Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The sound of dragging metal against the cement might have been painful to others, but Tony Stark didn’t care; it was the least painful thing that happened to him today.

The cold seemed to stab at his exposed skin and cuts, sinking deep into his veins until it finally reached his heart. A broken, shattered heart that cried out in betrayal.

Why? Why? Tony asked himself over and over. Why was he just so willing to kill me!? Why can they all just betray me without a second thought!? But even his genius mind couldn’t understand why the people he once saw as family felt the need to tear his heart out.

He winced, shivering hand going to cover the gash now in his chest thanks to that damn shield. His hand could barley hover over the wound for a second, his whole body desperate to find any hint of warmth.

Finally, after dragging himself against the crumbled wall for what seemed like hours, Tony got to an open window.

He stumbled forward, grabbing onto the side of the wall by the opening, staring out at where the quinjet should have been… It was gone. They really have left me…

Those broken brown eyes filled with tears, his mind going over all that had happened. Clint, Natasha, Sam, Wanda, Steve, T’Challa… They all betrayed him… Did his work and dedication really mean nothing to them?

And Rhodey… oh Rhodey… Tony knew the truth, even if the man tried to hide it. It was all Tony’s fault he had lost the use of his legs… All because of him.

Maybe the Avengers had a point… Tony never really was one of them. He was just a weak, helpless civilian. All he had was money, but what did that matter?

I really am just a worthless piece of trash, aren’t I?

Tony whimpered again, turning back around and handing onto the wall. He forced one foot in front of the other, but vision swimming, and body screaming for relief, be it by death or other ways.

He leaned against the wall, it remained his only support as he desperately tried to escape the damned base. I have.. To get out. I have to find help. If I’m out here any longer then I…

Tony, in his dizzy state, didn’t realize that he was still on the wall of windows. Suddenly, there was no wall for him to lean against.

The brunette fell, body twisting in midair and crashing onto a rocky patch two stories below. Then, the rocky patch shuddered, before giving way as well; Tony Stark tumbled further underground, before finally skidding to a painful stop.

He blinked blearily, his head throbbing, something wet sliding down his forehead and blurring his vision even more. But, he didn’t try to get up. The pain was too much, his memories and thoughts were threatening to overwhelm him.

So, instead of trying to escape, the weakened man merely closed his eyes; Accepting death that surely was waiting with open arms.

However, it seemed the world had other plans. A strange, orange glow appeared, even through his eyelids. Despite his pain Tony still couldn’t help his curiosity, and opened his eyes.

In the strange cavern, there was glowing orange lines all leading up to the small light in the middle. In the air, strange symbols and silky orange strands seemed to surround it.

His brown eyes stared down at the strange, glowing lines. Then, he slowly reached out his unarmoured hand, placing it against the orange. Instantly, the cold seemed to melt away and get replaced with a strange, unfamiliar feeling of power.

Then, his ears exploded with whispers. Strange voices all chatter at once, sounding excited and surprise. Quickly, Tony yanked his hand away. The whispers stopped, and the warm feeling faded away.

Tony took several quick breaths, eyes flickering towards the bright light in the middle. He slowly brought himself to a stand, stumbling a little bit as his delirious mind tried to keep up with the new developments. So delirious in fact, he didn’t even realize that what was left of his armor had vanished.

He slowly drug himself forward, staring at the orange light the whole time. It felt as though he couldn’t look away, he wanted to feel the warmth again, he wanted to feel safe again.

Tony’s nervous, hesitant hand slowly reached out; He barely even tapped the orange light when a surge of power flew through him again, so bright, so powerful.

The lines on the ground suddenly cracked, making more light surround the genius. The whispers returned, seeming disembodied at first, but then combining into one large voice that seemed to echo throughout the cavern.

“How curious…” The strange voice began,”Most people selfishly seek out our power, you have come upon us by accident… You know what we are, you have felt our power, and you still have no darkened desires…”

Tony frowned, continuing to stare at the light. I know what they are? But I’ve only ever seen two other things like this and they were- He gasped, and then croaked,”Infinity Stones…”

“Correct,” The voice replied,”In your mind, I see it all. You have met my siblings, and yet you never tried to use their power for yourself, you never used it selfishly.”

Tony opened his mouth-

The voice cut him off,”Ultron does not count. You had been tricked, and you created him to help, not to be used by you. Same with Vision. You created him in a desperate attempt to save everyone, but people didn’t trust you. How curious.. Everyone sees you as a monster, when you are the exact opposite.”

The genius felt his eyes burn with tears, and quickly wiped his eyes with his free hand. He couldn’t deny the stone’s words, not when it all was true. “W-what do you want with me?” He demanded instead.

“How strange… Usually we would be the one asking such a thing,” The voice continued,”But you are different, Anthony, much different than those who have come into contact with our power before.

“You would never use our power for your own advantage, only to help those who truly need help. You would not let us fall into the wrong hands, just as with the other two. You, Anthony Stark, are worthy of our power.”

Shock, disbelief, and fear flew through him. He quickly held up his trembling hands, trying to show his refusal. “But I don’t want-“

The voice cut him off again. “Sometimes what we need is not what we want,” They whispered,”You must understand, you are the only one we could trust. It is a big responsibility, and things will have to be sacrificed, but you are the only one who can do what needs to be done.”

The stone floated up high, before lowering back down right above the genius. “Please forgive us, Anthony,” They said, their voice suddenly mournful,”But one must sacrifice something in order to receive our power.”

Before he could say anything else, the glowing orange light connected with his body. There was a surge of power, voices, and extreme pain throughout his body. Tony fell over and screamed. But his screams seemed to grow fainter and fainter, as did his vision when he slowly fell into the dark pit of unconsciousness.

Chapter Text

This world can officially bite my ass

Clint Barton wanted to yell it to the hills, but such a desire was impossible when you had a gag in your mouth and were trapped in a metal chair. Of course, of course he would be the one that damn HYDRA would go after.

Of course, he knew why, he wasn’t blind to the fact he was one of the most vulnerable Avengers. He didn’t have superpowers, mechanical enhancements, or a flying metal suit; He just had arrows.

Still, surely HYDRA knew that he wasn’t the most informed Avenger either? Natasha or Steve would have had more information than him, unless it was SHIELD stuff. But, it wasn’t shield stuff.

Shockingly, they were after something completely different, something they (for some reason) were sure the Avengers took.

Clint remembered how confused he was when he first woke up.

-- -- -- -- -- --

He blearily awoke in an empty gray room, latched into a metal chair with metal bindings. His bow and arrow were nowhere to be seen, as well as his clothes. Instead, he was wearing some thin, white prison uniform. It did nothing to protect him from the cold that seemed to seep into his veins, or the dread that filled his system.

There had been a tracker on his clothes, but now they were gone, it would take the Avengers a lot longer to find him..

Then, they came in. Two burly looking men in grunt outfits, and a more professionally dressed, scrawny man.

Clint smirked, and instantly began to chatter. “Well, hello! So good to finally meet you, although I must say this is kind of awkward,” He yapped,”You already have seen me naked, you could have at least taken me out to dinner first-”

He couldn’t say anything else, a meaty hand slapped him across the face, sending it snapping to the side.

“Can it, Hawkeye,” The scrawny one sneered,”We aren’t in the mood for smartass comments. We want what you took out of our grasp. Where is it?”

Clint gasped for air, moving his jaw around to make sure nothing was dislocated. Then, he smirked. “You want your dignity back?” He asked,”Sorry, I forgot where I put it-”

Another slap, hard enough that the noise rang through the air and bounced against the metal walls. The scrawny man’s tight face scrunched with anger, making him look like a crumpled plastic bag.

“You are making this much harder on yourself, Hawkeye!” He snapped,”Just tell us what you took from the Siberian base, and where you hid it!”

Clint wearily blinked. What? Had Steve and Bucky took anything? As far as he knew, they had left behind more than they took.

Not that he would let them know that. Instead, he quickly stuttered,”W-what do you mean? I don’t recall us going there?”

The man scoffed, walking just outside the door, and bringing back a very familiar red, white, and blue shield. Shit, shit, shit…

“Listen, as far as I know, they didn’t take anything! That’s all they left behind!” Clint frantically admitted, struggling in his bonds.

The scrawny bastard clicked his tongue. “Still lying,” He snarled,”Did you forget that they also left behind one of your old teammates?”

Clint froze, eyes widening at the mention of Stark. It had been months, but everyone was wondering what happened to the genius. Steve and Bucky never told them the whole story, but Bucky seemed to grow immensely guilty whenever the man was mentioned.

“Stark?” He croaked out, unable to hide the surprise and curiosity what was bubbling inside of him.

The scrawny man smirked wider, and calmly said,”I know that it doesn’t matter to you, since you all abandoned him. So, I won’t tell you what I know. What I want, is what you have. Give me the stone.”

“Dude!” Clint yelled,”For the last fucking time, I have no clue what you’re talking about!!”

The scrawny man sighed, shaking his head. “You are a fool, Hawkeye,” He sadly stayed,”Now, we’ll have to do this the hard way…”

— — — — — —

That was how his pain began. Every day, they soldiers would come in and ask the same questions.

“Where is the stone?”

“Where did you hide it?”

“Who has it now?”

Every day, he would answer the exact same way.

“I don’t know!”

He truly didn’t, and yet the soldiers seemed to believe that if they punched him hard enough, an answer would shoot out.

Clint eventually lost count of the days, too focused on the pain every part of his body seemed to have. Soon enough, he couldn’t find the energy to talk back. His jaw felt locked together, even when it wasn’t gagged. His arms shook, legs were limp, and his face was barely recognizable with all the injuries on it.

He had held out hope that someone, anyone would come to rescue him. They had saved him from the RAFT, surely a hydra base wasn’t as tough? Maybe it was… He didn’t know.. All he knew was that he wanted the pain to stop.

— — — — — —

One day, when the three came in to do give him his routine thrashing, something was different.

It went the exact same way it did before, a question, an answer, and a beating. But then, they didn’t just leave like they normally would.

The scrawny soldier sighed, and pulled a gun from his holster. Clint’s single unswollen eye widened, heart picking up in speed.

“So sorry, Mr. Hawkeye,” He calmly started,”But I have to give up on you. You simply aren’t worth our time anymore-“

A man started frantically yelling through the door. When nobody answered, a voice came through the scrawny man’s com, but he yanked it out. The grunts didn’t, and seemed to grow worried at what they were hearing.

“Sir-“

The scrawny man whipped around and snapped,“Hush!”

Their boss continued, pressing the gun to Clint’s forehead. “This is our goodbye to you, Hawkeye,” He chuckled,”We’ll send you back to the Avengers in a nice little package… Along with your little family.”

Clint gasped. They found out!? No! Laura! Lila! Cooper! He wanted to scream, cry, struggle, yell, but it was no use. The finger went to pull the trigger.

“SIR!!”

The scrawny man whipped around. “WHAT!?” He screeched.

Just as he yelled, a loud explosion rang through all their ears, and the whole building shook. Clint’s chair wobbled, and then crashed to the ground. His head slammed against the cold, hard concrete.

He blacked out for a moment, his vision and hearing vanishing along with them, and when he came to, there was the sound of gunshots as well as screams.

Clint blinked frantically, barely able to make out the several mens forms running past room. Then, there was a loud bang once more, along with a bright orange light, and those same forms went flying past the doorway.

Orange cracks suddenly appeared in the ground, making pieces of the wall crumble into dust. Misty, transparent tendrils floated into the room, looming over him. Clint felt a crushing, immense power flow into the room. It was too much for his battered brain.

His vision began fading in and out, even with the panic spiking through him. He thrashed violently, making his chair wobble. This is my chance, I have to escape, I have to-

The orange cracks suddenly came closer, while the tendrils grew more opaque and came closer to his body, as if they knew he was trying to move.

Then, another figure appeared. It’s eyes were the same glowing orange as the power around them both. Those orbs turned to Clint, and seemed to widen. The tendrils and cracks receded, returning to the form in the doorway.

Clint’s sluggish mind took several seconds to recognize that the powerful figure wasn’t going to hurt him. As soon as it clicked, he desperately reached out his hand as far as it would go in his binds.

“P-plea… Please…” He croaked,”Help me…”

His voice seemed to shock the person even further, as they took a step backwards the second they heard it. Clint released many frantic cries in return, tears tumbling out of his eyes.

“No! Please!” He cried,”Don’t leave me!”

He frantically reached again, but the black in his vision began to swarm over all the rest of it. Just as those glowing orange eyes started to come closer, his own closed.

And the rest of the world faded away with it.

— — — — — —

It had taken them way too long to find where the bastards had taken Clint. The archer had been taken while he was on patrol, so none of them had noticed he was gone until the next morning; A dangerously large amount of time already lost.

They went after every enemy they could without catching Ross’s attention, until they had finally narrowed it down to HYDRA.

“Of course,” Steve (at the time) had snarled,”It’s always HYDRA, they never seem to die out!”

Then, they started attacking the few active bases left. There were indeed people who were being held captive, and they were able to save them all.... Except their teammate. He wasn’t in any of the ones they searched.

As they began running out of places to search, they became more desperate. During missions, even people like Natasha were making mistakes or getting injured. Steve was starting to wonder if they should call of the search until everyone had calmed down a bit.

No! He told himself. We have to save him! He’s part of the team, we never leave a teammate behind!

He pointedly ignored the thoughts of a certain person that popped up in his memories, but he couldn’t stop the clawing at his heart when he remembered what he did to them.

Finally, they had come down to the last base. It was now or never. Fury (who had managed to contact them) said that they would have to stop whether or not they found Clint in the last hydra base, because they were already on Ross’s radar.

Steve sighed, forcing his hands not to shake as they closed in on the last base, a snowy covered base. It was pretty well hidden, and there weren’t even any people patrolling outside. He probably wouldn’t have spotted it.. If it weren’t for the…

“Is that… A hole?” Sam’s voice broke through his own thoughts.

Steve’s eyes widened, as he finally caught sight of several explosion-sized holes, and some limp bodies sticking out from under the snow.

“The hell?” Steve heard Natasha mutter under her breath. He didn’t respond, focusing on landing as quick as possible.

The team exited, keeping their weapons and powers ready despite their confusion. They walked through one of the large holes in the wall, ready for a storm of bullets; Instead, they were greeted with a eerie silence and a shocking sight.

The computers and all electronic devices were either ripped off the walls, destroyed, or completely missing, filing boxes and desks were ransacked and completely empty. The ground and wall had black cracks, parts of the ceiling were missing, all vehicles were destroyed and some pieces looked to be missing. The most shocking thing, however, were the bodies on the ground.

There were no bullet wounds, stab wounds, or any sign of an obvious cause of death. Instead, all of their eyes were wide with shock, and there were black lines that looked like cracks going down their bodies.

“What the hell happened here?” Sam questioned in shock.

Wanda frowned, lowering her hands but not dismissing the power held in them. “Is it… A new villain?” She asked.

“I’ve never seen anything like this…” Steve whispered.

Natasha frowned, walking over to the bodies and kneeling down next to a scrawny one. She kicked it, and watched as a flash of orange went down the lights, almost completely unnoticeable… But it was there.

“Yes we have,” She replied.

The Avengers turned to her, confusion obvious on their faces. It only took Steve a few moments, however, to recognize what she was talking about.

His blue eyes widened, turning his eyes back down to the body for a moment. “The.. The Tesseract…”

Natasha nodded. “Not just that,” She continued,”Vision’s stone, the mind stone.”

Wanda’s eyes widened the slightest bit, and she lowered herself down, grabbing the body’s hand. “You’re right,” She whispered,”It feels a lot like our powers.”

“Thor did tell us there were more,” Sam mentioned nervously.

Steve nodded, dread rising up into his heart. “Which means that someone must have another one,” He whispered.

The Avengers went silent, the tension was so thick it seemed to close up their throats. After several long, painful minutes, Wanda worriedly asked,”What are we going to do?”

It took Steve a moment to find his voice before he answered,”This base is pretty close to the village. Let’s go ask anyone if they’ve seen anything.”

“What about Clint?” Sam questioned.

Steve turned back around to reply, but Natasha did it for him. “Sam,” She began,”This whole place has been picked clean, we’d be lucky to find a fingernail. We have a bigger threat now.”

They could hear the pain in her voice, but they were all too afraid to mention it. Instead, they nodded, and followed her back out.

As they headed towards the village, Steve struggled to put one foot in front of the other. The fear in his heart overriding guilty thoughts about his teammate.

Who was this person?

How did they harness that raw power?

What did they want?

The questions in his head had no answers, and that utterly terrified him.

— — — — —

The soldiers-

The explosion-

Those orange eyes-

Clint gasped, thrashing despite the violent pain slicing through him. I need to get out. I need to get away. Please-

There was a warm, calloused hand on his bare chest, making him cry out in terror. Was it HYDRA? Was it the strange figure who killed them? Was he going to be hurt? Killed?

Please! Don’t hurt me! Don’t hurt my family! Leave them alone!

The hand didn’t try and hurt him… Instead, something strange happened. There was a glow of orange, and suddenly something seemed to seep through his veins, right down to his very soul. He felt warm, he felt safe.

He stopped thrashing, and relaxed into the warm feeling. The hand slowly began to pull away, and Clint let it do so, simply because he was too tired to do anything else.

And he fell back into blissful unconsciousness.

Chapter Text

The next thing Clint knew was warmth, and something soft wrapped around him. For a moment, he thought he was back at his farm, holding his beautiful wife close before they had to get up and make breakfast.

His fantasy was ripped apart, however, when he opened his eyes.

Instead of his warm bed and the soft, gentle colors of his room, he found himself in a gray, metal room. There was a window, but all he saw outside was darkness. He was laying on a cot pushed against the wall, a thick, red blanket draped over his body. Folded next to his head were some clothes that looked to be a little large, but still looked better than the stupid ones HYDRA forced him into.

What caught his attention instantly, however, was the door. It was cracked open, with a old shoe in between the doorway and the door. It made Clint relax a lot more, knowing that he could leave the small room if he wanted.

He sat up, pulling the blanket off, and picking up the clothes. Just as he went to put them on, his mind caught up with him.

“Wait…” He whispered, rubbing at his face and eyes. “I… My injuries… They’re gone!!”

Now, worry began to claw at his heart. How long was I out if all my injuries are completely gone? He wondered. I doubt this person has the same technology we would use after missions.

Curiosity was starting to overwhelm him. Clint wanted to see his strange rescuer. He quickly yanked on the baggy clothes, still thankful for the protection, and crept towards the door. With one, pale hand he pushed it open, and poked his head out.

The hallway was empty, and only dimly lit by a few lights while others were off completely; He saw that some of the automatic door buttons were powered on.

When nothing jumped out to attack him, Clint pushed the door open a little more, sliding out into the hallway. He leaned back against the hallway, looking left and right; trying to decide where would be the best place to go.

Why did this person being me here in the first place? He wondered. And, where exactly am I?

The archer started to feel nervous. Maybe I should wait until that dude comes back before I do anything… But then again, when will that be? He let out a frustrated huff, and turned to the left of the small room, heading down the hall.

For a while, there was nothing, not even light coming from out the windows. Well, maybe it is night time, I don’t know how long I’ve been out. He was tempted to open some of the doors, but he didn’t know if they were password protected or not, or if his mystery host would want him looking inside.

But, at the very end of the hall, there was an open door; Coming from inside was a bright glow of orange. Instantly, Clint’s mind remembered the color as the one his rescuer was surrounded by.

He slowly crept forward, leaning back against the wall, and then poked his head in. Whatever he had been expecting, what he saw definitely wasn’t it.

The room was almost exactly like the Helicarrier’s command center, and was filled with orange colored bubbles that went all the way up to the top of the high ceiling, each filled with an object. There were several trunks or lockers on the ground, some of which looked to be overflowing with wires and tools while others had stacks of cans or boxes.

But the most impressive thing was the electronics. In front of the large front window was a huge hub of different computer screens and small tablets or monitors all connected to a large monitor in the middle. The holographic screen was large, and covered what was left of the window.

“Whoa…” He whispered,”What… What is all this for?”

Clint moved forward, wide eyed looking up at what the screen displayed. It was a map of the world, with several red dots splayed out over it. Some were simply the dots, while others had X marks over them.

He looked at the locations. Sokovia, Siberia, Germany, Russia, and many others.. It only took a second for him to realize what all the locations had in common. This is.. HYDRA base locations! He’s attacking HYDRA! But why?

Sudden movement caught Clint’s eye; There was the reflection of something in the hologram, two orange orbs.

Clint let out a high pitched cry, jumping backwards and whipping around. However, his legs got caught in the many wires on the ground. He began to fall, but a warm, calloused hand grabbed his wrist before he could land on the hard, metal ground.

He breathed hard, looking over to finally catch a view of his rescuer. Those bright orange orbs seemed to be the only thing that he could discern at first. They had shaggy auburn hair covering their forehead and a smooth face, clad in a fur lined hood, black cloth wrapped around their neck, and a black outfit that looked fit for an Assassin.

The most shocking thing to Clint, however, was the fact that the man was flying; His feet hovering several feet above the ground.

“What the hell!? Who are you!?” The archer exclaimed in shock, tugging at his hand to try and escape.

The stranger frowned, and used both hands to life Clint away from the wires and place him back near the middle of the room. He then descended to the ground, and Clint noticed that the ground underneath him seemed to shudder and crack, those cracks a hue of orange.

Just how powerful is this guy?! Clint wondered, swallowing the lump in his throat and forcing himself to face the man and stop staring at his feet. “Who are you?” He asked.

The stranger tilted their head, and then turned around, walking over to the lockers Clint previously saw. They pulled some things out, and then came back to the archer; They handed him the stuff, Clint looked down and saw a cold carton of milk and peanut butter sandwich.

“Thanks…” He awkwardly muttered, looking back towards the stranger. “Are you going to answer my question?”

The stranger smirked and took ahold of Clint’s wrist, pushing the sandwich up to the archer’s lips before letting go; He then turned and went back to the large computer, starting to type speedily.

Clint frowned, taking a bite of the cold sandwich and moaning in relief. His taste buds and stomach seemed to start worshipping the stranger for giving him the nourishment he had been missing.

He finished the sandwich before walking up behind the stranger, chugging the milk down. The stranger seemed to grow tense the closer he got, but continued typing away at the keyboard. Turning his eyes up, Clint read the entry he was putting into the large monitor.

Switzerland Mountains Hideout: Eliminated, located missing Avenger Clint Barton, founds more maps of hidden bases...

“So, you hunt down HYDRA?” Clint asked curiously,”And you know who I am?”

The stranger’s nervous orange eyes turned back to him, giving one nod in return to both his questions.

Clint hummed curiously, looking around. “Well… That makes more sense I guess! The Avengers and I knew something was going on at the bases but I didn’t expect someone like you,” He casually answered.

The stranger quirked his eyebrow.

“N-not that you’re weird or anything,” Clint quickly added, rushing to change the subject. “Hey, by any chance, do you know how long I was captive for?”

The stranger turned back around and, for a moment, Clint thought he was going to be ignored again. Instead, the map and journal entry on the screen vanished, and an empty word document took their place. The stranger began speedily typing a message.

“You went missing in October, it’s December 16th, so about two months,” The message read.

Clint’s eyes widened. “T-two months..?” He croaked,”I was gone for two months… They didn’t find me… Why didn’t they find me?! Did they even try?!”

His mind was warped with confusion. “It hadn’t taken us very long to find where Loki’s staff was hidden, and that was just an object! But they couldn’t find me?! Did they even care?!” He yelled, pacing back and forth.

A tapping on his shoulder jerked him out of his anger, and he whipped around to see the stranger pointing at the document. There was a new message.

“They never would have,” It read. “The hideout isn’t listed anywhere, it’s exact location was only known by the higher ups that worked there. I only found it because one of the higher ups was visiting one of the other hideouts I raided.”

Clint blushed, suddenly feeling shameful. “I- Well… Now I feel stupid..” He muttered,”What was I thinking? They’d never abandon me! We’re a team, we never give up on each other!”

Something about his words made those glowing orange eyes narrow, an angered frown overcoming the stranger’s face. His fists clenched, glowing the same color as those eyes but shaking hard. The cracks on the ground grew bigger, and things started to shake.

Clint’s eyes widened, afraid of the power the man held. . “What the hell?! Was it something I said?” He frantically asked,”Please calm down!”

The shaking suddenly stopped, and the stranger looked at Clint with emotions he couldn’t quite recognize. He then shook his head, hand tugging at the auburn hair.

His other hand went up, motioning one of the strange bubbles forward. It floated toward him, and Clint noticed what was in it. My bow! My arrows! And… Files?

The strange bubble faded away, and the stranger caught the items; he quickly turned around and shoved the items in the archer’s hands so hard that the man stumbled back a bit.

Clint looked down at the items in shock, noticing that the files looked like they were from HYDRA. Is it about my time as a prisoner?

“What is-“ He began, looking up to turn back at the stranger… But he was gone.

The archer frowned deeply, looking back down at the files, and deciding that his best course of action was probably to read the files and wait until his rescuer and host came back. He made a nice spot for himself against the wall, his bow tucked against his side, and began to thumb through the files.

Despite trying his best, he couldn’t focus completely. He was still trying to figure out something… Why was the stranger so angered by what he said?

— — — — — — —

Tony didn’t stop running until he was on the other side of the hideout, entering a room, and quickly sliding the other door shut.

He pressed his back against the door, releasing a huge breath of air. As he did, his disguise melted away and revealed the shaggy dark brown hair and goatee underneath.

He took a few moments to breathe, and then slammed his hands against the door. What the fuck is their problem!? He screamed in his mind. They ‘never give up each other!?’ What about me!? Did they already forget about me!?!

Tony felt his eyes burn with the need to cry, but he forced it back. He couldn’t cry, he wouldn’t cry; He hadn’t since that cold night at the Siberian base.

Instead, the genius slid down to the ground and pulled his legs up to his chest, wrapping his arms around them, and burying his face into his knees.

What am I going to do? He wondered. How am I going to keep this up? Out of everyone, why did it have to be Clint, the one who hates me the most?

He sighed, forcing his breathing to remain calm. He lifted his head the slightest bit, bringing his fingers up and wiggling his fingers; watching the orange magic dance in between them. It gave him a bit of comfort, knowing that he wasn’t as helpless against the Avengers as he once was.

The sooner I get Clint away from here, the better. He told himself, and then his thoughts came to a halt. But now… Now he knows that I exist… He’ll tell the Avengers about me… They’ll never leave me alone.

His hand went to his hair, threading through the long strands and curling further into himself as he came to a painful realization.

He had no idea what to do…

— — — — — —

At first, Steve had been afraid of the roughed up looking ship that landed in Wakanda. It was foreign, and he knew that T’Challa and his people preferred to be isolated.

The whole group of Rouge Avengers had begun to pull out their weapons when T’Challa quickly said,”Calm down, it is no enemy… In fact, it’s old friends.”

What? Steve wondered, turning his blue eyes back just in time to see three very familiar people walking out of the ship…

Nick Fury, Bruce, and Thor!

With a shocked gasp, Steve dropped his weapons and ran out of the palace, running into Thor in the middle of the entrance.

“Friends! It is wonderful to see you again!”

Thor’s booming voice was the best thing Steve had heard in years, and he couldn’t help but return the bone crushing hug.

“Thor! Where have you two been? What happened to your hair?” Steve exclaimed.

“Ah! It’s a long and harrowing experience, my friend,” Thor replied,”One that simply must be told over beers. Tell me, where is everyone else? They simply must hear this too!”

The god of thunder looked at all of them, and his face grew concerned. Steve knew that the Avenger’s faces all most likely fell in sadness.

Bruce was the first to speak up. “What happened?” He asked,”Where is Tony? And Clint?”

Steve’s blue eyes widened, his voice suddenly vanishing from his throat. He didn’t know what to say, how to explain, how to even start-

“I think this would be best explained once we get inside,” Fury butted in, placing his hand on Bruce’s shoulder. “It’s a long story…”

Chapter Text

It’s here…

Tony gasped, jerking out of his daze, and leaping to his feet. Memories of the past flashed through his mind, fear overwhelmed him. No… It couldn’t be possible…

Why was the tesseract back on Earth!?

The genius knew he wasn’t making a mistake, he had been able to constantly sense every infinity stone. He knew a man called Dr. Strange had the time stone, he knew Vision had the mind stone… But the Tesseract- or the space stone -had been on Asgard…

Thor would never let someone take it… He thought, crossing the room and continuing to pace. So… That must mean he’s back on Earth?

He frowned at his own theory, shaking his head. No, that doesn’t make sense… Why would he bring the space stone back? Did something happen?

Tony sighed, he knew what he needed to do; He needed to find out for sure, so he needed to use his powers.

He made himself comfortable on the ground, sitting with his legs crossed as he closed his eyes. With the power of the soul stone, he was able to sense every person within the universe, and he could also see the locations of the other stones.

The genius concentrated, finding the exact location of the space stone… It was in Wakanda. Wakanada?

There were thousands of souls within the city, but only a handful of them were near the Tesseract. His discomfort increased when he realized that he recognized those souls.

Rogers, Barnes, Romonav, Maximoff, T’Challa, his sister, and Okoye. He couldn’t help but snort, and remark Of course you’re in the middle of this bullshit…

But… There were more. It took him a moment to recognize who he was sensing, but it made his heart skip a beat. Thor, Bruce, Loki… He frowned. Loki’s alive… Why is he here?! Wait…

It all suddenly made sense to Tony… Loki has the Tesseract, he’d brought it back to Earth! The anger that overtook him nearly broke his concentration, but he still had to figure a few things out.

Slowly, Tony reached into Thor’s soul with the power of the soul stone. Inside, he saw several emotions.. Confusion, relief, and anger towards the Avengers… He looked into the relief a little more.

“Asgard may be destroyed… But at least we got everyone off safely, and destroyed the Tesseract along the way!” His thoughts declared.

Tony wanted to scream. Oh my god… He doesn’t know. Loki, you bastard! What are you planning?!

Too angry to continue, Tony snapped out of his meditative state. He sighed, grabbing at his shaggy hair. Nothing can ever be easy for me, can it?

— — — — — —

Thor groaned, resting his elbows on the cool, metal table and rubbing at his temple a bit after they all were seated at the table.

“You okay?” Steve asked, one part of him asking out of concern and the other part out of the need to stall.

The god of thunder nodded, still rubbing his temple. “Aye,” He said,”My head hurts, is all… It feels like someone was stabbing at my brain.”

The super soldier let out an awkward chuckle. “Well, uh… Maybe the space travel is finally getting to you?” He teased.

Thor didn’t seem amused by Steve’s joke, neither was anyone else. “Friend,” The god firmly began,”You’re stalling…You’re trying to distract me… What happened? And why are you so afraid to talk about it?”

Steve felt his heart skip a beat. Shit… When did Thor get so perceptive? He knew he had been caught, and quickly looked around the table for support. All the other Rouge Avengers simply watched him, and Bucky seemed to be looking at Steve with barley hidden anger.

“Well…” The blonde man hesitantly began,”A lot happened while you were gone… I’m just now sure where to start…”

Bruce gave Steve no pity, and casually demanded,”Start with what happened to Tony and Clint, that’s what we asked about in the first place.”

Steve sighed again, and simply went to the story he had been continuing to tell. He explained to them what happened with the accords, with Bucky, and all the battles in between. When he reached the events of Siberia, he choked a bit; Guilt pooled into his chest, but he forced himself to keep going… With the vague story.

“Tony followed us to Siberia, and… And we ended up fighting after he got angry at us… I don’t know what happened to him after we escaped,” He explained.

The rouge Avengers didn’t react outwardly to this, having heard the story from Steve before. Meanwhile, Bruce and Thor looked saddened by the news of what happened. Feeling a little relieved, Steve went to continue about what happened to Clint when a loud bang made them all jump.

They whipped around to the sound, and found Bucky standing up with his chair on the ground and fist clenched against the table. His face was morphed with anger, and aimed directly at Steve.

“I can’t take it anymore!” The ex-winter soldier yelled. “That’s not really what happened, Steve, and we both know it! Why are you lying to them?!”

Steve was so surprised by Bucky’s outburst that he couldn’t even find words to reply with, as if his throat had closed up. He was the only one who reacted that way; The rest of the Avengers had never seem Bucky react to something with such burning rage, and were wanting answers.

Sam looked over at Steve, frowning. “Cap, what is he talking about?” He asked, making the super soldier’s heart speed up in panic.

“Yeah, Steve..” Bucky practically hissed,”What am I talking about? Why don’t you tell them? Why don’t you tell them the truth?”

Steve quickly whipped around, desperate to calm the situation. “B-but Bucky! I wasn’t lying! Tony did attack you!” He frantically exclaimed.

Bucky slammed his hand on the table once more. “And do you remember why he attacked me? Because of that video! Because you never told him what he should have known from the very second you found out!” He yelled.

The tension was so thick that Fury was the only one brave enough to speak. “Video? What video are you talking about?” He demanded.

Steve froze up again, and Bucky sent him a hateful glare as he replied,”December sixteenth, nineteen ninety one. Tony’s parents didn’t die in a crash, the Winter Soldier killed them, I killed them.”

“Bucky, you didn’t-“

“Shut up , Steve!” Bucky snapped, turning back to the group. “Zemo showed it to Tony, and Tony found out that Steve knew the truth and never told him. He didn’t attack me for no reason, he had just found out his parents were murdered.”

The ex-winter soldier let out a shaky sigh. “And then… We double teamed him, and Steve shoved his shield into the arc reactor and through the armor to deactivate Tony’s suit… And we left him there…” He whispered, hugging himself.

The whole room was completely silent, several wide eyes staring at Steve with a mixture of shock and disbelief. The first to move was- surprisingly -Wanda. Her eyes glowed red with rage, tears streaming down her cheeks as she stood up.

“You monster…” She whispered, before turning and running out of the room as fast as she could.

To Steve’s shock, Sam was the next one to react. He angrily whispered,”That wasn’t your secret to keep, Rogers. Tony had every right to know.”

Bruce’s skin had gone a shade of green, and his voice sounded deeper than normal as he snarled,”The Other Guy isn’t very happy with how you treated Tony.”

“Neither am I,” Thor agreed,”Man of Iron may be a powerful warrior, but even warriors need to mourn. Even if he was attacking you, that was no excuse to leave him there, in such a vulnerable state.”

T’Challa spoke next. “I want to be optimistic, but you disabled his armor and left him in the freezing cold,” He pointed out,”And it’s been quite a long time since anyone’s seen him, he’s most likely dead.”

Okoye put it much blunter. “Rogers, you’ve most likely killed Tony Stark,” She said,”I hope your happy with yourself.”

Natasha didn’t say anything, but the raw emotions of sadness and anger in her eyes was enough to tell Steve what she thought.

His heart seemed to sink all the way to his feet, guilt pooling in the empty spot and weighing his whole body down. He wanted to apologize, to cry, but he couldn’t find the courage to do any of it.

“I think we’ve had enough revelations for today,” Fury decided, his voice noticeably shaking. “This meeting is adjourned. We’ll talk more later.”

The rouge avengers and the Wakandans quickly left the room without looking back at their supposed leader… Except for Bucky. He stared straight at Steve, straight into his soul, for several long seconds before turning and leaving as well.

Steve reached out to stop him, but his friend was already too far gone. His shaking hand went up to cover his mouth, images of Tony bleeding out, freezing to death, or even killing himself flashing in his brain. Any of those deaths were possible… All because of him.

His eyes and throat burned with the need to sob as he backed against the hard wall, leaning into it as the tears finally began to fall.

“Oh God… I’m… I’m so sorry…”

— — — — — — —

A gentle prodding against the back of his shoulder slowly roused Clint from his slumber. He grumbled a bit, waving a hand toward the annoying poker. “Five more minutes, Coop…” He muttered.

The poking stopped, and Clint almost fell back asleep when his blanket was suddenly yanked off his body and the cold air hit him.

He jerked awake, hazel eyes wide with surprise as he turned around. “Hey what’s the-“ He stopped, memories rushing back to him when he caught sight of those orange eyes.

The archer looked around, realizing that he was still in the room with all the computers. “Oh… Um… Sorry,” He slowly said, still half asleep. “I was reading through the files… I must’ve fallen asleep..”

His rescuer didn’t respond (Clint was starting to get used to that), and instead picked up the bag next to him. He held it out to Clint, pointing on the writing on its front.

Clint leaned forward, reading it aloud,”Take to village… Oh! You’re going to a town?”

His rescuer nodded, bringing his thumb and index finger together and rubbing them before pointing back at the bag, and then finally pointing at the archer.

“You’re going to sell stuff… At the village… And you want to know if I want to come to?” He slowly guessed, gaining a thumbs up in response.

Clint grew excited, curious to see where exactly he was and see if maybe he could learn a little more about his mysterious rescuer. “Sure! That sounds awesome!” He cheerfully said, before remembering something. “Um.. But I don’t have any warm clothes…”

The stranger didn’t even hesitate to wave a hand, bringing one of the bubbles from the ceiling down and popping it. Inside was a black coat that looked to be in good condition, some gloves, and a beanie.

“Damn, you just have everything, don’t you?” He teasingly asked, pulling the coat over his uniform.

His rescuer simply smirked at his remark, and then pulled his own gloves over his hands, and wrapped a scarf around his neck, hiding the black wrappings underneath it.

Clint couldn’t help but be a little curious as to what the man had to hide from him. Maybe someone in the town will know? He thought, a frown overcoming his face. But this guy is super mysterious… He probably hasn’t told them much either.

The stranger motioned for him to follow, and headed through the hideout. Clint followed after him, all the while unsure of what he was expecting to get out of their excursion.

— — — — — — —

Getting to the village proved to be interesting already. When the doors opened to the front of the hideout, Clint realized that the stranger lived on a very high, snow covered mountain peak. All the archer could see was mounds of snow below.

In order to get down, Clint had to hang onto the man’s arm as he carefully floated them to the bottom of the mountain. On their way down, Clint looked back at the hideout to get a better look at it.

Turns out, the stranger’s hideout was an old HYDRA base buried deep within the cave of the large mountain. Clint only knew that because he could vaguely make out the symbol before it had been scratched off.

When they landed, it was about a fifteen minute trek to the village. Knowing that his rescuer wouldn’t speak, Clint took the time to chatter about random things in order to ignore the awkwardness. To the stranger’s credit, he was a pretty good listener, and even made faces to show how he felt about certain things Clint said.

When they finally reached the village, Clint recognized the architecture instantly. They were in the Swiss Alps, and all the houses had beautiful architecture with curved red or mahogany roofs and the whole place was surrounded by snow covered trees. There were no roads, instead there were stone paths throughout the village.

Unsure of what to do, Clint followed the stranger like a lost puppy. They came up to a shop with a sign that said ‘Mechanic’ on it and also had the same thing in German.

There was a burly man at the front of the shop, he seemed to be counting out some tools and parts when Clint’s rescuer swung the door open. He looked up from his work and smiled instantly. “Well, well! If it isn’t Blue!” He cheerfully said in a thick, German accent. “I haven’t seen you in a while, I was starting to worry!”

He went around the counter and quickly hugged the stranger so tightly he lifted him off the ground a bit. Those orange eyes widened a bit, but otherwise he seemed used to it.

Blue? Clint wondered in the meantime. What kind of name is Blue?

When the mechanic finally put ‘Blue’ down, his green eyes caught sight of the archer. “Oh? And who are you?” He asked.

Clint noticed that he didn’t ask Blue, and answered,”I’m Clint, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

The mechanic smiled, and declared,”I’m Stefan, I run the little mechanic and repair shop in town,” He explained, turning back to Blue. “Which reminds me… What have you got today?”

Blue smiled, opening up the bag and revealing several types of parts and computer chips. Oh, he got those from the HYDRA bases, didn’t he… Is that why he raids them? To steal? Clint wondered.

“That’s quite a haul you got, Blue!” Stefan exclaimed, helping him put things onto the desk. “Hang on, I’ll get your cash right now. Why don’t you take that thing of computer chips to Noemi?”

At Clint’s confused look, Stefan explained,”Noemi is our IT girl, she works right next to me at her computer store.”

Blue had already gathered the chips again, and headed off to go and sell the chips. Clint waited until he couldn’t see his rescuer anymore before turning back to Stefan. “So… His name is Blue?” He asked.

Stefan shrugged. “Honestly, I don’t know,” He said,”He’s never given me a name, so I gave him one when I realized he’d be staying. I call him Blue because he really likes the color, that’s really the only reason.”

Clint hummed in response. Well, I guess that makes sense… It’s better than calling him Orange. “So… He’s never spoken to you either?” He asked,”Does he just… Not talk? Is there a reason?”

Stefan stopped counting his cash and frowned toward Clint. “You don’t know? He hasn’t shown you?” He questioned, gaining a shake of the head from the archer. Stefan frowned again, looked toward the door.

“I’m… I don’t think I should tell you without Blue’s permission, but..” He leaned forward, closer to Clint, and whispered,”If you ever see his throat, you’ll realize that there’s a really good reason that he doesn’t speak..”

A few seconds later, Blue returned and Stefan began chatting to him while counting the cash. Clint was left to his thoughts once more. So he is hiding something there… He isn’t just ignoring me or refusing to talk… But what could have happened to him?

After they left the store, Blue walked further into town and then pulled out the wad of Swiss francs. He thumbs through it before grabbing about a third of them, and handing them to Clint.

The archer frowned, looking back towards him. “What is this for?” He asked, wondering if they were going shopping for something.

Blue, of course, didn’t answer verbally; Instead, he pointed at a nearby Tv that displayed the Avengers. Clint stared at it for a moment before he made a connection.

“Oh, you want me to go back to the Avengers?” He questioned,”You’re just going to let me go back, you don’t want anything?”

The stranger nodded, orange eyes seeming to wait to see what Clint would do… But the archer didn’t know himself. Part of him wanted to take the chance and run home to his team and family, but another part of him wanted to understand Blue. He wanted to know what the mute male was hiding, and his reasons for what he did.

“If it’s okay with you… I think I’ll stay with you a little while longer, Blue,” He softly said, giving a nervous grin as he waited for a response.

Blue looked surprised at the nickname, and several emotions seemed to flow through those orange eyes before he nodded… But he still seemed nervous about it.

Looking back down at the money, something popped into Clint’s head. “Wait, I have an idea!” He exclaimed,”Wait here!”

He quickly ran to the general store in town, buying a small whiteboard and a few dry erase markers along with an eraser. He then ran back to where Blue was, and handed them to him. “Here!” He said,”Now we can talk easier!”

Blue’s orange eyes widened, looking shocked at the idea of getting a gift. He stared at the empty white board, looking back at the archer as a shy smile climbed up his face. He opened the blue marker, and quickly wrote down a small note.

“Thank you.”

Clint smiled, waving his hand. “Oh, it’s nothing,” He said,”Think of it as part of my repayment for you saving my ass. I still owe you a lot.”

Blue smiled again, but it was a different smile… One that said Blue knew more than he was letting on. He then turned, and motioned for the archer to follow after him. Clint did, all the while wondering what mysteries were hiding in his mute companion’s brain.

And what exactly he had to do to discover them.

-- -- -- -- -- --

“You know me-”

Erase

“I’m your teammate-”

Erase

“I’m Tony Stark-”

Erase, Erase, Erase.

Tony shook his head, staring at the empty white board as conflicted emotions ran throughout him. He didn’t know what to do… He hadn’t been expecting Clint to stay, he had expected him to run off the second Tony gave him the chance.

He looked next to him, where the remains of the iron man armor sat slumped over next to the shattered arc reactor. He hadn’t worn it in weeks, all he could feel was his chest getting crushed within it.

He thought about his old teammate in the other room, Clint was completely unaware about who he was speaking to, who rescued him… Did Tony bide his time? Did he tell him? Why did life have to become so complicated?

He pulled his legs up to his chest, resting his knees on them and staring at the empty whiteboard, wondering what he was supposed to do next… Where he could turn… What he should say. Finally, an idea popped into his brain.

Tony knew eventually that the archer would return to the Avengers, and so he could at least pass a warning to them through the man. He quickly wrote out a message, not even hesitating throughout the whole thing. Finally, he capped the marker, and picked up the whiteboard.

Leaving the small room, he found Clint with the files in the computer room. He quickly tapped the man’s shoulder, who turned around right away. As soon as he had the man’s attention, Tony showed him the board.

“What do you know about the infinity stones?”