Masks

"J, status--"

"Agent Barton employed one of the specialized arrows you furnished him. Thor is stunned but his vitals indicate he's unharmed...sir, I believe Mr. Grayson and Mr.Hogan need medical attention. " JARVIS' voice was tight. " Mr. Wilson became involved in the fracas. He assisted Agent Romanoff and Rogers to evade the team, and they have presently fled the building. Superman is in pursuit."

Everyone traded horrified looks before hurrying to the detention area. A gaping hole in the wall showed them just how Rogers and Romanoff had eluded capture.

The Hulk was crouched over an unconscious Dick, almost protectively. Across the room, Barton was lying on the floor. He looked like a discarded Ken doll. The bow had been snapped in half. He was also out cold, Bruce assessed quickly.
Happy Hogan knelt on Dick's other side, putting careful pressure on a head wound the younger man had suffered. "Hey, Big Green," Hogan said, not looking up. "Thanks for shielding me...I think we need Dr. Banner back here. Okay?"

The Hulk growled faintly, but sat back on his heels. He shrank down to Bruce Banner's form. Tony reached out to steady his Science Bro as Banner rubbed at his eyes, looking around. "...Right. "

Happy moved back to give the doctor space to work.
Pepper quickly brought Banner a first aid kit, then ushered Happy to a nearby bench to check him over.

"Bruce?" Dick's eyes fluttered open. "Ouch...shit..."

"Lie still," Bruce urged, taking Dick's hand in his. The deadly glare he gave an unmoving archer didn't bode well for Clint Barton.
He was done offering this so-called team any mercy. He'd been willing to try to work with Rogers, or at least help negotiate some kind of peaceful separation, but they'd burned through his goodwill by attacking nonEnhanced people.
Tony might need Enhanced allies, but he didn't need this bunch of ungrateful, vicious little...

Diana stalked over to Barton, grabbing his collar. She jerked him to his feet, dangling limply, and carried him over her shoulder to one of the still-open cells.

"He may need medical attention too," Pepper said reluctantly.

Tony's face hardened. "He can wait. Let's get a stretcher in here for Dick."

"He doesn't have any broken bones," a voice said quietly. They looked up to see Clark drift through the entrance. "No internal injuries--that armor took the worst of it."

"You lost them?"

" Teleportation. A portal opened right in front of them, midair--it shut again before I could try to follow them across." The Kryptonian sounded pissed. "I didn't know any of them had that capability?"

"News to me, too," Tony replied, baffled.

"I detected an odd energy signature in the area," JARVIS spoke up. "Nearly identical to that of the device Rumlow used at Wayne Manor."

* * *

"Avengers," a one-eyed man greeted the three fugitives coolly. "Want to explain what the hell you think you're doing?"

* * *

Tony stood next to Bruce, not quite hovering. Dick's injuries had proved to be no worse than bruises and a mild concussion. Happy would have a pair of black eyes that did a raccoon credit, before long, but nothing more.

"SHIELD."

Bruce didn't need to ask his mate's meaning. They had both come to the same conclusion, or nearly so. "You told me they were studying the Tesseract...not surprising they or HYDRA, or both, could come up with some short-range applications even in the limited time they had."

"Question is, which one bailed Rogers out?"

"You think HYDRA would do that?" asked Bruce, surprised.

"They do have an interest in super-soldiers, we know that, historically..." Tony shrugged. "But either way, I'm done with this. He and his faithful minions are on their own."

"Thank God," from Pepper, Happy, and even Banner all at once.

"Tony, they treated you like a slave even before this," Pepper said bluntly. "You don't need them. I don't even know why the world does, or why you believe so. They're not the only 'extraordinary people' out there."

A revived Thor nodded in agreement, as did Diana.

"Sir," JARVIS' anxious voice interrupted, "there is an encrypted transmission coming in....

"On speakers, J," Tony said, swinging around to stare at the nearest computer.