Avengers: EMH: Slender Sickness

“Monsters don't sleep under your bed. They sleep inside your head.”

Avengers Mansion

11:32 pm

“Move aside!” Yellow Jacket snapped. He pushed passed Black Panther and Thor.

“Hank you can't go in there yet.” Captain America said stepping in front of the angry avenger.

“Let me through Cap, I have to see her.” he said harshly.

He smacked Cap's hand away and stormed up to the glass door of Tony Stark's lab. The first thing he heard when he angrily threw open the door were screams. Jan's screams.

“Stark, what's going on?” Yellow Jacket asked his anger being replaced with fear and worry.

Tony stopped him from entering the room fully.

“Hank you shouldn't be in here. It's too early to tell anything.” he said.

Hank pulled away and came into the room where Jane was standing over Jan who was wired onto a machine that was monitoring her heart beat which was extremely fast.

“Jan!” Hank exclaimed.

“Don't touch her. We don't know what this is yet.” Tony said. Hank looked at her again.

Jan was seizing uncontrollably. Her eyes were wide and filled with terror. Her pupils darted around the room. Sweat dripped off her like water. Jan's face was still wet from tears she had cried. And she was white like she'd seen a ghost.

“C-can't...can't run. Can't run.” she said over and over again.

“What-what's wrong with her?” Hank asked.

“I don't know.” Tony replied. Hank looked at him.

“What do you mean you don't know?” he snapped.

Tony shrugged. “I-I just don't.”

Hank looked at Jan again.

“Will she be okay?” he asked. “Its too soon to tell.” Tony replied.

Suddenly Mr. Fantastic poked his head in from around a corner that led to the next room.

“Tony, he's doing it again. Only its worse.” he said.

Tony and Hank followed back into another room where Hawkeye lay on a similar bed and was strapped to a similar machine.

His heart beat was a little faster then Jan's but he too was shaking, trembling, and sweating. His huge eyes also darted around the room.

“Al-always watches....always watches...n-no eyes...” Clint said over and over like Jan.

He then started jerking and twisting, trying to pull free from the restraints on his wrists and ankles.

Hank stared in horror as Clint continued shaking violently.

Tony and Reed ran over and struggled to hold him down.

“Clint, calm down! You're among friends!” Reed tried to say but then Clint let out a terrified scream.

“HELP ME!” he screamed. “DON'T LET HIM GET ME!”

“Clint, snap out of it!” Tony shouted still holding him down.

Eventually Clint stopped shaking and went back to what he was doing before.

Panting, Tony and Reed straightened up.

“What the hell is wrong with him? With her?” Hank asked.

Tony sighed. “I told you I don't know. But I do remember that they both started acting weird after that Quinjet wreck when I sent them out to the weapons trade off with Doom and HYDRA.” he said.

“Acting weird? Like what?”

“Panic attacks, sudden nightmares, they started seeing things. Well just the one thing actually.” Tony replied.

“What one thing?”

“A faceless man.” Reed told him.

Hank stared at them. “A faceless man? Like what, that Slenderman dude from the one game?” he asked.

“Yeah, yeah, I think Jan said Slenderman.” Tony said.

“But its just a game.” Hank said.

“I don't know what it is. All I know is that they've been acting like this since they got back and its getting worse. Hawkeye started doing this first but I'm sure Jan will start soon as well.” Tony said, looking at the shaking archer.

“And you can't do anything?” Hank asked. Tony shook his head. “I've tried everything.”

Hank sighed and looked at Hawkeye one more time. He still twitched and mumbled. His eyes still darted around the room.

“Keep me informed on her.” Hank said. Tony nodded and went back to working on Hawkeye.

Hank then turned and left the room. He walked out passed Jan again.

She too was still twitching and seizing.

“Ca-can't...run.” she said.

He turned away from her and pushed past the other avengers. He walked up to the second floor.

What had happened to Jan and Clint? What horrible thing did this to them? How could Slenderman have done this if he was just a character from a game?

Hank walked up to the window and looked out at the rain pouring down from the roof of the mansion.

Thunder rumbled making him jump.

There was a flash of lightning and Hank saw something that made him peer closer.

Outside standing in the street there was a man in a black suit.

Hank blinked his eyes several times. The man was still there. Just staring up at him through the window.

Hank shook his head and looked again. He gasped. The man was gone.

“What the.” he said to himself.

He looked up and down the street but he couldn't see the man in the suit.

Maybe I imagined it. Hank thought to himself.

He finally turned away from the window and walked up to his room.

Outside the window, lightning flashed again illuminating a figure who sat on the window sill looking in.

He had no face, yet he still watched as Hank disappeared up the stairs.

In another flash of lightning, he was gone.

Unknown Location

Time: 10:01 pm

3 days earlier

Hawkeye grunted and opened his eyes. All he saw was darkness. Smoke filled his throat making him cough. His eyes adjusted to the dark finally so now he could see partially where he was.

He was upside down in the driver's seat of the Quinjet. His buckle was keeping him from falling up to the ceiling.

Hawkeye blinked and looked around the damaged jet. The controls were smashed, the windshield was shattered. It looked like the Hulk had gone on a rampage.

With a soft grunt, Hawkeye reached down and undid his buckle. He landed on the ceiling with a thunk.

“Ow.” he said rubbing the spot where he landed.

Up above there came another groan.

Hawkeye looked up and saw Wasp hanging in the front passenger seat.

“Jan?” he asked, slowly getting to his feet. She blinked her eyes open and rubbed them.

“Ugh, Hawkeye?” she said groggily. She shrunk down enough to fly out of her seat and grew back to normal size.

“You okay?” Hawkeye asked her. She ran a hand through her hair and let out a sigh.

“Are you okay?” he asked again. She glanced at him.

“Yeah, yeah. I'm okay. What about you?” she replied. “I'm okay too.” he told her. “Just a major headache.”

“Yeah join the club.” Wasp mumbled.

“Come on, we should probably get out of here and maybe try to get some help.” Hawkeye said. Wasp nodded and followed him as he walked over to the shattered windshield.

He stumbled once but Jan caught him. He then crawled out of the Quinjet and out through the windshield. He bent down and helped Wasp climb out.

“Well, that sucks.” Wasp said when they saw the wreck from the outside.

The Quinjet was totaled. Apparently they had crashed upside down, slid maybe 85 feet and stopped.

“Iron man won't be too happy about this. This is the third one he's had to replace in the past month.” Hawkeye said.

Wasp rubbed her arm. “I think my bruises have bruises.” she mumbled.

Hawkeye walked past her and looked around where they had crashed. It was a small clearing just big enough for the Quinjet to fit. They were surrounded by a dark, eerie mist filled forest.

“I have no idea where we are.” Hawkeye said. Wasp came to stand by him rubbing her head again.

“Hey wait. Our ID cards. Maybe we can to call Tony or see where we are.” she said. “Good idea.” Hawkeye said. He searched himself only to find he didn't have it.

“Uh I must've been in a hurry this morning.” he said. Wasp searched herself and found hers in her glove.

“Got it.” she said.

She handed it to Hawkeye who immediately contacted Tony.

“Hey Stark, it's Clint. We-” Hawkeye started to say.

“Where have you guys been? You were supposed to be back eight hours ago!” Tony's angry voice shouted. “Look, we crashed the Quinjet. We're stranded and I don't have any idea where we are.” Hawkeye said.

Tony's voice immediately changed tones.

“Oh. Are you guys okay? Are you hurt?”

“Yeah, yeah we're fine. As far as we can tell. Uh, can you come get us? Our ride home is sort of....broken.” Hawkeye told him.

“Yeah. I'll have JARVIS trace your ID.” Tony said. It was quiet on his end for a few seconds then he talked again.

“You're in Black Rock about 900 miles from New York. We should get there in an hour. Maybe less or more. We're coming. Just hang on.” he said.

Hawkeye walked back over to Wasp and gave her back her card.

“What did Tony say?” she asked. “An hour. Give or take.” he said.

Wasp sighed and sat on a trunk.

“Great.” she mumbled. Hawkeye sat next to her.

“So...what do you want to do?” she asked him. “What is there to do?” he asked.

“Uh, how about a game?” Wasp suggested.

“Like?”

“Uh...I spy?”

Hawkeye gave her a weird look.

“What? Its all I can think of. Unless you have UNO or checkers in one of your arrows.” she said.

“Fine. You first.” he said.

Wasp looked around the clearing.

“Um, I spy with my little eye.....something....gray?” she said.

Hawkeye looked around.

“That boulder.” he said.

“Yes. No wonder you're called Hawkeye.” she said, a little disappointed he had found it so fast.

He smiled and looked around.

“I spy....something....” He still looked. “Uh...”

“A tree?” Wasp teased.

“No. I spy...what the heck?” he gasped.

Wasp looked at him weird. “What sort of clue is that?” she asked.

Hawkeye didn't answer. He stared intently at something.

“Uh Hawkeye?” she asked.

“Don't you see that?” he asked. “What? Where?” she asked looking where he was.

“There. Between that same boulder and that tree.” he said. “I don't see anything.” Wasp said. “Right there.” Hawkeye said pointing again.

Wasp squinted and looked into the fog. Then she saw it. Not very well, but she saw something.

“See it?” Hawkeye asked.

Barely see-able, a figure of a person stood between the tree and boulder. They couldn't see its face, just the shape.

“What-what is it?” she asked.

“I don't-hey! Where did it go?” Hawkeye exclaimed when it suddenly disappeared. “I don't know.” Wasp said. “But that was a little creepy.”

Hawkeye stared a few seconds longer then turned away.

“Maybe we imagined it.” he said.

“Both of us? The same thing? No, something was there. We saw it.” Wasp told him. “But what was it?”

“I don't want to find out.” Hawkeye answered.

They both turned away and pushed thoughts of what it could be out of their minds.

They both spent the next 45 minutes trying to see if either of them had any serious injuries or see who could stand on their head the longest. Whatever it took for them to forget the creepy figure.

But for some reason, they still felt like they were being watched. That feeling made them feel uneasy and a little sick to their stomachs.

Both were super glad when Iron man and Captain America showed up in another Quinjet.

Hawkeye and Wasp were immediately looked over by Tony while Cap flew home.

While Iron man went to grab a bandage, both looked out the window at the disappearing clearing down below.

Both gasped when they saw a figure standing amidst the other Quinjet wreckage but it disappeared from sight before they were sure.

Both turned away from the window and said nothing else the entire way back home.

The next morning, Tony wanted Clint and Jan looked over again. Clint didn't want to. He'd rather go out to take down the Serpent Society with the Avengers. He and Tony argued for a good ten minutes before Jan and Cap stepped in.

As an end result, Clint had to stay behind with Tony and Jan while the others got to go fight.

Later, in the evening, the Avengers finally showed up again. Apparently after the Serpent Society had been taken care of, there was unwanted HYDRA sightings in Wakanda. So Hawkeye was even more angry when he found he had missed two fights. He then went to bed saying 'since everything had been taken care of today he might as well.'

Jan had gone to bed as well saying she didn't feel well.

Both had fallen asleep in seconds. And that's when everything changed....

Clint tossed and turned in his sleep. Every now and then he jerked.

He mumbled. Sweat started to pour off of him. He twitched again.

With a sudden gasp, he bolted upright and looked around his room.

His heart raced.

“It was just a nightmare.” he told himself. “Just a nightmare. It wasn't real.”

He sat in his bed for several more seconds then he ran a hand through his sweat soaked blonde hair. He then got up and left his room.

The hall was dark and quiet as was the rest of the mansion.

Clint turned down another hallway and went into the bathroom. Turning on the light, he leaned over the counter. He looked up at his reflection in the mirror.

God, he looked awful.

He had a nasty bruise on the side of his face, his hair was a mess, and and he had a small cut under his other eye.

He turned on the faucet and splashed cold water on his face. He also ran some through his hair. He then shut the water off and reached for a towel to dry his face.

When he'd finished, Clint looked in the mirror again. At first he didn't see it, but when he glanced a little to the right he saw a faceless man standing behind him.

Clint gasped and whirled around only to find there.

Trying to catch his breath, Clint turned around only to see the faceless guy was still there. Clint whirled around again and this time the man was visible.

Clint yelped and fell back. The figure moved towards him. Its feet didn't move at all. They just slid.

Clint pushed himself up against the wall.

“Who are you? What do you want?” He asked it. It said nothing. (How could it? It had no mouth)

The figure stopped moving. Its head was suddenly cocked to one side in a weird flash of static. The static came again and it had straightened back up.

Clint's heart raced.

The figure came towards him again.

Clint tried to look around for a weapon but he couldn't take his eyes off the the figure.

Another flash of static.

It didn't move.

Black arm like tentacles grew from its back reaching for Clint.

“Don't come any closer pal. I'm warning you.” he said. “You stay away.”

There was another flash of static. The faceless man's hand was now reaching for him.

He finally managed to tear his eyes away and hide under his arms.

“No! Stay away from me!” Clint cried.

A cold hand touched his shoulder and he screamed.

“Hawkeye?” Panther's voice asked.

Panting and gasping, Clint looked up from under his arm.

T'Challa had an eyebrow cocked and was giving him a weird look.

“T-T'Challa?” Clint gasped.

“What are you doing? Are you alright?” T'Challa asked. Clint relaxed a tiny bit and put his arms down. He got to his feet and ran a hand through his hair again.

“Yeah, I'm okay. I think.” Clint replied. T'Challa stared at him again.

“Uh, your nose.” he said. “It's bleeding.”

Clint rubbed his nose and sure enough there was blood. The thick dark liquid ran down his arm and dripped from his nose all over his face.

“Uh...uh...uh...” was all Clint could say as he leaned over the sink again washing the blood off.

“You didn't answer my question.” Panther said. “What happened?”

Clint looked at him.

“I'm not really sure.”

T'Challa cocked his eyebrow.

Clint dried his face off, walked out of the bathroom, and stopped.

“It was just a nightmare.” he told his fellow Avenger then disappeared down the hall.

Once he was in his room, Clint stopped. He knew what he had see was not a nightmare. Something had been in the bathroom with him.

Clint walked over to his bed and sat. He wasn't tired anymore. The apparition had terrified him. Clint knew if he slept, he'd see it again, whatever it was.

Clint looked at his clock.

5:07 am

Only a couple more hours till sunrise. Hopefully he could stay awake that long. He sighed and stared at the ceiling.

It was going to be a long night.

2 days later

Clint sat at the table staring into his coffee and stirred it with his finger.

The nightmares for the past two days had gotten worse. He had not eaten or slept. He kept seeing the same faceless man more and more.

Clint felt like shit.

At that moment, Jan came into the kitchen. She looked around and her eyes finally rested on Clint. Hank called her name and waved for her to join him. She didn't even look at him and went to sit by Clint who looked at her out of the corner of his eye. Neither of them said anything.

Jan watched as he continued to stir and stare at his coffee.

“You're seeing him too aren't you?” she finally asked. “What?” Clint looked up at her. “The faceless man. You're seeing him too right?”

Clint opened his mouth to speak but Jan interrupted.

“Don't say you aren't because I heard about what happened in the bathroom. You saw him didn't you?” She said, looking at him.

Clint looked away.

“Didn't you?” she asked more fervently.

“Yes I did.” Clint finally said. “I've been seeing him everywhere. In my dream, in my reflection, on other people. It's like he's stalking me.”

“Same with me.” Jan replied.

Clint turned his tired eyes toward her. He noticed that she too looked like crap. Dark eyes, messy hair, bruises, just like him.

Both jumped when Hulk came stomping into the kitchen.

“Where's my coffee?” Hulk asked. Clint turned away but Jan kept staring at Hulk.

Behind him, a figure started to appear. Jan's eyes widened with fear when she saw it was the figure she and Clint had been seeing.

It started reaching for Hulk; its long arms stretching out. Hulk hadn't noticed.

“Hulk, watch out!” Jan screamed. She reached out with her hand and fired a yellow blast.

Hulk and Iron man jumped back as her ray shattered Hulk's glass.

Everyone stared at her.

Jan panted, her eyes still wide with fear. Clint looked at Hulk, who stared at Jan, then back to Jan, then back to his drink.

“What....was...that?” Hulk snapped.

“You-you didn't see it? He was going to-to get you.” Jan stammered.

“What was? I didn't see anything.” Tony said.

“It-it was....I saw....” she couldn't come up with words.

She felt liquid running down her face. She rubbed it off only to see her nose was bleeding heavily. With a gasp, she whirled around and ran from the room.

“Jan?” Hank asked getting up to follow. Clint jumped up.

“I'll go see what's wrong with her.” he said, following Jan before Hank could.

Clint found her in her room sitting on her bed. Soft sobs came from her.

“Jan?” Clint asked. She jumped and faced him. Tears streamed down her face.

Clint walked over and sat down by her. She immediately fell into him sobbing.

“I saw him again. He was right there.” she whispered.

Clint put his arms comfortingly around her.

“I know. I know.” he said.

“I want it to end, Hawkeye.” she said quietly. “I want him to go away. Why are we seeing him and nobody else?”

“I have no idea. But we're in this together, okay?” Clint soothed. “We'll put an end to it somehow.”

Jan looked up at him. “Okay.” she sniffed giving a tiny smile.

He hugged her tightly. It was the best comfort he could offer.

Clint then found himself glancing at the window. He let out a quiet gasp.

Outside, staring in, was the faceless man again. Even though it had no eyes, Clint felt its gaze burning into his soul.

He then suddenly felt familiar wetness dripping from his nose. He tore his gaze away from the window, wiped his nose, and saw blood. Clint looked at the window again and saw nothing. The faceless man wasn't there anymore.

Clint looked away and stood up.

“Clint, you're bleeding!” Jan exclaimed when she saw his face. “Did you-”

“See him again? Yeah, right outside the window.” he answered.

Jan quickly glanced but turned away from it.

“What the hell is wrong with us? Why are we seeing him?” she asked, her voice shaking.

“I-I don't know.” Clint replied.

“What I wouldn't give for a Dean and Sam Winchester right now.” Jan mumbled.

Clint gave a tiny smile and walked over to the window. He looked up and down the street for any signs of the man, or whatever it was. There was nothing but the ordinary civilians.

With a sigh of relief, Clint turned away from the window and followed Jan out of the room. They both had to clean up their faces and themselves because they were covered in blood.

“Alright, that's it!!” Tony snapped.

Once again, Wasp and Hawkeye had both freaked out. As an end result, some of Tony's fragile stuff had been broken.

Hawkeye and Wasp looked up at him holding tissues to their bloody noses.

“You two, come with me, NOW! We're putting an end to this.” Tony said, grabbing both of their arms and pulling them with him.

Hawkeye and Wasp looked at each other.

Tony pulled them into his lab and sat them down on separate beds. He then attached some wires to their heads and chests.

“Uh, what are these for?” Wasp asked.

“They'll allow me to see your brain waves and heart rate. Hopefully it will also tell me if that Quinjet wreck left any serious injuries that we didn't see and will tell me why you two keep behaving this way.” Tony said.

There was rapid beeping as Tony turned on the machine and looked at the screen.

After several long minutes, Tony stopped looking at the screen and looked at his fellow Avengers.

“Anything?” Hawkeye asked.

“No,” Tony said, looking at the screen then back at them. “It says you're both fine.”

“What? Are you serious?” Wasp exclaimed.

“Maybe you read it wrong.” Clint said. “It's my tech. I don't read things wrong.” Tony said. He looked at the screen again.

“When Reed gets here I’ll have him look. Maybe he can see something I can't.” he told them. “And I guess you won't let us take a bathroom break.” Clint said. “Uh, no. Just hang tight. He should be here any minute.”

The doorbell rang.

“In fact that's him right now. JARVIS, send him down here.” Tony said.

All three looked his way when Reed appeared several seconds later.

“What's going on? Why did you need to see me?” Reed asked.

“These two.” Tony said pointing to Hawkeye and Wasp.

“What's the problem?”

“Their behavior. They keep seeing things, keep having horrible bloody noses, and they've just recently broken my newest tech. I want to know why they're acting this way and how to stop it.” Tony said.

“Have you looked them over? They did just get in a wreck. Maybe that's what happened. They could've hit their head or something.” Reed said, looking Hawkeye and Wasp over and got irritated glances from Hawkeye.

“Yep, scans say their normal. I don't know what's going on.” Tony replied.

“Good, I can leave then.” Clint said, starting to get up.

“Oh no you don't.” Reed said stopping him. “We're nowhere near done.”

Clint groaned with frustration.

“Let's put them in different rooms. We can do different tests and get done a whole lot faster. That way Clint here can get to the bathroom faster.” Reed said. Another dirty look from Hawkeye.

“Good idea. Clint, you stay in here with Reed. I'll take Wasp up front.” Tony said.

Reed nodded and helped Jan off the bed. Then Tony and Jan disappeared around the corner.

“Look Reed, there's nothing wrong with me. How about you just let me go?” Hawkeye said as Reed out more wires on the side of his head.

“No, we need to find out if this is anything serious. JARVIS, start scanning will you?” Reed said.

Clint let out another frustrated sigh.

“This will only take another couple of minutes.” Reed said.

2 hours later

Outside, it had gotten dark. Reed and Tony were doing all kinds of tests on Hawkeye and Wasp only to end up where Tony had. A dead end.

Apparently, besides having wrecked the Quinjet, nothing was wrong with them.

“I don't get it.” Tony said. “For the past 2 days, they've been seeing things, having bloody noses, freaking out, and they're fine.” Tony said.

“I don't get it either. Something definitely was going on, but now I think it really is nothing.” Reed replied.

“Well, I guess we should unhook them and just keep an eye on them both.” Reed said. “I don't know what else to do.”

“Agreed,” Tony replied. “You unhook Hawkeye, I'll get Wasp.”

“It's about time.” Hawkeye grumbled, as Reed unhooked the wires.

“Just take it easy these next couple of days Clint. We still don't know what's going on.” Reed told him.

Hawkeye rolled his eyes. “Whatever. Just don't expect me to-” he stopped mid-sentence.

“What?” Reed asked. “Don't expect you to what?”

Hawkeye said nothing.

“Clint?” Reed turned to face him.

Hawkeye stared at the screen. It was filled with static. And in it, he saw a figure. A figure that had no face.

“Hawkeye, you okay?” Reed asked. He snapped his fingers in front of Clint's face. “Clint?”

Hawkeye stared at the screen where the figure quickly cocked its head in a flash of static and then straightened up again in another.

“Clint, your nose! It's bleeding!” Reed gasped.

Hawkeye ignored Reed and the dripping of the red liquid as it dripped off his face and puddled on the floor.

“Clint, here, sit down. You're losing a lot of blood. Clint? Clint, can you hear me?” Reed's voice faded out as Hawkeye continued to stare.

“Tony, get in here!” Reed's faint voice called.

The figure in the static vanished.

Suddenly the lights in the mansion flickered and went out. Tony shouted from the other room but Hawkeye didn't hear because his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he sunk into darkness.

First there was nothing. Then there was a cold breeze. Then the moaning of the wind and finally Jan's voice.

“Clint! Clint, wake up!”

Bolting upright, Clint looked around.

“You okay tough guy?” she asked, helping him stand.

“What happened?” he asked.

“You tell me. All I remember was Tony and Reed. They were doing tests when the power suddenly went out. Then I woke up here followed by you.” she said.

“Same with me. But-” he stopped.

“But what?”

“I saw the figure. The Man with no Face.” Hawkeye said, looking at her. Jan returned the look only her eyes showed fear.

“We gotta find a way out of here.” he told her.

“Where's here?” Wasp asked.

Both of them looked around. They were on a dark abandoned street. The only light source was one single streetlight eight blocks down.

A chilly wind pulled at their clothes and hair. It blew down the dark street making a quiet moan.

“Okay, its official. I'm creeped out.” Wasp said.

“Hey look, we're only eleven or twelve blocks from the mansion. If we run, we can get there in no time.” he said.

Wasp nodded and followed the archer as he started to run.

She looked around nervously at each alleyway they passed. She felt like something was watching them, stalking them, and waiting for a chance to strike.

Hawkeye slowed to a fast walk, panting from running.

Wasp got close to Hawkeye and grabbed his hand, he glanced back at her as her eyes darted back and forth but he didn't let go. He was just as frightened as she was. Wasp managed to see that he too had fear in his eyes when he quickly glanced her way.

Both finally stopped to catch their breath under the streetlight.

“Three more blocks. Think we can make it?” Hawkeye panted. Wasp nodded. “Yeah, I think so.”

“Then let's keep going.” he said starting to walk again.

Wasp was about to follow but a sound made her stop. It was soft and in the distance a ways but she still heard it.

Hawkeye stopped walking when he saw that she wasn't following.

“Jan, you coming?” he asked.

She looked at him. Her eyes filled with more terror then he'd ever seen.

“Jan?” he asked.

“We're the only ones here, right?” she asked. “Uh, I would imagine so. Yeah. Why?” he replied.

“If we are, then who's footsteps are those?” Wasp asked him.

Silence filled the street as both got quiet.

Hawkeye looked around, listening for the sound of feet.

Clump. Clump. Clump.

The sound came from the direction the two Avengers wanted to go.

Hawkeye backed up and stood protectively in front of Wasp. The footsteps sped up as the approaching thing started to run towards them.

Out from the dark came the faceless man.

There came eerie static flashes from the figure as it rushed past them. Like an apparition, it went through them and soon vanished into the dark disappearing in a flash of static.

Wasp ran. Ran faster then she ever had before. She didn't know where she was going. She didn't care. All she wanted to do was get away from that thing.

Her ribs and lungs screamed at her to stop running but she kept going.

Get away. Get somewhere safe. She told herself.

Wasp turned down an alleyway and jumped behind a dumpster.

Panting heavily she sat down and laid her head against the wall.

“You think we lost it?” she asked Hawkeye.

No answer.

“Hawkeye?” Jan gasped. She looked around and saw that her fellow teammate wasn't with her.

“Clint?” she called then quickly covered her mouth.

Heart racing, she slowly crawled from her hiding place and peered out into the street. It was empty. No apparition and no Hawkeye.

Tears filled her eyes. She was terrified.

When Hawkeye was with her, she felt brave but now that he'd vanished, Wasp was scared and alone.

With a horrible realization, Wasp realized that she had ran off without Hawkeye. She'd left him with that thing. Did he get away? Or did the thing get him?

Wasp peered out into the street again. Still empty.

Shaking, Jan got to her feet and stepped out onto the deserted street.

The wind blew again making a quiet moan. Letting out a trembling breath, she slowly walked back towards the streetlight.

Maybe Hawkeye ran the other way. Yeah. That's what he did. She'd find him up two or three blocks. She hoped.

Wasp pushed that thought out of her mind. She would find him.

Slowly and quietly she kept walking. With each step, she got closer to the light.

“Almost there.” she said through gritted teeth.

A scream in the distance made her stop. Jan stiffened with fright when the streetlight suddenly went out and left her in darkness.

“Oh my god.” she whispered.

Her heart raced.

She heard another blood curdling scream that was cut off. Jan suddenly found it hard to breathe when she realized it was Hawkeye.

“Clint!” she called out and ran towards the screams as fast as her shaky legs would carry her.

“Oh god, please don't let me be too late.”

“Jan? Jan!” Hawkeye called.

After seeing the terrible apparition, he had turned and ran back the way he'd come.

Wasp had apparently ran the other way.

“Jan, where are you?” he called again.

Hawkeye listened for an answer but he didn't hear one.

“Way to go, Barton, you lost her. Maybe if you hadn't of run off like a scared little girl, she'd still be with you. Great, now I'm talking to myself. What a way to-”

he broke off when he heard the bushes rustle behind him.

Holding his breath, Hawkeye peeked over his shoulder.

Nothing. No more movement, no more ghosts. Just the wind.

He let out a sigh of relief.

The bush rustled again and Hawkeye quickly moved away from it.

“Okay.” he breathed. “Okay, okay, okay.”

He found his way back towards the only light.

The silence was scaring him. Any sound would help him calm down. Any sound except for footsteps, the sound of static, and screaming.

“Jan!” he whispered. “Jan!”

Looking at the empty street, Hawkeye realized Wasp could be in any one of these alley's or...

NO.

He pushed the thought out of his mind. He was going to find her.

The first alleyway was empty. As was the second and third.

Hawkeye now searched the fourth only to find that it too was empty.

“Great.” he mumbled.

Just as he entered the fifth alley, something moved at the very end. Hawkeye squinted his eyes trying to see what it was. There was a clatter.

“W-Wasp?” he quietly called out. Whatever was at the end stopped moving.

Hawkeye swallowed and stepped into the alley.

Slowly and cautiously he moved to the back.

“Jan?” he called a little louder then before.

To his dismay, he found Wasp wasn't in this alley either. It was empty.

Turning around, he headed back for the street. He stopped dead when he saw it was blocked by a tall figure. A figure he'd seen too many times.

“The Man with no Face.” he gasped quietly.

Hawkeye blinked and the figure was gone. Looking around the alley, he saw that it wasn't here.

“That's it.” he said, running.

He came out onto the street and turned to the right.

Hearing the sound of static, Hawkeye looked over his shoulder. The man with no face was behind him, then it was gone again.

“Oh shit. Oh shit shit shit shit.” Hawkeye said. He faced the front again only to come face to face with it. Hawkeye slid to a stop right in front of it. Its faceless gaze stared into his soul.

Black tentacles grew from its back reaching for him.

Hawkeye turned around only to see it was there behind him Hawkeye yelped and turned again. The man with no face was there. Everywhere Hawkeye looked, he saw the faceless man.

Tentacles grew. The figure closed in.

Hawkeye screamed.

The next thing he knew, he was running. Static noises echoed all around.

Behind him the light went out.

“Get into an alley.” Hawkeye told himself. “Get into an alley and hide.”

He rounded the corner. The alley he had entered was empty.

“Crap.”

He turned around only to be grabbed from behind.

Black tentacles wrapped around him, dragging him back. Hawkeye screamed again only to have it cut off as something entered his mouth, choking him.

Eerie noises and sounds of static echoed all around.

Hawkeye tried to scream and pull away but he was wrapped up tight. More static and noises entered his head.

“RUN.” a barely hearable voice filled with static made his head throb.

The last thing he saw was the faceless man right next to him.

“RUN.”

“Thor, help me hold him!” Reed called. He and Tony was doing everything he could to hold a screaming and twisting Hawkeye down.

“What is going on with him?” Thor asked. “We don't know yet. Help me hold him down.” Tony said.

Hawkeye's screams increased. With a swing of his arm, he ripped his hand from the restraints and punched Reed, making him fall back.

Hawkeye then broke free.

“Hawkeye! Clint, you're okay! Calm down!” Tony tried to say but Hawkeye ran from the room. He ran out past Wasp who still lay unmoving on her bed.

Hawkeye ran from Stark's lab and came face to face with multiple faceless men all dressed like the Avengers.

“Avengers, stop him!” Tony's voice shouted. All the faceless figures reached for Hawkeye but he pushed past them and ran up a flight of stairs.

Footsteps behind him told him he was being pursued.

Once on the main floor, Hawkeye ran for the window. He didn't stop even though the window wasn't open. He kept running.

Glass shattered as Hawkeye broke through and ran out into the dark chilly night.

“Hawkeye, stop! Come back!”

“Clint!”

Voices yelled at him telling him to stop but he wouldn't. He had to get away. His friends were all faceless.

Hawkeye ran out of the mansion yard and out into the street.

There was a sudden bright light and a screech of tires. Pain erupted throughout his body and then he knew nothing more.

Tony, followed closely by the others, ran out just in time to see the car hit Hawkeye.

The driver had gotten out and was staring in horror at Hawkeye's broken, bloody body.

Tony ran up.

The front of the car was dented in. Blood stained the hood and puddled around Hawkeye.

“Oh my god.” the young female gasped. “I'm sorry. I didn't see him. He just ran out in front of me and I couldn't stop in time.” she said, tears forming in her eyes.

“Cap, call an ambulance!” Tony shouted. Cap nodded and disappeared back inside the mansion.

“Are you okay? Are you hurt?” Tony asked the girl. She had covered her mouth and shook her head. “No, I'm okay. Oh gosh, I'm so sorry.” she said.

“Here, sit down. Sit down right here.”

Vision, Reed, and Ms Marvel had knelt down by Hawkeye and were looking him over.

“Talk to me guys.” Tony said as he checked the girl who was still covering her mouth and staring at Hawkeye.

“It's not good. He needs medical attention now. Is Cap calling for an ambulance?” Ms Marvel said.

“Yeah, its coming. What's the word on Wasp?” Tony replied. “She started doing what Hawkeye did but we managed to stop her. She also started seizing and nose bleeding again.” Reed said.

“Okay. Bring her out. We'll take her to the ER with Clint.” Tony said.

Sirens wailed in the distance. Several seconds later, paramedics ran up with a stretcher.

Reed, Ms Marvel, and Vision stood back as the medics gently put Hawkeye on the stretcher then put him in a neck brace.

As he was put in the ambulance, Tony and the others saw Hawkeye looked dead. He wasn't moving at all. Not even breathing it looked like.

Two more medics ran inside and soon appeared with Wasp who still twitched.

The girl was loaded up too just to be safe.

The Avengers all followed as the ambulance drove off, sirens wailing.

Wasp stood in front of a dark looming alleyway. Hawkeye's screams had come from inside.

Now it was quiet.

Holding her breath, she slowly stepped into the dark.

Slowly and cautiously.

She tried to light up her hand but her stingers didn't work very well at this size. She didn't want to shrink either.

Her light flickered and didn't work like she wanted it to.

“Come on you stupid! Work!” Wasp grumbled. She shook her hand hoping it would help. It didn't.

When she looked up again, she gasped.

In the dim light, she saw the faceless figure. Its long black tentacles were wrapped tightly around Hawkeye whose mouth and nose were gushing out blood. A tentacle was wrapped around his neck. More stuck out of his mouth from the inside making him foam. The foam was red from all the blood.

Wasp screamed causing the faceless man to look at her then disappear, dropping Hawkeye who didn't move.

“Hawkeye!” she cried, running over and kneeling by him. She gasped when she saw he was gushing out blood and convulsing. He wasn't breathing.

“Oh god. Oh god, Hawkeye.” Wasp cried. She tried getting the blood to stop but there was just too much.

Static sounds echoed around her. She looked but didn't see the figure.

“Hawkeye, Hawkeye, wake up. Please.” she said laying his head on her lap.

Her instincts told her to run and get to safety but she wouldn't leave Hawkeye. Not like this. But she couldn't carry him. He was hurt badly and she just didn't have the strength.

“Hang on. Just hang on.” she said cradling his blood soaked head.

“Just hang on.”

in the dark behind her, a figure came forward.

Iron man and Captain America stood by Clint's bedside. He was still out. A tube was in his throat. It needed to be cleared out from all the blood that was still in it.

The doctor's had stopped the bleeding, but from the look's of it, it didn't look like he was going to be doing much when he woke up.

The doctor said that he had multiple fractures in several areas. His back, his pelvis, his ribcage, and a few more spots. His face was bruised terribly and had multiple stitches in several spots. Hawkeye was lucky to be alive.

Mockingbird came running in and stopped dead when she saw him.

“What the hell happened to him?” she gasped, covering her mouth.

“He was hit by a car.” Tony said. She gave him a look of horror.

“And how did that happen?” she asked. “He ran out in front of it.” Tony answered. She looked at him again. “Why would he do that?” she gasped. “We're really not sure what happened. He just freaked out and ran for it.” Tony told her.

Mockingbird looked at Clint. She pulled up a chair and sat by him, grasping his hand.

Cap put a hand on her shoulder.

“He'll pull through.” he said. Mockingbird smiled. “I know.

She looked over at Wasp who was on the other side of the room.

“Is she okay?”

“She isn't as bad as Clint, but she's in pretty bad shape as well.” Cap said.

Mockingbird looked at her a little longer then back to Clint.

There were several long quiet minutes.

“I need to get back. Fury needs me for some reason.” she said. “But I had to see Hawkeye first. Thank you for letting me know.”

Tony smiled. “No problem. We also need to get back just in case of unwanted criminal activity. You want a ride?” he said.

“Yeah, thanks.” Mockingbird said.

The three left the room, but mockingbird looked at Clint once more then she followed Cap and Iron man out.

Neither Hawkeye or Wasp had moved. The only sound was the monitor on both of them.

Clint suddenly flinched. Jan twitched.

Outside, lightning flashed. In the flash, a faceless man stared in but then disappeared.

Wasp cowered in the corner of the alleyway. Hawkeye was still out cold and was still bleeding. Wasp's own nose was also gushing out blood.

She held Hawkeye close as another static noise sounded around them.

The figure was nowhere to be seen.

Jan's eyes darted around wildly, looking for movement.

There she sat, cradling her wounded friend, waiting and watching as the sound of static grew louder.