Didn't realise I'd hit 30 chapters! Wow! Thanks to everyone for still following! Reviews are ALWAYS appreciated!
Tony had just put Natasha to bed, he'd read her her favourite book (The Gruffalo) and she was now fast asleep.
When he rejoined the others, he guessed he'd missed something; Jane was still sat in the lounge watching Cars with Clint, but everyone else had gathered in the kitchen area and were talking in hushed tones
"What's going on?" Tony asked, taking the cup of coffee Pepper offered him
"Fury just rang"
"And?"
"We have a mission" Steve sighed, glancing back over to Clint who was oblivious to the secret meeting taking place
"What mission?"
"Some Doombots have taken hostages at the Ukraine Embassy and Fury wants us to go in and get them out, it should be an easy mission, and he reckons we'll be back by tomorrow night but he wants all four of us"
"What about Clint and Natasha?"
"Fury wants us to watch them" Pepper answered, indicating between her, Darcy and Jane
Tony really didn't want to leave, and judging by the look of the others, neither did they. But even with two members down; they were still the Avengers.
"When do we leave?" Tony asked
Steve checked his watch; "Quinjet will be here in about five minutes, suit up Stark"
No one had noticed Natasha appear in the kitchen until they turned to leave
"Why are you leaving?" Natasha asked, taking a step forward and gripping Tony's hand in both of hers
"We just have to go to work for a little while" he explained
"But it's night time"
"Sometimes we have to work at night time Tasha, but we'll be back tomorrow" he told her, kneeling down to be at eye level with the little girl
"Please don't go" she asked sadly, clinging just a little tighter to his hand
Tony picked her up; "Come on Tasha, it's past you bedtime"
"Do you want me to take her?" Darcy asked, "The jet will be here in a minute"
"No it's okay, it can wait"
Tony took Natasha back to bed, explaining why it was important that he went away and reassuring her she'd be safe here with Pepper, Jane and Darcy. Then he waited for her to fall asleep until he went to change into his suit.
Steve explained to Clint that they had to go away;
"But what if someone comes to take us away?"
"Clint-"
"But what if the monsters come?"
"Clint-"
"And what if we get hurt?"
"Clint, you will be fine" Steve said quickly before he could be interrupted again
Clint glanced to Jane, who nodded in agreement, and he relented; "Okay Steve"
"I need you to promise to be good, and help take care of Natasha?"
"I promise" he agreed
Steve ruffled Clint's hair before leaving him to finish his movie
Thor kissed Jane goodbye and Tony promised Pepper he'd be careful before the four superheroes headed to the roof to board the jet (which had only been waiting almost an hour)
XxX
Later that night Natasha woke with a start; her nightmares, for the first time, hadn't centered around the Red Room and everything they had put her through, instead she'd dreamed about Tony and the team; hurt and injured, and she couldn't shake the images from her head.
She crawled from her bed, dragging her stuffed penguin with her, and wondered down the hallway to Pepper's room
"Pepper?" ... "Pepper?" she called from the doorway, but go no answer. She climbed up onto the bed to nudge her, but she still wouldn't wake
"Pepper!" Natasha said again, shaking her shoulders but once again she didn't stir. Natasha started to get worried now, so climbed back down off the bed to go get Clint; he'd know what to do, he always knew what to do
But before she reached their room, she heard a commotion coming from inside, heard Clint shouting before a man dragged Clint out into the hallway. He was shouting and fighting, but the man had too good of a hold on him. Natasha turned to run back into Pepper's room and hide since the man dragging Clint away hadn't noticed her yet, but as she turned she ran right into another man who'd snuck up behind her
"There you are little girl" he said as he reaching out to grab her, a heavy German accent tainting his words
"Tasha! Run" Clint shouted, as the man who had him tightened his grip on the struggling boy
Natasha kicked him and dived through his legs, running down the hallway to the spare rooms were Darcy and Jane had been staying
"Darcy! Jane! Wake up! Please wake up!" she shouted as she shook them, but they didn't stir either
Pounding footsteps echoed down the hallway as the man followed her
Natasha managed to scramble under the bed just as the door flew open
"Come on out little girl, do not make this harder than it needs to be"
Natasha was trembling under the bed, terrified and alone as a large strong hand wrapped itself around her ankle and pulled her out from her hiding place
She screamed as he dragged her out from under the bed, but there was no one there to hear it. The man offered her a wicked grin, before holding a piece of cloth over her nose and mouth until she passed out.
Clint was still trying to fight off the guy that had hold of him, when he saw the other man strolling back down the hallway carrying an unconscious Natasha
"What did you do to her?" he shouted
"The same thing we're gonna do to you if you don't behave" one of the men warned, leaning right in close to Clint's face and speaking in a low, angry tone
"They're gonna make you pay for this" Clint told him confidentially
"Who is? They left you remember" he smirked
"Davros! We found it!" came a voice over the radio
"Good, grab it and let's get out of here!" he replied before turning to the man who still held Natasha; "Mayer! Load the kids into the jet, I'll help the others with the machine and we can get out of here before the Avengers return"
Mayer grabbed Clint by the arm and dragged him up to the roof were a small plane waited. He threw Clint into a holding cell at the back of the plane, before dumping Natasha in the same cell and slamming the door shut, locking it.
Clint slumped to the floor and pulled Natasha into his lap as he felt the jet power up and take off;
"I'm sorry Tasha, I promised I'd keep you safe" he whispered to the unconscious girl as he stroked the hair from her face.