A Lead, Finally! (Part 2)
Steve jumped onto the QuinJet as it was taking off, landing with a thump in front of a nervous Bruce. He was repeatedly questioning Clint and Natasha, "Is this Code Green? What's our speed?" He finally became silent as Natasha started fingering a dagger that came out of who knew where. Steve could feel the awkward tension in the QuinJet. With no annoyingly loud Star-Tony, he meant Tony- to lighten the mood, the tension in the air just kept growing heavier and heavier.
Awkwardly, Steve tried to make conversation, "Some nice weather toda-"
"Shut up, Cap." Natasha and Clint instantly snapped back, causing Steve's jaw to click shut at a lightning speed. They made their way to London in this silent fashion- Clint piloting, Natasha leaning on his chair looking at blueprints, and Bruce fiddling with an electronic. And Steve? He just sat down with nothing but his thoughts, frustration surrounding him in a thick cloud.
Steve had to quietly rejoice when they FINALLY landed in some fields ("Just a stone's throw away from that witch's house." Clint had intoned shortly, his lips curved into a wry grin.) As they trooped up to the lady's house, Steve just had to try and dissuade Clint and Natasha from this scheme.
"She's an old woman, her son wouldn't contact her, I'm- I'm sure of it!" Steve gestured wildly as he pleaded. Clint and Natasha were, to say the least, expressionless.
"Give it up, Cap. We aren't gonna change our minds." Natasha commented, her red hair bobbing in the breeze as she shook her head. Clint nodded affirmatively, looking like he was trying not to laugh as Steve drooped comically.
However, to Clint's chagrin, Steve brightened again, "How about we compromise? Me and Clint will ask her the questions while Bruce and you stay behind? This way, we don't overwhelm her and everyone wins." As Steve finished, Clint looked at him thoughtfully. "Cap, I don't think Na-"
"We'll do it." Natasha suddenly cut in, popping up from behind Clint suddenly and scaring Steve. Behind her, Bruce nodded eagerly, a strange glint in his eyes. Clint blinked in confusion, before answering, "But, Nat, wha-"
Cutting in again, Natasha nodded at a gobsmacked Steve, who didn't think Natasha would go down without a fight. "Like I said, we'll do it. Now would you two quickly get to the woman's house and interrogate her?" Glaring at Clint, which effectively shut him up, she stalked in the opposite direction, a bemused Bruce trailing behind her.
Clint gestured limply with his hands, shock obvious on his face. "W-well, lead the way, Captain!"
After five minutes of trudging up a muddy hill, the duo finally reached the doorstep of a large house. It was obviously meant to look fancy, but gave the impression of a haunted mansion. As they rang the doorbell, Clint found himself humming the 'Batman' theme song, to the annoyance of Steve (Who, frankly, had no idea of what Clint was humming, but figured it was annoying anyway.)
As the doorbell finally stopped ringing, they heard a high voice, "Who's there?"
Winking at Steve, Clint replied, "Two sexy mailme-"
Before Steve could even reply, the door burst open and two rounds of machine gunfire exploded out of the door. Along with several strings of profanities. If not for Clint's quick reflexes as an agent and Steve's shield, the two Avengers would have been shot full of holes.
The worst part?
It wasn't even a huge thug that shot them.
It was a frail, white-haired woman in a frilly pink nightgown. Carrying a machine gun.
Clint wasn't sure what they would have done- Steve was way, way, way too respectable to hurt that old woman, and Clint wasn't exactly comfortable either. Luckily, Natasha solved that little problem by clocking the woman in the head with a wine bottle. The woman dropped like a stone as Natasha threw the remains of the bottle behind them and stood smirking at the frazzled Avengers in front of her, quipping, "You guys took too long."
"Nat, what..." Steve breathed weakly as Natasha headed down the hallway. Clint was too surprised to even say anything.
"Back door." Natasha threw behind her shoulder as she continued strolling. After regaining his composure, Steve said, "Okay, now we have to search for clues or letters-"
"I found the clues and letters!" Came a shout from behind a door. Bruce burst out of it a moment later, clutching some opened letters and fragments of paper. "She burnt most of them, but some hadn't been burnt yet!"
"Bruce, you're part of this too?" Steve gaped at Bruce. Bruce threw an apologetic smile at Steve's flabbergast expression as he joined Natasha's quest in hurtling down the corridor. "The lair is in Afghanistan!"
As Bruce exchanged questions and theories, Clint and Steve turned to each other, Steve's mouth still gaping. Then, Clint shrugged, and sprinted down the corridor towards Natasha and Bruce, shouting, "But how could they have gotten to Afghanistan so quickly?"
Steve blinked a few times more, opened his mouth, closed it, and started jogging after the rest of the Avengers, a gobsmacked look still on his face.