Pawprints

Bruce gulped involuntarily as he hurried back towards the meeting room the Avengers were in. Thumps and loud voices could be heard as he neared the door. Cautiously creeping in, he leaned towards the nearest table and dropped three cups of coffee on it. Immediately, two hands shot out to grab a cup. Bruce felt a squeak come out of him. Dashing back to his designated seat, he continued to furiously search the security cameras of New York.

"Nothing so far?" Clint slammed his fist on the table in rage, causing Steve to stand up in alarm and Clint's cup of coffee to spill.

"Clint, shut up! We're all trying hard so please don't 'Hulk Out' like Bruce. Even Pepper didn't react as bad as you did." Natasha snapped at Clint, her eyes scanning the screen that was in front of her as she took large gulps of coffee. The team had alerted Pepper as soon as they had figured out that Tony had been kidnapped, and she had taken the news with surprising grace, worry still evident in her voice as she told the team to find Tony as soon as they could. It wasn't exactly phrased as an order, but the team would still try to comply quickly. Steve nodded at her words, his eyes occasionally darting towards the still fuming Clint as he scuttled to peer at Bruce's screen.

Just then, a notification from Director Fury popped up on Natasha's screen. Reading it, she groaned before downing the rest of the coffee in one go. Darting towards Natasha, Clint read the email over her shoulder. He scowled darkly as he reached the end of the email. "Well, shit." As Steve looked up curiously, Clint read aloud, "My team has not found Stark yet. Keep your eyes open, a small clue could turn the tables on the kidnappers."

Bruce moaned miserably as he lay his head on the table. "Nothing, nothing at all..." Natasha and Steve assumed similar positions, while Clint kept on muttering to himself and glaring at everything in sight.

"I do believe I can help. My apologies for having taken this long to reboot." JARVIS' voice suddenly rang throughout the room. As the Avengers heard this- Well, it shocked the hell out of them. The S.H.I.E.L.D. technician that had come over hadn't seen anything wrong with JARVIS, except that he was shut down. Assuming that JARVIS was a lost cause until Tony came back (and was turned back into a human), they had all forgotten JARVIS even existed. Anyway, Bruce yelped and fell out of his chair, Steve shot up into a sloppy attack position, and Clint and Natasha both drew out daggers from their hiding places in their clothes and threw them towards the wall, which was where JARVIS' voice had come out from. The knives hit the wall with dull thunks, side-by-side.

"Is everyone done reacting?" JARVIS said again, this time amused. After Clint had gotten his heart rate back under control again, he asked, "What did you mean by 'I do believe I can help'? 'Cause we need an awful lot of that right about now."

JARVIS started explaining. "The kidnappers of Sir used some alien tech to infiltrate my system, thus shutting me down. I, being the most advanced of my kind, managed to reboot some of my simpler functions quicker and got visual on the kidnappers. They were not well covered, and I identified both of them. The rest of my functions took longer to load." Clint exchanged a hopeful look with Natasha, and asked eagerly, "Can you show us the tape?"

"Certainly." As Natasha's screen started loading with a video, Steve and Bruce both rushed to watch it as well. First, it showed a fuzzy version of the Movie Room. Tony's figure came dashing in, and another soon followed- the kidnapper. Suddenly, the kidnapper gashed Tony's leg with a knife and another man picked him up and dropped it into a bag which the first kidnapper held open. A third human walked into the room, evidently holding a conversation with the other two. By then, the quality of the feed had improved, and they could clearly see the kidnappers.

"Man, they really look like the stereotypical Gang Leader and thugs..." Clint murmured to Natasha, who shut him up with a wave of her hand. As the feed ended with the kidnappers making their getaway, Bruce asked, "JARVIS, you said you identified the thugs?"

JARVIS sounded pleased as he replied, "Yes. I identified the first two kidnappers as Bob McKinney and Joe Atlas. Running scans on them now." Bruce pumped his fist as he exchanged delighted looks with the other three Avengers. Finally, there was something they knew!

Just then, Steve started speaking. "Looks like we have a lead. The two kidnappers' names. Now, we have to decide on what to do-"

Clint, who had been listening with a smile, suddenly frowned in anger. "You shouldn't be leading. You're the one that hurt Tony. Not us."

As Steve flushed in embarrassment, Natasha jumped in. "He is the best at leading, though, Clint. And, he is the leader of the Avengers."
"But he hurt Tony!"

"Yes, so we should let him make up for it by letting him lead this mission."

"Guy-"

"Be quiet, Bruce. We're talking."

"Bruce, shut up. Nat, how we approach this is crucial, and do you really think Tony wants to see Steve's face and vice versa right now?"

"Clint, I don't hate Sta-Tony!"

"The fact that you're still thinking of him as Stark amounts to more than your word."

As the Avengers sans Bruce continued to bicker, JARVIS suddenly cut in. "McKinney has family."

Clint, Natasha, and a red-faced Steve quickly turned around as Bruce gasped, "No way. Who?"

"Brenda McKinney, Mother of Bob McKinney. Lives in London, currently retired." JARVIS recited the facts calmly.

As soon as they heard that, Clint and Natasha simultaneously turned around and sped towards the QuinJet's direction, Clint yelling, "Everyone to the QuinJet! If you're not there in one minute, we're leaving without you!"

Bruce and Steve hurriedly followed, Bruce giving a short word of thanks to JARVIS as they left. Steve immediately pulled ahead, drawing level with Clint. "Are you really going to interrogate an old woman? She probably knows nothing!"

At that, Clint stopped suddenly, forcing Steve to stop too as he hissed furiously, "If it saves Tony's life, I don't give a damn."