Thanks for all the reviews/favs/follows! This is the big rescue chapter! Um to the guest reviewer who wanted the Arrow fic, that's a really cute idea for a fic but I haven't watched a lot of Arrow, I got halfway through the second season last year but I haven't watched much since, I'm sorry but I don't think I'm the one to write your story, good luck though!

It was the fourth day that Tony tracked the sender down. He didn't care about the who so much as the where. Where the emails were being sent from. He tracked the IP address down to a warehouse in New Jersey and that was all he needed to suit up.

He and the rest headed off, Bruce barely keeping the Hulk in check. He thought he would tag along mostly for back up. The whole team wasn't really needed for a few thugs and anyway the sight of the Hulk was usually enough to make anyone pee their pants.

Steve forced his way bodily through the warehouse doors without ever braking stride. He came bursting through to a group of startled thugs and was met with gun fire. Several bullets ricocheted off of his shield as he forced his way up to one of the men and used his whole weight to send the man flying. Tony flew in after him and took out two of them men at once, using a repulser cannon to send them crashing into each other. Thor took out the last with ease and it was only a second later that Bruce lost control and the Hulk was let free. Evidently however the monster had taken a protective interest in the child because he turned his sights on the last conscious man and snarled at him. "Girl." He grunted.

Steve grabbed the man's shirtfront and shook him. "Where is she?"

The man blabbered in Russian and Steve shook him again. "The little girl, Black Widow. Where is she?"

Tony looked around and spotted Clint unconscious and cuffed to a pole. He hurried over and scanned for a pulse. "Looks like they beat him up pretty bad. I'm reading some broken ribs and maybe a concussion."

Steve turned the man so he could see the Hulk fuming outside the warehouse. "You heard about my friend? Well he's not happy and if you don't tell me where she is in the next few seconds I'm gonna let him work some anger out on you."

The man shook and raised a trembling arm to point at the closet. "Good man." Steve said, dropping him rather hard. He stood and strode across to the closet and unlatched the door. Inside was dark and grimy and Natasha sat against the far wall on her bucket. She had a bruise on her cheek and looked wary.

Steve knelt and took her shoulders, looking her over for injury. "I'm fine." She said softly. "Is Clint okay?"

He nodded. "He'll be fine.

She looked up into his eyes and then peered past him. "You saved me."

"I'm not going to let anything happen to you, Natasha."

She looked up at him again and suddenly all of the horrible things she had heard about Captain America just couldn't be true. They just couldn't be. He lead her out and she ran to Clint's side. He was being hauled onto a stretcher by Thor and Tony. They paused long enough for her to stare at Clint's face before moving him on. She looked back at Steve who had followed her and then out the front doors. She wanted out of the warehouse. She didn't think she could take another minute in the dirty place.

She hurried out the doors after them and stopped in her tracks. There was a man waiting outside but he wasn't really a man. He was something else. He was huge and green and he was watching her. She looked up at him wide eyed, sensing danger. He looked down at her, scanning her face and the bruise on her cheek and how she was covered in grime from sleeping on the floor.

His mind didn't make those connections. He wasn't that smart but he understood on base. He knew a bruise meant she had been struck and the dirt meant bad and he had seen Clint and known that he had been beaten and now he wanted to hurt the people responsible. He was simple. Things made him angry and he wanted to fix that.

Natasha looked up at him with wide eyes, not sure what she was seeing. Steve kept a wary eye on them. He never knew what to expect from the Hulk.

Hulk reached out and with surprising gentleness touched her cheek. She reached up and touched his hand. Steve was on edge. The last thing he needed was for the Hulk to slip and hurt her but to his surprised the monster only looked down at her with the closest thing to serene as had ever graced his features. And suddenly the monster was shrinking and Bruce was in his place. Tired and worn looking even though the Hulk hadn't done anything. She looked at him with wide, confused eyes but whatever questions she had she pushed aside and followed the others onto a quin jet.

Back at the tower Tony had Clint dumped in the med lab and Bruce began binding his ribs and cleaning his cuts. Natasha went and took a bath. She scrubbed the grime away and combed her hair, an odd feeling in her chest. She didn't know what to think now. She knew she didn't want to return to the Red Room. She wanted to stay with the Avengers. She liked them and they liked her and that meant that she had betrayed her sisters. She was a failure to the Red Room.

She sat on her bed and tried to sort out her thoughts. She had cried for someone. She had never done that before and now she wanted to stay. To stay where people were kind and good to her. Where she could do the things she wanted and where she had learned to care for others. She hoped Clint was okay. It was her fault he was hurt. They had been after her.

She sighed and went to see how he was doing. She ran into Thor who said that Clint was awake and asking for her. She smiled and took his hand as he lead her to another floor. She had never really been one to take an adult's hand before but she had seen that it was what children were supposed to do and it didn't feel awful. It felt nice when his while hand engulfed hers and she could only hold onto a few fingers.

Clint was sitting up in bed with is arms around his knees talking to Steve and Tony. She hung back and watched him for a moment. He had bandages on his head and chest. She worried that he was seriously hurt but he smiled when he saw her and motioned for her to come near. "I'm glad you're okay." He said.

She didn't ask if it hurt, she knew it must. Instead she asked how bad it hurt.

He shrugged and rolled his eyes. "I've had worse." He caught her worried expression. "Put it this way, I've been in a whole body cast before."

"Why?"
"I kind of fell off a roof after getting beat up."

Steve put a hand to his head as though he as getting a head ache. "Full body casts aren't normally something to brag about."

Clint shrugged. "Just trying to put it in perspective." He reached out a hand and brushed it over her head. "So cheer up. You're okay, right?"

She nodded. A few slaps were nothing, she was tough. She looked him over again, making sure he wasn't lying about being okay. She decided he was telling the truth and sat on the end of his bed. She thought she would make him a card when she got back to her room.

That night they ate dinner quietly, each preoccupied with their own thoughts. Tony was mulling over the new information that Natasha' being a child was public news, Steve was in much the same thought of mind. He was wondering how much time they had before something like this happened again and what they could do to prevent it. Across from him Thor was watching Natasha carefully. She was eating quickly. Glad to have a full stomach again. Bruce was having to help Clint a little. He had two broken fingers from struggling and his wrists were badly cut. He was holding his fork awkwardly and wincing when he moved his wrist. Bruce had a strong feeling he was exaggerating but didn't feel like making him stop. There just wasn't any point to it and Tony had already shot his mouth off, criticizing Clint for letting them get kidnapped. That had ended in a small fight and now everyone was being careful.

After dinner Tony departed for his lab and the rest of them took up seats in the living room. To Natasha it was very good that things returned to normal. She was glad. She was happy to be back and she had a renewed appreciation for the place. She had almost lost it and now to have it back, just the way it had been was almost more than she could believe. She was beginning to feel that she belonged here. It was a nice place with nice people. She was glad to be back and as she sat she became determined to show them her gratitude.

To me this chapter felt a little disjointed but I hope you guys liked it, thanks for reading!