Abril: Oop, I was meant to post on Friday but I was distracted and then I forgot. Ups, hehe. This is the last chapter I had ready to post so from now on I will take longer to upload, BUT, the next chapter is pretty advanced already. So at least, for chapter 5, I might not take that long to post. Enjoy :D

Up at the penthouse, Natasha thought the setting felt more official than their chat –more like interrogation- at Tony's office. As if, now that they were here, there was no doubt that they would be taking some action in the matter. What sort of action though remained to be seen.

Tony had a tumbler of whisky in his hand, he seemed a little better now that the bomb analogy had passed. That had stroked a fragile chord inside him placed there by their first battle together as Avengers. Natasha decided to indulge herself just a little with a small amount of vodka to sip. And Aithusa, who liked wine best, didn't feel comfortable enough to ask for it when offered whatever drink he wanted. So he sat at the bar on one of the tall chairs with a glass of water at his side on the countertop.

Aithusa was hunched, not his usual hunch which he used to talk to Merlin, but a more pronounced one to make himself small in front of these heroes he really didn't know. He became shy and timid before them. He was here because they were his best bet, but he feared for their actual trustworthiness, especially after what he'd just told them at Mr. Stark's office. He waited for whatever would come next from putting both himself and Merlin at the mercy of these strangers.

"Okay," Tony finally said. "Okay, okay, okay. So, by your wonderful analogy down there, I'm guessing Ambrose is… really powerful." He seemed quite stressed about the fact, the idea of a person with the power of a nuclear bomb upsetting to say the least. "Can you tell us why Ambrose was specifically targeted?"

"He's... different. We're different. From other people…" the albino explained tentatively.

"Different how?" Natasha furrowed her brows.

"Just… different," Aithusa shrugged helplessly.

"That's not really helping with the whole, 'letting us, help yo-' Oh, god, let me guess, you can't talk about that either." Tony's expression now looked even more tired and exasperated than before. Aithusa remained silent, a crooked smile on his lips.

The brunette groaned, massaging the bridge of his nose for a moment.

"Can you even prove that what you're saying is actually true? Cause I know I deal with a lot of weird ass things on a daily basis, but there is such a thing as scammers out there." This he said mostly out of frustration, he did believe Aithusa to an extent; for all of a stranger that he was to them, his emotions on the subject were very real.

"But I am telling the truth," he said quietly, his expression almost heartbroken. He looked away a moment, gathering himself and breathing. Before Natasha could think to say a few comforting words he turned to them again. His face became expressionless all of a sudden, but the intensity with which he looked at the avengers could be felt in the air.

"Say, could I borrow your phone for a moment?" Aithusa asked out of the blue. Tony was taken aback by the sudden change of topic but answered all the same.

"Don't you have one?" The mechanic raised an eyebrow in disbelief, who didn't have one in this day and age?

"Ambrose had one, I broke it two days ago. Can I have yours?" He repeated, an edge of hurry in his tone.

"You do realize that isn't very encouraging, right?" Tony tightened his grip on the small square of teleology.

"Here," Natasha offered the albino her phone, it was one spare one she used for her undercover jobs.

"Thank you," Aithusa extended his hand, but before taking it he said, "I'm… really sorry about this." He picked up the phone and placed it flat on his extended palm. He looked at it intently, breathing in deeply and then out. He let his muscles relax on the exhale. After a moment the phone bristled and sparked in a small detonation on his pale white hand.

"Shit!" Tony exclaimed as Aithusa set what remained of the phone on the counter. "Are you okay?" Tony asked, hurrying from the other side and taking his hand in concern.

"Yeah, it's okay," he assured somewhat quietly. It didn't look okay, his palm was red and a little raw in parts. "Fire is kind to me," he said as if it wasn't the oddest thing to say after having a phone explode in your hand.

"Is this what makes you different? Why Ambrose was taken?" Natasha asked, looking pensive at the now useless phone.

"I'm sorry that your phone exploded in my hand," Aithusa answered, seemingly ignoring her previous comment completely. He kept his gray blue eyes firmly on Natasha's as he said this though.

"Okay, so that's a yes." The assassin nodded, a corner of her lips pulling up.

Tony looked up to the others from his inspection of Aithusa's palm, realization coming over him. He smirked for a change, realizing the albino had managed to come up with a roundabout way of giving them answers.

"Finally, some decent answers," he said. Aithusa smiled softly at them. Maybe this could really, actually work. "But first we really have to take care of this." He gestured at the burned palm.

"It's okay, Mr. Stark, really. I promise, this?" Aithusa raised his hand in the air, displaying the damage, "will be okay before you know it. I'm… different. Just like I said."

Tony looked doubtfully at the other, but nodded after a moment.

"Alright, I'm going to trust you in this. This is us, trusting one another, alright?" He gestured to the three of them, "and if we're going to work together you might as well call me Tony."

Aithusa inhaled sharply, he brought his hand to his chest, eyes wide and his face slightly baffled.

"So you'll- you'll help me?" He asked thinly. Tony shared a subtle look with Natasha and turned back to the albino.

"Yeah, man, we'll help you." The mechanic didn't even have enough time to smirk self satisfied before he got an armful of white. He found himself spitting straight locks of hair from his mouth as he awkwardly patted the taller man's back.

"Oh, good goddess, thank you, thank you, thank you," Aithusa was squeezing both of the heroes into his large frame, with a strength that was almost surprising. While yes, Aithusa was a big man, he also had an awkward slightness to him. "I'll find a way to repay you, I swear this." The albino stepped back harshly. "I ah- I'm very sorry about that. I'm just- I'm just very relieved and excited," he apologized profusely, somewhat nervous that their kindness could be taken away if he somehow screwed things up.

"Don't sweat it man, it's okay," Tony said after composing himself.

Aithusa started crying and breathing harshly.

"Oh goodness, I'm terribly sorry," he dabbed at his face with his fingers, somewhat mortified. He wasn't used to people seeing him like this, only Merlin. And Merlin always hugged him tight or maybe Aithusa would make himself a cat so that his dragonlord's embrace could be all encompassing. There were many advantages of being that small although Merlin would argue he was not small at all for a cat.

Oh, how he missed him.

"Do you want some water, Aithusa?" Natasha offered him his glass with a soft tone.

"Thank you," he answered quietly and accepted. Once he was composed enough, he turned to them with a sunny smile. The change in his demeanor was so radical it caught the Avengers off guard.

"So! How do we do this? When do we start?" He asked eagerly.

"We still need more information Aithusa, you have to try to give us something else. We can't infiltrate a Hydra hideout unless we're somewhat prepared." Natasha told him seriously.

"Can't exactly infiltrate a hideout we don't know the location of either," the engineer muttered under his breath.

"Yes. Yes, right. Ah… I'll- I'll try my best to answer in whatever way I can." Aithusa sobered up some.

"Should we call for some backup?" Tony pipped in, phone already out. "Is Cap still looking for his buddy?"

"He is, but with how dispersed Hydra has been we might not need all of us." Natasha thought for a moment. "Clint just recently finished a mission, we can call him. And you can be our heavy hitter," she smiled playfully at the mechanic.

"Noted. Ah, and the less we fray our good doctor's nerves the better. It's a pity Thor's not here though, I have a feeling you two might get along." Tony added as he taped rapidly on his phone.

Aithusa didn't say anything, a little anxious again, but made sturdier by the certainty that help would get to Merlin. Natasha came to stand before the albino and directed him quietly to sit down again.

"Let's work on what you can tell us, from the beginning. Anything you might've left out," she told him. Aithusa nodded several times, brushing his hair back and away from his face.

"Ambrose and I were looking for something in the forest, we found it, and then Ambrose was incapacitated," he started.

"What were you looking for?" The redhead prompted. The albino looked down for a moment.

"We were looking for something like us."

"Something? Not someone?" Natasha asked as Tony told J.A.R.V.I.S. to take notes down.

"Either or, we didn't exactly know what we were looking for."

"And was it like you?"

"Yes?" Aithusa frowned, "but also no. It wasn't… right."

"That is very unhelpful," Tony said.

"I apologize, I'm not trying to be sparse right now, I honestly do not know," Aithusa shrugged helplessly. "Ambrose said it didn't feel right, maybe… like there was something off about it, wrong."

"Then Hydra incapacitated Ambrose?" The dark haired pressed on.

"No, not at first. It's what we found. This thing, it… did something to Ambrose. Hurt him. He- he screamed before he told me to hide and stay back. Then… Hydra came and put a collar on him," a little ire shone in his eyes through the melancholy as he finished.

"Do you have to obey everything he tells you to?" Natasha sat on the stool next to him, getting comfortable.

Aithusa pulled away from his memories to look at her.

"No, just… certain things."

"But this one was one of them, right?" She prompted him again and he nodded quietly. "What's the difference?"

"Well, the way he says it, it has to be different, like us. Not any random thing he says will do; otherwise we'd never get to eat what I want," he smiled jokingly, though without much effort.

"We have to start looking somewhere, can you tell us what direction they went?" Tony asked.

"I think can do better than that," gray blue eyes shone. "I can possibly lead you exactly to where Hydra is holding him."

"But you say you didn't follow them?" The mechanic frowned.

"I didn't but… I can tell where he is." He hesitated, again looking for the right words to get around the commands he lived by. "As I said… there is something that connects us. In my heart I can always tell where Ambrose is, like a compass. It is part of what makes us different."

"That is very helpful, weird, but very helpful right now." Tony placed his hand under his chin in thought. "Let's look at the facts. Ambrose was taken on purpose; that stinks of a trap a mile away. They had guys waiting for you there."

"It's scary…" Aithusa said coldly. But Natasha could read the deep rooted worry in his body and anxious mannerisms. "Knowing that someone out there knows about us. That they are lying in wait."

Tony shivered at that. He agreed wholeheartedly, it was scary.

"Oh-kay," the mechanic loosed himself from the strange way Aithusa's words had captured him. "Not only were they waiting for you but most probably know who you are. Have you ever crossed paths with Hydra before?"

"Not at all," Aithusa shook his head. "Not that I know at least. I mean…" He paused for a second, thinking deeply. "Perhaps?"

"You don't think you have?" Natasha asked."

"If we have, I don't think they would've known who we were on sight.

"Are you sure?" Tony frowned.

"Positively."

"Hydra had a lot of S.H.I.E.L.D. access to people's records. I think they would've known about you one way or another," the mechanic insisted. At this Aithusa seemed to smile privately.

"I would dare you to try and find us in your databases but we don't have that kind of time," he said quietly.

"J.A.R.V.I.S." Tony frowned at the albino, piqued by the perceived challenge. "Run a search for Aithusa on the background."

"Will do Mr. Stark." Answered the machine. Aithusa startled at that, looking around for the disembodied voice.

"It's just the AI, don't worry," Natasha reassured. At that, the gray blue eyes of the albino widened.

"Technology and us, we don't mix well," Aithusa randomly pipped in.

Natasha and Tony looked at each other for a moment.

"It has to do with that, right?" Natasha peered inquisitively at the other. "Ambrose was taken because of this. What clashes with technology?" She asked no one in particular.

"I- I- I wish I could've met Thor as well," the albino added, again, most oddly. Nervous.

"That seems like a very good lead there, are you aliens?" Tony wondered, not willing to take anything off the plate. At Aithusa's incredulous grimace, the mechanic kept going. "Gods?"

The white eyebrows of the albino raised up, not completely negating.

"Are you seriously gods?" The raven haired pressed, he honestly shouldn't have been surprised by this point. Aithusa made a so-so expression and movement with his shoulders. "But something like that then?" Tony groaned and rubbed his face with both hands. "I can't believe we're playing charades to get basic information."

"We've done weirder things," Natasha smirked a little, then continued. "Something like a god then."

The albino hummed, hunching in his seat, dark eye bags prominent on his pasty skin.

"So now we also know you don't agree with technology and you are sort of like Thor," Natasha summed.

"Alright," Tony sighed, "we have that, it's not a lot of information, but it's something. We'll put a pin on the whole, 'what disagrees with technology' thing for now."

"And Aithusa can take us to wherever Hydra might be holding Ambrose," Natasha added.

"We'll be like the three musketeers and D'Artagnan," Tony joked.

"I ah-" Aithusa looked stricken. "I can't go with you."

"Ah, shit, right, you're a civilian."

"No. That's not- There's nothing more I want than to go with you and rescue Ambrose but I… I can't."

"Did he… did he order you to not come for him?" The mechanic grimaced. The albino didn't answer, but the tear sliding down his cheek was answer enough. He dabbed it away, looking up for a moment and taking a breath.

"You looked exhausted, Aithusa," Natasha said. The white haired huffed as he nodded.

"I haven't really slept since my brother... you know. I can't believe the last time I was talking with Ambrose I was complaining about not getting enough sleep," he chuckled darkly.

"How about you take a nap?" She offered him.

"No. No, no. I couldn't. I need my brother to be safe first." Aithusa shook his head, filled with resolve, but evidently tired.

"That's more than two days of no sleep," Tony raised an eyebrow.

"We need to figure out how I can guide you to him." Aithusa frowned.

"Yes, we do, but first, we," he gestured at Natasha and himself. "Need to figure some things out and catch our buddy up on everything. You'll like Clint, great sense of humor that one. In the meantime, you won't be of use, so how about you go sleep instead of doing absolutely nothing?"

Aithusa seemed thorn. The redhead stood up and smiled kindly at him.

"We'll wake you up as soon as we need you, you won't miss a thing."

"I… Okay," he said softly, lowering his head.

"Good, come on, I'll show you to a guest room." The mechanic patted him on the back and led him into a corridor.

The sun was still high in the sky, which usually made it a little hard for Aithusa to fall asleep. But as soon as he took off his flannel and undershirt to lay down, he faded from consciousness. He had not expected it would be that easy with how high strung he was. But there he was, dead to the world, the curtains of the windows not even drawn close.

~.~.~.~

"Well, you guys definitely got into a pickle while I wasn't here," Clint commented once he was caught up with the situation. It was well into the night once everything was said and done, Thai takeout spread between the three of them as they ate on the couches in the main room of the penthouse.

"It was mostly Stark," Natasha said solemnly, as she had another mouthful of pad thai, making Stark squeak in protest.

"Yeah, sure it's my fault and not the fault of the guy who literally brought the problem to our door.

"Yes," the spies said in unison. Tony rolled his eyes though he wasn't actually annoyed.

"Anyway, we should call your guy in, figure out how he can lead us to these Hydra leftovers. It'll be good for us to do some more cleanup on these guys as well." Clint brought the topic back on track, taking a sip of his beer.

"Let's hope they're really just the leftovers and nothing more," Natasha knew since the moment Steve, Sam, and her had uncovered Hydra under S. .L.D. that it wouldn't be as easy as exposing them. There were always groups who refused to disperse, looking for ways to rise again, stronger than before.

"I dunno, he looked pretty beat, maybe we should let him sleep until tomorrow," the mechanic replied.

"The sooner we know where to look, the faster we can start reconnaissance and come up with a plan of attack Stark," the archer pushed back, not unkindly.

"Yeah, true." Tony leaned back, quite tired himself.

"I'll wake him up," the redhead offered, getting one last bite of her dish before standing up and leaving.

When Natasha reached the guest room the albino had been given, she knocked politely on the door.

"Aithusa," she waited a moment. "Aithusa, are you up? Our teammate is here, we want to discuss some things with you." When she heard no sound or sign of movement, she knocked a little harder. "Time to wake up Aithusa," but there was no answer. "Aithusa? I'm coming in." She opened the door slowly, the guy was as she'd thought, sound asleep and dead to the world. He lay on top of the covers diagonally over the bed, breathing softly and calmly, it looked like he almost hadn't made it as he had one leg dangling off the edge.

Natasha huffed a little at the sight and walked closer. His position didn't look all that comfortable but who was she to judge? She raised her hand to shake his naked shoulder but stopped. She took in a restrained breath at the sight illuminated by the light of the hallway, her hand hovering in the space between them. Natasha could see them more clearly as her eyes adjusted to the dark. Scars. Dozens of scars all over his pale white back and arms.

She took in a restrained breath. A lot of the marks were little faded knicks, almost like childhood hurts if it weren't for their location and quantity. But some others… Natasha knew torture, and some of these looked almost medieval in nature. She breathed in, centering herself. She shook Aithusa by the shoulder into wakefulness.

"Come on, wake up," but the albino was a heavy sleeper and took a while more to rouse up.

"I slept in, Merlin?" He mumbled against the duvet, "s'it sunup already?" he blinked beadily at her once he was on his elbows and getting upright.

"It's Natasha," said the assassin, pretending she had not heard a thing. "Our teammate is here, we want you to join us so we can talk about finding where Ambrose is." She backed away a few paces, giving him space to dress back up.

Awareness seemed to return a little to him for he scrambled, still half asleep, to put on his faded blue shirt. From the corner of his eye Aithusa caught sight of Natasha looking at his exposed back. He put his plaid on and turned to her with a nod.

"Lead the way."

As they walked the hallway up to the common room of the penthouse, the albino, hunching a little more than usual, got close to her ear.

"It happened when I was very young," he said quietly, Natasha looked up at him with a frown. "I saw you, I know you want to know about the scars."

"You don't have to tell me," she said after a moment, not denying his statement. He smiled at her kindly though sad.

"It was a long time ago," he shrugged a little, voice soft and oddly beautiful. "Most of them were made by evil men," the way Aithusa said it made it seem like a story was just about to unfold. "I was trapped in a well, I was… not alone. The place was too small for the both of us. And I grew… wrong. It left scars on my body. The men left scars on my body."

"You're very thin, but you do have a fair amount of muscle mass," Natasha assessed carefully, not really wishing to overstep even though Aithusa had been the one to broach the topic.

"Quite perceptive of you," the white strands of his hair swayed as he nodded. "I was growing and it made an impact on my body." He passed a subtle hand over his arm, remembering. They were quiet for a while until Aithusa stretched his back and stood tall. "I got better," and the smile he gave her could not be described any other way but as sunny.

For a moment, Natasha couldn't believe this man was real. He'd come to them, untrusting and barely willing to say what information he could share. Now, not a few hours later, he seemed so free and friendly with them. Warming up at the first sign of goodwill they had shown him. Going so far as to share this dark terrible thing that had happened to him, even if it was in little detail. The redhead felt inclined to somewhat express a little gratitude for the gesture.

"I think you have a lot of strength to overcome what you did. Just… look at you." She looked him up and down as if exemplifying. Aithusa crooked his head a little to the side, smile still in place.

"I had help, a lot of it. I would not have made it otherwise."

"Ambrose?" She took a guess.

"Yes," he seemed very fond, "and… someone else who was very dear to me. A long time ago."

"I'm sorry," Natasha said, understanding what lay underneath his words.

"Hm," he hummed, sad eyes cast down. "Thank you," he said under his breath as they reached the penthouse and the other Avengers.

~.~.~.~

Clint stood up, extending his hand immediately and introducing himself.

"Clint Barton, man."

"Aithusa," the albino smiled, politely accepting the gesture.

"Just Aithusa?"

"M'afraid so, though I've gone with Smith sometimes if you'd rather go with that," he added cheekily. The archer raised an eyebrow, impressed by the bold implications of his statement.

"Alright then, Aithusa Smith."

They offered him food as everyone sat back down on the couches. Aithusa was in fact, terribly hungry. As a dragon, he could go on for long periods of time without eating, so long as he'd had his fill before. It did not translate quite the same when he was in his human form, but he could endure better than a normal person. Still though, it had been almost three days since Merlin had been taken, he'd only had a bit of water and some granola bars they had in the front seat of their truck. Aithusa was very hungry. He was so hungry in fact he didn't want to eat in front of the Avengers because he would either a) stuff himself like a starving man and seem terribly rude, or b) he would try to eat a normal amount and the others would see the strain of self restraint on his face and still be weirded out. Either way, he would end up making a fool of himself.

Sullenly, he thought about how much he missed Merlin and the normalcy of their day to day lives. It seemed almost a little ridiculous how much he was missing his dragonlord and it hadn't even been all that long. Merlin and he had spent more time separated on their own free will than these 3 days, and yet, here Aithusa was, miserably thinking of how everything would be if Merlin were here.

"I know we just met, and I don't want to seem rude, but man, eat for heaven's sake, you look like you could eat a whole horse," Clint told him. After a little more prodding his hunger won out and he accepted their offers to help himself. He kept his gaze down though, embarrassed by this rushed eating. If he was eating with Merlin, he would have not minded even if food had gotten stuck in his hair.

"I was thinking about what you said before. You know where we have to go, but you can't go there yourself," Tony said pensively.

"That's it in a nutshell," Aithusa stuffed himself, the taste of every single spec of seasoning was glorious.

"I was thinking…" He looked at the white haired and copied the tactic he'd seen the albino use earlier. "How would you like to go on a ride in my jet? You know, just laze in the sky a bit, do some sightseeing. Maybe you can even tell us what spots you like the most?"

Food forgotten, Aithusa's heart fluttered inside his chest as he looked up at Tony.

"Yes," his voice was a little stained but he cleared it. "Yes, that sounds lovely. I'd really like to go on a jet ride."

"Awesome, we can do that early in the morning," Tony clapped his hands, considering the topic closed and done.

"No, I want to go now!" Everyone looked at him in sudden silence. Aithusa looked down, face red with shame, "I'm sorry, I'd- I'd really like to go now, really."

"Let's wait until tomorrow, we need to prep some things and I think everyone needs a good night's rest so we don't miss anything," Natasha prompted quietly, trying to bring the nervous energy of the man down.

"I- I- I won't, I can-" the albino didn't seem to know how to come up with an answer that would not betray the things he was forbidden from saying. He hid his face in his hand.

"Don't worry big guy, we'll do it bright and early." Tony patted him on the back, moved to compassion. Aithusa nodded, brought down. He whipped a tear off his cheek, he'd cried so much these last few days.

"Every," his voice scratched, "every second that we don't go out there, every moment that passes, there's a man suffering, alone and in pain. Every second we waste-"

"You look about ready to pass out," Clint commented.

"Another night without sleep is not going to kill me," he lifted his gray blues at Tony, full of a quiet, white fire. "But it might kill Ambrose. Or something worse."

"Worse?" Tony frowned

"What is death but a respite from life?" Aithusa said out loud though not at anyone in particular, there was something dark in his words.

The archer sighed, laying back against the couch and pressing his palms against his eyes.

"So we're doing this," Clint huffed but no one fought him on it again, they knew he was right.

~.~.~.~

It was about midnight when everything was ready and the team, plus the stranger they were helping, boarded the jet.

"This would be awfully exciting if it were any other situation," Aithusa said as he stood on the ramp of the small jet." He passed the tips of his fingers over the structure, admiring the craft.

"What are you even talking about, sightseeing is the best situation to go on a jet ride." Tony slapped his back good naturedly as he walked in.

"Quite," the white haired smiled smally. "I've never been in a jet in my life," his eyes were wonder filled though still a little red from crying earlier.

"I don't think a lot of normal people have," Natasha reassured him. Aithusa, being long lived, did not comment on it but smiled a secretive smile. One would think Merlin and him would've done it all by this point, but the world still has such wonders to offer..

Tony huffed at a standstill, not knowing where to head.

"So, does anyone have any bright ideas?" He asked.

"Oh, we really should've done this in the morning," mumbled Clint but didn't complain further.

"Maybe we start with the scene of the crime, from there, we can see what our next step can be," Natasha suggested.

"I like that," the mechanic pointed at her and plopped down on the pilot's seat.

"I can't…" the three Avengers turned to look at Aithusa, he looked a little distressed and was backing away down the ramp.

"Are you okay man?" Clint approached him carefully.

"I- I- I- I can't go look for Ambrose." It dawned on them just how careful they needed to be with their words.

"But we're not going to look for him," Tony said helpfully light.

"But I know you are."

"Then how about we show you the city?" With Natasha's words, Aithusa's body seemed to untense slightly.

"I-" the albino swallowed, "I would like that, yes. Just… Just the city is fine."

They were quiet after that, lifting off the ground and doing exactly as they said they would. After a while, Aithusa suddenly stood very still. He walked away from the cockpit while everyone watched him and once he was a few steps away in the cargo hold, he lay down on the floor. He closed his eyes and breathed in softly.

"Aaaah, what are you doing?" Tony asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Waiting for you to take me sightseeing, as you said," Aithusa stretched an arm to the side and closed all his fingers but the pointer.

Before the mechanic could come up with another snarky remark, Natasha nudged his side and gestured. Tony looked carefully at the man on the floor, then at his teammates, he seemed to catch on to the idea.

"Right, of course, silly me," he returned to the cockpit with a purpose.

And so, that's how they tested the silent theory, while Tony yammered about the places they were flying too, Aithusas's pointing hand kept subtly changing direction, Clint quietly telling Tony which direction to veer to next. They flew quite slowly for a long while, then Aithusa sat up.

"This place is lovely, it's- it's really great."

"You locked that in, Barton?" Tony asked.

"Yup," Clint confirmed on the copilot's seat, "maybe we can do a small reconnaissance?"

But that was a mistake. At that moment Aithusa curled up a little into himself, he looked almost pained.

"I can't go with you, please." They stopped, instantly aware of the other.

"It's okay Aithusa, we're going back to the tower now," Natasha side eyed them.

"Yeah. Yeah, sure we are," Tony said after a while, flipping the controls and turning around.

Now, without fear of losing the right direction they flew at the craft's normal, sound splitting velocity. Aithusa would've probably enjoyed himself, but he was sullen, and tired, and terribly sad. Meanwhile Clint and Tony talked quietly in the cockpit.

"I really, reeeeally hate this guy," the archer mumbled with spite.

"Yeah, you and me both," Tony huffed.

"Have we considered just… not doing anything about it?" Clint asked, looking at the other pensively.

"Yup, and… it really seems to be a no-go in this situation."

"Hm, pity."

Underknow to them, Aithusa, who was seated in the places at the very back of the jet, could perfectly hear every word the Avengers said. One of the advantages, or in this case, disadvantages of being a dragon turned human.

Aithusa closed his eyes, concentrating on the part of his soul that anchored him to Merlin, telling him his kin was alive. It… it wasn't all that comforting actually. Merlin would always be alive… eventually.

He whipped a tear off his cheek.

Soon. Soon everything would be fine again.

Abril: Thanks for reading! If there's something you'd like to see before the end of the story let me know and I might consider squeezing it in (: