Whoa, Chapter 30, people! I never thought I'd get this far. This story started out as a fic I was just writing for fun, but then the Avengers plot happened, and now look where we are. I hope everyone's still enjoying it. Oh, and I reached the 150 follower mark! (I actually surpassed it. All because of you guys who've stayed with me through all my months of not updating. Y'all are awesome.)

So without further ado, I bring you the thirtieth chapter.

Everything had happened so fast. The brawl with the Hulk (Steve was still trying to wrap his mind around a protective Hulk). The mad dash to the roof. Agent Coulson. Loki. Loki's spear going straight through...

Steve tried to banish that image from his mind, but with his photographic memory, it wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. Now, all he could do was watch Bruce frantically trying to save Phil's life while they waited for a medical team to make their appearance.

"Hang on, we'll get you out of this," Banner was muttering as he used a piece of his shirt to try and stop the steady flow of blood oozing its way out of Coulson's chest. "Just keep breathing."

Phil shook his head, a miniscule movement that Steve doubted anyone noticed but him.

"Bruce," he said, reaching out with one hand to rest it on his friend's shoulder, gently pulling him away. "Stop."

"No, I can save him. This is what I've been training for," the doctor-to-be insisted, trying to shake off Steve's hold, but Cap wouldn't let him go.

"It's okay," Phil said, the Avengers having to lean in to be able to hear his quiet voice. "Listen. This is never going to work if you...if you don't..."

And just like that, before their very eyes, Phil Coulson took his last breath, his eyes unfocused and glazed over.

"No. No!" Bruce all but shouted, stumbling away from the group in a disturbingly Hulk-like manner. Natasha tore her gaze from the body in front of her and hurried after him. The three remaining Avengers didn't make a move.

"The son of Coul will be avenged," Thor said in a firm voice, rising to his feet and twirling his hammer. "I will go find my brother."

With a whoosh of air that stirred the now two remaining Avengers' hair, the thunder god flew away.

Steve stayed where he was, crouching next to Phil Coulson's body. He finally asked in a quiet voice, "Was he married?"

"No," Tony said from where he sat with his knees pulled to his chest, his dull brown eyes fixed on Phil's face. "There was a cellist, I think."

Apparently Stark had decided it was okay to talk to him, but Steve didn't focus on that, instead turning curious eyes over to Tony. "How do you know that?"

Tony swallowed hard, not answering. Something told Steve that Stark knew their mentor a lot more than he had been letting on.

"I'm sorry. He seemed like a good man."

Some life came back to Tony's dark eyes as the boy snorted. "He was an idiot."

And just like that, Steve's pity morphed into confusion (and possibly a hint of anger). "He was doing his job."

"He was out of his league," Stark shot back, his tone hardening with every word. "He should've waited! He should've..."

When Tony's voice broke, Steve felt some pity return. "Sometimes there is no way out, Tony."

"Right," the other boy scoffed. "How did that work for him?"

"Is this the first time that you've lost a soldier?" Steve asked knowingly.

Tony's eyes finally shifted from Phil's body and up to Steve's sturdy gaze. "We are not soldiers," he snapped.

Steve didn't reply. He saw more about what Tony thought of the situation in the other boy's eyes than anything he could have voiced in words. Tony didn't approve of the Avengers Initiative. He never had. Maybe that was because of not being recommended, but Stark had always been a loner. Thinking of them as soldiers was like saying they were expendable. That's where a team got you. Some members were expendable. Like Iron Man, apparently. But Phil Coulson was in no way expendable. He wasn't a soldier. He was Tony's friend.

None of this was said aloud, but Steve found he could read Stark as if the boy were an open book.

"I don't think Fury was right about assembling a team like the Avengers," Stark went on, trying to cover up everything Steve had silently read.

"Neither do I," Steve found himself saying before he realized it. But after he did, he didn't want to take the words back.

"You..." Tony blinked in surprise. "You don't?"

Steve shook his head. "No. He's the director of a top secret organization that handles things the normal government can't. He's bound to have the same blood on his hands as Loki does now."

"Yeah. Yeah, I...I actually agree."

"But we need to put that behind us and get this problem solved," Steve went on in a firm, demanding voice. As he spoke, he was thinking about Coulson's final words. The man had been trying to warn them about the team and how it would never work if they didn't start acting like one. So Steve was going to try and do just that. "I know you technically weren't chosen to be part of the Avengers, but we need you, Tony. Do you think you can manage to work with me long enough to take down Loki?" He substituted the word 'me' for 'us' because he knew that he was the one Stark had the most trouble worth.

Tony's eyes flicked down to Coulson again before returning to meet Steve's gaze. The determined look in them showed Steve what the answer was even before Tony said, "I'm in. But you have to promise me something first."

A hint of apprehension snaked it's way through Steve's chest as he arched an eyebrow. "And what's that?"

"If I work with you, you have to agree to work with Natasha."

Steve pursed his lips for a moment, not answering. He still didn't approve of Romanoff's secret keeping and he knew his face said so.

"Come on, Cap, she feels bad," Stark went on, frowning in disapproval. "And when has she actually put the team in harm's way because of her secrets?"

Okay, so he had a point there. Steve sighed. "All right, it's a deal."

"Um...guys?" Natasha said in a questioning tone of voice as she backed away in their direction. "I think we have a problem."

"What's..." Tony trailed off, his shoulders slumping. "Crap."

Bruce Banner was hunched over on the other side of the roof. Growing green skin was visible even from that distance. The stress of being unable to save Phil Coulson's life had obviously been too much for the boy to handle.

"Bruce!" Steve cried, shooting to his feet and making a move to run over to their friend, only to be stopped by Stark holding his arm out to stop him. "Stark, he needs help!"

"No, he doesn't," Tony said, not taking his eyes off the slowly growing Hulk. "Even I couldn't stop him now."

The three Avengers could do nothing but helplessly watch the transformation, and when the shifting was complete, the Hulk stood before them. When the monster's eyes landed on Phil's lifeless body, he roared and abruptly turned, launching himself off the roof and to the next one. He kept up that way of travel until he was out of sight.

"Well," Stark said, his tone obviously conveying he was trying to look on the bright side of things. "At least he didn't attack us."

"Guys?" Natasha asked again, her clear green eyes clouded over in a frown as she glanced around the roof. "Where's Clint?"

Tony's eyes followed hers and he sighed. "Double crap."

Steve, not wanting to believe it, also focused his gaze on his surroundings. All he saw was a medical team finally arriving to retrieve Phil Coulson's body. There was no Hawkeye in sight. This was just getting better and better.

"Where could he have gone?" Natasha asked, an unusual amount of emotion on her face. Steve could see worry and guilt. He suspected she likely blamed herself for Clint's sudden disappearance.

"I might be able to answer that."

The three Avengers turned to face an approaching Nick Fury. The Director paused to bow his head in respect as the medical team rolled Phil away and then made his way over to the ever dwindling group.

"I've had a group of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents monitor past security recordings ever since Agent Coulson started to suspect something was off about Thor's brother."

"And?" Stark asked impatiently.

Fury eyed him, effectively shutting him up, before continuing. "And we have reason to believe Clint Barton's been compromised."

Steve watched Tony stiffen and Natasha's eyes fill with barely controlled rage even as his own shock made his jaw clench.

Fury pulled out a device similar to an iPad and turned the screen to face them. "This footage was taken soon after you parted ways last night."

Steve watched as a dismal Clint walked down the hall and was suddenly stopped by Loki who placed the tip of his scepter to his chest. Clint's face registered surprise and then confusion when nothing seemed to happen. Loki frowned in anger and then promptly disappeared into midair.

When the video stopped, Fury lowered the device and fixed his eye on the three teenagers. "Now, what I need to know is if any of you noticed Barton acting odd today."

Steve lowered his gaze to the ground in front of him, racking his brain for any memory of strangeness from Clint. As he was trying (without success) to come up with something, Natasha spoke up.

"Just before we arrived on the roof, Clint and I were having a...a fight," she said with only a moment's hesitation on the word 'fight'. "His mood seemed to shift several times. One moment he was mad at me, and the next he was wanting to forgive me. But only a second after that, he seemed to be mad at me again."

"Almost as if he was fighting an unseen force in his head telling him to hate your guts?" Tony asked, earning himself a glare from Natasha.

Steve ignored the bickering Avengers and kept his eyes focused on Fury who held a hand to his ear as if he was listening to a communication device. "Sir?" he question after the Director had lowered his hand. "Is there something else?"

"Yes," the man said, lifting the device again and typing in a command. "There's more footage."

The group watched as the entire scene on the roof happened all over again. Steve noticed Tony look away when Coulson was stabbed, but he found he couldn't take his eyes off the screen. He kept his gaze on Hawkeye who, instead of rushing to Phil when he went flying backwards, ran over to keep Loki from falling off the roof. In their hurry to check on Coulson, none of them had noticed Clint leave.

"He really is under Loki's spell," Natasha murmured, her eyes flicking up to Fury after the video had finished playing. "What do we do?"

"You? You three get some rest," Fury surprised them by answering, tucking the iPad-like screen under his arm. "You've been through a lot. Let S.H.I.E.L.D. handle this for now."

Tony opened his mouth to argue, but Steve held up a hand to stop him. Amazingly, Stark listened and snapped his mouth shut.

"All due respect, sir, but I don't think that's possible."

The Director stared at Steve, not saying a word in an invitation to continue.

"Clint's our friend. And with Bruce and Thor temporarily gone, we can't afford to lose another one of our own. If you get any information on Hawkeye's location, we want to know," Steve paused, "sir."

Fury glanced from Steve's firm gaze, to Tony's arched eyebrow and expectant look, and then to Natasha's unreadable expression and crossed arms. Finally, he said, "I think I can manage that."

Steve nodded and watched the Director go, his trench coat billowing behind him. After Fury had left, Steve turned to examine what was left of his team (because he was kind of starting to see them as a team). It wasn't much. Only half of them stood there and that left Steve with an empty feeling in his chest. He wanted the rest of his friends back.

He would never feel whole until all six of them were together again.