The longer I stared at the photos on the wall the more anxious I felt. Despite there being no immediate danger, my eyes kept darting through the dark interior of the warehouse, expecting something to jump out from the shadows.

I stayed close to Clint's side as Steve relayed the sight in front of us back to the helicarrier, where Reed and Sue were listening in on the mission. Tony took careful photos and scans of the scene in front of us, sending them through to the rest of the team.

The room was oddly quiet, most of us still trying to process exactly what this meant.

"How did we miss this, Clint?" I whispered, looking up at my brother for some sort of answer.

Clint always had answers. He had been the one I turned to my whole life for some sort of guidance, and I couldn't help but think he'd know what to do in this situation. Growing up he was always the one getting things done, making sure that everything was okay for the two of us. He always knew.

My brother simply shook his head, a fire burning behind his blue eyes.

"I don't know Sammie," He started to pace across the small room, staring at each photo on the wall intently. "And that's what worries me."

My chest clenched nervously at his words, and I wandered over to where Steve stood. He acknowledged my presence with a tight smile and I could see concern written all over his face.

"Well, it's not the source of the energy we were looking for, but it's definitely something." He spoke.

"Something?" I asked. "Yeah, I'd say that incredibly invasive and private images of the Avengers popping up in an abandoned warehouse would qualify as something."

I hadn't meant for my tone to sound so sharp, and I shot Steve an apologetic look. We were all rattled because of our discovery and I shouldn't take it out on them.

"I don't think this was Loki," I spoke, glancing around at the pictures tacked to the wall. "Even if he learned how to find and use high tech cameras from earth, this is beneath him."

My eyes settled on an image of myself leaning on a wall outside of a clothing shop, my arms crossed and my face angled up towards the sky with an unreadable expression. There was nothing about this photo that felt like Loki. He was looking for revenge, yes, but this wasn't his style. As much as I knew that he was using me to get the revenge he sought, I couldn't see him doing this to me. He wouldn't hurt me like this.

And while that may be naive of me, I felt confident in the idea that he wasn't the person taking the pictures.

"It's probably related to the person that Loki is working with. He must have some connections here on earth to keep track of us," I paused, thinking. "Either that or they're two separate and unrelated problems, in which case we're going to have one very busy week trying to figure this shit out."

Steve smiled softly, and placed a comforting hand on my shoulder.

"We'll get to the bottom of this, Sam."

I nodded, but the nauseating sensation in my stomach didn't lessen with his words.

"I know. We're the Avengers, we'd kind of suck at our jobs if we didn't."

At this point Tony stepped towards us, his face mask lowered and his brows knit together in concentration.

He looked much older when he was worried, I noticed, and he'd been looking more and more worried lately. The dark circles under his brown eyes stood out to me, signs that the genius hadn't been sleeping well.

I'd have to ask him about that later.

"Hey sunshine," Tony nodded to me. "Hate to interrupt the conversation, but what bar did you and Natasha drink at on your exciting night out?"

I paused, trying to remember the name through the foggy haze of my memory from that drunken night. I very clearly remembered the bartender's amused face and the feeling of Natasha's strong grip keeping me from falling to the floor, but the name of the bar? How was I supposed to remember that?

"Uh," I struggled for a moment, before Natasha cut in through the radio and saved me.

"Mulligan's, on 5th and 31st." Her voice warbled in on the communicator, all steel and ice.

Nat always used her emotionless 'business' voice when something serious was going on, and for some weird reason it comforted me more than anything else so far. I wish I could learn to be that controlled.

"Nice choice," Tony nodded. "Jarvis, compile all security footage from the area surrounding Mulligan's during the hours Sam and Nat were gone. I want to find this bastard's face."

Jarvis chimed in with an acknowledgment, and I felt a slight brush of hope. Tony was the smartest person that I knew, so I had no doubt that he'd figure this out. We'd find the person who took the photos and we'd figure out the Loki situation and everything would be just fine. It would be okay.

It would be okay.

As I repeated the phrase to myself once again, my breath caught in my throat, and my heart suddenly felt like it was being squeezed violently.

I let out a shaky breath and reached out for Steve, but my vision was narrowing into darkness and my hand batted at empty air.

"Samantha?" I heard him speak, but he sounded far away, and the rest of my senses seemed to dull as the tightness in my chest took over everything else that I could feel.

In a moment too quick for me to prepare for my legs crumbled out from under me, and the only thing that kept me from hitting the ground were Steve's arms swiftly wrapping around me, holding me firmly in place and stopping me from falling.

Even with my eyes clenched shut, hot tears leaked through and burned tracks down my cheeks. Panic overwhelmed my every thought, but the feeling of Steve's chest against my face helped the fast beating of my heart find a steady rhythm. I buried my face in his uniformed chest to try and muffle my shallow gasps of air.

"Sammie?" My brother's panicked voice cut through me to the bone, and I quickly waved him off.

"I'm fine, Birdy," I spoke as convincingly as I could, head still hidden in Steve's tight embrace. "Just didn't eat enough today."

My excuse was weak and I knew very well that it wasn't fooling anyone, but I refused to lift my head from Steve's chest until my tears dried and my breaths were normal once more.

The panic in me threatened to blossom again at the sudden thought of everyone seeing my breakdown, but Steve's thumb rubbed gently into my side and quickly pulled me out of those thoughts.

Get it together, Barton. You're on a mission.

I sucked in a shaky breath and tried to subtly use Steve's uniform to wipe my tears away, before I lifted my head and steeled myself to pretend like everything was okay.

My senses were coming back to me fully now, and I realized that Steve was holding me so firmly that my feet weren't even touching the ground. He didn't seem bothered by supporting all of my weight, and a feeling of immense gratitude overwhelmed me.

Steve was there for me, quite literally holding me up when I couldn't stand. We didn't deserve this giant teddy bear.

I tapped his chest gently to signal for him to let me down.

He immediately complied, softly lowering my form until my feet hit the concrete beneath me. His blue eyes held mine in an intense stare that I tried my best to match. I gave a quick smile to try and appease the concern on his face.

I'd thank him later, but right now we had a job to do.

I ignored the stares from my brother and Tony, who both looked like they were debating asking if I was okay, but something in my expression must have told them that now wasn't the time.

"We'll send out another team to clean up this stuff," Johnny stepped in at this point. "Let's just get back to the base and figure out where to go from here."

No one else argued with his suggestion, mainly due to the fact that we all wanted to get out of this warehouse as soon as possible.

The walk back to the quinjet was fast and silent, which I was grateful for. I was still trying to wrap my head around what exactly happened.

One, apparently the Avengers have a stalker now. Great. Just what we need. Two, I almost passed out due to sheer panic. Awesome. Three, well, I don't have a number three but I was just trying to fill time with thinking in an attempt to avoid a conversation with my brother.

Judging by the way he was staring at me from across the aisle of the quinjet, it wasn't working.

I fiddled intently with the straps of my seatbelt, trying to occupy myself with making sure it was tight against my form. Safety first, after all.

Tony opted to fly back in the jet with the rest of us rather than in his suit, so he was seated next to me with his arms crossed and his head tilted back in the guise of taking a quick nap.

I knew him better though, and could tell he was stuck in his thoughts, running through any and all possibilities for the photos. He wouldn't rest until he had answers, that I knew for sure.

I felt the weight of more stares on my face and found myself wishing that I had been able to compose myself more in the warehouse. I was a SHIELD agent for god's sake, I should have been able to handle seeing a few pictures printed out and tacked to a wall.

Once again I found myself longing for the ability that Natasha had seemed to perfect, the art of mastering her emotions. You could never tell what she was feeling unless you were lucky enough that she wanted you to, and that would be a wonderful gift to possess.

I was an open book with my emotions, I knew that, and that was a terrible burden in this line of work.

Letting out a deep sigh and shutting my eyes, I tilted my head back and followed Tony's example.

!@#$%

The ride back to the helicarrier was quicker than I would have liked, and before I knew it the team was seated at the debriefing table in front of a very stern Fury.

Nat, Bruce, and the rest of the Fantastic Four were also there. I couldn't quite decide if I was glad everyone I cared about was here, or if I wanted to crawl into a hole in order to be alone.

Unfortunately, crawling into a hole wasn't an option that was offered. I simply settled on wrapping my arms around myself and slumping down into my chair.

"We're currently trying to put together all the angles from which the photos were taken to try and get a sense of where they were taken from," Fury spoke to the group.

Tony, who was leaning precariously back in his chair, gave a slight nod.

"Jarvis is already on top of it. No offense to your agents, but he should have the security footage within an hour or two. Hopefully enough to put together a picture of who it was taking the pictures."

Fury raised an eyebrow at Tony's quip, but accepted the information and moved on.

"We're also in the process of having the photos scanned for any fingerprints or DNA, but it's unlikely we'll get any hits unless we're dealing with a complete dumbass."

I smirked a little at his words, and felt my mood lift ever so slightly. As usual, it didn't last long.

"Agent Barton,"

Clint and I both straightened in our seats as Fury spoke. Fury raised an eyebrow at our mirrored movements, and clarified.

"Junior."

My face flushed in embarrassment as I nodded back at the director.

"Sir?"

He stared at me for a moment longer than I would have liked, and I fought to keep my expression from showing my discomfort.

"You're dismissed." He spoke firmly, and I blinked up at him blankly.

"Sir?" I asked, my voice raising an octave in confusion.

He moved a hand off of his hip and waved it in the direction of the door that lead to the sleeping quarters.

"You've had a long day. See the medic and then take an early rest," He said. "Director's orders."

Through the haze of my anger, I could tell that there was genuine concern on his face, which only served to fuel the said anger. Why the hell was I being singled out? No one else was being asked to retire early from the official debriefing! I knew the same as everyone else that it was due to my episode in the warehouse, but he couldn't just kick me out because of it!

"I-" I started forming an arguement, but one look at Natasha silenced me. She wouldn't complain, so neither would I.

"Sir." I nodded, standing stiffly from my seat.

I avoided the gaze of any of my teammates, feeling their stares on my back as I quickly retreated towards the medic. My cheeks burned, and I breathed in deeply to try and calm my racing heartbeat.

My thoughts kept me from paying any attention to the doctor who checked me over, though I remember her saying something about an 'anxiety attack' and her recommending food and a full night's rest.

I complied, picking up a quick meal from the cafeteria before returning to my makeshift quarters. My room back in Tony's tower was much nicer than these with a style more suited to my personality, but there was something comforting in the blankness of the small room I walked into.

There was a small bed that suited my need for sleep, and I plopped down onto it with a huff. With food in my system, I found myself feeling better than before. My thoughts still raced, of course, and I couldn't help but wonder if I made the right choice.

Maybe it had been a bad idea to come back to SHIELD. Maybe I should have stayed back where things were simple, back at the tower where life was boring but simple. It was safer there- I didn't have to think about Loki or crimelords or stalkers, I could have had a semi normal life.

Maybe I could have started college classes, something that I had never really thought of before. SHIELD had given me a basic high school diploma, but they never really cared to send me somewhere for a higher education.

I could have suffered through college with a goal of ending up with a simple job that I cared about as much as I needed to, and could still go home at the end of the day. I could have left the saving the world to Steve and Clint and Nat, and made a little world of my own for myself.

Maybe everything would have been simpler that way.

A knock at the door shook me out of my thoughts, and I glanced up at the closed door.

"Yeah?" I asked, still sprawled out on my bed.

The door opened, and Tony popped his head in.

"Hey sunshine." He smiled, and made his way into my room, shutting the door behind him.

He sat down on an empty space on my bed, folding his arms against his chest. He was silent for a moment, trying to think of what to say.

"How are you holding up?" He settled on, looking down at me with a raised eyebrow.

I shrugged and slung an arm over my eyes.

"Eh. Doctor said it was anxiety. I'm not dying, if that's what you're asking,"

Tony chuckled.

"Anxiety, huh?" He patted my leg affectionately. "You'll be alright."

I made a noise in my throat, still keeping my arm over my eyes. It was so much easier than looking at Tony, and I could feel myself starting to get sleepy.

"You will, won't you?"

Something in Tony's voice made me pause, and I moved my arm away from my eyes and sat upright.

Tony wasn't looking at me, but staring at the wall of my room. His shoulders were rigid, and I tried to get a good read of his body language.

"Hey," I spoke, placing a hand on his arm. "Tony, look at me."

He visibly hesitated for a moment, before he gave in and turned to face me. His brown eyes were wide with some pained emotion, and my heart instantly started hurting at the expression he gave.

The dark circles under his eyes were more pronounced than ever, and I wondered how I missed this. He looked absolutely miserable.

"Tony, are you okay?" I asked.

My words shook him out of his stupor, and his eyes snapped up to meet my own.

There was no witty comment from him, no joke that he could make to deflect the question. There was just defeat in his expression, and a sadness that I couldn't quite name.

"I don't know," He answered honestly. "I can't sleep, I'm having nightmares. I keep seeing New York whenever I close my eyes. And you know, I really thought it would be over, after all of that. But these things keep happening, I can't keep you safe and I don't know what to do anymore."

I squeezed his arm in reassurance, and he covered my hand in his own. His brown eyes moved to stare up at the ceiling as he pondered over his next words.

"Fury told us back there that he wasn't sure you were ready to come back," He admitted.

I felt a pang in my chest, despite having guessed that it was the reason I was dismissed early. I would normally press Tony on the subject, but he looked like he was struggling to find the words to say, so I waited patiently for him to continue.

"I'm not so sure that I'm ready to be back, sunshine. I don't know what good I am to you, to the team." He confessed.

I couldn't hold back anymore, and I threw myself at him, hugging him fiercely.

"You're never going to be useless to us, Tony. We need you. If you need a break from the team or from missions, I'll always support you. But you'll never be useless to me. Never," I spoke.

He finally relaxed in my embrace, bringing his arms up to hug me back.

"I'm going to figure out what's going on, Sammie darling. I can't just walk away from this case," He admitted. "I don't think I'll ever be able to walk away, from any of this. I don't think that it's in me."

I gripped him tighter and felt my eyes well up with tears.

"We'll get through it together, Tony,"

I laughed softly, and let myself relax.

"We'll be okay." I whispered.

I could feel Tony's small grin through my shirt.

"Of course we will, sunshine. Of course we will."

!@#$%

heey

writers block is hitting me hard, so this ended up as more of a filler chapter! next one will have more plot and action I swear! but enjoy the anxious mess that is samantha barton bc lmao same