Chapter 2

Rick

It took a while for her to remember where she was and why she was there when Natasha woke up. She wasn't sure what time it was but could easily tell by the light streaming through the window she had slept longer than she wanted to. Her mind went to what had happened to lead her to Bruce's cabin. Her stomach turned at the thought that she had been sleeping while everyone else was in trouble. There was no telling what would happen to Capt or Tony, eventually this new S.H.I.E.L.D. would make life harder for them. Far worse was the thought of what could have happened to Clint, what they could possibly be doing to him. She bit her lip at the thoughts and quickly got up, intending on trying to convince Bruce that they had to move fast. They had to figure out some sort of plan, hoping that would set her mind at ease just a bit. She made her way downstairs, only to notice that Bruce was nowhere to be seen. The couch was empty with no sign of the blanket. She ran her hand over it to find it was cold. Her attention turned to the fire which was nearly dead and hadn't been tended to in a while. Natasha could feel her heart sink, yet at the same time after everything that happened she couldn't blame him for running again. She stared at the ground, feeling more betrayed than before after trusting Bruce would have stuck it out and helped like he said. She debated chasing after him, after all they had better chance sticking together then on their own and maybe get him to do something if they spent more time together. It was clear though that if he ran so easily without showing any signs of intending to do so or saying anything then he wasn't going to help her. Her blood started to boil that the thought of everything, the last plan she had ran for it leaving her completely alone again against everything.

She went to grab her jacket from where she left it preparing to move out, there wasn't any time for her to wait around. She moved towards the front door only to hear the sound of footsteps coming towards the front door. Her hand froze only a few inches from the handle as her heart pounded. They couldn't have found me, not now. Her hand instantly went for her handgun ready to fight her way out, she figured they'd out number her but if she took a few of them out and ran for the forest she could make her way through the wilderness and lose them in the denser area or at least get into a position to pick them off. She started to back away from the front door thinking of other ways out of the cabin. There was the back door, a few windows on the first floor, at least one on the second. The windows didn't open so if she went out that way she'd draw attention quickly from the noise of breaking them. The back door seemed like a logical choice but chances were if it was S.H.I.E.L.D. coming for her they'd covered the back door, really they probably surrounded the entire place. Making a run for it through the front seemed like the best chance in that case unless she hid in the cabin and picked off anyone who came in but sooner or later they'd overwhelm her. She considered tossing something out one of the back windows away from the front door to draw attention to give her a better chance. Settling on the plan she started to look around for something that would be heavy enough to go through then a slight rattle from the front door caught her attention. She saw the handle start to turn, now out of time to think of better plans or to try the one she had come up with she aimed her gun as the door started to open.

"Bruce, you here?" The voice was male, certainly young and certainly not a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, they were smart enough not to announce themselves at least she hoped they were. Running from a government organization that had files on her and resources to track her down was one thing but if they were also this stupid then she'd just be insulted. The door opened all the way to show a young man, early twenties at best, walking in. He froze at the sight of Natasha, "Woah, certainly not Bruce. Sorry must have gotten the place wrong. Really didn't mean to intrude." He had noticed the gun, "Mind not shooting me, seriously I wasn't trying to do anything, just thought this was somewhere else. I'll leave." The brown haired boy started to turn and leave.

"Rick Jones," Natasha was able to identify the man quickly from what she had read in Bruce's file and the images she had seen. She remembered Bruce speaking fondly of the boy despite how the two had met. "You're the one Bruce Banner saved from the gamma bomb. What are you doing here?"

Rick's body stiffened at the mention of his name and Bruce his stare went from apologetic to a cautious glare, "How do you know that? And what's it to you?"

Natasha for a brief moment felt frustrated that Rick hadn't answered her question but instead went to questioning her. She remembered the file though; Rick had traveled with Bruce for a long time. He knew not to trust others easily when it came to the safety of his friend. "I'm Natasha Romanoff, former agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. and an Avenger." She went into the process for identifying herself, hoping it wouldn't cause the boy to run, "I came here to ask Bruce for help."

Rick's glare went from cautious to anger, "Natasha Romanoff? You're one of the ones who-" Rick cut himself off from his anger as he put things together. Clearly Bruce had told him of what happened when he left the group, "You have some nerve coming here to ask for his help after everything."

Natasha nodded, "I know. But the issue concerned him as well."

"Yeah right, let me guess they sent you to finally track him down because they're worried about Hulk getting out," Rick growled, "newsflash Bruce has been handling everything just fine. Everything except for those nightmares you and your lover boy caused."

"Rick," Natasha glared at the boy, "I know." She didn't know about the nightmares but they weren't hard to guess at. "I'm more than aware of what happened because I was there. I know what happened, I know why it happened and I know how damn hard we all tried to fix it. I refused to track down Bruce after everything that happened out of respect for what he asked when I last saw him. Yes, I was eventually told he was here but that information was kept to only a few people and none of us ever came after him or ever were concerned about his control over his anger. I'm only here because I needed his help, he's the only one I knew I could trust with this and because it would put him in danger too."

Rick remained silent for a long time but never flinched away from the glare or what Natasha said. He clearly wasn't happy about the situation though, "Fine. You win. I believe you came here to ask for help and not to track him down for your high and mighty leaders who give crappy orders. Now, what's this all about?"

Natasha shook her head with a sigh looking at the ground, "It doesn't matter now. Bruce said last night that he would help me but this morning he's gone. No offense but this problem is a bit over your head."

"Oh sure this problem must be over my head since I spent years traveling with the Hulk, clearly I can't handle myself." Rick waited for a moment, crossing his arms over his chest then asked, "He said he'd help you?" Rick relaxed a bit as he thought about that, "If that's true and you think he's gone, then you really don't know Bruce then. He doesn't break his word, unlike some people."

Natasha nodded a bit to answer Rick's question but didn't say out loud about his distrust in Bruce since he was clearly missing, at least for now. "You never answered my question, what are you doing here?" Natasha restated not bothering to defend herself from the obvious jab at her. She didn't need to defend herself or apologize to Rick, he wasn't involved and she had done enough of that.

Rick remained cautious, knowing that Natasha could be trying to get information out of him. "I don't plan on answering it. I know better than to trust a spy, Bruce taught me that much. If what you said is true then Bruce will tell you why I'm here."

"Well Bruce isn't exactly here," Natasha pointed out growing frustrated, "and there's no telling on if he'll be coming back or not."

"It's good to know you think so little of me," the voice startled her as Bruce walked in from the back door with some logs in his arms. He had entered while the two were talking which covered up the sound of his entrance. "But as it turns out Agent Romanoff, I don't back out of my word and I don't abandon others easily. I was out getting more wood for the fire. Rick's here at my request."

"Your request? You sent a message to Rick? Don't you think people will be looking for that?" Natasha wanted to smack the man over the head for this, sending a message to Rick generally would be careless since chances were Rick was being monitored full time.

"Yes, my request," Bruce nodded, "Of course the message wasn't sent directly to him, it was encrypted and went through a few others before reaching him. I believe by the time it reached him it told him to pick up some things for his sick uncle that lives up here near the town."

"Something like that," Rick nodded in agreement, "and caring deeply about my uncle I came right away after stopping to pick up some equipment."

"Few items that wouldn't even raise suspicions," Bruce added, "A few toys, some appliances, some tools, nothing big, nothing dangerous and thus there will be no red flags. Even then we're not staying here long."

"I forgot what it's like to work with you," Natasha gave a slight smile with a shake of her head, "Got everything figured out then?"

"Not in the least," Bruce replied, "I just don't want to be tracked while we figure out the rest. By that I mean, I figure out how to get us there. You figure the way inside, we get more equipment, you lead us out and I get us far away and out of tracking distance for them. Then we figure out where Clint is."

"If you're going to a S.H.I.E.L.D. warehouse won't there be some computer?" Rick questioned, "Just for that part couldn't you hack into their system and find where they're holding him?"

"We could but they'd know we did and move him while setting a trap for us at the other location," Natasha pointed out.

"Then we'll do it," Bruce shrugged, "You know S.H.I.E.L.D. and a lot of their bases right? If they're going to move a high risk prisoner like Clint you can probably guess how and where. We'll have a better chance getting him while they're on the move. First off I'll go make some breakfast. Rick can you bring the stuff inside so I can start working on it?"

"Sure thing boss," Rick nodded heading back out towards his truck with the items he had brought.

Natasha stood there awkwardly for a moment before deciding to go help Rick since she had her jacket on. She put her gun away yet was ready to pull it out at a moment's notice since she wasn't fully convinced that S.H.I.E.L.D. wouldn't show up. She didn't say anything as she helped grab some of the stuff to bring it in.

"Sorry," Rick commented after a moment, starting to stack boxes of what seemed to be electronic toys, "sort of not willing to trust someone easily when it comes to Bruce. More so a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, and of course considering your history with him."

"Former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent," Natasha corrected, "I understand, you had good reasons not to trust me given everything that happened."

"So Clint's in trouble?" Rick questioned, "I mean that's what it sounds like in there."

"Yeah…" Natasha's voice was soft but she gave a nod and continued on, "They got him. We were called in for what should have been a normal meeting, just a time to speak to the new director. Everything didn't go as planned and we were trying to get out. In the last moments Clint made sure I could get out but it meant he couldn't."

"You left him?" Rick questioned, "I always liked Clint, at least when I heard about him. He sounds like a nice guy in Bruce's stories of everyone."

"I didn't leave him!" Natasha couldn't control her anger at the boy who shrunk back from the yell. She realized what had happened in the moment of letting her emotions get the better of her. She forced them back and shook her head and repeated softly, "I didn't leave him, not by choice. It was forced. Come on let's get this stuff inside." She turned not wanting to answer any of Rick's questions heading back through the snow to the cabin with her arms full. Once inside she set down everything, the smell of eggs, toast and bacon had filled the cabin from where Bruce was cooking in the kitchen. She set the boxes down on the table in the living room unsure of where he wanted them and moved towards the smell. She saw Bruce nearly done with everything surprised at how fast it had gone, or perhaps the chat with Rick had taken longer than she thought, it did feel like ages considering the topic. "It smells nice."

"Almost ready too," Bruce commented back feeling a bit awkward to be chit-chatting with someone he honestly hadn't wanted to see again.

Natasha sat down at the table, one thing she knew very well from before was to not get in Bruce's way when he was working on anything. After a bit she couldn't help but state, "Bruce… I didn't leave Clint behind." It seemed she was more trying to convince herself than anything else. A question gnawed at the back of her mind and she had to say it out loud, get it out there so she had an answer, "I had no choice. He risked his life and forced me to go. We have to find him alive… They'll keep him alive as long as he can be useful to them right?"

Bruce nodded as he started to plate everything, "I know you didn't leave him behind. The two of you don't seem to leave each other behind easily. As for your question on if they'll kill him to be honest I'm not entirely sure. However, I would think that they wouldn't kill him until they find us. Right now he's probably their best lead on finding you and the best way to trap you. Hence he's more useful to them alive rather than dead."

Natasha nodded expecting that answer from Bruce, it was what she was almost hoping that they wouldn't kill him, even if Bruce wasn't completely sure. Rick soon walked in with a slight grin on his face despite things that were going on, he was naturally happy. He took his seat while Bruce brought the food over. At the sight of only two plates Natasha raised an eyebrow only to see Bruce walk out of the room and over towards living area. Rick spoke up once Bruce left, "He tends to hate to eat when he's thinking. Generally have to force him but can't even get him to consider it until after some time has passed. Best to just let him work at first." The two didn't bother to say anything as they ate. Natasha's stomach twisted uncomfortably as she kept wondering if all of this would lead to everyone getting caught and this new S.H.I.E.L.D. winning.

It had taken several hours before Bruce was ready to set out. He had spent most of his time gutting the appliances and toys and constructing something out of them. It was extremely painful for Natasha to wait but Bruce eventually had called both her and Rick over. "We'll need to go see someone to get these to work." He held up the two gadgets he had been working on, "shouldn't take long. Rick do you think you can give us a ride? We need to get to Canada safely."

"No problem, plenty of room in the truck," Rick nodded in agreement.

"Good shouldn't take us too long. We'll head out as soon as we're packed," Bruce grinned, he looked over at Natasha who wasn't keen on taking more time to help the others but she had tot rust this was the way to pull this off. She had asked for the help, she might as well accept what happens.

((Closing disclaimer: No character used is mine they are Marvel characters.))