Chapter 5: This Party Blows (Up)

"Spending the whole night at a party with Tony is gonna be hella awkward after yesterday, I hope you realize that," said Clint.

"Hey, I tried to salvage a little of your dignity," Pietro said. "But you had to go and drop the pillow..."

It was the day of the Halloween party and they were adding the finishing touches to their costumes before heading out to meet Tony and Natasha.

"Yeah, well, if you hadn't dropped the key..."

Pietro rolled his eyes.

"I didn't drop it, I just don't know where it went," he said. "You ready?"

"Yup, hang on."

Clint finished tying his boot, then they went out to the living room to meet up with the others.

"Well, looks like I'm gonna be spending the night with the silly hat brigade," said Natasha.

"I'm Sherlock Holmes, I'm supposed to be wearing a silly hat!" Tony said defensively. "And Barton's Robin Hood, see? He's supposed to wear a stupid hat too. That costume choice was a bit obvious for you, though, don't you think?"

"Hey, if things go south, I've got my bow and arrows expertly disguised as a prop," said Clint. "You won't be complaining when I save your ass."

"Whatever," said Tony. "So the only stupid hat here that has yet to be explained is Maximoff's. Exactly why does the feather have to be that huge?"

"I'm D'Artagnan. You know, from The Three Musketeers," said Pietro.

"Lemme guess, the sword's real too?"

"As a matter of fact-"

"Shut up before you embarrass yourself, you got it at Party City," said Clint.

Pietro scowled and smacked him with his cape.

"What about you, Natasha, who are you supposed to be?" he asked.

"I'm... well, I'm Ariel from The Little Mermaid," said Natasha, sounding slightly embarrassed. "Human version obviously..."

"Oooh, yeah, I see it now," said Clint. "What's wrong, Nat.? You look great!"

"Well, you guys are all dressed as literary legends and I'm just a Disney princess..." Natasha said.

"So?" said Pietro. "Ariel's pretty awesome. I don't see anything 'just' about it."

"Besides, you're a legend every other day of the year," Tony added. "You deserve to be a princess for a night."

Natasha smiled. It was a sort of shy little grin, so unlike her that Pietro was rather taken aback.

"Thanks, guys," she said.

Clint grinned and held out an arm for each of them to take.

"Anything for my princess," he said.

Pietro and Natasha each took one of Clint's arms and Tony groaned.

"Oh Christ, what is this? I'm, what... fourth wheeling here?" he complained. "This is what my life has become. This is pathetic. I need Pepper."

"Why do you need me?"

Pepper, Steve, and Wanda had just walked into the room.

"Can I sneak you into the party? These three are making me feel lonely," said Tony.

"Aww, isn't he cute?" Pietro teased.

"I will not hesitate to shove that flimsy plastic sword up your ass."

"Rude."

"Sorry, honey, but you're on your own," said Pepper, giving Tony a quick kiss.

Tony sighed dramatically.

"You guys have fun at the party," said Steve, obviously trying not to laugh.

"And be careful," Wanda added.

"We always are," said Pietro.

"No you're not," Wanda and Pepper said simultaneously.

"Whatever."

"Let's get going," said Tony. "Barton, you get shotgun. I don't want you three having a make-out session in my backseat."

They pulled up in the resort parking lot and got out of the car, readjusting their costumes before walking up to the front doors. They went inside and stepped up to the front desk, where a young woman was checking people into the guestbook.

"Name, please?"

"Tony Stark. I had four tickets, these are my guests."

"And their names are?" the woman asked.

"Natasha Romanoff, Clint Barton, and Pietro Maximoff. Oh, sorry, that's with two 'f's, not a 'v'," Tony said, watching her write down their names.

"Thank you, sir," the woman said. "You can head on in."

They left the lobby and started down the hall, following the signs to the ballroom.

"Stormfields is already here," Tony said quietly. "Saw her name a few above ours on the list."

"Good," said Natasha. "Now we just have to remember to act casual when we run into her."

"I'm guessing that's directed at me," Pietro said.

"Both of you," Natasha replied, nodding to Clint as well. "You're the only two she actually knows."

"Didn't you say you spilled tequila all over her at the club?" Tony said.

"Yeah, but she didn't know who I was."

They reached the ballroom and stepped inside. The party was already in full swing, dozens of people milling about, chatting and drinking, a few couples dancing to an eery lilting waltz in the middle of the room.

"Time to start mingling," Tony said.

"Oh God, I hate mingling..." said Clint. "Oh look, a bar."

"Want me to get you a drink?" Pietro offered with a knowing smirk.

"Thanks, babe, that would be great."

"What do you want?"

"Jack and Coke. Double shot."

"Anything for you, Nat?" Pietro asked.

"Gin and tonic, please," said Natasha.

"Okay. Stark?"

"Relax, kid, you've only got two hands," said Tony. "I'll come with. You two go mingle, we'll catch up."

They parted ways, Clint and Natasha heading out into the crowd while Pietro and Tony went over to the bar.

"What can I get for you gentlemen?" the bartender said.

"Gin and tonic, double shot Jack and Coke, whiskey on the rocks, and whatever he wants," Tony said.

"Vodka martini, please," said Pietro.

The bartender nodded and went off to make their drinks. Pietro reached into his pocket for his wallet but Tony stopped him.

"No no, tonight's on me," he said.

"Stark..."

"No, I'm not listening to any protestations," said Tony. "This is my treat."

Pietro rolled his eyes, but smiled.

"Thanks," he said.

"You're welcome. See, that wasn't so hard."

"Hey, you were being nice a moment ago, don't ruin it."

Just then, the bartender returned with their drinks. Tony paid and they scooped up the glasses and went to find Clint and Natasha. They eventually found them on a sofa in the corner, kissing.

"That doesn't look like mingling to me," said Tony.

They broke apart, blushing, and took their drinks.

"I leave you alone for five minutes..." Pietro teased.

"Oh, like you'd be any better," said Natasha.

"Soooo, aren't we supposed to be looking for our friendly neighborhood bomber?" Clint said, sipping his drink.

"No need. She found us," said Natasha.

Pietro turned and saw Leah approaching, wearing a slinky black gown.

"Here we go..." he muttered as she came to a stop in front of them.

"Well well well, look who didn't blow up," she said, glaring at Pietro and Clint.

"Yeah, we're stubborn like that," said Clint.

"I won't ask how you survived," Leah said. "Though I won't deny I'm surprised you managed it, considering how easy it was to take you down."

"Yes, we know all about how useless you think we are," said Pietro. "Just get to the point. You came over here for a reason, and I know it wasn't because you enjoy our company. So what do you want?"

"I want you four to leave," said Leah.

"Sorry, sweetheart, but I paid good money for these tickets," said Tony. "We're not going anywhere."

"Oh boohoo, you're Tony Stark. Getting into this party was probably like spending two dollars for any normal person."

"We're not leaving," said Pietro.

Leah sighed irritably.

"You really want to go through this again, kid?" she said. "Because I will blow you up again."

"You and what bomb?" Pietro challenged.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Leah said with a smirk.

Then she turned and vanished into the crowd. Pietro watched her go, then turned back to the others.

"So, there's definitely a bomb," said Natasha. "Question is, where?"

"And how soon is it rigged to blow?" Clint added.

"I'll scan the premises," said Tony, taking out his phone.

"Do you think we should start an evacuation?" Pietro asked.

"Not yet," Natasha replied. "We should definitely be prepared to at a moment's notice, but let's make sure we know what we're dealing with first."

Pietro nodded, though he couldn't help feeling anxious. Quite frankly, he was sick of bombs and would really like to stop being stuck in the same building as them.

"Well, there's definitely a bomb," said Tony, not looking up from his phone. "I haven't located it yet, but there's some pretty clear readings..."

"Any idea when it might go off?" Clint asked.

"No, but I'd be willing to bet it's set for sometime tonight. All these rich, important people hanging out in the same hotel... it's a little obvious."

"Okay, Tony, you keep scanning for the location," said Natasha. "Clint, Pietro... time to evacuate."

She hiked up her skirts and climbed up onto a table, then clinked a spoon against the side of her glass to get everyone's attention. The room went quiet surprisingly fast.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I'm afraid I have a rather unpleasant announcement to make," she said. "My name is Natasha Romanoff, though you might know me better as the Black Widow. My friends and I are part of the Avengers Initiative, and we're here tonight on an important mission. Unfortunately, things have progressed much quicker than we had hoped and, for your safety, I'm going to have to ask all of you to vacate the premises and get as far away from the building as possible. Hopefully we'll be able to get the situation in hand quickly and efficiently and the party will be able to continue as normal. Now if you would, please calmly file out into the parking lot. Thank you for your cooperation."

She turned and hopped down from the table and the room slowly began to empty, a quiet buzz of conversation floating from the crowd.

"That was amazing," said Pietro, thoroughly impressed.

"That was nothing," Natasha said. "We've still got a bomb to deactivate, remember?"

"Any luck finding it, Stark?" Clint asked.

"No, but I did find a jet just chilling in the woods out back," said Tony.

"A jet?"

"Yes, a jet, but we'll deal with that later... oh shit."

"What is it?" Pietro asked.

"Well, I managed to hack into the bomb's software-"

"That's possible?"

"Shut up, yes it is," said Tony. "Anyway, it's set to go off in three minutes. And I still don't know where the damn thing is. Or things, I should say."

"There's more than one!?" Clint said.

"Well, it's a big hotel..."

"Hang on, if you can hack into it, can't you just turn it off like that?" Pietro asked.

"It doesn't work like that," Tony said. "You've got to have the right codes, which I don't, so we've got to shut them down manually."

"Okay, everyone split up," said Natasha. "If you don't find anything in two minutes, get the hell out."

They all hurried off in opposite directions. Pietro knew he'd be able to cover more ground than any of the others, but it was still a very big hotel and stairs did tend to slow him down a little. By the time the two minutes were up, he'd found nothing. Frustrated, he ran out to the parking lot where the rest of the party guests waited, muttering anxiously to each other. Pietro was the first of them out, but a few seconds later, Tony arrived.

"I have a feeling Natasha's dress is slowing her down," he panted, taking off his hat and running his hand through his hair.

Pietro frowned, watching the front door of the hotel and glancing nervously at the time. Just then, Natasha showed up next to them, having apparently come out through another exit.

"Nothing?" Tony asked her.

"No... Clint's not back yet?" Natasha said.

"No he's not, and it's getting really really close to being three minutes," said Pietro, starting to pace.

"He's probably on his way right now," said Tony.

Pietro looked back down at his watch and bit his lip.

"Fuck this, I'm not standing around here waiting for him to die," he said.

"Pietro, wait!" Natasha said.

She grabbed Pietro's arm to hold him back. He pulled his arm away and turned to run back inside, just as the explosion went off. Panic tore through him like a knife and he bolted forward before Natasha or Tony could stop him. Inside the hotel was like an inferno; there was fire and smoke everywhere, debris crashing down around him, but he ignored it all. He had to find Clint. He ran through the wreckage, calling Clint's name, hoping desperately that he was still alive. He found himself back in the ballroom and skidded to a halt, something metal catching his eye. He bent down and found a single black arrow, the fletching slightly singed, but still achingly familiar.

"Clint..."

He was too late. This was all that was left. Pietro swallowed back the tears that threatened to overwhelm him. He couldn't break down, not yet. The hotel was still coming down around him and if he stayed much longer, he'd be crushed. He stood back up and took a deep breath, the arrow still clutched in his hand, then ran back out to the parking lot. Natasha and Tony were waiting for him, both looking distressed.

"You idiot, don't just go running into exploding buildings like that!" Tony scolded.

"Where's Clint?" Natasha asked.

"I wasn't fast enough," said Pietro quietly.

He held out the arrow to her. Natasha stared at it a moment before taking it, eyes wide in disbelief. Pietro sank down onto the curb, buried his face in his hands to muffle his sobs. He felt a gentle, comforting hand on his shoulder and looked up to find Tony sitting on the curb beside him.

"I'm sorry," Tony said.

"He's not dead," said Natasha suddenly.

"What do you mean, he's not dead?" Pietro asked.

"Well, he didn't die in the explosion at least," Natasha continued.

"How is he not dead?"

"This isn't a regular arrow," said Natasha.

"Are any of them?" Tony said.

"This is a message arrow. You can record messages and... shoot them to people, I guess," Natasha explained. "I never really saw the practical use of them before, but... Clint left this for us to find."

"Play the message," said Pietro, scrambling to his feet.

Natasha pressed a little button on the side and Clint's voice began to play from the arrow.

"Hey guys, I hope this thing doesn't blow up before you can hear it. Anyway, you know that jet Stark mentioned? It's Stormfields'. And I'm stowing away on it. Hopefully I'll find some shit out while I'm here. So you'll probably need to save my ass if she doesn't kill me first. Nat, Pietro, I love you. Stark... please don't let Pietro do anything too idiotic. See you all soon. I hope."

The message ended and Pietro laughed giddily in spite of himself.

"He's alive," he said. "Oh my god, he's alive. And oh my god, he's an idiot, a huge fucking idiot. How can he even tell me not to do anything stupid when he's just gone and done that?"

"We need to get back to the Tower," said Natasha. "Clint's smart, but there's only so long he can hide before Stormfields finds him. We need to alert the rest of the team."