"Bye, Sarah," Natasha called. 

     "Oh come here and give me a kiss, girl." The small woman pecked Natasha on the cheek. Natasha stared into her eyes when Sarah held her wrist. "Take care of him, okay?"

     Natasha didn't have to ask who she was talking about. She nodded as she shouldered her bag. "I will."

     Natasha gave Bucky her bags before climbing into the back beside Clint. He looked much worse for wear. It was like the time he got the flu and Coulson forced Natasha to take care of him. She wished she had a mask just in case he was sick. Natasha ran a hand over his eye bags. Clint's head lolled dangerously. "Rough night?"

     "Shut up. Waking up in the middle of the night isn't good for a person. Especially on New Years' Eve," he grumbled. Then his blue eyes hardened and he shifted closer to Natasha. "We're going to get him right? I mean, we should've left sooner but the car...yeah. We're going to help him?"

     Natasha closed her eyes slowly. "Yes." She smiled coyly. "Look who's come around. I told you you didn't know what was going on."

     "Oh, put a sock in it," he snapped playfully. 

     Natasha snickered as Steve backed the car out of the driveway. Natasha glanced at her watch before settling beside Clint. Her mind wouldn't settle long enough for her to fall asleep, but the rhythm of Clint's chest focused her. She tried to get the basic outline of a plan going in her mind. This had to go perfectly for Tony. She knew how powerful Howard Stark was. He's the owner of Stark Industries, a powerful businessman and engineer. And he was rich. That was enough to make him dangerous in Natasha's book. Rich people had the most power. Howard had plenty of that. 

     When Natasha had made at least twelve different plans, a backup for each way it could go south, Steve announced that they were almost back in New York. Exactly thirty minutes away. They'd managed to avoid most of the traffic and they'd agreed not to take any bathroom breaks. Natasha would take stiff joints for being closer to saving Tony any day. Bruce suggested they just go straight to Tony's house. 

     "We will," Natasha replied. "But we can't arouse suspicion from Howard. He has the upper hand because he has Tony. We must be discreet."

     "We should split up when we return to the city," Thor boomed. 

     Clint covered his ears with a groan. "You're loud, big guy."

     Natasha pinched his cheek. She ran a hand through her hair. "Thor's right. Clint, Steve, and I will go to Stark's. Bruce, Bucky, and Thor I need you to go to the library. He likes it there and the librarian trusts him with the keys. He could be hiding there for all we know."

     "Okay, okay. Library and Stark's house. Got it," Clint mumbled. "Now let me sleep."

     "We're almost there, my arrow friend," Thor said. 

     "Almost, being the key word. Now shut the hell up, ingrates," he snapped. 

     "Everyone shut up for Clint's sake because he is our king and we must carry out his every his desire," Bucky teased. 

     "Fuck you," Clint muttered. 

     Bucky flicked his eyes to Steve before he laughed. Bruce chuckled quietly as he looked out the window and Thor roared with laughter. Clint curled up on the backseat as Natasha smiled at them. Now they were only missing Tony. 

      Natasha looked at the iron gates with her hands in her pockets. Stark Manor looked eerie in the moonlight, almost skeletal. Natasha glanced at Clint and Steve before looking back at the house. She took a deep breath as her heart pounded in her ribcage. This is what she's been building up to. Finally uncovering the secrets Stark was hiding. Her mind circled back to a conversation she had with Clint about picking up strays. She sighed to herself. She had to stop these investigations because she always got attached. Luckily the same thing happened. Everyone grew to like Stark just as they grew to like Bruce. That was her plan this entire time. 

     "Are we going inside?" Steve asked. 

     Clint yawned behind his hand. Natasha shook her head. "You don't just walk in."

     Clint stumbled forward, falling into the gate and wrenching it open. Natasha glowered pointedly at him as Steve walked through. "I think you can."

     Clint snorted as he picked himself up. He brushed the dirt and snow off of his pants. "In and out. Easy as that."

     Natasha smirked. "Of course." Her eyes flicked around the house, taking in windows and the garage and the front door. She circled around to the side. She looked at the window on the second floor. "I think that's his room."

     Clint watched Steve toss a snowball at the window. He rolled his eyes. "Real romantic there, Cap. What are you gonna do next? Pull out a boombox?"

    Steve shoved a snowball in Clint's face. Natasha shook her head fondly. The lights were off but that didn't mean no one was home. Natasha beckoned Steve over for him to hoist her up. Natasha was a couple of feet off the window. Steve could throw her, but there was still the chance the ledge wasn't as wide as she thought. She really didn't want to deal with any broken bones. 

     She thought about texting Tony again but gave up quickly. He hadn't answered in a few days. Natasha looked down at Clint. "Clint, get on my shoulders."

     Clint perked up. "You know, I've always wanted to do this. A human ladder. I've seen it in the movies and I've always thought it was cool. Never thought I'd be using for B&E but whatever."

     Steve grunted, "We're not going to break anything. So it's really just entering."

     Clint perched on Natasha's shoulders. "Yeah, but just saying E sounds weird. You have to say B&E."

     "Is the window locked?"

     Clint pushed slightly and the two wobbled. Steve adjusted his stance to accommodate the movement but Natasha could see his muscles straining. Clint disappeared inside the house in a flash. He stuck his hand out to pull Natasha up. Natasha rolled into the room silently, mentally praising herself for her guesswork. She leaned out of the window to reassure Steve. "We'll unlock the front."

     "We never even checked," he replied. 

     Clint pushed her head aside to shout, "There could be alarms. Just wait, Captain."

     Steve crossed his arms as he waved them away. Natasha shoved Clint off of her as she surveyed the area. Her lips quirked at the Tony-like room before she pressed an ear to the door. 

     "Nat," Clint whispered as he held up Tony's phone. It was dead and hidden in the rumpled sheets. Clint sniffed deeply before wrinkling his nose. "What the hell is that smell?"

     Now that he'd pointed it out she could smell something unpleasant. Ruling out a rotting corpse, Natasha sauntered to the left side of the bed. "Vomit," she replied. She grabbed a nearby pencil and prodded it. The carpet flaked under the pressure and chunks broke away. CLint gagged in the background. "I'd say a few days old."

     "I swear...Can I have that pencil? I want to give it back to Tony. You know, prank him hard."

     Natasha rolled her eyes as she threw the pencil aside. Clint pocketed Tony's phone as Natasha eased open the door. She listened to Clint's footsteps behind him as they traveled downstairs. Natasha bristled at the sound of someone rummaging around then crossed her arms at Steve's blonde hair.

     "You can be very impatient, Captain," she deadpanned. "What if the police come?"

     Steve jumped slightly as he flushed. "Uh, they won't. It's New Years'. So, nothing to worry about. Plus, you can run pretty fast. It's Clint's slow ass we'd have to worry about."

     "Language," Clint chimed teasingly. 

     Natasha left them to their conversation as she roamed. Her eyes caught on a stain on the wall and she sniffed deeply. Scotch. Natasha slinked down a different hallway silently. She ran a hand along the wall reverently. She could almost feel the amount of pain these walls held. Natasha clenched her hands tightly before continuing. The house seemed to be leading her somewhere, she could feel it. Her eyes caught on a door and she stilled. 

     Natasha reached for the doorknob then hesitated. Clint seemed to materialize at her side. He put a comforting hand over hers and helped her open the door. Clint swore loudly at the same time as Steve. Natasha blinked hard as she forced herself to look away. She looked back down the hall to see where Steve disappeared as Clint took a trembling step forward. He swallowed thickly. "So not cool," he breathed. 

     Natasha wanted to console Clint but she was here to investigate. A closet full of words could wait until she found out what Steve found. Steve jerked back when he bumped into her. "Oh, it's you. You need to see this."

     Natasha followed Steve through the house and downstairs to the basement. She froze on the last step as Steve coughed feebly. His face was pale as he shook his head. "Yeah, I know."

     Natasha looked at all the blood for a moment longer before turning on her heel. She tapped her foot in the kitchen to take a breather. Her head was spinning with regrets and guilt - emotions she didn't even know she could feel over something that wasn't directly her fault. She didn't allow her mind to drown her with unreasonable regrets that she could've stopped this. She had only had a hunch, but now it was painfully laid out in front of them. 

     Tony was being abused. 

     It felt sobering in a way. With the proof, there was no more speculation or searching to prove that she was right. Steve and Clint could see it for themselves. The proof made everything more real, more dangerous. Natasha took a deep breath before returning to the closet and the basement to take a couple of pictures. Their phones buzzed together and they shared a look. 

     "Bucky says they can't get in but he can hear someone." Steve looked at Natasha. "You're probably right though. If he's not in the library then..."

     "He will be. Let's go," Natasha replied. "I can't sit around. We'll break in if we have to."

     "Break into the library?" Clint smirked. "This is a drastic upgrade to stealing from the canteen, Tash. I love it."

     Natasha rolled her eyes and Steve glared at him. They piled into her car then she nearly pushed the pedal through the floor of her car in her haste to get to the library. She parked the Mercedes behind Steve's truck. Natasha joined them by the front. Bruce smiled tightly at her. 

     "Can you hear it? Thor says he hears someone crying," Bucky said.

     She could hear it. Faintly. And it sounded like Tony. "Did you try knocking?" Steve asked.

     Bucky raised an eyebrow as Bruce tilted his head. He looked at Steve like he was stupid. "Yeah, we knocked," he sassed. "Guess Tony didn't feel like answering the door."

     Steve blushed to the tips of his ears and Bucky said, "Do you have a better suggestion? C'mon, we're working together."

     Natasha let them speak amongst themselves as she stared at the glass doors. She strode up purposefully then knelt beside the lock. "Clint, get the kit out of the car."

     Clint stiffened before disappearing into his car. He reemerged and tossed a small leather case toward Natasha. She picked out her favorite pick before sliding it into the lock. It's all about the tumblers, she thought. She smirked when the lock clicked. Natasha wrenched the door open and an alarm sounded. Tony yelped somewhere deep in the library and Natasha practically ran toward their place where they researched Marie Curie. It seemed like years had passed since he'd fixed her laptop. 

     Natasha stopped short at the sight of Tony. He was sporting a couple of nasty bruises and blood had begun to crust over his nose and mouth. His eyes looked crazed and he was rocking slightly. He blinked rapidly when Natasha inched toward him. She kept her palms up as she moved closer. "Hey, Tony. I told you I'd come to get you. I'm sorry it took so long. Steve's car was a bitch."

     Tony blinked owlishly at her. "I could've fixed it," he replied after a moment. 

     Then he flung himself into her arms and bawled. They were heart-wrenching cries that she hadn't heard before in the many times he'd gone through a flashback or a panic attack. It was raw, leaving her open and exposed to the world. She hugged him tightly as the alarm continued to blare. Suddenly all of her senses hit her when she had completed her primary task of finding Tony: the alarm sounded, the pillows felt soft under her knees, Tony smelled like blood. And then her rationality came forth. The cops were coming.

     They didn't have to really worry. NYPD response time was slow and it was New Years' Eve. Most of the force would be dispatched to Times Square for the ball drop. They probably won't even respond to the call within the hour. She didn't want to risk Tony's safety on rudimentary probabilities. Natasha cradled the fifteen-year-old against her chest. His cries had dwindled down and his eyes were unfocused, but he was awake. She didn't know if he had a concussion or was just disoriented, but she couldn't risk it. 

     Natasha shook her head when Bruce immediately stepped forward. Tony turned his head as best he could with his decreasing energy. His eyes fell on Bucky's arm. "Nice arm, dude," he joked, his voice slurring slightly. "Wonder what genius made that."

     Bucky smiled softly. "A genius I am well indebted to."

     Tony hummed as Natasha carried him to Clint's car. Clint sat behind the wheel with Steve in the front. She placed Tony's head in her lap and tried to keep him awake. Clint turned on the radio to fill the silence. 

     "3,2,1...Happy New Year!" the radio shouted. 

     Tony smiled tiredly. "Happy New Year, Natasha."

     "Happy New Year, kid. Everything's going to be just fine."

     "I know. I trust you," he slurred. Tony blinked heavily. "Happy New Year, Natasha."

     Natasha ran her hand over the crusted blood. They needed to get back to Steve's quick if Tony was starting to repeat himself. Natasha placed her forehead on his. She could feel his breath on her nose. "Happy New Year, Tony."