Chapter 4.
The two former SHIELD agents were not present when the gang returned to the main room. This caused alarm.
"Jarvis, where are Clint and Natasha?" Tony asked, easily suppressing the concern in his voice.
"They left, sir." The AI replied casually.
Tony dropped his head, bringing a hand to his face. "No really," he muttered.
Steve took charge, "Jarvis, did they say where they were going?"
"I'm afraid not. However, they neglected to take the elevator."
"How long ago did they leave the main room?" Tony asked quickly. "Five minutes ago." He got in response.
"That means they couldn't have gone far," the Captain concluded, then looked to Tony, "How long does it take to get to ground floor from this level using the stairs?" Tony turned the question to his AI, "Jarvis?"
"10 minutes walking, but based on the agents' agility and speed, I've calculated 2 minutes.
JARVIS didn't even have to finish talking; the two, Steve and Tony, were already on their way down the flight of stairs, with Steve in the lead. Thor on the other hand, had decided to go back to the roof and fly down from the tower, which proved to be a faster method to get to the street. Only Bruce remained left alone in the living room.
On the street, Steve and Tony were met by a slightly angered Asgardian. "They are nowhere to be found," Thor said, troubled about the situation altogether. "I don't get it," Steve spoke up, "Where could they have gone in such short time?" Tony was busy playing with his phone. "A car," he said suddenly, "They got into black car and if I didn't know any better, and I know a lot, I'd say it was SHIELD." He stuffed the device back into his pants pocket.
"Let's head back up the tower and check the living room footage," Tony said, heading back inside. He glanced back and saw the questioning look on Steve's face. "There's a camera in every room except the bedrooms, security precautions." Tony shrugged.
"Do you always keep tabs on us?" Steve asked out of pure curiosity.
Tony laughed uneasily, raising a brow, "Bad habit?" He shook it off, changing the subject. "Until the ex-agents return we have no status on Clint and Natasha."
"Wonderful," Steve muttered sarcastically and pulled out his cell phone. He went into his contacts and pressed Natasha's name, then put the device up to his ear. Tony looked surprised. "You have her number? She gave you her number?" He said more than asked, bewildered, and gave a low whistle. Steve shot him a look, which either said shut up or grow-up. Tony shrugged. The phone kept ringing. Then the line went dead.
"She's not answering," Steve said finally, with a sigh as he put away his phone. Tony took this opportunity to bring up the call, "So when were you two BFF's?" Steve looked annoyed but it was Tony so he was use to it, "Since we worked together to bring down SHIELD, after we found out it was infested with Hydra."
"Wow, Steve, you make it sound like a disease." Tony laughed, "But no really, aren't I your BFF?" At this Steve laughed, walking ahead of Stark as they came to the last flight of stairs, leaving Tony in confusion. "That wasn't meant to be funny."
The Captain ignored the last remark, more concerned about the pressing matters at hand. "Can you phone Clint?" Steve asked, entering the living room. "Clint doesn't have a cell," Tony said.
"Bruce!" Thor boomed. He was already in the living room. "Where have you gone off to," he said shortly before catching sight of his two fellow comrades. "My friends, upon my return to here, I found no trace of Doctor Banner."
"You've got to be kidding me," Tony said in turn.
Bruce then entered the room.
"Bruce!" The three said simultaneously. The scientist stood at the door awkwardly, "Er- Did you find them?"
"No… " Tony began, "But don't worry, we'll question them if they decide to come back, speaking of coming back, where did you go while we were out?" Everyone stared at Banner in expectance.
"I… just went to the bathroom." He said, confused.
"What Dr. Banner says is true, sir." The AI confirmed.
Awkward silence followed.
"Okay," Steve said to break the silence, turning to Tony, "Let's go over that security footage you mentioned."
"Right," Tony said, "Jarvis, pull up 12:00 a.m. main room footage."
"Of course, sir." And soon enough blue-boarded projections were surrounding the team. "Here," Tony pointed out, directing their attention to the footage on Clint and Natasha. They were sitting on the coach together, then the rest of the team left the room, this was when they went upstairs to greet Thor. Alone, the agents got up instantaneously without a word to each other and headed in the direction of the stairs. There are no cameras in the stairs. And just like that they were gone. No calls, no texts, no words, just gone.
"At least they respect the partner system," Tony said to lighten up the mood.
AN: Dun dun dunnnn... I try. Anyway, thanks again for following and favoriting. :) We're closer to finding out who the traitor is, in like a few more chapters. Stick around!