A/N: Well...I've survived the suicide of someone who was family minus the blood relations to me. I survived hurricane Sandy. Time to get the next chapter out!
Oh, and I finally fixed the summary and genres! :D
Time to pick up the pace, y'all! -Taco
The next morning, everyone had waited to start breakfast until Tony joined them. Tony had been showing later and later, so they had expected to wait, at least for a little while.
They attempted idle chit-chat, just enough to stop silence from creeping in, but not so much as to allow anyone to express what they felt better left unspoken.
Clint pokes the pancakes with his finger. Steve was about to say something about that, but Clint offered, "They've gotten cold."
"Have we really been waiting for him that long?" Bruce asked, checking his watch, "Hmn. Seems we have."
The anxious air that had passed as barely noticeable before intensified.
I could touch the emotions as if they tangible, Thor thought while attempting to figure what to say.
"Jarvis, where is Tony?" Steve asked the ceiling.
Silence.
Steve waited just under a minute, then repeated, "Jarvis? Where is Tony?"
Silence.
"Uh, guys," Bruce started. The other three looked at him, silently pleading not to start panicking. Bruce cleared his throat, "I think I can get us into his lab."
Everybody stood up. Bruce understood he was to lead, just for a little while.
Thor exchanged a quick glance with Steve as they filed out of the room. Steve just shook his head.
Bruce had, indeed, managed to get into the lab. He'd been prepared to put quite a bit of effort into doing so. Everyone was surprised when the door swung open when Bruce touched it.
"Did the door usually open that way?" Clint asked.
"Not without at least two clearances, depending on how paranoid Tony was about whatever project he had going on," Bruce said, anxiety creeping into his tone.
"Let's look around," Steve suggested, effectively herding the others into the lab.
Clint started on the far side of the lab, almost immediately finding Tony's collection of empty liquor bottles.
Bruce and Steve started at opposing corners, leafing through notebooks, papers, and anything else Tony had left out.
Thor shuffled around, a bit bewildered by the technology. He had seen advanced technology before, but nothing quite like what the lab held.
"This was bad," Clint noted, starting to collect the empty bottles into a pile.
"Worse than I though,t hat's for sure," Steve called, mentally kicking himself for not being able to move faster.
"Anyone find anything?" Bruce asked, more for appearances than hopes of an answer.
Once again, the four met each other with silence.
It was Thor who had managed to find something first. He had heard one of the computers humming with electrical current, despite appearing off. He shook it gently, and it had sprung to life.
Initially, the four had stood, frozen, hoping nothing was about to self-destruct.
"Sirs!" Jarvis' voice rang out, "Thank goodness you're reactivated me!"
"Re...activated?" Clint spoke first.
"Mister Stark deactivated me after he returned from supper last night. Almost directly after Miss Potts had informed him she had to leave on a business trip."
"Why?" Steve asked, realizing after he spoke that the AI had probably planned on explaining everything, anyways.
"I am unsure exactly what occurred while I was not active, but he may have fled the area, most likely 'off the grid,' so to speak," Jarvis explained.
"Why?" Steve asked again, idly wondering if he was going to get into a habit of asking the same question to the AI twice.
"If you will give me a moment, I can retrieve the e-mail that seems to have unhinged Mister Stark."
The four exchanged glances again, even more anxious than their previous glances had been.
This ain't good, though Clint, Unhinged?
If it unhinged Tony, how will I react? Bruce asked himself, not really wanting an answer. Even the smell of moonshine and grape Kool-Aid was preferable to the fear I smell right now.
Steve looked over what was left of 'his' team, schooling his expression into confident leadership. Thor frowned, both at the situation that could not mean any good and at the weight Steve was trying to shoulder before the man could even balance himself.
"Would you like for me to read the message aloud?" Jarvis broke the silence.
Steve glanced around again before answering, "Just summarize it, please."
"It is an electronic letter demanding the identities of the Avengers. If he were to comply, the names would be run as free-to-use material. However, if he refuses to comply, the author of the letter has threatened to blackmail several key companies from partnership with Stark Industries."
Once again, the four stared at each other in silence. Steve found himself briefly missing the comfortable silence while waiting for the elevator.
"Why would that set Tony off?" Clint offered. The other three looked confused, so he continued, "When has Tony ever NEEDED anyone else? And when have threats ever bothered him?"
"If I may interject, sir, Mister Stark needs his fellow Avengers," Jarvis stated, "and in his drunken state, I do not believe his rationale would have been at its best."
Steve had expected silence again while that sentiment set in. Need. Tony needed them.
"Bruce?" Thor's voice cut into Steve's thoughts, "Bruce, are you alright?"
Thor's question was met with ragged breathing and a sight they had become uncomfortably familiar with on the hellicarrier.
"Jarvis, alert S.H.I.E.L.D.. NOW!" Clint shouted.
Chaos had not erupted in full. Bruce had not "Hulked out" as Clint had called it, but he had been taken into S.H.I.E.L.D. custody for observation.
Steve had tried to talk him out of going in, but Bruce had insisted. "For everyone's safety," he had explained, "I don't want everyone dealing with a missing team member while another destroys the last sanctuary we have."
Clint, Steve, and Thor returned to the lab after Bruce left. Their shared anxiety was slowly being replaced by a sort of tension they could not pin with words, but could feel as much as anything else they had felt that morning.
Jarvis attempted to apologize, but Clint assured him it wasn't his fault.
What have things come to when flesh-and-blood needs to assure a very fancy computer program? Clint wondered.
"Is there anything else we should know? To try to find Tony," Clint asked Jarvis.
"He made a cash withdraw of twenty-three thousand, five hundred and eighteen dollars and ninety-six cents at five-seventeen this morning."
"Cash?" Clint asked at the same time Steve exclaimed, "This morning!?"
"Affirmative to both," Jarvis confirmed.
'Well, there goes a paper trail," Steve sighed, dejected.
"Jarvis, did he take any of the cars?" Clint asked.
"Negitive, sir."
"Jarvis," Thor spoke up, causing the two men to jump slightly, "Can you get into the city's security footage and see if Anthony was caught on any of them?"
"Excellent suggestion, sir. Please give me a moment while I attempt as such."
Tony had last been spotted at Newark International Airport, boarding a plane headed for Atlanta. He had paid entirely in cash, and from what could be gleaned, everything in his carry-on had been purchased since he'd fled.
Tony had not been seen exiting the plane.
"He had to have changed his appearance while he was on the flight," Clint offered.
"Most likely," Thor agreed.
"Someone has to search for him," Steve said, "And we can't send anybody from S.H.I.E.L.D.. Not after Phil."
Clint grimaced, and then spoke up, "I'm going to go find him."
"Clint..." Steve started, but Clint stood taller and straighter.
"I'm going. It's my fault, anyways." The words had slipped out before he could stop them. He didn't want to retract them, exactly. Soften them, maybe. But it was his inability to mind tact that had gotten him into this mess, he felt.
Steve opened his mouth to argue, but Thor placed a hand on Steve's shoulder. Steve's expression softened a bit.
"Let's go get your bags together and figure out how we're going to do this," Steve nodded, leading the way out of the lab.
Clint had packed two carry-on bags. He had agreed to inform Fury of his search after his plane landed in Georgia. They had called a taxi to take him to the airport from a Starbucks a few blocks away. They had been finishing up their coffees when the taxi pulled up.
Clint shook both of their hands and got into the cab.
"Good luck," Steve had said to him as the door shut.
On the walk back to the tower, Steve had asked to take a longer route. Thor agreed, sensing Steve's reluctance to return to the tower.
They passed several memorial shrines on their route.
"None of these were mine," Thor said, indicating the shelters over all of the shrines they passed. Steve simply nodded.
Silence remained their companion as they entered the tower and took the elevator up.
"Shall we find a movie to take our mind off things?" Thor asked at the elevator doors shut.
Steve looked at Thor, blinked a bit longer than a standard blink, and snapped a little.
"How can you say something like that? After everything of the last few days – first Natasha, then Tony, then Bruce, now Clint? After we're the only ones not doing anything? We're supposed to just be idle and watch movies and shut out the rest of the world?" Steve hadn't realized he was yelling until he stopped and saw the hurt in Thor's eyes. Thor blinked, and the hurt was gone, replaced by something Steve couldn't puzzle out.
"Steven, I..." Thor paused, searching for the words he wanted. Before he found the words, though, Steve collapsed into Thor. "Steven?"
Thor felt Steve's shoulders shake. It took the demigod a moment to realize the man was crying. He spun around slowly, pressing the elevator button that would take them to the living room. As the elevator jolted to life, Thor placed his arms around his teammate, attempting to remember what he could of Asgardian methods of comfort.
When the elevator doors opened, Thor lead Steve to the couch so they could both sit down. He couldn't tell if Steve was aware of where they were going, but the man didn't complain.
Thor sat them both down on the couch. Steve was still crying. Not as badly as in the elevator, but Thor could tell.
"I'm sorry," Steve said finally, seeming to just realize Thor was...holding him? What am I doing?
"There is no cause for apologies, Steven," Thor attempted a smile. I have never seen him appear so vulnerable.
"You didn't deserve that," Steve's frown deepened. He needed to feel he was wrong, Thor could tell.
"Perhaps not, but I know more than I had ever cared to learn about what it means to unleash one's temper on those one cares about most," Thor explained.
"Oh my god, Thor, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean..." Steve stammered. Thor filled in the unsaid words as best he could.
"I was not speaking of Loki. I was speaking of myself."
Silence crept in again, less threatening this time. Steve mentally noted that Thor had not let go of him.
Taking a deep breathe, the super soldier allowed himself to get comfortable against the demigod. The man swore he could feel the deity smile as he settled in.
"Jarvis, pick an appropriate movie," Steve called out.
"Of course, sir!" Jarvis chirped. Thor mused he could hear relief and hope in the AI's voice.
"Thank you, Steven," Thor whispered.
"Thank you, Thor," Steve replied. I'm too tired to fight right now. He's right. We need the break.
Jarvis had picked Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
Steve hadn't moved from under Thor's arm. Neither of them seemed to mind.
As the movie played, Steve fell asleep. Thor bit back a laugh for fear of waking the man.
"Take care of yourself, Steven," Thor whispered to the sleeping man, "The Avengers need you." And for this moment of what may be weakness, I'll allow myself to admit that I need you.
A/N: Well? WELL? :p
No, seriously. Feedback is quite welcome. I'm getting nervous about this one. D: