:: I'm late updating. Sorry about that! ::

In the morning, the girl was gone.

This shouldn't have been a surprise, but Natasha found herself stinging with just how surprised she really was. She looked over the bedroom one last time, as though she would find clues as to where she went, before heading out into the hall. Steve and Barnes were arguing downstairs, or maybe just discussing something very animatedly. She listened to them absently as she went down the hall to Tony's room. His door was still closed, and now that she thought about it, she hadn't seen him come out last night after dinner, or even during the screaming episode. Could he be asleep? No, there was no way he could have slept through that. She tapped the doorknob with a fingernail, considering.

"Problem?"

Tony, wrapped in a fluffy white robe, mouth full of toothpaste, stood behind her with his eyebrows comically high. She shook her head.

"What's wrong with your sink?"

"Pepper left all her stuff out on the sink and I'd rather not get electrocuted." He brushed his teeth a little, then gestured to the door with his toothbrush. "Something you need?"

"No." She brushed past him and went downstairs. His door clicked shut, and Pepper's murmuring voice followed her down and around the corner.

"-and they still didn't understand so I just-"

Steve and Barnes both stopped talking as she entered the living room. It smelled like burnt toast and eggs, and she breathed lightly through her mouth as she went to the couch. Her purse was sitting on the back, as was the light coat she'd been wearing last night at the bar. It smelled like beer and rain.

"Nat, are you alright?" Steve asked. He was leaning over the bar, peering out at her. Barnes had his back to her, steadily pouring out lopsided pancakes on the griddle.

"I'm fine." She hooked the coat over her arm and slung her purse over her shoulder. "I'm going out."

"Now?"

"Did either of you see Rogue leave this morning?"

They exchanged a look. "No. Why? Is she gone?"

"Yes, she isn't in her room."

"Have you asked Bruce? Maybe he saw her."

Banner was always up before anyone else. It was possible he could have seen her. She returned to the stairs but he was already on his way down, looking disheveled and distracted- as usual. He smiled when he saw her though and opened his mouth to say something.

"Did you see Rogue leave?"

His smile dropped into a frown. "No. Is she gone?"

"Yes, I just checked her room. She isn't in the bathroom either."

"I don't know, I… I mean, I was up this morning, but I didn't hear anything. I'm sorry." He shifted uncomfortably between both feet. "She didn't seem like she even wanted to be here, though- you had to have noticed that. Right?"

"I'm going to go look for her."

"Do you want me to come with you?" he called after her. A moment later, he joined her in the elevator, yanking his hoodie on over his head.

The sidewalks were busy already and she weaved her way effortlessly through the crowd. Banner followed at a distance, slower in large groups but still able to keep up. She barely paid him any mind as she surveyed the sea of faces for the one she already knew she wouldn't find. She didn't know when the girl had left or where she would have gone, and with that much of a head start, and that many variables, it would be nearly impossible to find hide or hair of her. It was like searching for a needle in a haystack. Except the needle could have left the haystack hours ago for all she knew.

They searched a few restaurants along the main drag, then took a cab across the city to where she'd met the girl in the first place. Banner said very little the whole time, watching both her and the street in his quiet, nervous way. She appreciated his respect of the situation and while she couldn't spare the energy to thank him now, later she would have to. His presence kept her calm.

It was about two in the afternoon when they stopped. They were both hungry, and Banner's gentle voice of reason finally suggested that they return to the apartment and eat something. Natasha reluctantly agreed it was a good idea and they moved to the curb to hail another taxi.

Steve and Barnes were gone when they got back, but Tony was in the living room, some toy of his taken apart and spread across the floor. They both mumbled apologies as they crossed the minefield of fragile, expensive parts and made their lunch.

Banner had things to do, and he excused himself after a little while of eating in silence. Natasha finished alone and then went to her room, where she lay out on her bed and closed her eyes. It was alright. The girl would be okay. She could take care of herself, she supposed. She'd made it this far! It was just frustrating that she had begun to think she would be able to help the poor thing and then she just up and vanished. It would bother her for weeks, she knew. She might not even stop looking for her for the rest of this one. It was habit- if one of your number disappears, a part of your mind searches for them forever.

###

Eight o'clock. Tony and Pepper were out on a date. Banner was off doing his own thing somewhere in the apartment. So Natasha, Steve, and Barnes were eating by themselves. Leftovers, which were always a struggle in this house: Thor could eat like a starving horse and Steve was no better, and Barnes had a little bit of everything but managed to dirty at least six spoons in the process. Natasha just tended to take from whatever was left. She picked at a chunk of meatloaf now, more interested in Steve's potato tower than her own rubbery meal.

"I think I'm going to write a book," Steve said, as he adorned the top of his tower with a piece of parsley.

Barnes snorted. "A book? You don't even write."

"I could."

"You could certainly illustrate it," Natasha said, rolling a piece of her meatloaf around with her fork. "What do you want to write about?"

"I'm not sure yet. Maybe something to do with the stuff that's been going on recently. You know, the gender thing. The bathrooms?"

"Ah."

Barnes shrugged. "I still think you can't write."

"Well we'll see about that, won't we."

They ate in silence for a little while. Steve chewed loudly, while Barnes made good, quiet work of his pasta. Natasha poked at her food.

"You should come to the next convention," Steve said. Barnes gave him a look that Natasha was both amused and disturbed to see. It was not a pretty one, and Steve closed his mouth and went back to eating. It didn't last long though. "I mean, you like video games. And comics. It's just a lot of that, in one place."

"They wear costumes."

"Not everyone does."

"There's too many people."

"You get lunch at McDonald's every day. There's always a ton of people there."

"That's not the point."

"That's what you just said!"

Natasha got up to scrape her plate. The sink was full of the day's dishes and she didn't feel like washing any of them, so she just balanced her own on top and adjusted a pot so the whole thing didn't come crashing down. Then she returned to the table to finish her milk.

"-and if you came, then we could carry more stuff! There's so many collectibles," Steve was explaining to a somehow even less enthused Bucky. His expression was just so DONE that Natasha couldn't help but laugh. The way they looked at her, Steve grinning and Barnes with one eyebrow raised, made her suspect they'd enacted their whole argument on purpose.

"Have fun, boys," she said, putting her glass away. "I'm going to bed."

"Goodnight, Nat," Steve said, leaning back in his chair. She squeezed his shoulder as she passed behind him. Barnes watched her go with his deadpan expression, nothing she wasn't used to. But she smiled at him too.

She put on some sweatpants and a tank top and got into bed, turning the lights off from the switch by her bed. As she lay there in the dark, she could hear and predict all that was going on in the apartment. Steve and Barnes would be cleaning up their dinner, putting away leftovers, and going to the living room to play games. Banner would sneak downstairs at some point to get food, then join the others to watch them play for awhile. Tony and Pepper would get back sometime later and head up to bed. Thor, who had eaten before them and was probably asleep already, would wake up later and feed himself a second time, then work out until three am and go back to sleep.

What would she do? She didn't do anything at night.

She stared up at the ceiling. She'd memorized the whorls in the paint months ago. She'd spent a week doing just that every time she went to bed. It was as familiar to her as her own hands. She'd considered putting pictures up there, somehow- but of what, she had no idea.

From the living room, she could hear a faint ringing.

Ringing?

She sat up. Steve and Barnes had gone quiet. If it was one of their phones, they would have answered it already. It kept ringing. The apartment felt strangely quiet, and the sound was alien, disruptive.

It was her phone.

She swung her legs out of bed and walked slowly into the living room. Steve was holding her phone, trying to guess the number calling. He handed it to her with a shrug. "I don't know," he said, and she lifted it to her ear and answered it.

"Hello?"

"Please come get me." The girl's voice was thick with tears and pain. She was barely able to gasp out the words. Every nerve in Natasha's body fired at once- she was moving in a second, rushing back to her room, changing, grabbing one of her guns from the side table.

"Where are you, sweetheart?" she asked, putting the gun in her sweatshirt pocket and opening her bedroom door with her shoulder. Steve and Barnes were both on their feet, shoes on, alert and prepared. They shadowed her as she moved out to the elevator.

"I don't know." The connection was fuzzy, and her voice skipped in and out. "I'm in a bathroom. In a bar- the…. Silver something? I just woke up, and-" A sniffle. A cough. "It stinks in here."

"Okay, we're coming." Steve punched the button for the ground floor and the doors slid shut. "Are you alright? Are you hurt?"

"I'm okay. I just… my head hurts. My stomach..." The connection fuzzed again, her voice growing faint and then strong again. "I think I had too much to drink."

"We'll be there soon, okay? Just stay there."

"I…" The girl hesitated. Natasha could hear the distant sounds of people laughing and a glass shattering. "There was a man. He was looking for me. I hid in here, I think- and-" She coughed again. "I don't know, I don't- my head is all fuzzy."

"Don't talk then. Just stay on the phone and wait, we'll be right there."

Natasha lowered the phone and looked at Barnes. "What bar is called Silver something?"

"Silver Nickel?"

Of course. "That sounds right." She lifted the phone again. "You still there, honey?"

Faintly, "Yes."

"Just relax. We're coming to get you."

###

Barnes, not the most comfortable in large group settings and easily the most recognizable, remained outside, while Steve and Natasha went in. There was some excitement when they were noticed but it was put down quickly, through some hasty explanations of distant cousins and similar appearance stories. Steve stood outside the door to the women's bathrooms while Natasha went in alone.

Only one of the stalls was occupied. A few girls were standing by the sinks, talking about something, and all of them sized Natasha up before returning to their conversation. Their voices faded to a dull hum in her mind as she went to the last stall and knocked lightly on the door.

"Rogue?" she whispered. "Are you in there?"

The door opened, and the girl sat back down on the bathroom floor. She was pale and soaked with sweat, and her hair stuck to her face, her neck and the bathroom wall. Natasha slipped inside and closed the door, ignoring the titters of the girls who were watching.

She knelt on the floor beside Rogue and looked her over. She was clearly out of it, but aware enough to ask for some water.

"I'll get you some when we get home. Come on." She helped Rogue to her feet and they went slowly out together. The other girls, who had apparently decided the scenario seemed normal enough, went back to their original discussion. The door closing behind her locked their voices out for good.

Steve offered to carry her, but Rogue showed such distress over the suggestion, even in her detached state, that they eventually decided against it and just supported her out of the bar. Barnes wasn't directly outside but came up from the street when he saw them, from where he'd been talking to a group of guys smoking cigarettes. Their group melted back together seamlessly when he'd gone.

When they finally got back to the apartment they sat her on the couch and Natasha got her a glass of water. Barnes retreated to an armchair, where he picked absently at his nails, and Steve went to go wash the dishes. Both were paying close attention, however, as Natasha got blankets and pillows and made Rogue comfortable. She didn't want to put her upstairs, sequestered away, while she was feeling this way. And the comment about the man had her worried.

She wanted to ask her questions, but Rogue was so tired and barely answering already that she didn't try.

When the girl was asleep, she spoke quietly with first Steve, then him and Barnes together, to tell them everything was fine, and they broke off one by one to their separate rooms. She left her door open a crack as she changed once again and got into bed.

She awoke some time later, for no reason she knew, but she was used to it. Her clock said it was 1:47 in the morning. Rolling over, she noticed that the living room light was on. Slipping out of bed, she made her way quietly down the hall and peeked out.

Sitting on the floor beside the couch was Thor, and blinking sleepily with her head on his shoulder, was Rogue. She'd strategically placed a pillow between her cheek and his bare shoulder, and both held very still as Thor flipped through the pages of a big travel book, pointing out pictures and talking about them. Natasha realized that he was showing her places the Avengers had been. Rogue didn't seem to be paying much attention- she was half-asleep and looked far too comfortable to be listening. But there was a small smile on her face, and she managed to make an "mhm" sound every time he glanced sideways at her for acknowledgement. There was a fresh, half-empty glass of water by the couch, and a plate of snacks that Thor had likely come out to get for himself.

She didn't smile, but her heart hurt to watch the scene.

Slowly, reluctantly, she turned and went back to bed.