Oh gosh, I am SOOOOOOO SORRRY! You guys had to wait super long for this chapter, and I just wanted to apologize for that. Had a bit of a mishap at horseback riding the other day where my horse threw me off and my hand got super swollen, so I haven't been able to type all week! It's been killing me! I wrote this as soon as I could, and here it is! Hope it's good enough to make up for the delay. We finally get to see some action in this story! This chapter should get the ball rolling for the final chapters! I plan on having at least 15 chapters, plus an epilogue at the end, so there's still a decent amount of time to pass before this story is done. This chapter and the next one should be the most action packed for all you thrill seekers out there, so I hope you all enjoy them!
Chapter 11-Bushwhacked
**Natasha**
"Natasha, wake up." Clint said, nudging her shoulder gently. Her eyes fluttered open and found him looking at her tiredly. "We're here."
"What time is it?" She asked with a yawn.
"It's three o' clock here. We have four hours till the party." He told her. Natasha stretched before standing up and grabbing her bags from the compartment above her. She looked around and saw the other Avengers doing the same, and soon they were exiting the plane, walking down the jetway and into one of the terminals. They strode through the airport purposefully, and when they reached the main entrance a limo was outside waiting for them.
"Way to be discreet, Stark." Natasha mumbled as she passed Tony and climbed into the cabin. The billionaire rolled his eyes and allowed everyone else to get in before him.
"Don't be so picky, Romanoff." He muttered. Once everyone was in the limo, the driver pulled away from the airport and began swerving through traffic. "I got us a reservation at a hotel right down the road from where the party is being held." Tony told everyone once they were on their way. "We can get ready there, then go to the party."
"Great, how long till we get there?" Natasha asked.
"About twenty minutes." He replied. She nodded and leaned her head against the window, staring out at the passing city. Twenty minutes later the limo came to a stop in front of a fancy looking hotel. The Avengers scrambled out onto the sidewalk, grabbing their bags from the trunk. Tony paid the driver and told him something in French. He nodded and remained parked in front of the hotel. "He's gonna stay here until we're ready to go." Tony told everyone as they walked into the lobby of the hotel. Once they were all inside, Tony got three room keys and began handing them out. "Me and Bruce will share a room." He said, handing one of the keys to Bruce. He then handed the other two keys to Steve and Clint. "You guys can figure out who you wanna room with."
"Me and Thor can room together." Steve said, glancing at Clint and Natasha. "That is, if you two are comfortable sharing." They looked at each other for a moment before nodding slowly.
"Yea, that'll be fine." Natasha said cooperatively.
"Okay then, let's go upstairs." Tony said, gesturing to the elevators. They grabbed their things and headed up. Once they reached their floor, the team went to the room number that was on their keys. Clint and Natasha entered their fancy hotel room and set their bags down.
"Nice." Clint said quietly, glancing around the expensive looking suite. Natasha rolled her eyes.
"Just try not to break anything." She told him as she began unpacking her things. Clint laughed.
"Now when have I ever broken anything in a hotel room?" He asked. She raised an eye brow and turned to look at him.
"Let's see, there was that time in Berlin when you shattered a window, in Rio when you demolished that nightstand, oh, and let's not forget..."
"Okay, okay, I get it." Clint said, throwing his hands up in exasperation. "I promise I won't break anything."
"Yea right." Natasha muttered under her breath. She checked the time on the nightstand alarm clock and realized that it was almost five. "Well, I'm gonna go take a shower. Why don't you try out your suit so I can see if I need to make adjustments?"
"Sure." Clint replied as Natasha gathered her dress and toiletries and walked into the bathroom. She locked the door behind her and turned on the water before undressing and flipping the switch for the shower head. Once the shower had been running for a few seconds, Natasha stepped under the stream of steaming water and allowed it to melt away all the built up tension in her muscles. She had to admit that she was a little uneasy about the party tonight. Something just didn't feel right, but she didn't have time to second guess herself. They were leaving in less than two hours, so they would just have to stick to the plan.
Once Natasha had finished showering, she stepped out of the tub and wrapped her long, red hair in a towel while she dried the rest of her body. When she was ready she slid into her dress, zipping the back and looking in the mirror to admire the elegant gown. She'd have to find another place to wear it once all this was over. Natasha shook her head, refocusing her thoughts back on the task at hand. She grabbed her makeup bag off the counter and proceeded to apply various cosmetics to her eyelids, cheeks, and lashes.
As Natasha finished with her face and moved on to her hair, the unmistakable sound of breaking glass could be heard coming from outside the door. She rolled her eyes as Clint cursed loudly, deciding to ignore him for the time being and focus on drying and styling her hair. Once she was done, Natasha stepped back and looked at herself in the mirror, examining her work. She couldn't remember the last time she looked like this. Certainly not since she'd worked for S.H.I.E.L.D.. With a small smile on her lips she exited the bathroom to find Clint struggling with his suit. He turned when he heard her behind him, his mouth falling open as soon as he saw her.
"Uh… Wow." Was all he could manage. "You look great."
"Thank you." Natasha said, blushing slightly. "Need help?"
"Yea, this stupid holster in my right jacket pocket is bulging. It makes me look like I have a man boob." Clint snorted. She giggled and strode over to him to fix the holster. "Um, I called the rest of the guys, told them to get ready. They should be here any second for final confirmations on the plan." He told her as she adjusted his suit.
"Great." Natasha finished with the holster and was about to turn to begin gathering her weapons when she noticed the pile of broken glass that had been shoved into the corner of the room. She immediately shot an accusing glare at her partner. "Clint," she said sternly. "What happened to that vase?" Clint looked down guiltily.
"I broke it." He mumbled. Natasha rolled her eyes, but before she could scold him there was a knock at the door. Clint used the opportunity to get himself out of trouble and immediately rushed over to let everyone in. As soon as the other Avengers entered the room wearing their suits and saw Natasha their eyes went wide.
"Natasha, you look…" Steve trailed off as he searched for the right words.
"Thank you." She smiled, satisfied with her evening attire. "Okay, we've got some last minute things to go over before we leave, so let's get started." Natasha said, pulling everyone's attention back to the plan.
"Okay, right. So first things first, how are we arriving?" Clint asked.
"Tony, Thor, and Steve will arrive first. We're going to need you guys to take out those snipers before we get there. You boys remember your part of the plan?" She raised an eyebrow testily.
"Yea, yea, we got it Romanoff, I've just got one question. Am I supposed to arrive with these two?" Tony said, pointing his thumbs at the most muscular Avengers.
"Yea, sure. Why not." Natasha shrugged before turning to Bruce. "You're going to arrive directly after them. Just another guest at the party."
"But won't that make me seem sort of… gay?" Tony cut in.
"For the love of god, Tony! They can be your body guards or something if that makes you feel better! I don't care, as long as you get your job done." She yelled at the billionaire, who shrank back at her sudden loudness.
"Yea, body guards… that's cool." He said quietly before shutting his mouth and hiding behind Bruce. Natasha rolled her eyes before continuing.
"You and I will arrive after Steve has taken out the snipers." She said turning to Clint. "We'll go in, confront Varkov and so on…"
"Sounds good." He said with a nod. "I'll go get the guns." Clint walked over to one of the beds and grabbed the bag with all their guns and knives in it. He immediately began pulling out various weapons. Some he tucked into his suit, some he tossed to Natasha. Once they both had concealed their weapons, he pulled out three hand-guns and a tazer gun. "Keep these with you, just in case." He said, handing the hand-guns to Tony, Thor, and Bruce. He then gave the tazer gun to Steve. "Here's your tazer. Be careful with that one."
"I've got this." Steve said reassuringly. It comforted Natasha to know he was in charge of this aspect of the 'mission'.
"Alright, last thing." She reached into the bag and pulled out six ear buds, handing them out to the rest of the team before placing one in her ear. "Keep these comm. links in your ears at all times. We all need to be in constant communication. If a line goes dead and you can't physically see that person, then we regroup to make sure everything is okay. If everyone's good, then we'll continue on with the plan."
"And if everyone isn't okay?" Bruce asked.
"Let's cross that bridge if we get there." Natasha said solemnly. "What time is it?"
"6:45." Tony replied. "We should probably go." The Avengers filed out of the room and into the elevator, riding down to the lobby and walking out to the limo that was still waiting for them. They crammed inside and the driver pulled off the curb and into Paris traffic heading for the party building. "So, if there is a mishap with the comm. links, where do you want us to meet?"
"In the back left corner of the ball room. It's out of the way, not very conspicuous. We should be able to congregate there without drawing too much attention to ourselves." Natasha answered. Everyone nodded, falling into a serious silence. She could tell they were focused, which was good because they'd need to be.
"We're almost there." Tony said, grabbing everyone's attention. Natasha looked out the window as the limo pulled up to a large, fancy looking building. She took a deep breath as they came to a stop across the street and Tony, Steve, Thor, and Bruce all climbed out.
"I'll let you know when you're clear to come in." Steve said sticking his head back into the car.
"Thanks, Steve. Do a comm. check when you get inside so we know everything is functioning properly." She told him. He nodded and joined the others as they cautiously crossed the busy street. Natasha peeked out the window and watched them as they got in line with the rest of the well dressed guests to get inside.
"Are you ready for this?" Clint asked after a few minutes of silence.
"I have to be." She answered without turning around.
"But, are you?" He pressed on. Natasha slowly turned to look at him. Was she ready for this? After so long? She contemplated her answer for a few moments before giving a quick nod. "Alright then." Clint reached out and gave her shoulder a squeeze. Natasha accepted the comforting gesture as she turned back to look out the window and saw that the others were already inside.
"Natasha, Clint, can you hear me?" Steve's voice suddenly came over the comm. link.
"Yea, Steve. We hear you loud and clear." Clint replied.
"We're in. There's no guest list, so you guys won't have to worry about that. We'll get our jobs done, then let you know when you're clear." Steve said back.
"Thanks, Steve. And good luck." Natasha told him.
"Any time." He answered.
**Steve**
Steve walked through the crowd, being sure to stay close to Tony and Thor. Bruce wandered off towards the bar area to be on standby. Steve leaned over to Tony when the crowd began to thin.
"What's the plan?" He asked the billionaire. Tony narrowed his eyes and glanced around the room.
"Well, from what I can see, all the stairwells are guarded, just like we predicted. How about you use… that one." He pointed to the stairwell where the crowd was thinnest. "Me and Thor will distract security while you get upstairs."
"Sounds good. Let's go." Steve said. The three men advanced towards the stairwell. Tony grabbed a drink off the tray a server was carrying around. "Hey, you know what Natasha said. No drinking!" Steve warned.
"Chill Cap, I'm not gonna drink it. How about you worry about your part and I worry about mine, okay?" They continued walking towards the stairwell, and when they were almost there, Tony leaned back towards Steve and Thor. "Laugh at the joke." He said quietly. The other two Avengers glanced at each other, confused. "And then I told her, I don't care what you say, you only want me for my money!" Tony suddenly exclaimed before bursting with false laughter. Steve and Thor caught on immediately, and began chuckling at the fake joke. Tony, who had been turned around telling them his 'joke' suddenly bumped into the security guard of the stairwell they had been aiming for, spilling his drink all over him.
"Hey, watch where you're going!" The angry Russian yelled as he began removing his jacket to shake it out.
"Oh, I am so sorry sir. I was just telling my friends here this great story, and I guess I wasn't paying attention." Tony smiled and held out his hand for the man to shake. "No hard feelings?" The Russian turned to shake hands when sudden realization appeared on his face.
"Hey, you are Tony Stark, no?" He said, surprised. Tony held up his hands.
"Guilty." He chuckled, making a gesture behind his back to tell Steve to sneak past while the guard was distracted. He silently walked behind the Russian and up the stairwell while Tony continued to entertain him. As soon as he reached the top of the stairs, Steve talked into his comm. link.
"Natasha, you there?" He called.
"Yea, I hear you Steve. Go ahead." She replied.
"I made it upstairs and should have everything wrapped up in the next fifteen minutes. Just thought I'd give you a heads up." He told her.
"Great, thanks." Natasha answered before the line went quiet. Steve glanced around the balcony area he had just walked into and began to search for the snipers Clint and Natasha had sworn would be there. Sure enough, Steve found a man in a black suit lying on his stomach with a gun pointed at the door as soon as he rounded a corner. Hiding behind the corner of the wall, he pulled the tazer gun out of his jacket pocket and charged it up. As soon as it was ready, Steve peeked around the corner of the wall and aimed his gun at the sniper's back. Once he was sure he had the shot, he fired the electrical charge, causing the man to drop his gun and convulse erratically. Steve wasted no time. He ran over to the man, kicked his gun away, turned off his radio, and promptly tied him up away from the edge of the balcony.
"Well, that's one." He sighed, content with his work. He headed towards the next two balconies the other snipers were positioned at and repeated the same process twice more. Once the last sniper had been tied, Steve called Natasha again. "All the snipers have been disabled. You guys are clear."
"Excellent. We'll be right in. Hey, Bruce?" Natasha called into the comm. link.
"Yes?" The doctor answered quietly.
"Have a look around, tell me if you see Varkov anywhere." She ordered. "I want to be able to see him immediately."
"You got it." Bruce replied. Steve made his way back downstairs and slipped past the guard who was still talking to Tony.
"Did you disable those men?" Thor asked quietly once Steve rejoined him.
"It's done." He whispered back. "Now we just wait for Clint and Natasha to make their move."
**Clint**
"Let's move." Natasha said as soon as Steve gave them the green light. She climbed out of the limo and Clint swiftly followed her as she began crossing the street. Once he caught up to her, Natasha grabbed his arm and linked it with hers. "We're supposed to be arriving together." She reminded him as they got in line. After five minutes of waiting they reached the building's entrance. A tall man was standing by the door letting people in. As soon as Clint and Natasha walked up, he let them pass, whispering something into his earpiece.
"Maybe we won't have to find him after all." Clint said quietly as they walked inside.
"Guys, I see him." Bruce said into the comm. link. Clint felt Natasha tense next to him.
"Where is he?" She said emotionlessly.
"Towards the back, but he's making his way to you guys. It looks like he may know you're here." Bruce replied. Before Natasha could answer him, Varkov suddenly appeared from the midst of the crowd. She stopped walking as soon as she saw him, halting Clint as well. He gave her arm a small squeeze as their child's kidnapper approached them. A few moments later, Clint and Natasha were face to face with Varkov.
"Hello Natalia." He said with a disturbing smile. Natasha's only response was a stone-cold glare. "I wasn't sure if you would come tonight," the Russian continued, "but here you are. And you even brought your, uh… friend." He smirked and nodded his head towards Clint, who stiffened in response. "So good to see two parents reunited. I assume you're here to meet your daughter?" Varkov implied.
"You said in your note that I could see her, now where is she?" Natasha demanded. The Russian chuckled and leaned in closer.
"So eager to get down to business, as usual. You haven't changed much. This is hardly the place to talk about such things, perhaps we should take this conversation to the back room." Varkov said, gesturing to the door that led to the back of the building.
"We're not going anywhere until you tell us where she is." Clint said angrily. Varkov narrowed his eyes.
"She's just in the back. Down the hall, last door on the left." He told them in defeat. Natasha glanced over to where Steve and Thor were observing their conversation and saw them nod before moving towards the door and inconspicuously going inside. "I'll take you back to see her, then we can begin negotiations. How does that sound?" The Russian asked.
"Fine." Natasha agreed as Varkov turned and began guiding them through the crowd towards the door. A sudden twisted feeling in Clint's stomach caused him to squeeze Natasha's arm tightly.
"Natasha, I don't feel good about this." He whispered anxiously.
"You think I do?" She said nervously. "Look, he's holding all the cards right now. We do what he says until Steve and Thor tell us they have Mara, then we kill him. Got it?" Clint nodded as they came to a stop in front of the door that led to the back. Varkov opened it, allowing them to go in before him. Clint glanced down the hall to make sure Steve and Thor had already gotten in. When he didn't see them he relaxed slightly. Varkov rejoined them after closing the door and led them to the first room on the right.
"I thought you said she was in the last door on the left?" Natasha accused.
"She is. We'll talk in here, and I'll have one of my men bring your daughter in." The Russian said convincingly, but Clint didn't buy it. His entire self was screaming at him that something wasn't right.
"Natasha." He said warningly.
"Relax, Clint. We stick to the plan. I'm not leaving this party without my daughter." She growled dangerously. Varkov unlocked the door and, once again, allowed them to enter before him. Natasha dragged Clint inside.
"We need to get out of here." He whispered in a final attempt to make her realize that the entire situation was horribly wrong. She looked at him, finally seeing the worry in his eyes, but it was too late.
"Clint, Natasha, she's not here." Steve said frantically over the comm. link. Natasha glanced over at Varkov, who was still closing the door, before turning away from him.
"What do you mean she's not there?" She whispered through clenched teeth.
"We've looked everywhere. She's just not here." He replied. She spun around angrily and glared at Varkov, who was now looking at them with narrowed eyes. "Well, where is she?" Natasha fumed.
"I'm sorry." He said maliciously. "But I'm afraid there's been a change in plans."
"Shit." Clint cursed under his breath. Out of nowhere, two men came up behind them and shoved them to the ground. "What the hell?" He exclaimed. They hadn't been there a second ago. Where had they come from? Clint had been looking straight at the door the entire time and no one had come in. Before he had another second to try and figure out what had happened, one of the men slammed Natasha's head into the ground knocking her unconscious. "Natasha!" He exclaimed as the second man prepared to do the same to him.
"Guys! What's going on?" Tony yelled over the comm. link. Clint tried to answer, but the man behind him smacked his head onto the floor with such force that he saw stars.
"Take them below." Varkov said with a sneer. Clint reached out to try and grab Natasha's hand before she was lifted off the floor and carried away. When the man that had hit his head realized he was still conscious, he hit him again, harder this time. Clint felt someone grab him by his arms and drag him towards the back of the room before slipping into unconsciousness.
**Tony**
"Clint, Natasha, are you two okay?" Tony said as clearly as he could, but he was only met by silence.
"Tony, what should we do?" Bruce asked through the comm. link.
"Move in." Tony responded. They both rushed to the door that led to the back hall and went into the first open door they saw. When they walked in, Steve and Thor were already there. "Where are they?" Tony yelled at his 'body guards'.
"They're gone." Steve said dumbfounded.
"What do you mean they're gone? Weren't they just here a second ago?" Tony exclaimed.
"They were. It doesn't make any sense! We watched the door the whole time after they went in. No one came in, no one came out. When their lines went dead we ran in and they were just gone!" Steve began to pace, searching the room for any sign that their teammates had been there.
"Tony," Bruce said from behind him. "What's going on?" Tony sighed, turning to his fellow Avengers. They looked at him expectantly, confusion evident in their eyes.
"Gentlemen," the billionaire began. "I think we've been bushwhacked."
Ahhhhh! Now Mara isn't the only one whose been kidnapped! How was it? Was it worth the wait? I promise I'll try and not fall off of horses so my hand won't swell up and I'll be allowed to type this story! EEEEEHH! I'm sooo excited for the chapters to come! This chapter however, has an interesting inspiration behind it. I was watching Joss Whedon's(director of The Avengers and the world's most brilliant genius) masterpiece, Firefly, and got to the third episode of the short-lived series, which was called Bushwhacked. Pretty much what happened was the crew of Serenity fell subject to a trap set for them by cannibalistic rapists, and that inspired me to make the Avengers fall into a trap set by Varkov. The way the episode ends also inspired the result of this little trap, but if you've never seen the show, first of all WATCH IIIITTT! Second of all, I don't want to spoil it for you. I just thought that was cool since it's sort of connected, you know, Joss Whedon, Firefly, Avengers… Yea. Well, I hope you liked it! Please review, favorite, follow, whatever. And sorry again for the wait!
Preview for Chapter 12-Vengeance: Clint and Natasha have been kidnapped by Varkov and his intentions are far worse than either of them could have imagined. The rest of the team frantically tries to find out where they have been taken. And, the next chapter is going to begin with a nice little flashback to show you exactly how Clint and Natasha's relationship worked out. Lots of drama next chapter, so please check back soon! I promise to have it up quicker than this one! Thanks for reading! TTFN!