Monday

Thor:

Thor woke up to his alarm and immediately checked under his bed for his brother. When he saw Loki he let out a sigh and looked at his brother sleeping although he did not look peaceful. His arms were crossed over his chest, with a guarded look on his face and his body tense. The sight made Thor a little sad, thinking of his brother out there all these years and forcing to be on guard even in his sleep. He prayed that those days were over.

He swung out of bed and got ready for the first day back to school since finding his brother. What would he tell everyone else? What about Jane? She was always supportive of him finding his brother but what about when she finds out that he was a murder? What would she do? Questions swirled in his head and made him lightheaded.

"See you've just grown while I was gone." Thor looked over his shoulder and saw Loki getting out from under the bed. Thor grinned and put on a black jacket over his red shirt, he had grown a lot since Loki last saw him. His hair was long enough to put in a small ponytail, he had grown at least 4 inches and his jaw had finally set in its hard square position.

"See you're charm hasn't faded brother," Thor laughed a bit, it was nice to laugh with him again.

"Has the prison changed?" Loki sat up on the bed and referred to the school.

"Still cold, disgusting food, and unfriendly people," Thor returned with a smile. "What are you planning on doing today?"

"Not go back to that place that's for sure," Loki said while flopping on the bed. Thor didn't blame him, missing two years of school and then having to go back to a school where almost everyone thinks you are a drug dealing weirdo was not the most tempting offer. "I don't know honestly; maybe go see mother and father…" Loki paused and lifted his head to see what Thor would say but Thor didn't let his emotions show themselves. He didn't know how he felt about that- sure it would cause them joy but at the same time if they ever found out the truth it could destroy them.

"Loki, I kept my promise to you- they still think you went to find you biological parents." Thor didn't use the word 'real' or 'true' because even if he was actually finding his biological parents they weren't the ones who put Loki through school, they didn't cloth him, feed him or love him.

"Thank you for that Thor, really truly thank you." Loki said. "How did they all take it?" his voice was filled with sad curiosity. Thor gripped his dresser and thought about the most painful time in his life. Loki did need to know about the sadness that he had caused.

"Who do you want to start with?" Thor was suddenly filled with bitterness, not anger but just he wanted Loki to feel guilty for leaving them. "How about with Sif who cried for 3 days and didn't go to school, or what about Ragnarok, Fandral and Hogun who blamed themselves for teasing you? They all thought it was their fault. What about mother who didn't come out of her room and thought she was a failure as a mother and tried everything to get you home? Or even father who mourned for you and couldn't look at himself because he regretted the way he treated you. And what about me Loki? I didn't go to school for a week, for a month I didn't even care what happened to me. That whole year I blamed myself for being a horrible brother, I lost you and you didn't even think about what your leaving would do to me." Thor tried to keep his voice as quiet as he could without causing any alarm, but he kept it cold and stern. He stared at his shoes not looking at Loki. "That's your task- think about your actions and what they did to your family. I don't care if you leave this house, but I trust you will come back- don't break my trust in you." Thor grabbed his backpack out of the corner of his room walked out his room and slammed the door without a second look at Loki. Sif and Hogun looked at him funny as they went down the hall towards the stairs but didn't say anything. They knew Thor had his moments when he would just yell in his room when he felt especially depressed about Loki, little did they know that Thor was actually talking to him.

He ran downstairs grabbed three protein bars and ran out the door. He couldn't face his parents right now- he only wanted to see Jane. He walked his way to school while munching on the bars and made it to school with only 5 minutes before the final bell. He sat down without looking at anyone else in the room, however Jane came over and propped herself beside him in her usual spot.

"Hey how did Saturday go? You never told me." She asked. Why did she have to be so curious- then again, he fell in love with that part of her.

"Um, I'll tell you later." Was all that Thor could manage out. Jane could obviously tell he wasn't in the mood to talk; she just opened up her mythology and stuck her nose into to. Thor didn't pay attention through the rest of the class.

As soon as class ended everyone rushed out of the room but Jane who held Thor back and waited for the teacher to leave.

"Ok, explain now!" she demanded.

"I… found him." Thor manage to speak out.

"That's great news Thor, I'm so happy for you!" She ran up and hugged him that he did not return. She pulled back and looked at him knowing that he usually loved her hugs. "What's wrong?"

"He's not the same Jane," he tried to keep his voice from cracking from the anxiety building in his chest.

"Well I wouldn't expect him to be," Jane said and Thor finally did look up at her with a confused look on his face. "I mean, he was gone for 2 years Thor, leaving his family, friends, everything he just dropped and went on his own. You don't just go through something like that and not come out a different person. Just like you're not the same person you were before Loki left. You just have to accept him for who is now, and who he will be in 5 years." Thor looked at the face that always gave him the best advice. He finally returned her hug.

"Thank you Jane," he whispered into her hair, he jumped as the bell rang for the 5 minute warning until your next class and released her. "I always loved your advice," he kissed the top of her head and with that he dashed out of the room to his next class sadden by the fact that he had no more classes with Jane. He went up 2 floors and entered his Government class that he luckily had with Clint and Steve. As soon as he walked in the door he could see Steve and Clint were talking about something serious so he went over to see what their tense body language was about.

"What's the matter friends?" Thor sat down beside Steve opposite of Clint.

"Nat's not here today," Clint fiddled with his black pen.

"And how is that a big concern, couldn't she just be sick or have something else to do? Natasha is not the most eager to go to school. Why don't you just call her?" Thor asked Clint. He noticed Steve was also acting a little twitchy.

"She left her phone at my house so I can't call her and I went over there today to pick her up since I got my bike back yesterday but she's not there- no one is." Even her mom-were the words unspoken between them. Her mom was almost always there and even if she wasn't she was nearby in bars, but never this early in the day. "I even climbed up the tree to see if she was there just sleeping in, but she wasn't there." Clint seemed nervous, like he had a gut feeling something was wrong. Steve opened his mouth to speak but then their teacher called them out.

"Are you boys having a nice time talking through the lesson?" Mr. Waver gave them an evil eye.

"No sir," Steve answered politely like he always did, Clint and Thor just turned to the board without saying a word. Thor could guess Clint didn't focus on the class either.

Clint:

Clint couldn't focus on the lesson about the secret agencies that the government had, his mind was on Nat. He had learned he had her phone just about an hour after she left when he tried to text her, he meant to give it back to her but never had the chance between picking up his bike from the shop, going grocery shopping, homework and practice; he regretted it now.

He had gone to her house to give her a ride on his newly fixed but after knocking on the door and throwing rocks at her window and her not coming he knew something was up. He silently went up her personal tree and went into her room. Most guys would take the opportunity to go through her things but he just wanted to find Nat. He dared to walk down her stairs and didn't see anyone but he did smell something strong in the house- bleach. This usually wouldn't be a problem in a normal house, but he knew Nat's mom never did laundry since she's been doing it herself since she was 10 and even if her mom did do the laundry she wouldn't have the brains to their bleach properly. The only time he could recall was when her mom spilled the bleach everywhere in their basement when he was over there once and their house smelled chemically for the next week.

However when he didn't find her or her parents he called her dad, went to voicemail since he was working most likely. But he did leave a message for him.

Hi Mr. Romanoff, I was just wondering where Natasha because she's not at your house and neither is your wife. I don't know what that means to you but I don't like the idea of that. Please if you know where Nat is please text me since I'm going to school. I just want her to be safe.

When he came to school and she still didn't arrive his mind couldn't focus on anything else except for where she was. Her phone laid heavy in his backpack and he cursed himself for not giving it to her when she left. His phone suddenly vibrated but no one heard except Steve who gave him a side look. Clint slowly slid his phone out of his deep jean pockets and quickly put it in his sleeve waiting for his opportunity to read it.

"Now please and go and discuss in your groups what secret agencies are the most dangerous to our normal lives and what secrets they may be keeping from us." And when Mr. Waver said this Clint quickly turned to Steve and Thor and they knew their normal drill when one of them had to check their phone. Thor and Steve opened their text books beside each other and would give Clint the signal if the teacher was coming behind him, Clint laid his phone on his notebook and looked who the text was from- Mr. Romanoff. Clint's heart felt like it was going to throw up. He opened the text and made sure he was taking in every word that it said:

Clint, I'm sorry I didn't back to you sooner. No, I have no idea where my wife or Natasha is. I bet they are just having a girls' day out- my wife has been getting better lately and she wants to reconnect with her. She would never hurt Nat, although I thank you for looking out for her.

Clint's body went cold. He didn't know about the abuse- he didn't know about Nat running over to his house in the middle of the night with cuts on her body, he didn't know about how she passed off bruises off as kick boxing accidents to everyone else, but Clint could see through it. But he didn't know where either of them where- she was definitely in trouble. He didn't even notice Steve and Thor giving him the signal that Mr. Waver was right behind him.

"You should be more discreet about using your phone in class Mr. Barton- I'll have your phone now." Mr. Waver stuck out his hand to make Clint give over his phone but he refused. He wasn't going to let this sad excuse for an educator order him when Nat was in trouble.

"I think not," Clint replied in a cold voice. The feeling that something was wrong in his gut was now impossible to ignore.

"Excuse me?" his teacher replied in a husky voice.

"I said no," Clint stood up and faced his teacher that was a good 3 inches shorter than him. "See you didn't know because you don't give one shit about your students but my girlfriend, Natasha Romanoff- you know her right? In your 4th period class? Well see her home life sucks but the school wouldn't know that because they just want us to graduate so they don't have to deal with us anymore. You don't care about us, you don't care that Natasha is missing and she may be in serious trouble and I'm not going to let you- an old man who doesn't give a shit about what he's teaching tell me to put away my phone. I just got a text saying that her dad doesn't know where either she or her mom is and that has me worried. So, I'm going to calmly walk out of your class and I don't care if you suspend me or expel me for standing up for something that is important to me. Screw off Mr. Waver." Clint gave a speech, and walked out of the class before the teacher could get another word out. He walked down the hall and heard feet running up behind him and saw Steve and Thor running towards him. "You guys know that if you support me on this it could cause big trouble for you guys?" Clint warned his friends.

"We know, and hey she may be your girlfriend but she's also our friend," Steve said and gestured to both him and Thor. "We're going to help you find her. Just sent out a text to the gang and got them coming on to." Steve smiled.

"Steve Rogers? Breaking the rules and texting in class, why this is a day!" Clint joked with him a bit.

"I also contacted Pepper, Darcy, Peggy, and Jane- we will all meet in the courtyard in 10 minutes and go and find Natasha." Thor added in. Clint did the math quickly in his head.

"Ok so we'll have 9 people looking for her, which should be enough to make sure we don't miss anything." Clint had hope in his heart that he prayed wasn't going to be destroyed.

They all were in their cars by 12:30. Clint was on his bike while Steve, Peggy, Pepper (who Clint was just told that she and Tony made up and now were going out just minutes prior) were all in Tony's car while Bruce, Darcy, Thor and Jane all squeezed into Bruce's craptastic car.

They all decided that they were going to split into 2 groups- Clint, Steve, Tony, Peggy and Pepper were going to go over to Nat's house to see if they could find anything that might be a clue to find her. Thor, Bruce, Darcy and Jane were going to the gym to see if Hank knew anything about her disappearance. Clint was tempted to say 'autobots role out' as they all drove out of the parking lot put decided against it because he knew if Nat was here she would have smacked him up the head. They waved as the other group drove to the gym and Clint led his group over to Nat's house. She had always protested from anyone coming over to her house because she hated it but Clint knew it was necessary. They rolled up to her house and he showed them the way into her house up the tree. After they all were in her room he explained them what to look for.

"Just anything that might suggest a location, plane receipts, maps, even dirt is ok." Clint tried to explain, hell even he didn't have an idea of what they should be looking for. They all nodded and went downstairs and looked through everything. Through the piles of papers on the counters, sticky notes by the phone, just junk everywhere in the house. The smell of bleach was still strong and burned his nose, curiosity got the best of him (like it usually does) and he went and searched for the smell.

He went down the hall until he knew he had reached the area where it had been poured. He looked around- nothing unusual. Piles of shit everywhere, a hallway mirror, an empty beer bottle, a broken one, shattered pieces of glass on the ground. This worried Clint a bit and he bent down to the floor to get a better look. He picked up the broken bottle and noticed something not normal at the end of it. It was dried and dark and he couldn't smell it over the mixture of alcohol and bleach so he licked it and almost threw up at the taste. Well it wasn't the taste itself it was what the taste reviled to him that wanted to make him throw up. He looked at the rug and noticed a huge stain and he knew it was the same thing that was on the bottle. Tony came rushing it and saw Clint on his hands and knees breathing hard.

"Hey we couldn't find anything- hey dude, what's wrong. Clint talk to me." Tony squatted down next to him. Clint felt like his throat was going to close up.

"It's blood," he could barely mumble.

"Wait- what?" Tony shook his head and leaned in closer to hear him.

"It's blood, not that old. It's blood Tony." Clint lifted up his head to look at a sickened Tony. It could have been from anything, from anytime but the pieces were forming in his mind. Blood on a bottle, plus the smell of bleach, plus Nat and her mom missing only meant one thing- Nat was hurt and her mom was responsible for it.

Clint ran outside to the fresh air and breathed in deep. He felt like the entire universe was putting pressure on his chest. His heart began to beat faster and harder his eyes began to go in and out of focus- he fell to his hands and knees on the grass in the front yard. Tony came running after him.

"Clint- Clint can you hear me? Breathe man, just breathe get you're breathing in check." Tony bent down and talked to him. "You're having a panic attack- I've had them before. It'll go away- just clear your mind man." Clint's breathing started slowing down but was still really fast. "I know they suck man- but just close out the world. Fill every part of your lungs with air and just let it out." Tony talked to Clint and he was grateful. They had a rough start in their relationship when Tony kept flirting with Nat but they've moved on since then. Clint finally got up but kept his head hung.

"I can't lose her, Tony. I can't." Clint breathed more deeply. "We have to find her."

"And we will Clint," Tony gave an encouraging smile. "I swear on my arc that we will." Tony tried to put a little humor. Clint nodded his head. Clint suddenly jumped a little when his phone started vibrating in his pocket. He pulled it out and answered it and was surprised by who was on the other line.

Clint: "Hello?"

Mr. Romanoff: "Hey Clint, its Ray. I just got a call from the police station saying that my wife is there. She ran into a street lamp drunk and is now there. I need you to go down there and see what happened. If you are the man my daughter says you are then you will help me out and go see what happened. She kept mumbling Natasha's name." Mr. Romanoff said in almost one breath into the phone.

Clint: "I will, what station is she at?"

Mr. Romanoff: "The one on 22nd Street. And thank you Clint- I'm glad it was you that made Natasha you're friend." And with that he hung up the phone.

"Who was that?" Tony asked saw the shocked looked on his face.

"Nat's dad, we need to go. Get the others and meet me down at the police station on 22nd street. Call the ones at the gym and tell them to get down there too." Clint ordered Tony as he ran over to his bike and put on his helmet.

"What the hell Clint?" Tony called after him.

"Nat's mom was just found driving drunk and taken to the police station and knows something about Nat. I have to get down there!" Clint yelled as he drove off into the street. He saw Tony run inside just as he turned the corner. He raced down the street way above the speed limit since he was about 20 minutes away and didn't want to miss any more time.

The next minutes were a blur of weaving in and out of traffic, beeping, stopping, and speeding off until he found himself at the police station. He stopped his bike, parked it and got off all in one swift movement and fell through the doors of the police station and ran up to the desk panting.

"I'm here to talk to an Amy Romanoff. She was just taken in for drunk driving," Clint panted out to the reception lady- a young, bigger but beautiful lady.

"Are you of 18 years of age?" She asked without looking up from her computer she was noisily tapping on her keyboard.

"Yes," Clint turned 18 in July.

"Are you of immediate family?" She asked again chomping on her gum.

"Might as well be," Clint said and then immediately regretted it.

"I'm sorry but if you are immediate family I cannot allow you to and get the person you came for." She sounded like it was rehearsed. Clint suddenly got frustrated.

"Look, lady," He slammed his hand on the counter and finally got the lady to look at him. "That woman in there is a monster and a drunk. She knows about her daughter- my girlfriend, and what happened to her. Her husband wanted me to come down and get her, please." Clint pleaded.

"You seem like nice boy," the lady said to him. "I'll just say you're the step son, but don't make me regret this." She said and went in the back he guessed to get Nat's mom. He was grateful for the woman's kindness. She came back a few seconds later with Nat's mom being pulled behind her. "I'll need you to fill out some forms. Her blood alcohol level was just under the limit so you're lucky." And she handed him a clipboard, he picked up a pen and sat down beside Amy and started filling it out.

"Stupid kid, goddamn kid." She mumbled. Clint's ears perked suddenly, he put the unfinished paperwork on the table beside him.

"Mrs. Romanoff, where's Natasha?" He said very direct and forcefully.

"Gone, she's not well…" She slurred her drunken words together.

"What happened? Where did you take her?" Clint said a little louder and put his hands on her shoulders to get her to look at him.

"That little… slut." She laughed. "You're never going to find her." She laughed. This woman wasn't just a drunk, she was bat-shit crazy, and she didn't care about Nat. She never did, Mr. Romanoff was blind to the fact his wife was now a monster and didn't care about anyone but herself.

"What?" Clint whispered only to her. He felt his hands tighten on her shoulders. Suddenly his friends burst in and saw him talking with Nat's mom.

"She's not coming back, you can't find her. She's gone." She giggled like a little girl. Clint didn't just snap- he broke. He was always taught as a gentleman but not to people like this horrible excuse for a woman. He threw her on the ground.

"GO ROT IN HELL YOU FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT! YOU ARE NOT WORTH ANYTHING! YOU DON'T DESERVE ANYTHING YOU HAVE!" he screamed Nat's mom, did she even deserve that title? Mothers were supposed to be caring; this woman didn't give two shits about Natasha. Natasha's burden was more of her title. He saw two police guards running at him but he pushed past his group of friends who were all standing wide eyed and open mouth staring at him. He got on his bike and sped off. He didn't care where he was going- he didn't know what to do anymore.

He went to the only place where he could think- him and Nat's secret fort in a small patch of woods just behind their houses. Contrary to what most non-New Yorkers believe, New York City did have some trees and grass- just a little, but it was there. They had built this cruddy little fort when they were 12 and a house was being demolished so that's where they got all the wood. He was up on his perch overlooking everything he could, but it didn't give him the usual calmness that it did. He didn't know what to do, he thought of every possible scenario that could have led to this. But he knew what actually happened, not every single detail- but the general idea. Nat had come home and her and her mom had gotten into a fight where her mom pulled a broken beer bottle and hurt Natasha, then drove off and dumped her somewhere. Nat always said Clint was good at deductions. Since he had been taking some crime electives offered at the school he thought of anything that could give him a clue to where Nat's mom took her. Took her body. The words scrapped through his mind like running nails down a chalkboard- it made him shutter. But he knew Nat was alive- she was much too tough to let herself die.

He thought of the numerous times Nat had hurt herself but had refused to go get help. The time she fell out of a tree and cut a gash in her leg, they just went back to Clint's house, got some gauze and wrapped it up themselves.The times where Nat had been bruised but just brushed it off as something minor. The time she broke her hand at their cabin and refused to leave to get it fixed. Her cabin. The location seemed to hold its own, could her mom have really taken her there? Nat's cabin was about an hour and a half drive from here and Clint only went there a handful of times- it was a crappy cabin with a river running in the back of it that he and Nat would play in. He thought and thought about the possibility that Nat could be there- still alive. It was his best bet; he finally pulled out his phone and saw it was blowing up with text messages from his friends.

Tony: Dude what the hell?

Steve: Clint what the hell was that? Their questioning us about you now.

Missed Call from Bruce

Pepper: Clint, where's Natasha?

He finally just called Thor, because he knew he would pick up- it rang only once before Thor picked up.

Thor: "Clint, what happened here? Why did you throw Natasha's mother down?"

Clint: "I don't have time to explain, just know that Nat's mom is insane and can't be trusted- she hurt Nat." Clint let the words sink in.

Thor: "They're questioning us one by one about you. Everyone agreed that you were just a friend from school that we really didn't know." Clint was grateful for his friends not ratting him out.

Clint: "Ok Thor, I think I know where Nat is. Leave like 4 people there to watch Nat's mom and make sure she doesn't leave and to see if she says anything helpful ok?"

Thor: "I will tell the others."

Clint: "Meet me at my house as fast as you can."

Thor: "Already out the door." And he hung up.

Clint ran back to his house and burst through the door and ran to his room without missing a running beat. He tore through anything that might help them find Nat or help them when they find her. Or her dead body. He cursed himself for letting the thoughts in his head- they almost seemed like they weren't his. He grabbed a small backpack and put in his pocket knife, a first aid kit he and his brother for some reason had (however it only contained a couple of band aids, a drop left of rubbing alcohol and gauze that was fraying everywhere), he also took a an extra jacket, a bottle of water and a picture that Nat's dad took of them at their cabin so he could use it as a location reference. He looked at the picture before stuffing it in his pocket.

They were both standing about shin deep in the river with their bathing suits on- they looked about 13 but Clint couldn't tell. He was his favorite black shorts with purple strips on the side with his hair newly cut; he had his arm around Nat. She looked dashing in in her black and red bathing suit and curved in all the right placed. She had never been a twig but she was fit, her dark brownish red hair was just below her shoulders and was visibly wet and she had on her picture smile. He was 3 inches taller than her but she never minded that. Watch over me my little bird. She would joke to him but Clint took it seriously- he was always supposed to watch over her, and he failed this time. The pain struck his chest and finally forced himself to stuff the picture in his pocket and ran out of his room and his house. He got on to his bike and readied himself for when his friends showed up. He only waited about 3 minutes until he saw Tony's car pull up the street and to his curb.

"I might now where Nat is, follow me and keep up." He yelled over the sound of his bike and the car. He saw inside was Thor, Tony, Steve and Bruce which meant they left the girls with Mrs. Romanoff. Hopefully if they just have girl to girl talk it will make her say something useful. Tony nodded and Clint revved up his bike and drove down the street with Tony on his heels. Thank god for his memory because he knew how to get to the cabin and hopefully a little over an hour wouldn't be too late for Nat.