I greeted Natasha with a small hug and a mostly full smile. I was rather happy to get to see her again as it had been over two months since our last meeting. For a good portion of my life we had been together as either partners or friends. She had been with me during alot of my time with The Hand. We had a quick little catch up discussion and of course Natasha was almost all business at the moment.

I also met an unassuming man with chocolate brown eyes named Bruce Banner. He had a shy, nervous kind of personality and looked terribly uncomfortable around all the people who bustled around the top of the helicarrier. They were preparing it for flight as we would soon take off. I had a difficult time believing that Bruce Banner somehow turned into a giant green rage monster yet I knew looks were always the ultimate deceivers.

Steve and him seemed to easily get along as they watched in awe once the helicarrier began rising out of the sea. Natasha gave am amused smirk that I was used to seeing as she watched the two astounded men who looked over the side of the helicarrier like children looking out the window of an airplane. The helicarrier gave a slight shudder and Natasha then spoke up. " Lets go inside shall we?" She insisted in more of a statement then a question. The two men nodded as we followed her towards a door leading down into the helicarrier.

She walked with her back straight as we entered the interior of the helicarrier. In my civilian clothing I felt very out of place around all the uniformed agents and workers on the helicarrier. But in a sense I almost felt right at home around all the serious faces and no nonsense attitudes. " So did Phil get you to sign his Captain America trading cards yet?" Natasha asked as she walked side by side with me and the Super Soldier. The doctor trailed behind us as he took small steps. He was obviously still in awe of the helicarrier as he paused just a second to glance out a window at the sea below now shrinking away.

Steve was also quite amazed but gave a new look of profound surprise at Natasha's random question. " Trading cards?" Steve asked as my amber eyes trailed over the long hallways that I had meant to leave behind. Natasha gave another smirk " They are mint condition, he's very proud" Natasha claimed as she led us towards the main bridge. It was a large room that gave an amazing aerial view of the dark blue sea beneath us. It was a flurry of activity all around the bridge as dozens of agents sat behind their respective view screens or control panels. But I noticed that there was a tense buzz in the air.

Fury stood at the front of the main bridge and turned to greet us as we entered. He gave me a nod in greeting and began to talk with both Steve and Bruce. Natasha and I stood side by side. I was easily 4 or 5 inches taller than she was. " So Harp, how's life in the normal world?" She asked and I noticed a little bit of an edge in her voice. She had never been all that happy about me leaving my life as a agent yet in the end she supported me. She hadn't really ever had a shot at an average life either yet she didn't seem to want one anyway.

I dismissed her tone as I watched the Captain hand Fury a ten dollar bill for whatever reason. " Oh you know..... just staying up late on the weekends..... eating cereal in the morning...." I told her and it all sounded incredibly dull compared to what my life used to be. Natasha gave a mildly interested look as all of those things were not something she normally got to do on a weekly basis. " Sounds boring. I've kinda missed you around here" She admitted with her arms crossed over her chest.

I gave a small smile " Yea... honestly I've missed you and all of this too" I replied as the helicarrier rose above the clouds and then proceeded to go into camouflage mode. It was true though. Coming back to the helicarrier made me feel more at home then when I was at my own apartment. " You seem better though" She noted and I arched a brow.

" What do you mean?" I asked and she shrugged. " You just seem more relaxed. Better around people I mean" She explained and I nodded in agreement. Being a bartender for the past two years had certainly improved my people skills. After being experimented on and forced into training to kill people. I hadn't exactly been a people person when S.H.I.E.L.D. took us in. In fact I didn't like speaking to new people much at all.

"You're not wrong" I replied and then moved onto business " What's the word on Clint?" I asked seriously. Natasha sighed as a flicker of worry went across her eyes. She was incredible when it came to holding her emotion but she could never hide from me. I knew her too well and for too long. " There hasn't been much. But we are still sweeping every wirelessly accessible camera on the planet. Cell Phones, laptops. If it's connected to a satellite, it's eyes and ears for us" Natasha told me even though I was mostly aware of all of this. All these technological advancements made it harder and harder to go unseen for agents.

"Fury just knows that he is under some sort of spell or power that is controlling his mind. Loki has a scepter that he used against Clint that seems to draw its power from the tesseract itself" Natasha explained. I took a deep breath as my amber eyes surveyed the bridge whose workers all coexisted and labored together like a well oiled machine. " We'll get him back" I ensured her even though I knew she did not facilitate to faithless hopes. I normally did not either, at least I hadn't when I was an an agent.

Fury suddenly turned to look at Natasha as he ended his conversation with Dr.Banner. " Agent Romanoff, if you would please escort Dr.Banner to the main lab" Fury stated and Natasha immediately complied as the doctor walked towards us. The pair walked away into the hall " You're gonna love it, Doc. We got all the new toys" Natasha told him as they exited the bridge through the set of automatic doors. Bruce would be working on finding the cube through some sort of gamma radiation tracking technology. I would have been no use in that laboratory. I was merely an ex secret assassin and just barely a S.H.I.E.L.D agent while Bruce was sciescient that majored as a nuclear astrophysicist.

I looked back to see Steve and Phil on the left side of the bridge speaking to each other. Phil had a hopeful glimmer in his eyes and a hand in one of the pockets of his suit. I had no doubt he was probably clutching his Captain America trading cards proudly within his pocket. "It's a vintage set. It took me a couple of years to collect them all. Near mint, slight foxing around the edges. It would mean alot" Phil told the super soldier as I approached with silent steps that came from my former years as a secret assassin. Steve nodded with a small smile " Sure thing" He replied and Phil nodded appreciatively at what I guess was a confirmation that Steve would sign his trading cards.

Phil then turned to leave as I appeared beside Steve while being as silent as a wraith. " Selling autographs already?" I asked with a gentle little joking smile on my face. Steve gave a small chuckle " I'm just doing it as a favor" He replied with his cerulean blue eyes glancing at me for a split second. I felt uncommonly nervous at the moment put set the feeling aside as I figured it had to do with the compromise of Clint. At least mostly anyway.

" My selling autograph days are over don't worry. It's about time I do some real good for this world" He told me and I nodded with understanding. That was a justified reason of course and was probably the same reason that most S.H.I.E.L.D agents used when justifying their reason of working there. I had had the chance to do so yet hadn't due to the promise of a different life. It was very possible my view on being an agent again might change after all of this.

" Sounds noble" I said as I watched and agent known as Leonard Cohen while he worked quickly on his view screen. His fingers were a blur as they raced upon the keyboard. " Don't take this the wrong way but you're not just here to try and save the world are you?" Steve asked and I arched a brow in mild surprise from the blunt question. He seem to have a habit of doing that yet did it innocently. It was kind of charming. Kind of.

" Not entirely, of course it's not like I want the world to just collapse around me and not do anything about it. But I'm majorly here to rescue a friend in need" I explained to him. It felt a little odd once again as I was still have a casual conversation with a guy I met like an hour ago. Normally the longest conversations I had with people outside of S.H.I.E.L.D. were with my regulars at the bar. But those were always very shallow, barley below surface level interactions that were all about dull stuff like the weather or complaints about taxi drivers.

Steve looked at me seriously but with an expression of honesty. I met his gaze as my amber eyes contrasted with his sincere blue. " We will find him" He told me and I could see within in his eyes that he genuinely believed in his words. It even made me believe that without a doubt we would get Clint back for a few seconds. But I knew better than to think so hopefully.

Suddenly Leonard's crisp young voice broke through the air. " We got a hit! From an ATM camera! Sixty-seven percent match. Wait, crossmatch, seventy-nine percent from a street camera. Sir it's gotta be Loki" Leonard claimed looking at Fury surly. Fury nodded swiftly " Exact and current location?" Fury asked as the entire bridge including me listened intently.

" Stuttgart, Germany. 28, Konigstrasse. He's not exactly hiding" Jasper claimed and a narrowed my eyes for a second or two. It was possible Loki was simply to over confident and didn't think showing his face around cameras wouldn't catch our attention. Unless..... he did it on purpose.

Fury didn't question it as he looked directly at me and Steve. " Captain. Harper. You're up" He ordered and Steve and I shared a quick look. Even if I was a tad skeptical of Loki's sudden appearance, if he was in Germany than it meant Clint would probably be nearby.

" Lets suit up chief" I said with a casual expression and gave Steve a quick pat on the shoulder. I barely even touched him yet his shoulder was like tapping a gun at boulder. It was solid.

He didn't say anything but the little smile he gave back was unmistakable.