Fractured

Like he had promised, Rhodey had woken Natasha up when Bucky had radioed in that they were landing in ten minutes. Well,  he had FRIDAY wake her up. He didn’t want to startle one of the deadliest assassins. He had seen enough movies to know it never ended well. He was already standing on the helipad when Natasha joined him. “How did you sleep?” he asked as he noticed Natasha yawn and stretch.

“Catch anything in the tapes?” she asked, obviously avoiding answering his question. But Rhodey didn’t bother asking again, just shook his head. “The only way they could have gotten out was through one of the secret tunnels under the White House. We checked the local cameras in the area to see where they may have come out at but so far, nothing.”

Natasha nodded as she spotted the small dot in the distance getting closer. “Crossbones and Crossfire are good but they’re not that good. They had help. We find out who that person is, we find Tony and Clint.”

“Well, in the meantime I have facial recognition running so if either of those two show their ugly mugs, we’ll get them.”

The quinjet landed and Natasha felt her body stiffen as the ramp opened. Lila was the first one out and running full speed at Natasha, wrapping her arms around her aunt. “Auntie Nat, Auntie Nat! Mr. Bucky let me fly the plane!”

“Did he now?” she asked, looking up at Bucky as he exited the plane. He simply shrugged as he came walking down with Sam and Cooper in tow, the latter holding onto a squirming and very eager toddler Nate. “She was very persuasive. You try saying no to her pouty eyes.”

Natasha smirked as she hugged Lila a bit tighter. “I think Thor got you guys pizza in the kitchen. You guys hungry?”

Cooper and Lila nodded and after casting Rhodey a look, he offered to show the kids inside. Bucky and Sam passed her, making a comment about wanting to see how Thor handled the Barton children while Natasha ascended into the quinjet. Laura was zipping up a bag, seemingly needing the focus. “I take it you didn’t tell the kids,” Natasha commented as she leaned against the interior of the jet.

“Cooper knows,” Laura replied with a sigh as she picked up her bag. “Lila just knows Dad is on a mission and we don’t know when he’ll be back. I don’t want her getting upset. The last time something like this happened, Lila couldn’t sleep for a week with nightmares.”

“And what about you?” Natasha asked, noticing how the woman seemed to have bags under her eyes. She could only imagine that the worst case scenario was running through her head. Laura knew what it meant when one of them was compromised, maybe more intimately than others. She was sure the images of what Clint and Tony were going through were all she could think about. “I’ll be fine,” she replied as she slung her bag over her shoulder, “I’m here to help. I may be a bit rusty but I’m sure it will all come back to me as soon as we get going.”

Natasha smirked as she put a hand on Laura’s shoulder. “It’s like riding a bike. Plus, you’re married to Clint. I’m sure dealing with him is a mission all it’s own.”

Laura seemed to laugh at the comment which made Natasha feel somewhat better. “Bring some toys for Nate in there?” she asked, pointing to the duffel bag.

“Not just Nate,” Laura replied as they started to leave the quinjet, “I just hope my gear still fits.”

Natasha had no doubt that having Laura around and helping would be an asset. She remembered how Laura was in the field, having worked with her and Clint on many missions together before she retired. Her tactical skill was unprecedented. “We’ll figure something out, I’m sure.”

Natasha started to catch Laura up to speed, letting her know everything that happened at the White House and what little they knew now. She was about to show Laura to Clint’s room when a blur ran past them and they heard Nate’s high-pitched giggle. “Who let Pietro play with Nate?” Natasha yelled down the hall.

The blur returned, stopping in front of Laura and Natasha. Natasha had to admit, it was cute to see Nate clinging to Pietro’s back like a little koala bear and laughing very maniacally. “Hey, Mrs. Barton,” he smirked while adjusting Nate on his back, “I was just…”

“Oh, I’m sure,” Laura shook her head as she held out her hand. “How about you give me back my son and let Cooper know I want to have a word with him later.”

Pietro laughed nervously before turning so Laura could take Nate off of him. Nate giggled all the while as he climbed into his mother’s arms. “I thought you were eating pizza with Thor,” Natasha asked.

“We were going to but Thor wouldn’t let us into the kitchen. He said something about the feast not being ready yet,” Pietro replied with a shrug.

Laura and Natasha exchanged glances as if silently communicating with one another. “Can you take Laura’s bag to Clint’s room?”

Pietro nodded and took the bag to rush away in seconds. Once he left Natasha and Laura headed to the kitchen, only to see everyone minus Pietro waiting outside a closed door. Bucky was pounding on the door while Sam, Rhodey and Bruce stood by, shaking their heads. Wanda and Kate were off to the side with Cooper and Lila, laughing about probably what was going on. “What’s going on?” Natasha asked of the group.

“Thor wedged the door shut with Mjolnir,” Sam explained with a clearly unamused tone in his voice.

“Come on, Thor, I’m hungry and about ten seconds away from breaking through this door!” Bucky yelled again.

“Patience, Sergeant Barnes! The feast is almost ready!”

“It’s just pizza,” Kate seemed to yell, “We all know what it is and it’s probably gonna be gone in seconds. Especially whenever Pietro gets his ass back here.”

“You know if Clint were here he’d already be sneaking through the air vents to get in there,” Laura whispered to Natasha which made her smile. She could already imagine it.

Bucky was about to start pounding on the door again when it opened and Thor stood there smiling. “The feast has been prepared,” he announced quite proudly.

“Great because I’m star…” Bucky stated, pushing past Thor only to stop mid-step and mid-sentence. Everyone came in after and stood next to Bucky in shock except for Cooper and Lila who were in awe and excited by what they were walking into.

It was a feast, alright. Every space of counter was covered in different kinds of food. Pizza, hot dogs, burgers, even what looked to be a taco bar was set up. Natasha was even sure that Thor somehow managed to set up a fountain drink dispenser and an ice cream machine. “In Asgard, we honor our guests with a magnificent feast to welcome their arrival. And since Barton and Stark are…” Thor paused as he saw the look Natasha was giving him told him to be careful with what he said, “… on a valiant mission and therefore unable to join us, I have assembled their favorite meals to honor them and welcome the Barton family to our home.”

Bruce was rubbing the bridge of his nose and shaking his head. Sam and Bucky were both astounded and confused and Rhodey was trying to figure out just how Thor managed to get all of this together. But Natasha was amused by the gesture. Leave it to Thor to pull off something like this. Laura smiled as she walked up to Thor while everyone else seemed to start to dig in. “Thank you, Thor. I know Clint would appreciate this.”

“Of course, Lady Barton, and I promise we will return him to you safe and sound.”

Laura smiled softly at him as she took his arm and gave it a squeeze. “I know you will.”

The little pitter patter of footsteps alerted them to the arrival of Lila who was tugging on Thor’s tunic. “Mr. Thor can you help me with the pizza?”

“Why certainly, little Barton.”

Lila giggled. “That’s not my name! I’m Lila!”

“Lila Nicole…” Laura warned.

“It’s quite alright, Mrs. Barton. My apologies, little Lila. I shall help you fetch the pizza.”

“Yay! Can I have pickles on mine?”

Thor laughed as he picked her up. “Of course. Your father likes to do the same. In fact, he and I had an epic battle over a jar of pickles…”

As he carried her off Laura and Natasha laughed and shook their heads. “I might need to watch out. Thor might end up becoming her favorite Avenger after this.”

“You’ll always be her favorite Avenger, Nat.”

Natasha smirked as she nodded towards the door. “Want to take our feast to go and get to work?”

“You read my mind.”

~~~

Clint hated the cold.

He used to not mind it until a mission in Siberia when he was shot and fell into an icy river. It carried him for miles and he washed up in the middle of nowhere. After three days of trying to make his way to any town he had finally been found by SHIELD. He was half-frozen and close to dying but they found him and managed to nurse him back to health. The event had scarred him so much he even made it a point to let Fury know every time he gave them a mission somewhere cold how much he hated it. “But I really hate the cold…”

It was kind of a running gag between Clint and Natasha too, but as he sat huddled in the freezing cold room he was in, he was reminded it was more than just a joke. His teeth chattered together as he wrapped his arms around his legs, trying to trap as much of his body heat as he could. “I hate the cold,” he muttered to himself.

He wasn’t sure how long he had been in there with it being as cold as it was or even how long Tony had been gone when suddenly he felt a gust of warm air come into the room. He thought his body was playing tricks on him so he crawled to the air vent, only to laugh happily as he felt the warm air circulating through the room. He didn’t care why it was now on - he was just glad that it was there. So he pushed himself as close to the vent as possible so as the warm arm filled the room it brought back the feeling to his body and help warm him back to a somewhat normal temperature.

At some point he must have drifted off because he suddenly jerked awake when the door to his cell opened and a group of guards came in. They rushed him rather quickly so he didn’t have a chance to fight back. They secured his arms behind him and carried him down the hall to that stupid medical room they had taken him to before when he encountered Zemo and strapped him to the bed. “Anyone want to tell me the big idea?!” He yelled, pulling against the restraints as he saw a guy in a lab coat approaching with a needle.

“Experiment number two,” he spoke as if he was citing this for a record, “Subject number two is receiving revised specimen number three for further testing.”

Another thing Clint hated – being drugged with experimental liquids. They never ended well and he lost count of the number of times he had been almost killed during a mission gone wrong by some scientist who wanted a human subject for experimentation. Of course the two things he hated the most were the things that he was experiencing in this hell-hole. “Get that damn needle away from me, doc… .”

“Administering at 1527 local time… “

Clint tried to pull away but the restraints kept him tethered to the bed. He felt the prick of the needle and the flood of the liquid coursing through his body first before his whole body felt warm, fuzzy and like needles were poking every spot on his skin. That feeling lasted for a few moments and he felt his eyes roll and his tongue dry up. He was about to try and ask what was happening when his whole body bucked against the restraints and he felt his lungs suck in as much air as they could while he held back the urge to scream. It was like the needles were know driving themselves into his skin and his whole body was on fire until he mercifully passed out.

The next time he came to he was back in his cell. His whole body was aching and despite the fact that he felt like he was burning up his whole body was shivering as if it were freezing. He was slowly pushing himself up into a seated position when he heard Tony sing, “Rise and shine, sleeping beauty.”

He painfully turned his head and spotted Tony in his own cell, looking as bad as he felt. “You scared me there for a minute, buddy. I was starting to think you weren’t gonna wake up for a minute.”

Clint tried to stand up but with as heavy as his limbs felt he couldn’t quite bring himself to do that. “What happened?”

“I was hoping you could tell me,” Tony replied as he started walking towards the barrier separating them, “When they brought me back you were gone. After a while they finally brought you back but you were unconscious. That was almost four hours ago.”

Tony took a moment to examine him and while Clint could tell he was perturbed by the state he was in. “Before you ask, I’m fine. I’ve dealt with worse. What happened to you?” Clint explained as he stretched out his fingers, trying to make the tingling sensations go away.

“Oh, you know, playing the game they want to play. Trying to spare you. The usual.”

“Tony, I told you I don’t need you to try and protect me. I can handle whatever they want to throw at me.”

“Well forgive me if I don’t like seeing my friend suffer when I could stop it.”

“Neither do I. But between the two of us you’re the more valuable asset.” Clint caught the look Tony was giving him and he chuckled. “Oh come on, Tony, it’s a no brainer. You’re the Tony Stark. You’re the brilliant mind behind the Avengers and without you, we wouldn’t be as put together as we are. I’m just the guy with the bow.”

“You know a certain someone or someones would disagree with that thought.” Clint shook his head. “Clint, look at me.”

Clint turned his head towards Tony who was facing him completely. “You’re worth more to this team than you think. So stop with the self deprication and take the stupid compliment. There is no one person on our team that is more valuable than the other and if Natasha were here, she’d be hitting you upside the head.”

Clint wasn’t listening to what Tony was saying. He was focused on what Tony was signing.

Working on building something to send a signal to FRIDAY. Keep your head out of trouble and play along. Will keep you posted.

Clint smirked as he nodded. “Fine,” he replied to both what he said and what he signed, “but let’s be honest, Zemo likes to play games and he’s probably going to test to see how far we’re willing to go for the other. If it comes down to you and me, you choose you. Deal?”

“You know I won’t agree to that.”

“Tony…” But Clint was cut off as the door opened and two guards came in. “Oh come on, can you give us a break for just a…”

But Clint stopped mid-sentence when he saw who came in after the guards. “What?”

“What? Is that any way to greet me after all these years?”

Tony looked between the stranger and Clint before pointing at the guy. “You know this guy?”

“Wait a second, Clint,” the stranger spoke with a smirk, “You mean to tell me you haven’t told your super buddies about me?”

“Clint, what he is talking about? Who is this?”

But Clint was pushing himself up to his feet, despite how much he didn’t  want to and walking to the clear door. It was a face he hadn’t seen in years…one he was certain had been dead.

Yet somehow he was standing in front of him.

It couldn’t be…

“Barney?”

TBC…