Gavrok reappeared that evening, depositing Natasha back in Clint's cell; once again out of his reach.
She was once more beaten; fresh bruises and cuts covered her body, Clint was sure there would be a few more broken bones, and this time her hands were tightly tied behind her back and she was gagged.
"I thought you wanted information from her, how are you going to get anything if you gag her?" Tony asked angrily under his breath... Something wasn't right with this scenario.
"It became clear to me long ago Agent Romanoff would not reveal her secrets to me, and it appears her Hawk doesn't have the information like I'd hoped"
"So why?" Steve questioned him; he had been silent since Gavrok's revelation that morning.
"I can still have some fun" he smiled
Clint was furious at this, and lashed out; he fought once more against the chains which held him in place
"Now now archer, don't hurt yourself unnecessarily. Your leader may yet save you. All he needs to do is reveal his secrets..." he turned to leave once more, leaving the prospect of a way out hanging in the air.
Steve inhaled deeply; "Is she?"
"She's still breathing. If that's what you were going to ask" Clint answered, sounding harsher than he'd intended. He was furious, but not with their Captain; it wasn't fair that this would all come down on him
"Let's think this through" Tony cut it, noticing the way Clint's shoulders hunched as he realised how mean angry he'd sounded with Steve
"Somehow, this guy got six superheroes here. Had chains and restraints strong enough to hold Thor, sedatives powerful enough to knock out Steve, and some way of containing the Hulk... He wants information on how we became this way; of Natasha's training, my suit, Steve's serum and probably Bruce's radiation experiments"
"Right" Clint agreed, a question lacing his tone
"So he seems pretty willing to give up on three of those things if he can get answers about Steve's serum, why that one in particular?"
"Easy to sell?" Clint question
"It's certainly a lot more instant that Nat's training, more subtle the Hulk or an Iron Man suit..."
"I don't know why he thinks I'd know the answers. I was a soldier, not a scientist" Steve said, once again breaking his silence
The other two men shrugged, and all three were silent