Avengers Stories //Oneshots//

Haunted House

The Avengers go to a haunted house.

What could go wrong?

Well, for one thing, they did learn that Tony was crazy about haunted houses.

He acted reluctant, at first, as Natasha and Steve pushed him to go with them. Clint made it clear he would rather not, and was probably only going because of Natasha.

When they were about to leave, Clint grumbling the entire time, Tony came down to the the garage with 'ghost tracking equipment' and a large grin.

"Do you really think you'll be able to find a ghost?" Steve asked as he helped Tony put the stuff into the van.

"Careful with that stuff. And yes, I do. If there is a ghost, I'm going to find it." He glanced at them. "And you all are going to help me."

Clint raised his hands. "No way. Nu-uh. Nope. Leave me out of that."

Natasha punched him playfully on the shoulder. "C'mon, Clint, it'll be fun."

"Fun? What fun? Sleeping in a haunted house? I don't know what fun dictionary you're reading out of, but it is wrong."

The genius sighed. "If I make you more paint arrows, will you help?"

Clint considered this for a moment. Tony was making a very good offer. He had said he would never make Clint anymore paint arrows since he covered the entire livingroom in paint, but now he was making a deal.

After a long minute, he mumbled a "Fine."

"Yes!" Tony punched the air, much to their amusement. "Let's go!"

So they got into the car, Tony in the driver's seat, much to everyone's fear.

While Bruce had a handle on his anger, he couldn't go because of a conference he had been invited to. Thor was off world and they didn't know when he'd be back. So it was just the four of them.

They got to the haunted house thirty minutes later. Tony rented the whole thing out for the night just incase some other ghost-finders decided to come.

Steve and Natasha sat up their sleeping equipment in the bare livingroom, while Tony set up his Ghost Machine, as Clint now dubbed it.

"So..... how's this work?" Clint asked as he leaned against the nearest wall, watching Tony mess around with the settings. He flipped a bow between his hands anxiously, glancing about the room.

"Key word: sensors. All kinds of sensors. If anything can catch a ghost, this puppy right here can."

Clint raised an eyebrow. "Lemme guess, you built it yourself?"

"Duh."

"When?"

"Last night."

"And you're planning to stay up all night tonight?" The archer asked skeptically.

"I've gone a week before."

"That's concerning."

"Yep."

He stopped flipping the arrow. Hesitantly, Clint came to crouch on Tony's other side.

"Is it working right now?"

Tony pressed a little green button, making the machine light up. "Now it is."

"How do you know when you've caught a ghost?"

Tony pointed to the screen where a straight line was moving across it. "This line will fluctuate."

"Up or down?"

"Either way."

"Huh."

Tony got up to go help Steve and Nat, but Clint stayed with the machine, watching it curiously.

Suddenly, the line moved, just a smidge.

"Uh, Tony? The line moved!"

The genius broke off in the middle of his conversation with Nat to run over. The other two members of their squad followed right behind him.

"Looks like we might have a ghost in our mits." Tony said, rubbing his chin.

Clint gulped.

That night, the sensor went haywire, letting out a loud noise. Tony was up before anyone else, grabbing some kind of stick off his machine and running down the hallway. Suprisingly, Clint was right behind him.

The stick grew brighter as they ran and Clint figured that it meant they were behind a ghost, so he followed Tony closely. He could hear the footfalls of Natasha and Steve right behind him.

Then, with his eagle eyesight, Clint spotted a chasm ahead. Tony clearly couldn't see it, face turned up and eyes scanning the air.

"Tony! Stop!"

Clint grabbed the genius's arm just as they came up to the chasm. Tony slipped, feet hitting the air above it. Clint yanked him back and they fell to the floor.

"Are you two okay?" Steve asked, crouching down to check on them. Natasha went ahead, looking down into the chasm with squinted eyes.

"Yeah," both archer and inventor said, making Steve sag with clear relief.

"Looks like erosion." Natasha said. Tony stood up slowly. The stick was a dim glow now, but he angled it down into the chasm. Clint cursed himself for not grabbing a flashlight.

A ladder lead down into the blackness, wilted and crumbling. How long had it been there? Decades?

Then, a sound arose from down there, echoing on the walls. Tony's fangled stick went blindingly bright.

"Ooooooooooo,"

"All in favor of getting out of here, say I." Clint said.

There was a chorus of 'I's and they sprinted back down the hall, grabbed their stuff, and sprinted out.

"Never going back?" Steve asked the ground from where he sat in the passenger seat.

"Never," they all unanimously agreed.

"Pizza?" Tony asked.

"It's one in the morning," Nat said, looking at her watch in the dim light of the radio.

Clint raised an eyebrow. "Who cares?"

Natasha thought for a second. "You're right."

"Then pizza place we go," Tony said, stepping on the gas petal. They left the haunted house behind, vowing never to go there ever again.

At least until next month.