ARCTIC CIRCLE - AUGUST 12, 2014 11:45AM

Clint could feel it. He knew that if he were to tell his SHIELD-mandated psychiatrist that little fact once he was safely back home, bombarded by the strangely comforting buzzing fluorescent lights of the Triskelion, that the psychiatrist would tell him he was imagining things. That the events surrounding Loki's invasion of New York City were two years ago, and that there were galaxies between him and the source of his anxiety. But now, out in the blinding white brightness of the long Arctic daylight, he knew he could feel it, the closer he got to it. The subtle magical pull of the Tesseract.

SHIELD HEADQUARTERS, NYC - AUGUST 12, 2014 6:30AM

It had all gone downhill from the moment he had woken up that morning. From the moment he'd woken up to the sound of his cell phone colliding violently with his stainless steel nightstand. Natasha was calling.

"Hmmph" he said, rolling over and retrieving his cell phone as it clattered to the floor. If she wanted intelligent conversation and sentences with multiple words in them, she shouldn't have woken him up at 6:30 in the morning.

"I hate to interrupt your beauty rest, but we're assembling at the Tower. Something's happened and we need you" she said. The woman didn't do small talk. Which relieved Clint in this case, because when she did it was never really as small as it seemed.

"Whah?" replied Clint, still half asleep, pulling his pants on.

"I'll give you more details when you get here. Just get here."

Again, the woman was nothing if not succinct. The conversation over, Clint dressed and moved to exit, nearly dropping the cell phone when it began to buzz again. "Yep?" he asked.

"Barton," came the unmistakably firm tone of Director Fury on the other end, "we need you immediately. Get your ass down here." And the line went dead. Fury was the only person Clint knew who could match Natasha for least information provided in a conversation.

Barton wondered for a moment how incensed Fury would be if he went to the Tower first. He had no doubt that the calls were related, but was not sure how Fury would behave if he thought Clint was loyal to the Avengers before SHIELD. Ever since Steve had decided to stand behind Tony in establishing the Avengers as an independent entity separate from SHIELD several months ago, Clint had found himself caught between the two organizations on more than one occasion. Today, however, he was too tired to face Fury's wrath or worry about protecting Natasha. Besides, he was already at SHIELD HQ and Clint was nothing if not lazy when he wanted to be.

He texted Natasha a quick message. "Getting briefed on situation by Fury. Will stop by after". Hopefully the others wouldn't be too mad. They usually understood. He knew this time would be different when he entered the briefing room to find Tony already looking ready to pounce through the holographic screen, backed by the rest of the Avengers.

"...understand what this signal could mean. The fact that you're so eager to throw men at it makes me really wonder what's behind that eagerness, Nicky. Don't think that we've forgotten exactly what you were trying to harness the power of the Tesseract for the last time you had it under your control, or exactly how it blew up in your face. Or, really, the faces of dozens of your agents who happened to be caught in the middle of your bad decision, including Barton. If you think that we're going to stand by while you..."

It was then that Tony noticed Clint enter the room, which distracted the man with a natural ease that always disarmed anyone else trying to maintain a conversation with him. "... well hey there Barton," he said with a sudden smile, "we were just talking about you. Would you mind telling the good Director here exactly how much fun it was dancing like a puppet with the Tesseract pulling your strings, or how much you would really love to not go through it again because he never learned that those who don't pay attention to history are doomed to repeat it?"

"Excuse me?" said Clint, reaching the point of two word sentences. He could work his way up to more once he'd had a Red Bull or two.

Before Tony could continue to ramble at his usual breakneck pace, Natasha interrupted. "JARVIS picked up a signal that matched the signal given off by the Tesseract at 3:38 this morning and alerted us. The signal originated in the Arctic, not far from the site where Steve was discovered two years ago."

"Loki?" Clint asked, his heart rate accelerating quickly.

"We don't know. Thor is on Asgard and communication with him there has never been consistent. You know that." Natasha replied, radiating calm as though she knew how much he needed it.

"That's the problem, isn't it" replied Fury smugly. "You don't know."

"And you think you do?" Tony asked. And from the look on Fury's face, Clint was reminded of Tony's frequent assertion that the man was the bearer of secrets upon secrets.

"I have an idea. Not that I have any reason to share it with you, seeing as how you didn't see fit to share your information with me. Don't think that there won't be repercussions for the fact that you didn't contact us the moment you were alerted to the signal. Or that you refuse to send your data. You're just lucky that we've been keeping such a close eye on you."

"Right," said Tony, "a close eye. I suppose we should be thankful that it's just the one. Not that it matters. I'm having JARVIS have another look at the Tower's security protocols. That should be enough to turn us the small amount it will take to get us out of your line of vision." He gestured covering an eye and turning slightly to bring his insult home. Clint couldn't help but notice Maria Hill, standing as always by Fury's side, smirk a bit at that one.

"It doesn't matter. This signal is officially SHIELD business. The Avengers aren't needed. I'm sending a team out there to take a look. I'll even meet you half way. Barton will lead it. You trust him, don't you, Stark?"

Clint's heart felt like it would pound out of his chest. "Seriously?"

Tony looked as though he was about to tell Fury where he could shove his supposed compromise, but was cut off by the steely voice of Captain America. Not Steve Rogers. This was definitely the Captain speaking.

"That sounds fair. We'll stay out of it for now, provided that Barton remains in contact with both us and SHIELD about what he finds. Are you up to it, Clint?"

"Ummm..." Clint said, not up to it at all, but also hesitant to say no to Steve when the man's voice held so much confidence in him. "Yeah. I'll be alright."

"Good," said Steve. "Stay safe and stay in touch. This conversation is over, Director."

And that was it. The screen went dead before Clint had a chance to properly absorb what had just happened. Five hours later, having been shocked awake and thrown on a plane with a team of experienced SHIELD field agents following his every order, he would swear that he could feel the Tesseract. And he told himself that in the future, he wouldn't be so lazy, and would always go to the Tower first.

STARK TOWER, NYC - AUGUST 12, 2014 6:45AM

The moment that the SHIELD briefing room no longer appeared on the screen, Tony swung around to face Steve, a surprised look on his face. "So, what's the plan, Cap?"

"What plan?" asked Steve.

"The plan in which we all suit up and back Barton up while also getting under Fury's skin..." Tony said, impatiently.

"There is no plan, Tony. Fury's right. This is SHIELD business, for now. He offered to send a team to look into the signal. He agreed to Clint keeping in contact with us. Clint can handle himself" Steve told him.

This surprised Natasha. "Can he, Captain? You know what he went through the last time the Tesseract was on Earth. If Loki has returned, or if the Tesseract has made its way here again, do you really think that Clint is the person best suited to handle that situation? Tony's right. We should be there to back him up."

At this, Steve got quiet and seemed to fold in on himself, which was concerning to the others. "Fine," he said. "The three of you can back him up if you want to. Fury won't be happy, but if you don't trust me to make that call then that's up to you. But I won't be able to be with you on this one."

After remaining silent and invisible throughout the conversation with Fury, Bruce chose this moment to remind the group of his presence, calm and concerned as it always was. "Are you alright, Steve? Is there something wrong?"

"Oh shit!" Tony interrupted. "The Arctic! The place where you experienced your own personal ice age!" You could always count on Bruce's quiet compassion to bring Tony's obnoxious obliviousness to other people's emotions into focus. "Well, there's definitely places in the world that you'd have to drag me kicking and screaming back to, so I can see where you're coming from on that one."

"It's not that" Steve said, embarrassed that his team thought he was so weak as to be bothered by the ice after all this time. "I just... I trust that Clint can handle this. I do. And I also know that I'm in no state of mind to be of any use right now."

"Why is that, Steve?" asked Natasha.

"It's personal and I'd rather not talk about it." Steve replied in a tone that held no room for continued discussion. With that, he headed towards the elevator towards the gym, needing to rid himself of his frustration.

"Geez, what's got his star-spangled undies in a bunch?" Tony asked, irritated.

"Whatever it is, he's right. It's none of our business." Natasha reminded him.

"The hell it's not. He's living in my Tower. Everything that goes on in my Tower is my business..." Tony said.

"Tony..." Bruce tried to interrupt, the voice of reason, but Tony's mind was already off and running.

"... and JARVIS's business! JARVIS!" he called to his AI.

"Tony..." Bruce tried again.

"Yes, sir" came the omnipresent voice.

"Have you observed anything recently that could contribute to Captain Rogers lousy mood?" Tony asked.

"You realize that this isn't exactly making me feel welcome or at home here" Natasha pointed out, having only recently moved in. "Even SHIELD HQ at least allowed the illusion of privacy."

"Yeah, well, this will be a nice learning experience for our dear naive Captain," Tony said as he walked behind the penthouse bar to pour himself a drink to take the edge off. "Welcome to the 21st century - privacy no longer exists. If you're mad about it, vent on Twitter."

"Tony..." Bruce tried a third time. It seemed like these sorts of interactions were the story of Bruce's life now. Natasha just fumed quietly.

"Actually, sir," JARVIS broke the tension, as he was used to doing. "Captain Rogers did receive a rather unusual visitor yesterday afternoon."

"Oh..." said Tony, interested.

"Yes, sir. It was a lawyer dealing with the estate of a Margaret Carter. Apparently, Captain Rogers presence is requested in the United Kingdom to assist with the funeral and settling her estate."

"Wait," said Tony. "Peggy Carter died?"

"Who?" asked Bruce.

"Someone Steve knew during the war," Tony replied. "She was friends with my dad. I met her a couple of times growing up," he added as an explanation of how he knew who she was. "It's not surprising she passed away, more that she was still alive actually. And that Steve contacted her. I guess I just always figured Steve was the type to let sleeping dogs lie when it came to his past."

"Maybe not..." said Bruce.

"I'm gonna talk to him." Tony decided.

"What?" and "Are you crazy?" were the twin reactions he received to this from Natasha and Bruce. He was in the elevator, scotch still in hand, before they could stop him.

"This should be good." Bruce said, massaging the bridge of his nose with his fingers to keep the oncoming headache at bay for just a little while longer.

STARK TOWER, NYC - AUGUST 12, 2014 7:03AM

Having established with JARVIS that Steve was currently pounding his way through every specially reinforced punching bag in the Tower's elaborate gym, Tony was determined to confront the man about his attitude. Which was ironic, because usually he was the one being confronted for having the attitude problem. Usually, by Steve.

Tony supposed that he was really the last person to be giving Steve the "No man is an island, you don't have to do this alone" speech. However, after nearly dying of Palladium poisoning alone, and then trying (and ultimately failing) to salvage his relationship with Pepper while dealing with his post-Loki anxiety alone, he had realized the value in surrounding yourself with people who understood at least some small piece of what you were going through. And in this case, Tony was certain he did. Besides, it still irritated him that he had very nearly been denied the opportunity to be an Avenger because he supposedly didn't play well with others. Maybe it was true, but he could damn well try.

He was ambushed on his way to the gym, however, by an equally determined Pepper Potts. He wasn't surprised to see her up this early. Pepper always believed that the early bird got the worm. Unfortunately for her, this meant that usually Tony was going to bed as she was waking up.

Tony could tell, even though he knew that Pepper made sure no one else could, that she was stressed. Her heels clicked together at a pace that was just too quick, and her red hair was just slightly frayed in the front ends. Pepper always chewed her hair when she was stressed. It still made Tony's heart lurch a little to think that someone else might one day get to know her that well. That it was no longer his responsibility to ease her mind or soothe her stress.

"Miss Potts," Tony said without slowing down. Best to keep things professional, yet playful. It was familiar, and it made things less painful.

"Mr. Stark," Pepper said, playing along. "Do you have a minute?"

"For you," Tony said, "Always." And he meant it. He knew he always would.

Pepper smiled. Just slightly, but it was there. "I need you to sign the Hong Kong paperwork and sign off on the new Starkphone prototypes. I also need to know how you want me to handle the announcement about the Kiev factory."

"Yeah, no problem." He took the clipboard and pen in her hand from her. "Is that all? Usually, you have me sit behind a mountain of paperwork. One clipboard feels like getting off easy."

Pepper got quiet for a moment, observing him as he paused to lean the clipboard against a hallway wall and scrawl his signature on what she needed. "I know that we're broken up now..." she started, and Tony's body language stiffened. "But I want you to know that I didn't forget the date today. If you need me, I'm here."

"Here for what? Crap, would we have had an anniversary today? Is that what this is?" he said. He was put out because he genuinely couldn't remember. Despite his genius, she was always the brains of their relationship.

"Tony. It's August 12th," she said.

And that's when it hit him like a tidal wave. August 12th. The anniversary of his parents' death. Damn.

"Right. Yeah. No, I'm... I'm fine, Pep. Honestly, I didn't even remember until you just told me, so I'm obviously over it. Don't worry about it."

By now, they were at the gym. He could see Steve inside, the intensity radiating off of him in waves. "Here you go," he said, the conversation over. He handed her the clipboard and walked inside, ignoring her when she followed him in reminding him she still needed to discuss the Kiev factory with him.

"Hey, Cap," he yelled, heading towards the man, leaving Pepper waiting inside the door. "Am I gonna have to replace every punching bag in this place? Again?" Steve didn't stop and didn't respond. Tony should have taken this as a warning, but he didn't. He always got a little reckless when was thrown off-kilter. At least more than he usually was, which was saying something.

"You know you might have mentioned that the love of your life just died. We might've gone easier on you up there. Dealing with a death like that gives you an automatic free pass when it comes to the judgment of others." Damned Pepper, reminding him of the date. He couldn't help but remember how true his own words had been when applied to his actions following his parents' death all those years ago. And how much he regretted what he'd done with that freedom.

His own thoughts were shattered by the sound of a punching bag coming unhinged and flying across the gym. Which gave Steve no one to take his mood out on except Tony. "What the hell is wrong with you? I don't even want to know how you found out, but I told you that my business is personal. It doesn't concern you Stark!"

Bruce and Natasha now joined Pepper in the gym doorway, observing the scene.

"It damn well does concern me. Because we're all Avengers now, and you're supposed to be the guy we follow into battle. Which means we have to trust you and know what's going on in your head, Rogers."

"Steve..." Bruce started, trying to calm the situation without the Other Guy having to make an appearance. Bruce knew all too well from his own experiences that situations like this could escalate quickly. Normally, he would have avoided a tense situation like this if he could, but he'd spent so many years alone. He wouldn't allow the Avengers to fight or fall apart if he could help it.

"You don't have to know this, Tony," Steve yelled, angry. "You can trust me without me having to open up every part of myself to you. You may think you're entitled to anything you want, but you're not entitled to know me, Tony. You have to earn the right. And you have to give back in kind. And God knows, we don't know a damned thing about you besides what anybody could read about on a newsstand."

"I have to earn the right?" Tony yelled back at Steve, reacting without thinking in response to how much Steve's comments stung. "Excuse me, but you're living in my Tower aren't you? I'm funding this whole goddamned operation, aren't I? I'm out there every time the Avengers are needed, and I've always got your back, haven't I? So don't talk to me about what I've earned, Captain Hypocrite. You're not exactly taking the time to try to get to know me, either. What, are you afraid that I'll spoil the memory of my old man for you? That you'll learn something you don't want to?"

Whether the fight would have escalated past that or not would never be known for sure, because at that moment an electric blue light enveloped those in the room, and a persistent hum could be heard. Before JARVIS could even sound an alarm, Tony tasted the familiar coconut flavour he associated with his new arc reactor starting up for the first time, and all five occupants of the gym had what Natasha would describe later as an "out of body experience", and when they came crashing back to reality the stainless steel decor of the Tower's modern gym had been replaced by the dingy grey of an empty warehouse. They had been transported.

Steve collapsed to his knees in shock. Bruce, to his credit, quickly began his breathing exercises to prevent the Other Guy from being unleashed. Natasha could only nervously approach him to mutter soothing words and hope that he was successful. Pepper leaned against a wall and retched, before seeming to compose herself. Tony ran to her side, trembling, anxiety lacing its way through his body.

Natasha gave everyone a moment to compose themselves before asking the obvious question. "Where are we?"

ARCTIC CIRCLE - AUGUST 12, 2014 3:30PM

Clint was not happy. He'd come all the way out to the middle of the Arctic and was freezing his butt off. He had his team scouring the area for hours for any sign of the Tesseract signal that had been registered there, but there was nothing. The mission was a bust.

He was about to order his men to begin the long trek back to the base camp they had set up when he felt a tremor at his feet. The ice began to crack underneath him, and the snow began to shift. Was it an avalanche? If not, it soon would be.

He yelled for his men to do what they could, to find some sort of cover or stick together as the earth shook. But before he could formulate any kind of organized response to the situation, he felt the ice underneath him give way and found himself moaning in pain a good 10-15 feet below where he had been a moment ago. He was sitting on, and surrounded on all sides by, a thick wall of ice. He could not move his left leg, and in the dim light of the Arctic moon he thought he could see bone sticking up through his clothing. He could definitely feel the blood pooling over his knee.

An agent who had fallen next to him, Clint recalled that his name was Sitorsky, stared in awe behind Clint. He appeared to be in better shape than Clint, although it was hard to tell. "Sir," he said, "look." Sitorsky grabbed his fallen flashlight and shone it behind Clint's head. When he turned, he could make out the distinct shape of a metal door with a pressure lock and the familiar logo of SHIELD.

"I don't remember anything in our briefing about there being a SHIELD base out here." Sitorsky said.

"That's because there isn't supposed to be one," said Clint. Nick Fury and his damned secrets.