Work Text:
Clint was angry, so blindingly angry. He was squeezed into the vents of the enemy's base so tightly that he had to shimmy back and forth on his stomach just to move, but his entire body was shivering with rage. He hadn't felt such raw emotion in years…It was worse than when he'd found out Loki killed Coulson, worse than when Fury had revealed that to be a lie.
This was so much worse than that. It was a betrayal of the deepest sort, and Clint, even through his anger, couldn't seem to understand how it was happening. Because the fact that Tony was here working for HYDRA instead of being held captive by them? It didn't make any sense. It wasn't like Afghanistan either, when he was working under duress. There were no signs that he was a captive at all.
Clint worked his way out of the vents, away from the compound. Tony had disappeared over a week ago and the team had split up as soon as they'd had the options narrowed down enough. He made sure there was enough distance between himself and the facility before Clint put a finger to his com, opening up a channel to the other Avengers.
"He's here. I found him."
Steve was the first to respond, voice a flood of relief.
"Thank goodness! Everyone withdraw and head to Hawkeye's loca-"
"He's working for HYDRA."
Clint's voice was flat, controlled. Inside he bubbled with turmoil. He hated to hear the relief and hope in Steve's voice while knowing that Stark had betrayed them. It was just wrong. Steve's voice was coming across the coms again, but it was his Captain America Needs To Know What's Going On Right NOW voice.
"What do you mean?"
Suddenly, Clint couldn't hold it back anymore. He found himself shouting into the unit, too upset to keep his voice down. This is why he'd moved so far away from the base earlier.
"I mean Stark fucking works for HYDRA! I mean he's in there going about his fucking business like he God damn belongs and they're letting him!"
"Was he hurt? Did they torture him to get his coopera-"
"No! Fucking listen to me! He works for HYDRA. He's one of them."
"Barton."
Natasha's voice was like an island of calm in the sea of chaos that was his head. He wasn't used to losing his cool like that. It shouldn't have happened…but damn it hurt like a bitch to realize his best friend had just been playing him.
"I'm fine. I'll wait for your arrival."
Steve didn't sound happy with that response, but at least he accepted it.
"We'll be there soon."
Less than four hours later, the team was assembled, or at least most of it. Sam was back at the tower, keeping an eye on Bucky. Steve's old friend still hadn't fully recovered from his bout of brainwashing and had to be kept under supervision. So it was just the original team, minus Iron Man, who carried out the assault on the HYDRA base.
The good thing about being on a team with both Thor and the Hulk was that there weren't many bases, headquarters, or hideouts that could stand up to an attack from either of them, much less the two put together. It only took a few minutes to make their way inside the base and then the rest of the team were able to get a piece of the action.
They worked together with an ease of those who had been doing it for a long time, covering for each other's openings. Clint couldn't help but scowl at the thought that Tony had once been a part of that, too. How long had he been working for the enemy? How long had it all been a lie?
Instead of wallowing in his anger and letting it distract him, Clint pushed the feeling to the back of his mind. He focused on the mission, on getting through these HYDRA agents and taking control of the base. He focused on finding Stark and dragging his ass back to the tower so they could find out what the fuck was going on. He put an arrow through another HYDRA agent's eye.
It was just him, Nat, and Steve who finally found Tony, in the same room where Clint had seen him earlier. The guards immediately opened fire, turning their weapons on the newly-arrived Avengers. Clint used the equipment around the room for cover as he worked to pick the guards off one by one. Cap was doing his part in the hand-to-hand department while Natasha made her way towards where Tony was typing away furiously at a computer console.
Clint ducked his head low and rolled out into the open. There were only a few HYDRA agents left in the room and he wanted to make damn sure there was nothing left to distract them from Tony's interrogation. He weaved through the room, trusting Cap to handle the rest. Tony's eyes were still glued to the computer screen and Natasha was speaking to him softly.
"Hey! I hope you've got a good fucking explanation for this, you traitorous bastard!"
They both whirled around to stare at him, Natasha focusing in on his face.
"Clint-"
Her tone was warning, but it was too late as Tony grabbed the gun from her hip holster and leveled it at the team's archer. His eyes were hard as he pulled the trigger, sending a 9mm bullet whizzing straight past Barton's head to bury itself between the eyes of the HYDRA agent behind him. Without pausing for a moment, Tony turned back to the computer to enter one last command.
He turned to Natasha then, all but ignoring Clint's presence now that there wasn't a threat to distract him. The archer's head was buzzing, trying to process what was going on. Nothing was making any sense, especially not the way Natasha was looking at Tony like nothing had changed.
"There. The virus should fully infiltrate their systems within a few hours. We'll have all the intel we could possibly want then."
Natasha nodded, in that distracted way of hers that said she knew the other person had more important things on their mind and they needed to get to it. Stark wasn't even looking, instead shoving her Glock into the waistband of his pants and grabbing his jacket off the back of the chair. He was getting ready to go somewhere and Clint couldn't understand why Natasha wasn't stopping him.
"Where is he?" the redhead asked, following quickly on Tony's heels as he strode away, all purpose and objective. Clint headed after them.
"Basement level. Cell 3A. It has magical enhancements provided by Doom. That's how they were able to keep him contained for so long."
Cap joined them as they hurried out the back door of the lab, looking as confused as Clint felt. Neither Natasha nor Stark seemed to have to time to stop and explain, too focused on whatever goal they both shared. Clint felt like there'd been a train wreck inside of his skull. It was like one of those dreams where nothing made any sense but you still couldn't seem to tell that you were asleep.
They moved farther down in the facility, using the stairs to skip three floors between themselves and where they needed to go. The bottom level was solid concrete, from the looks of it, imposing and impersonal. Florescent lights lined the ceiling and the walls were spotted with doors. Each was made of a heavy metal, no window from which to see through. A keypad was imbedded in the wall next to each door, a passcode required to gain entry.
There were four guards on the level, the rest presumably having been called away to assist in the invasion of the base. Tony and Nat took care of them without blinking, not leaving a second for Clint or Cap to even think about helping. They were scanning the doors on either side of the room and Tony let out a triumphant shout when he found the right one.
Natasha was there in seconds, scanning the keypad to bring up the numbers pressed most often. She dialed in the code and the light flashed green to signal they'd gained entry. Tony was about to yank the door open when Clint's fist slammed into it, cutting the billionaire off and blocking his way. Brown eyes snapped up to glare viscously into Clint's own.
"Back off, Barton…"
But Clint paid his dangerous tone no heed, instead calling upon his own anger.
"Not until somebody tells me what the FUCK is going on!"
He was shouting again, he knew, but he couldn't really stop himself. It didn't matter much, anyway, because the next second Nat was grabbing him by the collar and yanking him away from the door. Stark had it open in a heartbeat, dashing inside like his very life depended on it. Natasha looked mad, but it was aimed at Clint.
"HYDRA captured Stark's sweetheart. We needed to stage a rescue mission and get intel on HYDRA so this couldn't happen again. The best way to do that was for Stark to infiltrate their operation. They always were too hungry for his tech for their own good. We were just lucky HYDRA didn't know about their relationship."
Cap was stepping around them, then, finally getting a look into the room past the open door. He made a choked sort of noise in the back of his throat and his eyes seemed riveted on the scene before him. Frustrated beyond all belief, Clint darted forward to get a look for himself. He hadn't even known Tony was interested in someone.
Inside the room, Tony was crouched on his knees, spewing comforting, love-filled babble at the figure curled up in his arms. The man was filthy, bloody and wounded. He looked tired and was leaning against Tony completely, one hand fisted tightly in the front of the inventor's shirt. It didn't make Clint feel any better at all to realize that Tony Stark's sweetheart was none other than Loki Laufeyson.
Why could his life never, ever be easy?