SHADOW [Avengers: AOU]

XXIII. Forever Shadow

"What the hell do you mean she's gone?!" Clint yelled.

The Avengers had all been in a briefing room in a deep discussion about what exactly they could do to help the dark haired teenager they had currently locked up. That was before a silent alarmed had been triggered on Tony's phone, and without a word the billionaire took off out the door and down the hall to the nearest stairs. The team had all just gotten towards the stairway when the he ran up and told them the very, very bad news which ended up with Barton practically yelling in his face.

"Exactly what I said. She's gone. A silent alarm was triggered to alert me if she decided to try and pop out. But we of course I'd upped the ante with an invisible shield around the room that would have gave her a really nasty shock. Enough to knock her unconscious. But see she just...vanished. The shield didn't even effect her." Tony said.

"That's impossible. The bracelet-cuffs on her wrist keeps Jacqueline from using her powers. You made sure of that, Stark." Steve says.

"Yeah. But see, that's the thing." He presented the somewhat thin, broken metal pieces from inside his pocket and into the palm of his hand.

"Is that..." Bruce trailed off.

"Her cuffs. They're broken." Natasha says.

A look of shock goes over the group. That wasn't supposed to ever happen. Clint let's out a curse as he runs a hand down his face.

"But how?" Steve asked.

"Vision, what is wrong?" Wanda asked.

Everyone looked at Vision as he had his hands bald into a fist at his side. A look of sadness in his eyes as he started at the pieces of metal in Tony's hands.

"Poor Jacqueline...I shouldn't have ever left her alone in such a weakened state. I should of stayed. She told me that she was scared. That The Source had been wearing her out. None of us had taken to notice, until it's to late. And now I'm afraid it has gotten full control." He sighed.

"I don't believe that. Jacqui's a fighter and has strong enough will power to hold that thing back." Steve says firm in his belief in the teenager.

"The Source is an actual being living inside the infinity gem that's placed inside Jacqueline's head. Its power is dangerous and deadly. Along with the stone itself being completely indestructible." Vision tells them.

"So that means basically we're screwed." Sam says.

"I'll get her back. I can find her, talk some sense into her. She'll listen to me." Pietro speaks up and everyone looks to him.

"Brother, Jacqueline's too unpredictable. She could hurt you." Wanda says.

"More than that. You'll be dead. And I don't think you'll be able to come back this time with a crispy as body that has no soul." Tony says.

"She wouldn't. I know she wouldn't. We can't just do nothing and let that monster keep torturing her mind and causing her pain!" Pietro almost yells. Wanda places a hand on his shoulder but he shrugs it off and doesn't see the hurt look on her face.

"Pietro's right. We promised her that we'd find a way to help her. To save her. And we aren't breaking it." Steve said. The team each shares looks around the room.

"We find a way. Or we die trying." The captain adds and everyone nods their heads in agreement.

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