Hey, I started writing this for myself because I just love the Clintasha pairing to bits. I did start a previous fiction but I put it on hold because I just had so many ideas for this one. So I hope you guys enjoy it, I've only got a few chapters written on my computer and a few more in my head at the moment, so depending how much Its liked will depend on whether I post more or just leave it in my private collection :).
"TONY!", The scream of a rather pissed off Natasha could be heard as she stormed through the door leading into the kitchen of the avengers HQ, which had previously been Stark tower. "Oh Sh-" however before Tony could even think about finishing what he was about to say, he had already been pulled off of the chair he was sitting on and thrown into a nearby wall, sliding down it, until he was sitting on the floor.
"Ow!" Tony shouted back towards Natasha, rubbing the back of his neck trying to smooth out the pain. "What the hell was that for!" he said defensively looking up at the now towering Natasha who was standing in front of him, arms crossed in front of her chest, eye's like daggers staring down at him. Natasha then slammed her foot against the wall, barely missing Tony's head, her heal embedded into the plaster board which was keeping it suspended in the wall.
"What crazy thought in your head made you think it was a good idea to install a camera in my personal quarters!" She growled the words through her teeth, jaw clenched shut, lowering her hands to her sides, fists at the ready. Tony then flashed her one of his notorious grins, just casually shrugging,
"Why, it's for security reasons, I only had your best interest at heart, that and our personal Robin hood's" Tony then looked over towards Clint giving him a wink. However Clint didn't even give him the satisfaction of his attention, and just carried on eating his chocolate cereal, he knew he should eat proper nutritious cereal, but the chocolate one came with a toy
Natasha then lifted her foot out of the wall and lifted up her right hand, flipping him the finger. She then casually turned around walking towards the fridge at the over end of the room. However she turned her heard back towards Tony whilst walking and shouted "Well now it can be used for recycling reasons".
She walked past the other avengers, Minus Thor who was currently still located in Asgard and had been for around 4 months now. Each one of them was sitting on high-top chairs around a high-top counter. Steve and Bruce were slightly amused by the scene, however Clint carried on eating his cereal. Pepper just carried on with her paper work, she was far too used to Tony's antics to even batter an eyelid in his direction, besides someone had to keep Stark Industries afloat.
Natasha opened up the fridge and looked around in it until she pulled out some orange juice. Taking the carton she then went over to one of the cupboards opening it and taking out a tower glass. She opened the carton and poured out the remainder of the juice, which not very surprisingly only reach up below halfway of the glass.
Living in an area where the majority is male, the chances of them writing 'need juice' on the fridge door is next to none. Natasha just then took the empty carton and dropped it into the bin. She then started to walk to her seat which for obvious reasons was located next to Clint, pulled it back a bit and sat down.
Tony had now managed to scrape together his dignity and lifted himself off of the floor and had wobbled over back to where he was sitting before this fiasco started.
"How about next time we use these things called words to express our feelings rather than trying to break my tower" Tony said whilst rubbing his extremely sore bottom, and directing his eyes towards the wall which now had a heel shaped hole in it.
Natasha just smirked lightly looking towards the hole and then back at Tony, pride shown across her face, "Well then how about next time we ask permission before going into other peoples rooms and leaving behind unwanted items". She then took a sip of her drink, allowing the cool sensation and the sharp tang of the orange stay on her tongue for a while before swallowing it down her throat.
Clint let out a small chuckle at Natasha's comment whilst he was chewing spoonful of his cereal. Tony then turned his attention over towards Clint, raising a questioning eyebrow, "How have you put up with her all this time and not traded her in for someone less hot tempered" He said whilst smirking, biting a bit of his toast which had now gotten slightly soggy from the butter and from the lack of attention it had, not to mention it was now rather cold.
"What can I say, she's easy on the eyes" Clint said whilst shrugging allowing a smirk to creep up upon his face. Clint then picked up his now empty bowl and headed towards to the sink. Clint then gave the bowl a rinse and a scrubbed it with a sponge and put it on the rack on the side to dry. Clint was always tidy, he found it impossible to live in a mess and would sometimes be caught crawling threw air vents with a feather duster.
Natasha just looked up towards him, "Easy on the eye's am I, so I should be old man" she said, giving him a type of cunning smirk, clearly pleased with his comment, but at the same time not letting it show through too much. Clint just let out a small chuckle and shrugged, "What can I say I'm a fool for red heads with a temper, and I'm only 38, that's not old!". Clint then dried his hands with a towel and headed towards the door.
"Now if you will excuse this 'old man', I do believe we all have a briefing in 5 minutes for a mission" and with those last words, Clint walked out through the door and down the corridor.
Steve then stood up from his chair, and went to dispose of his bowl as well, however being slightly lazy, which was odd for the good boy solider, he placed it in the dishwasher, which he found rather interesting and liked using it because they didn't have them back in his time.
Steve then turned his attention to the rest of the group, "I believe Agent Barton is correct, Fury informed us that there was a matter he wishes us to deal with right away". Steve then walked out the same door Clint did, walking down the same corridor.
Natasha just gave a questioning look towards Bruce, "This is news to me" Natasha said raising an eyebrow. Bruce cleared his throat, "Agent Fury informed JARVIS of the matter only moments ago, apparently it's urgent" Bruce said whilst looking up from his newspaper. Natasha just nodded in acceptance and went over to the sink and just placed her glass in it. Bruce folded up his paper neatly putting it under his arm, and walked towards and out of the door, Natasha following behind.
Tony however just left his plate on the counter, and walked over to Pepper, giving her a kiss on the cheek, "Don't work too hard my 'Pepper-Pot'" he said before walking out the door like everyone else. Pepper just sighed to herself, "I'd take being superhero over paper work anyday" she said, taking a sip of her coffee before getting back into her work.
~In the meeting room, 5 minutes later~
Clint was already sitting in his seat all geared up, his bow leaning against the table with his arrows laid on the floor in their quiver. The table was a long one made out of a type of metal with glass screens on it in front of each of the 6 chairs where each avenger would sit. At the head of the table there wasn't a chair, however it was pushed up against the wall so there wasn't enough room for one anyway. This was because on the wall above the table was a big flat screen around 50 inches, clearly allowing a non-present person to be seen clearly, and have a clear view of the other people which would be in the room.
The next person to walk in was surprisingly was Tony carrying a cup of coffee which he must have got from one of his many coffee machines he had scattered around the tower. It was Tony's unsaid rule that a coffee machine was always within jumping distance of him at all times. He then began smiling towards Clint as he went over and sat in his overly big seat, which happened to be the one at the other end of the table facing the screen. He liked this seat because he wanted to have a good view of everyone in the room and wanted everyone to be able to see him with ease.
The rest of the avengers soon came into the room not long after Tony. Natasha again took her seat next to Clint whilst Steve and Bruce sat at the opposite side of the table. Next to them was a chair left un-sat in which belonged to Thor. As soon as the last person was seated the big flat screen TV flashed on, showing the 'One eyed wonder' as Tony had now begun to start calling him, more to his own amusement than anyone else's.
"Avengers" Fury bellowed out from behind his podium type desk on the screen, Agent Hill could be seen standing behind him in the background. His voice sounded rather serious, although when it came to Fury, all you ever got was serious. "Pop-eye" Tony said whilst nodding in acknowledgement, raising his coffee cup up towards the image of him. "Cute Stark" Fury said with an unimpressed look.
"Anyway I have an assignment which requires the Avengers full attention, a simple rescue mission, an in and out job". Natasha raised an eyebrow towards Fury, "A simple rescue mission" She repeated, the tone in her voice contradicting her words, "Why do you need the avengers for something which me or Clint could do on our own" she said whilst leaning back into her chair, she really didn't have time to baby sit Stark on yet another mission, besides she missed her solo missions or even just a co-op one with Clint.
"Because Agent Romanoff, we want it done as quickly as possible and would like it to be sorted out before it can become anything more serious" Fury said, pressing a button on his podium like desk which was in front of him. Suddenly in front of each Avenger, their screens flashed on showing an outlay of the building which they assumed they would be entering.
"The hostage's name is Anastasia Morozov, she is 14 years old and the daughter of Igor Morozov, a political man in Russia, we have reasons to believe the group which is holding her hostage are doing it in hope to be noticed and recruited by a much bigger organisation which we are unable to give you the name of at this moment in time".
"Unable or unwilling" Tony muttered into his cup, Fury just gave him a stern look before pressing another button in front of him, this then changed the Avengers screens to an image of the young girl. She looked like your typical teenage girl, blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail, braces could be seen behind her smile and bright blue eyes.
"So it's a simple get in, grab the girl and get out mission" Clint said raising an eyebrow sitting up in his chair, taking in a mental image of the map picture which had popped up onto his screen previously.
"You could put it like that yes, however only one of you will be going in to rescue the girl, whilst the rest of you make a distraction at the front of the building, having you all storm in would make it harder for you to get out of the building with the girl unharmed" Fury drew his attention to the maps on the screens, pressing a button to show their names and were they would be located.
"Agent Romanoff you will be the person to go in and secure the girl, a female savior will hopefully be less frightening for her, whilst Agent Barton you will be located on the building's roof, covering the rest of you on the ground located at the front of the building, any questions?" Fury said now turning off all their screens.
"I have one" Bruce said raising his hand like a good little school boy. "Once we have the girl how are we expected to get out of there" Bruce said pushing up his glasses back onto his face as they had began to fall off.
"Once you have the girl you will head to the evacuation point located in a nearby park, where the Quinjet will come and pick you all up, now agents, follow Agent Barton's example and gear up, you leave in 10 minutes" and with those last words spoken, The image of Fury disappeared from the big screen.
"I guess their goes morning TV in my underwear" Tony said whilst getting up and heading towards and out of the door, he needed to get his suit from his lab. "You will have to put my little pony friendship is magic on record then" Clint shouted whilst laughing, rising up from his seat and picking up his quiver from off the floor.
Tony then quickly popped his head back into the room, "Do be serious Robin hood I have that kind of stuff on series record" and with a smirk, Tony left completely. Clint just chuckled to himself because he knew Tony was being serious and that in fact he did have that show on record.
He then got his quiver and clicked it into place on his back, and then put his bow over his head and slid it into place. Whilst he was doing all this Steve and Bruce had already left the room leaving him and Natasha behind.
He looked over towards Natasha and saw a questioning look on her face. "You okay" He said trying to make eye contact. Natasha just snapped out of her thoughts and looked towards him. "Huh, Yeah I'm fine just can't help but think Fury's holding some information back" She said, releasing a heavy sigh.
Clint just gave her a small reassuring smile, "Fury always holds stuff back, but don't worry, he would tell us if it was really serious" and with that, Clint turned around and headed out of the door.
Natasha just starred at the door as it closed and released another sigh. I know he'd tell us but it still doesn't mean I like it, not to mention it all seems to involve Russia. Shaking her thoughts out of her mind, Natasha then just let it go and headed towards and out of the door, down the corridor and towards her room to gather the things she would need for the mission.
Opening the door to her room she stepped in. She liked her room, Clint had recently put wallpaper up to try and make it her own personal space. They chose black with a simple red pattern of course. Everything about it smelt new, the carpet the furniture, she hoped it would always stay like this and not become tainted by what she was, a killer with a red ledger. She then went over to her cupboard and started to get out the things she would need for the upcoming mission.
~Aboard the Quinjet about 4 hour's into flight~
Clint was re-counting all the different type of arrows he had in his quiver, blast arrows, smoke arrows, cable arrows, acid arrows, Sleep arrows, net arrows and just a basic normal arrow. He obviously had many more different types, however they weren't needed for the mission and he didn't have a big enough quiver to carry them all. Not to mention how unpractical it would look to have too many.
Tony was running the last checks on his armour which he was now wearing. He was talking to JARVIS as he went through each check so he knew full well everything was as good as it could be.
Bruce was doing one of his many mediating techniques he had picked up from his travels around the world whilst in hiding from General Ross.
Steve was going through the tactics for the mission in his head, making sure he had at least 10 different backup plans for anything they may face.
Natasha was doing what she did each time before a mission, checking through her guns to see how much ammo she had at her disposal and making sure they were all in working order. She also liked to clean each gun with a cloth making sure they were shiny; something about shiny looking firearms made her smile, after all who needs a shiny diamond when you have a shiny desert eagle.
"Ok listen up" Steve said making his voice louder and deeper so it could be heard over the sound of the quinjet engines. Steve then stood up holding onto the bar above him for support.
"Agent Barton and Agent Romanoff, you two will be dropped off onto the top of a nearby building from which you will have to make your way silently onto the top of the building which the girl is being kept" Steve said pointing towards both Clint and Natasha who yet again, were sitting next to each other. They didn't sit next to each other for the reasons which everyone thought which was that they were 'In Love', it had just become and unconscious thing to them because they were partners, and they felt they had to be close by to always watch the other ones back.
"Then you will both wait for my signal until you commence with the rescue, Agent Romanoff will go in and get the girl, Agent Barton you will cover us from above" Steve finished and then turned his attention towards Bruce and Tony.
"Tony, Bruce and I will get dropped off nearby on the ground a bit more closely to the building which the girl is being held". "Once there we will all be in position, so when I give the signal we shall head towards the front doors, fending off the security, hopefully distracting them long enough for Agent Romanoff to get the girl and get out, any questions?" Steve said, picking up his shield and placing it onto his back
"I have one" Tony said through the speakers in his armor due to his helmet now covering his face. "How come Legolas AGAIN gets the easy job of staying up in his nest rather than on the ground with us" Tony crossed his arms, although he wasn't entirely serious he liked to annoy Clint time to time.
"Because my skills are better from a distance, I'm not the best when it comes to face to face confrontation, so if you want me to covered your ass as always, I have to do it from a high up position" Clint said whilst lifting his quiver with his arrows over his head and onto his back, satisfied with the arrows he brought, clicking it into place.
"I know first-hand you're not good at face to face confrontation, which reminds me, how's your head feel from that knock I gave you last time" Natasha said smirking, clearly referencing to the time when Clint was under Loki's control and she had to use her violent means to get him back.
Clint just rubbed his head in remembrance and gave a sarcastic chuckle towards her, "Wow Tasha you must be in a good mood to be making jokes" Clint then walked to the front of the jet to talk to the pilot, he was always agitated when he didn't get to fly so he had to make sure the pilot was doing everything right, plus he liked to look out into the clouds.
A few more minutes passed and they were soon at the first drop point. Clint and Natasha walked almost simultaneously towards the back of the quinjet, same speed and same facial expression, the 'time to get down to business' kind.
The back floor of the jet lowered down as the Quinjet got closer and closer to the top of the first building. "Ladies first" Clint said with his boyish grin, stepping to one side bowing slightly extending his arm out. Natasha both hated and liked his boyishness at the same time, however she made sure she was keeping up her tough exterior as she just rolled her eyes and ran down the ramp, doing a small jump and a stylish front spin in the air before landing on the roof with her left foot and knee hitting the surface with her hands positioned at her sides.
She then stood up and dusted herself off, looking up towards the Quinjet. "I'm waiting" she said pushing two fingers into her ear touching her ear piece, doing this allowed her to activate the speaker and let the others hear her through their ear pieces.
Clint then just ran off the ramp and did a simple jump, no flip and just landed in a crouched position. The Quinjet then flew off a few feet from them landing in the street below, allowing Tony, Bruce and Steve to step out of it. "I'll stay nearby, call in when you're ready" Said the pilot through each of their ear pieces and just flew off.
~With Clint and Natasha~
Clint and Natasha made no waste in time heading towards their position, jumping over the gaps between the roofs of buildings, climbing up fire-escapes until finally they reached the roof of the building that the girl was being held. They were both surprisingly suspicious how easy it was to get their unnoticed and also by the fact that no one was covering the roof in the first place.
Clint however let the suspicion slide and just walked over to the edge of the roof, looking over down at the front of the building, analyzing his position and looking out at the ground in front of him The building they were on seemed to be in the center of a town, surrounded by a road going around it in a circle, like it was on a roundabout. There were cars parked on the roads and on the pavement in front of the building.
Clint decided to remain simply at the front edge of the building for when he would cover his team, that way he could see his fellow team mates advancing towards the building and could simply shoot the enemy's from behind.
Natasha silently walked up and stood to the left side of him. "You're worried aren't you" Natasha said, looking over towards Clint, noticing a frustrated and concerned look on his face.
Clint simply nodded, "Hey you had your turn earlier to be cautious, now it's mine, it just doesn't seem right" Clint just tightened his grip on his bow as the words came out of his mouth.
Natasha never was good at showing affection or her emotions, the red room taught you that those things were unnecessary, but for Clint she tried, she tried so hard, she wanted to be the best partner for him that she could be, she did after all, owe him a debt.
She rose up her right hand and placed it on his shoulder, giving it a slight squeeze for reassurance. Clint just looked over towards her and gave her a smile, placing his right hand on top of her hand giving it a squeeze back.
"First joking now your comforting me, the deadly black widow seems less deadly now, we will have to get you checked out when we get back" Clint gave a slight chuckle.
Natasha on the other hand just took her hand away quickly and then punched him in the shoulder, "Don't get the wrong idea, I just wanted you to have a clear mind" she then turned around and walked over to the side of the building, waiting for the order so she could climb down the fire escape into the window.
Clint just continued to chuckle slightly but now he was rubbing his shoulder, Dyam even as a joke hit she still packs a punch Clint thought to himself. Clint could see Tony, Steve and Bruce off in the distance, crouching behind a dumpster in an alleyway.
"Okay everyone are we ready" Steve's voice could be heard through everyone's earpiece. "Hawkeye ready and in position" Clint said raising his hand to his ear. "Black Widow ready and in position" Natasha said next through her ear piece, both making sure to use their code names just in case anyone was listening in.
"Okay, Move out NOW" Steve said, shouting the last word. Almost instantly after Steve spoke Tony fired a mini rocket missile from his right wrist, blowing up a nearby truck parked outside the building. He then flew off into the air to give himself a better view.
Bruce started 'Getting mad' as he began to turn green and grow triple in height and width. The ground beneath him began to crack by the sheer weight of the Hulk. With a final Roar he had successfully transformed into the Hulk, smashing his fists together.
Steve ran forward shooting his handgun at an enemy storming out of the front door, shooting him in the knee so that he fell to the ground. He then did a slide forwards behind a car taking shelter from oncoming fire.
"Go, and be careful" said Clint towards Natasha, she just nodded and climbed over the edge, grabbing the sides of the ladder and slide down it before her feet connected with the floor of the fire escape. She then pried open the window carefully and silently, bending down through it and made her way in.
~With the Avengers (Minus Natasha Of course) ~
Clint pulled back on his bow, letting a sleep arrow fly through the air and land in front of a few unsuspecting guards which had huddled behind a truck. The smoke began to hiss out it, making all of the nearby guards drop to the ground unconscious.
No sooner than it had appeared the smoke quickly vanished into the earth's atmosphere, allowing Steve to advance forward and take cover behind the burnt out car Tony blew up nearby. Steve then stood up and flung his shield forward, letting it fly between two of the guard's heads. The guards then laughed and lifted up their guns to fire, only to be hit in the back of the head by the shield as it returned. Steve stuck out his arm and allowed it to slide through the straps of the shield, gripping tightly at the last one.
Steve looked up to see then Hulk jump over his head, landing by another car causing the ground below him to crack underneath the pressure of his weight. A man which was clearly frightened by the hulk began to emptying his whole clip into the Hulk to which it had no effect at all; the bullets could be seen falling to the ground hitting it like dropped pennies.
The Hulk then simply swatted the man away like a fly, causing him to fly into a wall, sliding down it and crashing to the ground. Although the force the Hulks hit was enough to break bones it wasn't enough to kill him. They wanted to make sure they didn't kill anyone unless they had no choice at all.
"Easy big guy don't want to accidentally kill someone, a little less force next time" Said Tony through his suits microphone. Tony then just opened his hand wide as he let out a blast, blowing up yet another car causing guards behind it to scatter and find another one to hide behind.
"Is that all your good at Tony, blowing things up" Clint's sarcastic voice could be heard through their earpieces, an net arrow flying past Tony and springing open, catching and securing 2 guards to a wall which tried to sneak up on him.
"Why Robin Hood, I'm good at many things, however the majority of those things I show off in the bedroom which you are definitely not invited too see" Tony said, activating his jet thrusters and hovering slightly in the air again, getting a better view of the guards in front of him.
"Too much information" Clint said, letting now a simple arrow fly out of his fingers, hitting a guard's gun out of his hands and making him cry out in pain.
Clint then heard movement on some of the nearby roofs thanks to his freakishly good hearing he had. "Heads up guys, they have 3 men the East, South and West roof tops, each with what seems to be an rpg".
No sooner as Clint had said his words, one of the enemies on the roof fired straight at the hulk, to which he caught in his and crushed, causing it to blew up, not scratching him in the slightest.
Hulk then just roared. "HULK SMASH!" and then he jumped up onto the East roof were the guy which fired at him was, picking him up and throwing him into another man across on the South roof, knocking them both off into a dumpster into one of the alleyways.
The Hulk was about to jump over to the last guy with an RPG but an arrow whizzed through the air and struck the last RPG guy in the chest, net flying open and tangling him up causing him to fall over onto the floor, "Taken care of" Said Clint through their ear pieces.
Suddenly more men came spilling out of the nearby alleyways which surrounded them, not to mention even a tank which had somehow squeezed through. "Welcome to Russia, we like to compensate by having big guns and overly bad tempers" Said Tony to himself, flying off to try and deal with the tank.
Man I sure hope Tasha's having more fun than we are right now Clint thought to himself, letting a acid arrow fly and hit the ground near the feet of a group of men, causing it to burst open which made them drop their guns and scatter to get away before it burned through the shoes.
~With Natasha~
Natasha could hear all the commotion which was going on outside, and by the sounds of it, it wasn't as simple as they were told it was going to be. Her head looked up towards the ceiling with instinct, thoughts hoping that Clint would be okay. She never liked to show that she cared for him, she would never even show him that she cared. But she did, she owed him everything, she owed him a debt which she still needed to repay.
Natasha however had to stay focused and began ducking behind doorways, under tables and walked slowly with her back against the wall, she had a job to do. In no time at all Natasha could see the room which the girl was supposed to be kept in, guarding it was two guys with assault rifles.
'Piece of cake' Thought Natasha as she raised her right hand pointing it towards the guards and letting two widow bites fly out hitting each guard. Electricity flew through them as they fell to the ground spasming for a few seconds before their bodies lay still, unconscious.
Natasha then simply walked over to the door with a prideful stride and turned the door handle slowly, peeking round the doors edge to check no more guards were inside.
However she saw no other guards, only a young girl curled up on the bed with her knees brought up to her chest, her head buried out of sight.
"Anastasia" Natasha whispered in a forward but dull tone. "Who's there" said the girl, looking up to see Natasha in front of her.
"Your savior that's who, now come on we have to get out of here before more guards show up" Natasha said walking over to the window, shooting the padlock off and lifting it up till it was open all the way.
She looked over to the girl who was slowly walking over towards her. "Anytime today would be nice I don't really want to give those guard's time to wake up" Natasha said whilst climbing out onto the fire escape. That made the girl hurry in her foot steps and climb out the window too. Natasha put two fingers two her ear and spoke "I have the girl, we are going to climb down via the fire escape and head down the back street, we will meet up with you guys at the evacuation point" said Natasha and she began to climb down the fire escape, Anastasia not far behind.
~Just with Clint~
"I have the girl, we are going to climb down via the fire escape and head down the back street, we will meet up with you guys at the evacuation point" he heard Natasha say through his ear piece. He sighed in relief, he was happy she was safe.
However he had no time to breathe with all the commotion going on below, he just kept firing arrow after arrow. He could see that Tony and hulk had taken care of the tank and had their attention focused on the gun wielding enemy's.
However Clint became too busy watching their backs he didn't have time to watch his own. From a nearby roof top and guy had snuck up the fire escape from an alleyway and had fired off an RPG round right at him. Clint barely had time to register it as he tried to dive out of the way, however it hit the floor of the roof he was just standing on, blowing up on impact and sending him flying.
All Clint could feel was burning a pain as he was thrown through the roof and a huge slam as he hit what had to be the top floor of the building. Clint just layed there, assessing his damage, broken ribs, severe burns and something wedged into his side, which meant severe bleeding. Simple rescue mission my ass was all Clint could think at that moment in time.
"HAWKEYE ARE YOU OK" He could make out Steve shouting through his ear piece, it was not helping his now growing migraine. "What's going on" He then heard Natasha, he could make out a worried tone in her voice, man she was losing her touch at trying to sound like an ice queen.
Clint rose two fingers too his ear to allow himself to speak, "Hawkeye is currently not here right now, but if you leave a message, I'll be sure to get back to you as soon as possible" Clint said whilst chuckling, trying to cover up the pain in his voice.
"Cute Hawkeye, stop joking around and do some work" He heard Natasha say; now that was the deadly tone he missed so much. "Hawkeye seriously you took a bad shot, do you need any assistance" Steve said, always Mr serious. "A few broken ribs, nothing I can't walk with, I'll have to make my own way to the extraction point so go on without me" Clint said slowly sitting up.
Using the wall for support, Clint dragged himself to his feet. He then readied himself and looked down at his side to see a piece of wood sticking out. "Hawkeye I still think its best we come and get you" Steve protested through his ear piece. Clint ignored him for a second, he had to sort this piece of wood out first. He knew it would be best to keep it in to help slow down the bleeding, but it made it too awkward to move.
Slowly he moved both his hands and grabbed the end of the wood that was sticking out of him, getting a few splinters in the process. He then gritted his teeth and pulled it out in one go, his legs buckling beneath him from the pain and he crashed to his knees. Panting to regain himself, he then used the wall again to pull himself up and steady himself.
"I'm fine, I've been hurt a lot worse, I'm a big boy captain carry on as planned" Clint said, he was sure he didn't cover up the pain in his voice well that time. Digging into one of his pouches he pulled out a bandaged. He quickly wrapped it around his stomach hoping it would put a little pressure on his side.
One step at a time he slowly pulled himself along the wall, blood smearing behind him leaving a trail along it. His foot then connected with something which caused him to kick it slightly.
He looked down and saw his bow. "Well am I glad to see you" He said to himself as he bent overly slowly and picked it up. He then began to use it as a walking stick, putting his weight on it to help him walk a bit better.
As Clint reached the stairs he saw a door slightly ajar in a nearby room. He doesn't know why but something just called him to go have a look. Staggering and limping over, Clint pushed open the door and walked in. His eyes opened wide as he looked at the room around him, details of the real plot behind the kidnaping, not to mention enough bombs to take down the whole building; he felt his blood go cold. Slowly he raised his hand to his ear. "This is Hawkeye, get clear away from here now, I repeat! This isn't just a kidnapping, I repeat GET THE FUCK AWAY!" Clint shouted out the last words. "What's going on Robin Hood" Tony said through his ear. "The people behind all this, they wanted u-"Clint said but he did not finish, he was cut off when a shot was fired and a bullet went straight through his hand making him cry out in pain.
He turned around, a figure advancing towards him. "Now Agent Barton why would you want to do a thing like that and ruin my fun" said the figure. The last thing Clint could register was a fist, punching him straight in the stomach, making him keel over, he could hear people shouting into his ear, but all he could do was fall into darkness.
~With the Avengers minus Clint~
"This is Hawkeye, get clear away from here now, I repeat! This isn't just a kidnapping, I repeat GET THE FUCK AWAY!" Tony and Steve could hear Clint screaming through their ear pieces, Hulk obviously didn't have one and was still smashing away.
Steve looked over to Tony with a worried look. "What's going on Robin Hood" Tony said. "The people behind all this, they wanted u-" Clint began to say through their ears but was stopped the sound of a gunshot. "HAWKEYE!" shouted Steve. "CLINT ANSWER ME RIGHT THIS FUCKING SECOND!" Steve could hear Natasha shouting through his ear.
"I'm going in after him" Tony said, he turned around in the direction of the building and was about to fly off but a different voice spoke through their ear's. "Continue to the evacuation point without Agent Barton" Sounded Agent Fury. "Hell no, there is no way I'm leaving Barton behind" Shouted Tony.
"Agent Barton is fully aware of the risks each time he goes on a mission and is capable of taking care of himself" Shouted Fury, "Now get your asses to that evacuation point this instant!" finished Fury.
Tony however wasn't having any of it and neither was Steve, they gave each other a nod and started to head off towards the building. However before they could take another step closer a loud explosion erupted from the building, making them fall back onto the ground just from the sheer force of it.
Heads ringing they got to their feet slowly, looking over towards the building only to see it falling apart from the explosion, there was hardly anything standing and what was had been engulfed in flames. They both looked on in horror, no one inside could have survived.
Steve just looked forward in a trance; he had no backup plan for this! He was only brought back to reality when he could hear a bullet heading his way. He quickly held up his shield and deflected it back at the person who fired at him.
"Fall back" Steve gritted the words through his teeth. "Are you kidding, you're going to listen to Fury" Shouted Tony grabbing Steve by the shoulder. Steve just shook it off looking Tony straight in the eye, he had his metal face mask risen up.
"I said fall back" Steve said through his teeth again. Tony still refused to give up. Slamming down his metal face he flew up and hovered in the air. "JARVIS, I want you to scan the building in front of me, search for any human activity or human pulses" Tony said looking straight at the ruins of the building, allow JARVIS to scan it.
"Sir, There is no human activity at all and no pulse readings can be found, no one's alive" JARVIS said in is mechanical robot tone. "God dammit scan it again" Tony said, frustration could be heard in his voice. "I'm sorry sir I've scanned it multiple times, Agent Barton is gone" JARVIS said once more. Tony then muttered multiple curse words before following in Steve's retreat.
~With Natasha and Anastasia~
They began running down an extremely narrow ally way, clearly it had never been cleaned even once because of all the rotting rubbish which had been left scattered around the floor. They soon run out of the ally, sprinting across the street were they soon arrived at the evacuation point.
It was a nearby park, wide enough but surrounded by trees so it was secure enough for the quinjet to land and get them out with not too much attention being drawn. Natasha looked over at the girl, she was exhausted and panting from all running, she had given into her legs cries and was keeled over on the floor trying to catch her breath. Natasha's attention was soon taken away from the girl when she heard Clint's voice though her earpiece.
"This is Hawkeye, get clear away from here now, I repeat! This isn't just a kidnapping, I repeat GET THE FUCK AWAY!" She heard Clint scream the last words, fear showing within his cries, and for the first time in a long time, Natasha was scared, not for herself but for her partner.
She began to open her mouth to reply, lips shaking, however she was soon beaten to it when she heard Tony's voice asking what was wrong. She then heard a panicked Clint again, "The people behind all this, they wanted u-", However his words were cut short when he was soon cut off by the sound of a gunshot.
Natasha's hand flew to her ear, she could also hear Steve shouting his name. "CLINT ANSWER ME RIGHT THIS FUCKING SECOND!" She shouted. Anastasia looked up at Natasha with a worried expression.
There was silence for a while, Natasha heard nothing. She began to shake a little, 'He's fine, he has to be, he's messing with us again surely' Natasha said to herself in her head. Then a whole new voice came into the equation. "Continue to the evacuation point without Agent Barton" She heard Fury say, she clenched her fist.
She was about to shout back but she was beaten to it. "Hell no, there is no way I'm leaving Barton behind" She now heard tony shouting; she nodded in agreement with him to herself.
"Agent Barton is fully aware of the risks each times he goes on a mission and is capable of taking care of himself" She heard Fury shouting now, "Now get your asses to that evacuation point!" Natasha felt her knee's give way as she hit the ground, all the energy she had suddenly left her.
What could she do, plead to Fury begging him to let them go save Clint, she was Natasha Romanoff, The Black widow, and she couldn't show weakness. Even though right now she was showing more weakness in front of this girl than she had anyone whole life. All Natasha could do was pray that Tony and Steve would ignore Fury and go and get Clint.
She sat down with the girl, knees pressed tightly to her chest with arms wrapped around them, her chin resting on them. She had already called in the quinjet which should be there any minute. She felt a hand place itself on her shoulder, to which she looked over towards the girl. The girl let out a small smile and mouthed the words 'Thank you for saving me'.
Natasha just nodded and rested her head back on her knees. Natasha could then see some figures walking towards them from the distance. She rushed to her feet and started to run towards them. There stood three men. Steve was gripping the handle of his shield tightly, his uniform tattered and worn from the fighting. Tony had his helmet fully off and was carrying it under his arm. Lastly there was Bruce, stuck only wearing a pair of tattered shorts clutching something in his hand.
Natasha was scared to ask but she had to know, "Where's Clint" she said desperately, trying to not let her emotions get the best of her in front of everyone one, but she was losing that battle. Bruce went up to Natasha and put something in her hand. "I'm sorry" said Bruce and he stepped back a bit.
Natasha just blinked and looked at what was in her hand. It was Clint's S.H.I.E.L.D fabric logo from his uniform which is located on his chest. She looked at the piece of Fabric, it was torn and blood could be seen on it, no doubt Clint's blood.
As they stood in silence what felt like forever, but was most likely only a few seconds, the Quinjet began to land from above them. Natasha just lifted up her head and nodded, raising her hand to her ear. "Mission accomplished, we're heading back now" She spoke, the other Avengers could only think that she was speaking to Fury who was most likely listening in.
She then turned around and began to walk up into the Quinjet, squeezing the fabric in her hand, refusing to let it go. The others just followed in silence. Steve made sure the young girl was all safely strapped in before they took off. Then they all just sat in silence the whole way back, all their minds on one person, Agent Clint Francis Barton.
~After a 4 hour awkward Quinjet~
It had been one of the most awkward flights either one of them had ever experienced. No one knew what to think let alone say. Every so often a different member of the avengers would look over towards Natasha who was just sitting still in her seat, staring straight forward hardly showing any emotion at all.
Steve was really starting to worry for her. He didn't know Clint as long as she had so he could only imagine what she was going throw. He felt it must have been somewhat similar to how he felt when he heard about Peggy, he didn't wish that feeling on anyone.
Soon the Quinjet began to descend onto the top of the new Avengers HQ. As it touched down, Natasha rose to her feet and causally walked to the back of the Quinjet waiting for the back to open up.
"Agent Romanoff" Steve said in a slight worried tone, standing up as he spoke. Natasha just turned around and look at him, her face yet again emotionless. "We are here if you need us" Steve just said, both Bruce and Tony nodding in agreement.
Natasha just made the smallest of nods and turned her attention to the back of the Quinjet, the door had now began to open. The slight clank could be heard as is touched the ground.
Natasha then just walked off the ramp which had now formed, opening the door to the stairs and disappeared from sight.
Tony let out a heavy sigh, "Fury is going to have a lot of explaining to do" He said, picking up his armor which had now formed up into a type of suitcase to make it easier to carry. "We're not going to wait for him to tell us are we" Said Bruce, standing up from his seat. "Hell no" Shouted Tony, "Were going to hack into S.H.I.E.L.D now and find out more about that mission" Tony then began to storm off to his lab, both Bruce and Steve following behind.
~With Natasha~
Natasha had been walking for what seemed hours but must have only been minutes until she reached her room. She just typed in her accesses code and walked in, almost feeling as if she could now breathe as the door shut behind her.
She looked around, blank face still not allowing any emotion to seep through. She looked at her newly wallpapered walls, how she hated them now. She threw the piece of Clint's uniform she had been clinging too onto the bed. She then began desperately running her fingers along one of the walls, looking for the edge of a piece of the wallpaper. When she found one she dug her nails into it, ripping it off.
She continued doing this for over 20 minutes until one wall was completely clear. She just stepped back and looked up at the wall.
~Flash back, 1 month ago~
"Clint I don't understand any of this" Natasha said, a hint of an annoyed tone could be heard in her voice. She was sitting on the end of her bed, legs folded over; looking at Clint was all geared up in decorating gear, hat and all.
"Come on Tasha what's not to understand!" Clint said whining like a little child, waving around a paint brush. "If we're just going to wallpaper the walls, why do we need paint for?" Natasha said raising an eyebrow, clearly getting less interested in decorating at all each second.
"Because! We can have some fun before wallpapering over it! Write funny things on the walls! Paint pictures!" Clint said whilst opening up the paint.
"Okay well you have fun playing Art Attack whilst I read" Natasha then began to reach for her book on the side counter when Clint gently grabbed her wrist to stop.
"Tasha Nooooo it's not the same! It needs to mean something" Clint then stared at her giving her his attempt of puppy eyes. Natasha just rolled her eyes and shook off Clint's hand, walking over and picking up a paintbrush. She then dipped it in the red paint and went over to the biggest wall. She then just simple wrote 'NATASHA' before then putting the paint brush in the tin.
"Their done" She said whilst sitting back down on the bed. Clint just sighed and picked up her paint brush, going over to the wall she had been too and added onto what she wrote. He then stepped back with a wide smile. "TADAH!" he said rather loudly. Written on the wall now were the words 'CLINT AND NATASHA WHERE HERE' he had also painted on spiders and arrows scattered around the words, "Now it's done!" Clint threw the paint brush into the tin, not missing it of course.
Natasha just sighed again, "Enough fun wallpaper my walls now, Their already months overdue" Natasha then picked up her book and began to read. "No fun at all" Clint hanged his head in defeat and began to get to work on wallpapering the walls.
~End Flash Back~
Natasha just stared at the words 'CLINT AND NATASHA WHERE HERE'. She then walked over to the bed, picking up Clint's S.H.I.L.E.D logo and then sat down on the bed. She brought it up to her chest, clutching it tightly and then looked up at the wall again.
For the first time before Natasha could even remember, tears began to leak from her eyes against her will. Once they began she couldn't stop them. All she did for the rest of the night was submit to her emotions and cried until there wasn't even anymore tears left.
~Somewhere Unknown~
A tall man walked into a very dark room which only had one light which was flickering on and off. The man then walked over towards another man in the room wearing a lab coat. "Is everything ready" the tall man asked. "Y-yes sir" stuttered to the guy in the lab coat, shakily walking over to a torn up and burnt body. "I h-have managed to piece him back together, he was in bad shape when the he c-came in remember".
The guy in the lab coat then put his hand on the body's chest. "The device has successfully been implanted to represent his heart and is now being accepted, though his s-skin will stay grey, he is technically still dead" The guy in the lab coat kept stuttering whilst he spoke. "H-He won't remember a thing, and if he does, he's mind will reject itself, causing it to stop working thanks to the m-microchip we put in his brain".
"Отлично, наслаждаться новой жизнью" ("Excellent, Enjoy your new life") Said the tall man in Russian towards to body. "Кто знает, в один прекрасный день вы можете быть полезны для ме" ("Who knows, one day you may be of use to me") the tall man then turned around and walked away out of the room.