The Frost Giant & The Wolf

Chapter 18: Raiding The HYDRA Base

"The longer we argue, the longer she suffers!" Clint stops pacing long enough to slam his hands on the conference room table, quieting the room. "We don't even know if she is okay, or if she's being tortured or if she's even still alive."

Bruce wags a finger at Clint, a pained expression on his face, "Don't you dare say that. She's alive. We have to believe she is."

"The Avengers were formed to make the world a safer place, but we've failed one of our own." Steve sighs, "Does anyone have a plan? She's been there for over a week, we can't sit around anymore, we have to do something." Turning to the side and leaning his arm on the table, Steve watches Clint pace.

"Ten days." Tony mumbles.

"Pardon?" Steve frowns as his gaze flits to Tony.

"Ten days, Steve." Tony says angrily, "It's been ten days since she disappeared." Steve nods and looks down at his fingers.

"Does it matter how many days?" Clint snaps.

"It matters to me!" Tony growls. Clint scoffs at his response.

Clint's cheeks are covered with a sheen of sweat, highlighting the bags under his eyes even more. His uncombed hair sticks to his forehead, and his clothes hang askew as if he'd been sleeping in them for days.

Clint sighs heavily. He places his head in his hands and leans his elbows on the table as Nat softly rubs her hand up and down his back. Whenever Clint becomes frustrated, he snaps at others, and she knows that.

"Maybe I could have saved Nova from being captured if I had been there." Clint sighs. I will never be able to forgive myself if she's dead."

As Tony slumps back against the headrest, he shakes his head and says, "We all feel that way, Barton. Any of us could have gone with and she might have been fine. But we didn't."

There is a sense of guilt inside Tony about not sending you with your suit. Maybe if you had your suit, you could have protected yourself. But it wasn't even close to ready. It didn't even seem urgent to him. This was supposed to be a 'simple' mission, so he didn't think you'd even need it. Nevertheless, he should have realized it was a trap from the start.

"Guys, stop, this isn't getting us anywhere." Nat shakes her head. This pity party has been dragging on for several days and she is completely over it. "We need a plan now, because I'm sick of sitting here listening to you all whine and do nothing."

Nat is the only one who can remain level-headed under these circumstances. It was part of her training. She is exactly what this team needs. Someone who can think clearly about the situation, despite her own feelings and opinions.

"We don't even know where she is." Clint mutters through his hands.

Everyone in the room is silent as they take a moment to think and clear their heads. Tony rubs his chin, his eyes flickering about the room before he jumps from his chair.

"I think I've just discovered a way." Each face in the room turns to Tony, waiting for his insight. "They have Loki's scepter."

"JARVIS, reposition the SHIELD satellites and locate the scepter. Use whatever data we gathered during and after the battle of New York."

"Yes, sir."

"I can't believe I hadn't thought about it before. It's been missing for weeks."

"It's missing? The STRIKE team collected the scepter when we captured Loki. How did it go missing?" Steve furrows his brows and crosses his arms over his chest as he glances between Tony and Nat.

"Since our mission to Camp Lehigh, SHIELD has been finding HYDRA moles in their ranks. They believe Sitwell and Rumlow are HYDRA agents as well." Nat explains.