on the ground with a trail of raised dirt behind him showing that he previously slid on the terrain before coming to a stop. She doesn't see Clint in the immediate area.
Tony sets Natasha on the ground and searches for Clint before finding the archer clinging to a large pine tree with a shocked look on his face. After speaking with Clint for a few moments, Tony talks him out the tree and carries him to the ground where they see Natasha kneeling next to Thor and trying to wake the other man. The two men quickly join her and look down at their fallen comrade.
"He's breathing, but he won't wake up. I've tried everything," Natasha says. Her face and voice is calm, but her eyes are shouting her worry for the other man.
The brunet thinks for a moment before punching Thor in the gut, watching the man startle awake, and launch into a sitting position. Thor looks around with wild eyes, disconnected with reality.
"Whoa! Thor! Hey, buddy, it's us," Tony says what he's hoping is a calming tone.
Thor quickly turns his head and glances over Tony's form before slowly coming back to himself. He then looks at both Clint and Natasha before allowing himself to relax. "My friends, are you injured?"
"Widow and I are both okay, but what happened to you?" Tony asks, concerned.
"The explosion knocked us out of the sky and sent us hurtling towards the ground. Thor tossed me into the trees and took the brunt of the fall himself," Clint explains with a grateful look on his face. "Thank you."
"It is my pleasure," Thor responds. He slowly rises to his feet and holds out his right arm. Seconds later, Mjolnir appears in all her glory and flies into Thor's hand. The blond tightens his grip on the hammer and lowers his arm to his side.
Clint rises to his feet as well. "Where are the others?"
"They're in Winchester. Hulk must have taken them there," Tony answers as he and Natasha rise to their feet.
"Shall we join them?" Thor inquires.
"Of course. Comms are down though, so we'll have to find them the old fashioned way," Tony responds.
"With JARVIS?" Clint asks.
"Always," Tony says with a smirk. Natasha walks over to him and he lifts her into his arms. "Keep an eye on our six?" he asks, watching as Thor easily supports Clint's weight with one arm.
"On it," Widow responds, tightening her grip around Tony's neck.
The billionaire looks to Thor. The two exchange a nod before taking to the sky and heading for Winchester.
A/N: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Hopefully, another will be on the way soon!