Clint's POV

Punch, punch, jab, spin and kick.

Repeat.

The sound of panting bounced off the gym walls as I leaned against the wall and watch Taylor take her anger out on a defenseless punching after a particularly hard mission with an insane guy who had a ray gun and was holding his younger brother hostage.

I had promised Tony that I would keep an eye on Taylor while she blew off her own steam in the lab. Natasha was at the range mutilating targets, Steve was boxing with his own punching bag, Bruce was meditating, and Thor had just…wandered off.

I was here, watching Taylor beat the living daylights out of a punching bag. If anybody asks, I was not watching her butt.

I wait until she finally stops for a moment, leaning against the bag and sweating like a dog, before walking over with a sports bottle and a towel. "Here."

She just nods. Neither of us have to say much, because we're both angry and tired and frustrated and-

"Thanks, hawk." she sends me a small smile, and I just quirk my lips up. "You want a go at the bag?"

I ponder my options for a moment. "No, I'm good. I'll go find some live targets at the gym later."

She smirks. "You do that, I'll be watching you kick their puny gym-rat, health nut butts."

I laugh and take her towel, tossing both hers and mine in the plastic laundry hamper in the corner.

Taylor rolls her eyes and turns for the showers to un-stick her athletic shirt and shorts while I grab our bags and head for the door.

We're cut off by the blare of a klaxon and a smooth British voice announcing a Code Yellow.

"Where, Jarvis?" Taylors demands, by my side and heading for the door in an instant.

"Mister Odinson is currently in his quarters, ma'am. The other Avengers are in route."

She nods and thanks him without breaking stride. I have no choice but to jog after her as she sprints through hallways and up flights of stairs.

"Where is Thor's room, anyway?"

She looks back at me. "You've never seen in from the vents?"

I shake my head. "How do you know where it is?"

She shrugs. "I own part of the tower."

"Figures."

"It's right…here!"

We barge through the indicated door, coming face to face with a scene of absolute pandemonium.

Thor is howling and shaking on his massive bed, tears streaming down his normally noble face. The rest of the team is somewhat huddled behind Steve, who is acting like a physical barrier should Thor strike out. Bruce is just behind his shoulder, attempting to calm Thor down without Hulking out. Natasha is watching with uneasy concern, not sure what to do but definitely not leaving anytime soon. Tony is turned slightly away from the action, on the phone with someone, having what looks to be a very heated conversation.

Taylor quickly approaches Natasha, demanding an update on the situation. Natasha quickly explains how Thor was having a nightmare, and nobody has had any luck waking him up or calming him down yet. Tony was on the phone with the people in charge of the seminar Jane and Betty were currently speaking at, trying to get them home.

"Let me go pick them up." Taylor pleads. "I'm faster, I can get them here faster…" she trails off, and I can hear the need to do something, anything, to help.

Natasha shakes her head and lays a hand on her shoulder. "Your dad is picking them up. I need you two here with tranquilizer arrows at the ready."

She hesitates slightly, gnawing on her lip, but she nods her consent in the end. We quickly hop into the vents and collect our gear from our rooms or the armory, rejoining the others in Thor's room in about five minutes.

We both notch the arrows usually used against the Hulk and drop to one knee and wait, not pulling back on the strings but curling our fingers around them anyways.

I watch Taylor's face as she watches Thor howl and moan, thrashing and twisting and letting his bed sheets wrap around his legs. Her sapphire eyes shine with unshed tears for our biggest, non-green teammate.

This - Thor panicking - is a very rare occurrence. Out of all seven of us, the god has the best childhood, ironically enough, with Taylor taking a close second. Even she grew up around weapons of mass destruction before she hit double digits, mature beyond her years.

Thor was the golden child of an all-powerful king, the crown prince of a golden empire. The only dark spot on his record is his little brother, a maniac magician that tried to steal the world he had sworn to protect.

And took over my mind. But no biggie.

I'm ripped out of my reverie by a yelp as Thor swings a foot past Natasha, who just barely springs back ad out of the way. I tense and tug on my bowstring, raising my bow and aiming for a flailing arm. I can see my actions mirrored on his right side, and Taylor and I both look to Steve for the order to fire. It doesn't come, so we both just hold our aim and wait.

Everyone in the room jumps when something thuds above our heads, followed by a few shouts and a slamming door. I freeze, suddenly aware of my position with my back facing the door, as footsteps race down the hall towards the room.

I watch Taylor's eyes widen with relief as the door bursts open, and I hold my suspicions as to who it is for the moment.

"What's going on?" Jane demands softly as Darcy instinctively dives behind Steve and Betty takes in the scene from the doorway. Natasha fills her in quickly and Steve waves for Taylor and me to lower our bows.

Jane nods sharply as Natasha finishes, proving she's as much of a hero as the rest of us by weaving in between Natasha and I and past Steve to get straight to Thor's side.

"Thor, sweetheart." she murmurs. "Wake up, come on."

Thor pauses slightly in his twisting, so Jane plows on. "Wake up, sweetie, I'm here. Can you at least talk to me?"

"Loki." Thor mumbles. "Loki, brother, no please..."

Jane bites her lip and sighs. "Thor, Loki's not here, I promise. He's dead, I'm sorry. Wake up, please, you're in the tower with the rest of us. Come on..."

Thor stills even further, and one of his hands automatically finds Jane's. I can see his eyes twitching below his eyelids, and his lashes start to flutter.

"Thor," Jane whispers again, "you're safe, I promise."

Thor moans one more time as his eyes fly open, frantically finding Jane's face and instantly calming again. "Thor?"

"Jane." he sighs.

"Right here." she assures him, running her fingers through his golden mane. They lock gazes for a moment longer before his eyes search out the rest of us. "I apologize, my friends."

"For what?" I speak up.

"For this display of weakness, Eye of Hawk."

I roll my eyes as Taylor and I relax and stand, slipping the arrows back into their quivers and collapsing our bows. "That's nothing to be ashamed of."

"But I-"

"Had a nightmare and got scared. Everybody in this room, minus Betty, Jane, and Darcy, has done the same. In fact, you got lucky. The rest of us get nightmares every week."

"If not more." Taylor adds.

"Thor," Bruce cuts in, "you could have told us you didn't want to work this mission, we didn't expressly need you."

The mission, of course. The maniac factor, the little brother involvement...we were letting it all boil and simmer because Thor's a god, of course he's fine, nobody needs to watch him, make sure he's okay.

I glance at the rest of the group to see the same guilt radiating around the room. Dang it, why did we not see this.

"Do not blame yourselves." Thor breaks us out of our thoughts. "I did not tell you, and for that I am to blame."

"Okay, blame is not a football." Darcy scolds us. "Quit throwing it around. Thor, are you okay now?"

He nods. "I am, Lady Darcy."

"Then all is okay and forgiven. The rest of you will see it coming next time."

We all nod slowly.

"Now, Jane almost decked a guy and the seminar. Who wants to hear why?"

We all grin mischievously as Jane face palms and groans. "Darcy, no."

"Darcy, yes." I prompt. "Please, go on."

Jane groans louder and buries her face in Thor's shoulder.

We all hear his booming laugh once more.