Chapter 14: Panic and Confusion

Their POV:

It has been 1 week since they lost contact with Chris. Everyone is at their nerve's end , not sure if Chris had betrayed them or is compromised .

"I think Chris is compromised." Clint calmly states as he sits on the couch , looking back and forth at the others.

"He betrayed us , I knew it !" Steve exclaims , clasping his hands together as if he got Chris all figured out.

" Don't say that , Steve , he wouldn't , I know he's not like that ." Natasha glares daggers at Steve as she says that , not wanting to believe a word he says ." Stevie , I love you man , but I have to agree with Romanoff here ." Bucky blurts out . " Think about it , why would he go back to the one thing that he so desperately escaped from ?" he adds while shrugging his shoulders .

"To kill us ." Steve nonchalantly replies .

"You idiot , he has the power of an archangel that is far more powerful than Lucifer. If he WANTS to kill us , he would've done so when he first got here ." Tony groans in annoyance at Steve's remarks." But still , we have to think of the worst case scenario , which is he works for them." he reluctantly says , " As much all of us , except Rogers here , trust him , we have to anticipate this too." he adds.

A sniffle can be heard from Natasha as Yelena holds her tight , her eyes getting glossy too. Clint looks over to his red headed best friend , understanding why she is how she is now , he himself feeling quite overwhelmed. Tony is looking up every camera there is on earth to get Chris' whereabouts , he knows deep down that Chris wouldn't turn to the thing that killed his parents unless he has a reason to do so , and he already has a guess on what that reason would be , them.

"Tony." a thick watery voice can be heard at his door , "Romanoff" he turns around to see the red head Russian and her blonde sister . As much as it pains him to see her like this , he understands because he feels the same way too. " I'll find him , I promise." he says as he turns to the screen , " We will , Stark ." Yelena speaks up in a squeaky voice , making it obvious that the two of them have been sobbing their hearts out.

"Sir , I have visuals on an individual who is identical to Chris," JARVIS announces as the trio are having their moment of silence. "Tell the others to get in here and show us the visuals." Tony says , his eyes glimmering with hope as JARVIS does as he wish.

After 3 minutes , all of them gathered in the room , including Nick Fury and Maria Hill. " What's the status on Chris?" Nick asks , his voice adds on a slight hint of concern. They all watch the visuals JARVIS has set up for them . In the video , a man with a mask can be seen mauling soldiers and people over . " I know that fighting style , it's him ." Bucky says , his eyes widening in terror. " By the way he is , he has been compromised , but the way they brainwashed him ...." he trails off , gulping.

" What about it , Barnes?" Tony asks , his face full of concern.

"It's going to take more than a hit to the head or something to get him back." he utters .

"What do you mean ?"

"It's completely different then how they did to me or how they initially brainwashed him , this is a whole other level of psychological altering." he sighs , terror written all over his face , " The probability of getting him back is close to zero." he adds.

Yelena also adds in " He also doesn't seem to be under the same chemical brain altering as I was . This is a completely new thing ." . She glances at Natasha whose eyes are starting to get even more glossy .

" But we have to try , we would never know if we don't ." Tony says , determination written all over his face . " He's going to come back to us , I know it." he adds , making Natasha softly smile. "Alright then , your mission is to retrieve Chris." Nick announces , " Good luck , I myself hope to get him back as well." he adds as he and Maria leave the room.

As they all walk out of the room , Natasha stops in her tracks and tugs at Yelena and Clint's sleeves. They both turn to look at her , already expecting what she would say after what Bucky just mentioned. "What if we can't bring him back ? Does that mean we have to ..." she trails off as a single tear falls off her rosy cheeks.

"I don't know but I'm sure that we'll get him back , Natasha." Clint reassures her as he holds her arm gently. " He's strong , 'Tasha, he just needs a little push , I know it." Yelena says as her eyes turns glossy once more because of seeing the state Natasha is in. She softly smiles at them as they walk down the hallway.

Steve somehow look annoyed because of how everyone have this glimmer of hope that Chris will return to them , he is also surprised that Chris has a much more impact on all of them than him towards them despite only being here for a short period of time. A hot headed midget burst into the room , along with a familiar archangel and detective , catching everyone's attention.

"What's the plan?" Levi asks , he looks around as he notices that everyone is gathered in the common room .

" To get him back ." Steve says , looking at the midget.

" Uh... we've heard of it , how ?" Lucifer puts up a finger as he questions them , Chloe looks like she had cried almost as much as Natasha had.

" We round him up , seize him."

"Without tranquilizers ?"

"Well , normal tazers and stuff wouldn't work on him , even if they could , it's only for a short period of time." Tony sighs.

"Well , we just need to knock him out real hard , right?" Thor asks , Tony nods and Thor says " Why don't we let the Hulk knock him out."

Upon hearing this , Bruce shrugged and even the Hulk in him also tremble slightly . " You all do remember how he almost mutilated the Hulk with his bare hands , right?" he slightly chuckle while asking. Everyone sighs in defeat until Lucifer claps his hands , bringing everyone's attention onto him .

"Why don't I try ?" he asks .

"What?"

"I can try knocking him out , you know ."

"But he's basically stronger than you."

"Oh!" he scoffs , putting his hand to his chest to imitate being offended "Don't rub that salt in my injured self-confidence."

"You sure ? " Natasha asks

"He's also my mentor as well as buddy , of course I would try ." he smiles at her .

"We all try to attack him at once , as much as he can handle all of us , I doubt he can hold off that long." Bucky opines , to which everyone agrees.

"What if we can't get him back ? What if it's impossible ?" Steve snaps at them , annoyed.

"We kill him . " Tony answers , everyone turn to look at him , shocked written all over their faces, even Steve too. "What ?" Natasha asks , tears threatening to spill out her eyes once again . " Natasha , you know that's what he wants if we can't bring him back, you know that he would rather for us to kill him than to continue working under their control. " Tony softly says , knowing how much his words would impact the Russian , tears threatening to fall off his face too.

"Alright then , gather up everyone, I have traces of where Chris will be next. We'll have to move quick." Tony announces and everyone go on their separate ways to get ready . To bring the person that they care a tremendous lot for back .

If that is actually possible.