An Avenger's Tale

13|| The Ransom Video

Peter's POV

The tower was a walking ghost town after Sage's kidnapping. Mr Stark occupied himself by trying to locate her, but we couldn't track her, seeing as we found her bracelet at the battle scene. He rarely appeared at dinner since then but, then again, dinner wasn't the same.

It was uncomfortable, only the clashing of cutlery broke the heavy silence that overshadowed every piece of the tower. No one would make eye-contact and immediately excuse themselves once the last pieces of food have melted from their plates. They'd wonder to their rooms and seldomly be seen after that.

Steve was permanently down in the training arena. He blamed himself for what happened at Central Park since he asked Sage whether she wanted to join him for a run. No one else blamed him. Not even Mr Stark.

Nat was taking badly to Sage's kidnapping too. She was an emotional wreck and Clint sometimes had to stay with her for the night, just to keep an eye on her. I never would've thought that Nat would come to care for Sage so deeply. It all happened so suddenly, especially after the rescue mission.

Loki kept to himself in his room and I only ever saw him at the meetings. He had a barrier around him on the outside, but I knew he cared for Sage just as much as the rest of us, maybe even loved her, just like me, so the perfectly poised demeanor didn't fool me. He was human like that, just like the rest of us.

Thor would occasionally go see whether Loki was doing okay and would come back with a hopeless expression etched upon his face, getting nowhere with his adoptive brother. Loki was hard to break, not even Thor could get through to him sometimes.

We were all sitting around the breakfast table. Since Sage's kidnapping, I had been staying at the Avengers Tower. I had told Aunt May that I was working on something astronomical with Mr Stark. She bought my lie. I promised to call every day and I did, digging myself a deeper hole.

"Has anyone checked up on Nat and Clint?" Cap asked as he stared at his bowl of cereal as if he had no appetite whatsoever.

"I walked into Agent Barton this morning. He said Agent Romanoff is doing better," said Nick Fury, who had, when he heard about Sage's kidnapping, come to aid in the search.

"Well, that's good." Wanda commented in her pure, Russian accent.

"I agree."

I turned to face the Falcon as he sipped on his orange juice from where he was leaning against the kitchen island. Cap nodded and sighed deeply, pushing his chair back as he took his bowl of cereal to the kitchen. Our heads shot towards the door at Mr Stark's entrance.

"Any news?" Thor asked, stepping forward.

Mr Stark shook his head in dismay and fell into a chair. "Nothing."

"We'll find her," said Fury as he placed a hand of comfort on Mr Stark's shoulder, "I've got my best men looking too."

"How could I have let this happen?" Mr Stark buried his face in the palms of his hands.

The few of us that were there shared a look of sympathy and heartache. Cap shook his head, unable to hold his walls high and he walked out of the room. Sam rushed out of the dining room, going after him.