MANY THINGS CAME FROM THE HOUSE. Terran and Natasha were sent to the med bay to make sure nothing in the house had left with them, and it didn't make sense as to why they were both quarantined, but the medics insisted that precautions just needed to be taken and the two just needed to trust them.

"I'm bored," Terran huffed, sprawled out on his cot, staring up at the clinical white ceilings.

"Hi bored, I'm Natasha," came the reply, and he sat up immediately, looking around as if expecting to find someone else named Natasha standing in the room.

But no. All he found was the same small redhead who was also sprawled out along her cot, smiling smugly to herself like she was the funniest person alive, and part of him wondered if this was what the medics were talking about.

But then he remembered all the times he had been in his room and heard Clint screaming, "Get away from me you suburban white dad," and maybe he wasn't talking to Tensley when he was screaming that.

Then he remembered going through Natasha's closet to help find her some of her clothes and doing a double take when he found that a majority of her clothes were the leather ensembles she wore everywhere, but were rather jeans and jackets and he was sure he had found some fake hipster glasses in her drawer at one point.

Then there was the bit about her being a spy.

"Who are you?" he demanded, looking towards her incredulously, and she just looked towards him with the same smug smile, her shoulders shaking, and it took him a minute to realize she was laughing.

"And you thought you knew me," she said simply, and he just gaped at her, watching as she turned her attention back towards the ceiling with the same self-satisfied smile, and he didn't know what to think.

As it turned out, they were in quarantine to make sure that they weren't giving off the same readings that had been given off by the house. Terran didn't understand what they meant at first, but it soon became clear when he was shown the diagram and found that there was a huge spike in energy of some kind, radiating from the house, but nowhere else.

"Whatever made those energy signatures will make them again, and they're related to the notes you found in those books," Milo said, and Terran would have been more overjoyed to see him if not for the circumstances that had befallen.

"Well, it's a good thing that we found those then," Terran said, nudging Natasha lightly, and she nodded, looking towards the diagrams on the screens displayed in front of them.

They were in a room that was reserved for this meeting, with screens and keyboards and thrumming and Terran didn't understand where they were, but he knew that they had to keep everything contained lest everyone find out about what was going on.

"Why can't people know?" he asked, catching everyone's attention, "About this, I mean. Isn't the phrase, 'the more the merrier?'"

"Not if you want to stay alive," Milo sighed, and there was clearly something on his mind that was preventing him from being able to think straight, so Terran reached out and squeezed his shoulder, just holding on.

"We've been able to narrow down the list of people he would be after based on the list you found," Milo continued, pulling up a picture of the list, then the faces to the names, "So we're canvassing for signatures like those in relation to the general vicinities of these people, and just in general, but the more specific we get the easier it is. We should get some hits in about twenty minutes, so I'm gonna go grab myself some coffee because I'm gonna pass out if I don't."

Terran released his shoulder in order to let him go, the man turning on his heel to motion towards them in silent question for coffee, the two nodding in response. With that, he disappeared out the door which automatically locked behind him.

Natasha immediately walked towards the computer, starting to type, and he raised an eyebrow, coming to stand behind her, and he noticed, with a start, that while she tensed, she relaxed a few moments later, her actions never faltering.

"What're you doing?" he asked, narrowing his eyes at the screen in front of them.

"This computer is the only one that wipes everything on it and whatever is wiped can't be found or traced," Natasha explained, rolling her shoulders as she continued, "I'm setting this up so any and all S.H.I.E.L.D. files are being sent to that kid you like so much, I think he could put them to good use later on."

"Why do you think that?" Terran asked, but he was already pulling out his phone to help figure out how to transfer them to him, texting Nicky without the fear of it being tracked, as this room was promised to be secure.

"I don't know, I just have a feeling," she said, and she seemed conflicted at admitting so, but considering the circumstances, it made perfect sense.

So Terran didn't question it, instead just telling her how to send them over, Natasha wiping any trace of her meddling the moment they were sent, and the two sighed, now just waiting for Milo to return with their coffee and some news.

"It's getting longer," he commented, reaching out towards her hair, twirling it aimlessly around his finger, "Still soft, though."

She hummed, just letting him play with it, but she raised a hand to hold his back when he pressed his palm flat, just cupping her face in his hand, and he relaxed his grip; while Natasha did let him in, there were some things that he just couldn't do, not yet.

The two continued to stay there, he still standing while she was now propped up by the keyboard; Terran thinking about what they were going to do once this was all over-he had yet to think about what they would have to do once they found the person they were after-and Natasha thinking about how she really shouldn't have let it go this far, but she really didn't want to let this one go.

He wasn't a mission, after all.

"You're thinking pretty hard there," he said, grinning as he pointed towards her frown, "What's going on?"

"Nothing," she sighed, but she leaned towards him in silent acceptance, and he leaned forward to wrap an arm around her waist, just holding her lightly, and she sighed again, resting her head against his chest.

The door opened then, causing the two to jump back quickly, Terran stumbling over his own feet and falling to the ground, trying to seem nonchalant as they looked over at Milo who didn't seem to care about what they were doing.

"I don't care," he began, motioning towards the both of them, "But we got a hit, so you two need to suit up and get going. Well, Natasha, at least, Terran, I know you've got this phobia of weapons."

"That is inaccurate, where is my coffee?" Terran asked, pushing himself up and brushing off his clothes.

"Fury took yours and Sharon was sleepy so I gave her mine, then I dropped Natasha's because she kissed me and I have no self control," Milo explained, looking so disappointed with himself, and Terran couldn't even find it within him to be all too upset about it.

"We'll grab some for ourselves on our way out, is everything on the tablets?" Natasha asked, already pushing past him, Milo calling out an affirmative to her as he watched Terran chase after her.

They were an interesting pair, no doubt about it, but there was something in the way that she slowed to let Terran bump their arms together that told Milo there was something more going on than what he had seen before.

He glanced towards the computer, finding that there was an alert that activity had just been erased. He hummed to himself, raising an eyebrow. He was sure he had erased his activity before leaving to get coffee.

"Milo," one of the members of his team called out, jogging towards him, "What's going on?"

He shook his head, closing the door, listening as it locked automatically. "Nothing, just...listen, round up the team, we have a hit, I want us on top of this. They need all the help we can get."

º º º

"What do you think they used?" Terran asked, as they scouted out the area until they were sure that no one was inside the building, "Because Constantin killed him with his bare hands, but there was some kind of technology that caused the energy spike. What do you think they were trying to achieve with it?"

"They were probably asking him for his help with it," Natasha said, continuing to eat from the takeout box, "He is one of the geniuses, after all. Just because they built the thing doesn't mean they know how it works, they probably searched for answers."

Terran wanted to point out that if they were able to build it, they would have the person who taught them tell them how, but then he remembered the carnage and the rage put into the kills; he wouldn't be surprised if Constantin killed any person who didn't immediately give him what he wanted, even if they did have valuable information. People were always disposable like that to him, and Terran had been so desperate to make sure that he didn't wind up like him that he ended up becoming too attached to too many people.

"Eat," Natasha said, nudging him and tapping his still-closed takeout box, "I paid good money for that."

"Sorry," he mumbled, but she laughed softly, and he relaxed; it was always hard to tell when she was joking with him, especially when it was just a newfound concept for her.

He opened the container and started to eat, only then realizing how hungry he was, and he found he had to force himself not to eat too quickly, lest it come and bite him later on down the line. Still, he was grateful for the food and told Natasha as much, kissing her cheek despite his greasy lips, causing her to blanch, swatting at him lightly.

"Disgusting," she proclaimed, but she only wiped away the grease, not the kiss entirely; how Terran knew that, he didn't know, but he knew it was the truth.

The two continued to recline and wait, finishing up their food while glancing towards the tablet that was scanning for heat signatures within the abandoned building, showing that there were two clear bodies that they were able to pick up, as well as traces of the energy signatures that they were chasing.

"Try some," he said, holding out some of his food towards her with his fork, and she took it without much thought, focused on the building, and it was nice, not having to care about whatever it was that they were, only that they were something.

"We never did find out who won that cooking competition," he commented lightly, some time later, when their takeout was all finished and in the back of the car, Natasha's feet propped up on the dash and his seat pushed too far back in the hopes of making sure he didn't develop blood clots.

"We can watch it when we get back," she replied, and he hummed in satisfaction, the two faltering when they caught sight of the heat signatures moving towards the exit.

"Here we go..." Terran groaned, the two shifting and pretending not to mind as two figures left the building, leaving only the heat signatures.

The two weren't as interested at the people so much as the building, so their main focus was not to be seen rather than seeing who was coming out. But that didn't mean Terran didn't tilt his head slightly to catch an angular face and nice eyeglasses, a light scar feathering on their left cheek as they disappeared from view.

"One of them has an interesting face," Terran commented, but Natasha was too busy counting down exactly how much time they needed to wait until they could go in to actually listen, only humming to appease him.

Terran helped her count as well, keeping an eye out towards the streets, finding no one approaching or caring to look at them. He glanced towards Natasha who had it timed down to the millisecond, tense with her hand by the door, ready to jump out at any second, and Terran readied himself as well, remembering that their window wouldn't be as long as they thought it would be.

"Go."

In a flash, the two were out of the car, locking it behind them, sprinting towards the building, only to slow once they neared the entrance, trying to appear as nonchalant as possible, though there weren't any people to notice them to begin with, just some people walking around, not caring at all.

It took only a few precious moments for them to get inside, but once they did, they couldn't stop moving, Terran canvassing the area while Natasha searched for anything that could be of use. They didn't work the way Natasha and Clint worked, in perfect sync, but they worked well and that was more than anyone else could say.

"I swear, it's like they're not trying to hide," Terran mumbled, taking a look at the spray painted symbol that became a permanent fixture in his nightmares.

He was too busy focused on searching that he didn't take into consideration exactly what he had said and, unfortunately, Natasha hadn't either.

If only they had.

"I found something," she called, and he turned, crossing the near empty room to stand behind her and peering over at the blueprints she had dug up.

While they didn't make much sense, there were enough scribbled notes for them to piece together enough of what they were looking at. Terran gripped at his jacket as he stared down at the plans. They were for weapons that could connect with the fabric of the universe, for lack of a better term, able to manipulate and warp it, connecting with universes parallel and in tandem, so minutely different that they were practically the same, able to continue to pull them together to create a singular universe to the creator's liking where no one was any the wiser.

"They can actually do it," he breathed, pointing the map where they had successfully used the weapon, "But only on a small scale."

"They needed to understand how to use it so they could get it right," Natasha murmured, looking around before taking pictures of the blueprints, taking a shaky breath as she ran a hand through her hair, "They were getting closer after what happened in the house."

"Milo said they picked up multiple signatures, the others went out to canvas the other areas," Terran added, sighing and shaking his head, "This was just near the workplace of the guy."

He shuddered when he remembered reaching the scene, only to be turned away by some of Milo's team who insisted that they be the ones to canvas, as the readings were high and it was better they be hurt than them; self-sacrificing, it seemed they were taught well.

The two canvassed the room for a few more minutes, taking pictures of everything they could before leaving, realizing that they had spent too long in the building, their hearts racing as they left, finding no one around to catch them.

If only they had realized.

º º º

When the two returned back to S.H.I.E.L.D. it was already dark and they were immediately carted to their debriefing room where they were met with Milo pacing around the room with a bag sitting on the table, Fury and Clint seated, though Clint's leg was bouncing, the man jumping to his feet with relief when the two stepped through the door.

"Thank God," he breathed, reaching out to hug both of them, and they looked towards the three, confused.

"We found a lot of stuff," Milo breathed, looking shaken, and Fury reached out to grab his hand, just holding it and Milo took deep breaths before continuing.

"At each site, there was someone who died. We didn't find much other than some journal notes and some blueprints which we're sending to you, and they're along the same vein as they ones you sent us, and there were Wolf Spiders at every scene, just like you said," he explained, seeming as though he was just rattling off facts he had placed in a list and memorized.

"But one of my guys went to a scene and he found something else," he breathed, pushing the plastic bag towards the two, "It's for Terran."

Before Terran took it, he glanced up to Milo, finding that the man was practically staring a hole through his skull, his eye contact held so desperate and deep. He held his gaze, trying to understand why Milo looked so distressed.

"He doesn't know where you stay, but he does know you're after him and-Terran, I am so sorry."

Looking back down at the plastic bag, Terran found a bloody picture and a note. The picture was of him, throwing his head back and laughing at something Natasha was saying, and she wasn't shown in the picture, but it didn't matter, because he recognized the clothes he was wearing, it wasn't that long ago.

He felt his blood grow cold and his heart stop once he read the message.

"And here I thought you were dead. But that doesn't matter now, traitor, I'll let you live. You'll be too late anyways."

At the bottom of the note were coordinates, points that Milo had already plotted, showing him the area on the map.

"He's calling you," Milo explained, tapping his fingers against the table, "And if we're gonna win this, you need to go get him. I'm sorry, this is unavoidable."

Terran sighed, staring at everything in front of him and, for the first time in years, he felt true, genuine fear.

"I was gonna have to face him some time. I just thought it would be in hell."

AUTHOR'S NOTE

( 11.23.18 )

I really hope this was okay, I didn't really know how to show how desperate the situation was because there wasn't much action, but it's really important because like Terran now has to face Constantin and it's gonna be really rough for him, and this is the first fic where the last chapter isn't gonna be like the aftermath, it'll be the climax and stuff, you'll see, i'm excited.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!