Author's Note: Yes I brought Dr. Strange in but he wont be making another appearance at least for a while. I own nothing.

22. Let Loose

Piper stayed quiet in the vent as several men passed under it. She had figured out long ago that people didn't tend to look up when they were looking for Piper, looking for Spidergirl sure they looked up, but not for Piper. No one seemed to have noticed she was even missing yet. This place was very basic, it didn't look like anything scientific happened here. It had electricity but the cameras were lacking, lucky her. She pondered her luck as she snuck along the vent, the piece of glass she'd taken from the room they'd been holding her in between her teeth. She needed a better weapon, she knew that. She took a deep breath through her nose as she took a left turn and paused as she looked down at the room beneath her. It looked, and smelled like a locker room. There was only one man in it at the moment. He couldn't be older than twenty, with short wiry blonde hair and pale skin. Piper thought for a second before she made her decision.

He never saw her coming as she leapt down behind him and struck him across the back of his head, slamming his forehead into the locker in front of him. She caught him before he could crumple to the floor though. She grunted slightly, he was heavier than she'd been expecting. She leaned him against the lockers for a moment and sighed as she rushed to the doors and locked them. She stepped back over to the unconscious Hydra agent.

"Ok big guy, don't get excited." She said as she reached around him and unhooked his belt. There was a gun holstered there, just a simple Glock, and three other magazine rounds, alongside a knife and a taser. Piper clipped the belt around her waist and checked the gun. It was already loaded, the safety in place. She nodded to herself tossing aside the glass shard, it landed in a nearby trashcan. She scaled up the lockers and slipped back into the vents as quietly as possible.

Tony stared at the map Danny had just handed him. There was a small burned spot, that was supposedly where Piper was. The Petersburg State Forest Preserve was only one hundred and seventy-one miles away. It would have taken the helicopter that took Piper and Harry about two hours to get there. A Quinjet could be there in under a half hour. There was only one problem as everyone got suited up.

"No. You're not going." Tony said as his armor folded around him making him feel a bit more secure. The whole team was protesting behind him as Hawkeye gathered arrows and knives. Natasha was stowing her batons as Sam tested the new Wings Tony had developed for him.

"Listen to me!" The team shut up. "I will not stop until I get her back. If I have to call a code green I will." Bruce nodded.

"The other guy would be very happy with that. He really wants out on these guys." Tony nodded.

"And we can't risk any of you. Piper would never forgive me if anything happened to any of you. None of you have enough experience with this team to do this. Next time sure, after we have more training and when we're all a bit more emotionally stable. But I won't risk anyone I don't have to." Ava nodded dragging the boys over to the door, Danny helping her.

"You'll let us know the minute you find her though right?" Tony nodded.

"The very minute. Thank you Ava." She nodded at him and continued dragging Nova down the hall. Tony breathed a sigh of relief and stepped up beside Steve, inside the Quinjet. Steve laid a hand on his shoulder.

"We're gonna get her back." Tony nodded.

"I just hope she's alright." Clint stepped up to them as Natasha took the controls. She was the fastest pilot of the group.

"I wouldn't worry about her too much, she's got the training to handle this." Tony raised an eyebrow at him as Thor swung his hammer in lazy circles, bouncing his foot. Bruce was sitting next to him looking distinctly green around the gills. Tony was worried about what the Hulk might do when he inevitably broke free of Bruce's control.

"I'm serious though Tony she's gonna be ok." Natasha nodded.

"He's right. I'd be more concerned with what the Hydra agents are being subjected to right now." Tony's eyebrow climbed higher as the jet took off.

"What do you mean?" Clint smiled slightly.

"Natasha and I had her run a couple of power free simulations where someone she cared about was taken. She left the bad guys breathing but none of them were ever going to fully recover." Tony looked at Natasha.

"She's got a fondness for kneecaps." Was all the assassin would say. Tony frowned at them but turned his attention back to the drone he'd sent on ahead.

Piper dropped to the floor and pulled the gun at her side firing six shots in quick succession. Every person in the room dropped clutching their legs. She'd done pretty well for having not touched a gun for a few months. She made her way around the room quickly, knocking each agent out with a quick efficiency borne not of desperation but long honed skill. She stopped at the last man, kicking his gun away from him as he reached for it.

"Harry Osborn, where is he." It was a question but it didn't sound like on. Instead it sounded like a demand. The man didn't speak for a minute so Piper quickly reloaded and shot him in the other kneecap.

"The elbows are next. Where is Harry Osborn." He remained silent. So she followed through on her threat, shooting a hole in his arm as he screamed. She had to hurry all this noise was going to draw someone's attention soon. The man whimpered as she stepped down on his ruined knee.

"Tell me now. Or I put one between your eyes." That was an empty threat, she wouldn't kill. None of the people she'd shot would die from their injuries but it was doubtful any of them would walk again. She was never like this as Spidergirl, she could afford to be more careful as Spidergirl, but not as Piper. Piper was exposed like a nerve, everything she did was under scrutiny. But right at that moment desperation tinted her threat with something that sounded like truth. The man flinched slightly as she stepped down a bit harder.

"Third floor! Third floor, interrogation cells on the other side of the compound!" She nodded and flipped the gun in her hand and brought the butt of the gun down onto the mans forehead. She nodded as he slumped to the floor and she pulled herself back up into the vents.

Harry sat curled up on the floor of the room. They'd left him alone since they'd made the ransom video, he had tried to fight back but they'd threatened to drag Piper in and slit her throat in front of him if he didn't cooperate. He couldn't let them hurt her and if that meant he had to sit here quietly then that's what he was going to do. But he couldn't help the feeling of dread that curled in his stomach at the whole situation. His head shot up as a scuffle sounded outside. He flinched as he heard gunshots in the hall. There was silence for a moment then the door creaked open. Nothing prepared him for who stepped into the room.

It was Piper, still in her jeans and t shirt, though she looked distinctly more dusty than she had before. Her wrists were bright red, the skin irritated, and there was blood splattered on her shirt and jeans, there was even some on her shoe. He stared at her for a moment before she ran into the room and unlocked his chains with a key she must have taken from someone outside.

"Piper… How?" She shook her head at him, reloading the gun at her side.

"Later, we're not out yet." She grabbed his hand in her left one and dragged him along behind her as alarms began to blare.