Into the Mist. (Avengers FanFiction) Sequel to Away We Go

Chapter 15

OKAY. SO. UPDATE. Not the last chapter! (It would be the last chapter if I was really, really cruel). I'm still kinda cruel, though.... >:)    As usual, please point out any spelling errors! 

Clint Barton’s a.k.a. Hawkeye’s P.O.V. 

“Нет, боже мой ... Стив …” Natasha murmured, watching as a plume of smoke, larger than any of the others, billowed past the tops of trees, followed briefly by debris from the building. We had been forced to retreat into the woods after the explosions started, the flames setting fire to the grass around the compound, making it impossible to go after Steve. Natasha hadn’t said a word of our interaction with Loki, or about how she knew the compound was going to explode. But whatever information she gained from him, or from whatever plan she had made, Steve running back into that place had definitely not been part of it. 

“Shit,” I muttered in the ensuing silence, ears ringing as the smoke continued its slow ascension into the sky. We could only stand frozen, fearing the worst– too afraid that our fears would be realized. Swallowing past the lump in my throat, I turned towards Tony who, though the mask was still in place, was staring with a burning intensity towards where the flames had just dropped back down past the tree-line. There was a chance…however small it may be, that he’d survived. We needed to go. 

Heaving a breath I stepped forward, grip on my bow tightening as I moved one foot in front of the other. “Guys,” I said, when no one else moved. Suddenly, as if shocked, Natasha took off into a sprint, quickly followed by Fury and I, Tony taking to the skies. 

Upon breaking the last lines of trees, I was hit by brief wave of confusion, followed quickly by leaden dread. All that was left of the compound was rubble, little sprouts of flames flickering here or there. The place was decimated, just as the S.H.I.E.L.D base had been decimated by the tesseract a year ago– minus the gigantic sink hole. 

“Anything?” I asked Tony, slowly beginning my own trek through the rubble. 

“Nothing,” was the clipped response, the line quickly filling in with soft static once more. Gravel and glass crunched under my boots, maybe a bone or two here or there. Everything was singed or completely incinerated, and I tried to push that fact from my mind as I focused on my current mission.  

There was no trace of Loki and I found myself idly hoping he burned to death.

Natasha was about fifty feet in front of me, pausing to examine the bigger pieces of concrete that were strewn across the area, while Tony passed by every few minutes scouring every inch of the ground with his aerial view. Fury lingered on the fringes of the rubble, slowly making his way around the perimeter. 

“Clint!” Natasha barked, her tone a mixture of something indecipherable. My head snapped up and I began to sprint toward where she was crouched on the ground, brushing rubble off of something with the back of her hand. The closer I got, the easier it was to make out the colors and shape of the object: red, white, blue, and round. 

“Steve’s shield…” I said, coming to a stop beside her. It was worse for wear, some of the paint chipping, the straps on the back charred. Nothing lay under it but more rubble. 

“Do you think…” I mumbled, wondering what the ash could be composed of, my stomach churning at the thought. Natasha remained silent as Fury and Stark made their way over, noticing our fixation. Tony landed, lifting the face plate to get a better view of the shield. Fury muttered something under his breath, before turning away. 

“We’re not going to be able to search this place thoroughly by ourselves, we should call in a team,” Tony said, stepping back. 

“I’ll contact Hill, we’ll have a team here in an hour,” Fury stated, walking off to the side and pulling out a phone. 

Something in Stark’s expression gave way as he stared at the shield, mirroring what I knew to be true– there was nothing here but rubble and ash.

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We searched for hours, scoured every inch of the compound, combed the surrounding forest, and not of a trace of Steve, Calypso, or Loki could be found. Nothing but ash, rubble, and a few bones which were taken back to a lab for analyzation. Fury had gone with the specimens to ensure the job was done right.

The rest of us now sat in a main room of Stark Tower, waiting for the results, though none of us really cared to know. Any news at this point would be bad news. 

I considered where I’d go from here– maybe I’d get a place out in California, maybe I’d stay in the city. I looked over at Natasha who was sitting against one of the huge floor to ceiling windows, peering outside. She hadn’t said a word about what’d happened during her capture, saying that “it didn’t matter anymore” when I’d pushed too far. I suspected that she’d be gone by morning, off to some remote corner of the world. 

Pepper was talking lowly to Tony who sat on the couch next to mine, a pucker forming between her brows as he refused to respond, instead closing his eyes, and resting his head on the back of the couch, arms crossed. 

Tony Stark’s a.k.a. Iron Man’s P.O.V. 

All of that work, all of that searching, and we’d gained nothing but disappointment and one less teammate. Neither Rogers nor Calypso deserved to go the way they did, but since when did anyone really deserve what they got? Total assholes and homicidal norse gods excluded. 

“Tony,” Pepper sighed, shaking my arm, “I’ll call Rhodey, I think you should talk with him.” I just shrugged lightly, hell bent on shutting out the world for the next few hours. Or days. Or weeks. “I’ll be on floor 5 if you need–“ she began, only to pause as the elevator dinged. Probably one of the workers. She was silent as I heard the doors slide open, and whoever was inside stepped out onto the marble. “Tony…” Pepper urged, shaking me hard. I opened my eyes, immediately focusing on Natasha who was now standing, mouth agape, and Clint whose eyes looked like they were about to fall out of his head. 

“What the–“ I said, turning, and freezing halfway around as her voice reached me. 

“I’m so, so sorry guys but I swear I can explain!”