Chapter 3
Stark frowned at the chart on his clipboard, making a note on the edge of the paper. "This doesn't make any sense," he said quickly.
"No it doesn't," agreed Dr. Banner softly. The two men looked at each other for guidance. "So what do you think we should do big guy?" Tony asked finally, breaking the tense silence that had formed between the two of them.
Banner made notes on his own chart before pushing his glasses up and looking back at Stark. "The only thing we can do," he sighed calmly. "Run more tests."
~
Clint stared at his target from the scope of his gun, preparing to pull the trigger with a gentle press of his finger. Suddenly, a hand on his shoulder startled him, and he whirled around with almost inhuman reflexes.
"Jesus Christ I should get you a bell Nat. You scared the shit out of me!"
"Calm down Barton. Not like you would've heard me anyway."
He might've been almost deaf, but he could still hear the smirk in her words, and scowled at her before positioning himself back to his gun. "Who's the unfortunate soul this time," she asked casually as she crouched down next to him.
"Just a little target practice," Clint replied, pulling the trigger.
The BB pellet struck it's target, perfectly and silently. A man down below jumped in fright as his red baseball cap was shot into a nearby trashcan. He looked around in shock, but didn't think to look up at where the shot had come from. The man ran off down the street.
"One of our informant's little buddies was waiting around out here harassing people. Thought I'd give him a warning taste before he did something stupid," Barton said, getting up to leave, satisfied that he had accomplished what he'd meant to do.
Natasha followed him. "They've got Banner checking him out. His lawyer demanded that he be taken to the hospital for medical treatment, but Fury convinced her Banner was the best. He and Stark are running tests. Something's fishy to them."
"This whole thing is fishy Nat," Clint frowned as they made their way back inside. "I swear every time we think we've gone and figured things out, something new happens and we realize it's only the tip of this freaking iceberg," he continued.
"Like the myth," Natasha mused. He looked at her in confusion.
She met his eyes with equal intensity. "In Greek mythology, the Hydra was a giant water serpent with many heads, created by Typhon and Echidna. Every time you cut off one head, two more grew back in its place. One of the labors of Hercules was to kill the Hydra."
"And did he?"
She nodded. "How?" Taking a deep breath, she answered. "Taking it down from the source. Hercules burned the necks of the Hydra every time he cut off a head to keep it from reforming."
"So that's all we gotta do then."
It was her turn to look at Clint in confusion.
"Get to one of the top guys and burn him. Burn him so bad the rest of the them won't even know what to do anymore, and they'll fall on their own, which makes our jobs cut out for us," he said.
"That's a lot easier said than done," Natasha replied uneasily.