"Nat look out!" Clint yelled.
About 20 heavily armed men were crouching down in a sniper position. Nat was currently fighting a large, muscly, almost giant-like man wielding an axe. She ducked as he swung his axe in a horizontal motion. Thor swung his hammer upwards, hitting one of the men he was battling into the air. Pietro zoomed round, a silver blur, relaying messages and smashing into terrorists. The Hulk was surrounded by many men armed with guns. Steve jumped around like a ninja, hitting terrorists with his strong, metal shield.
The group had been investigating an abandoned warehouse when they were ambushed. The people they were fighting were a terrorist organisation known as Sting, and had been threatening and murdering various people working in the white house. They had been working their way up in ranks until the president himself had received a death threat. Clint struck an arm out to the side, embedding an arrow in a one of the terrorist's foreheads. The man crumpled to the ground as Clint pulled out the arrow. He raced towards Nat, firing arrows at the gun-men targeting her. Hulk appeared out of nowhere and practically rolled on the line of terrorists who were pointing guns at Nat. One of them jumped out the way just in time. The man straightened up and aimed his pistol at Clint, who, when he had seen that Nat was safe, had run to help Wanda. Clint spun round to face the man. He heard a crack like lightning and pain exploded in his chest. Time slowed down as he fell backwards.
"CLINT!" He heard Nat scream his name and Steve whipped round in alarm at the sound.
He closed his eyes as his legs gave way. His hair was ruffled by a rush of air. He felt hands on the back of his head and back, catching him before he hit the ground. Clint's eyelids flickered open. Staring down at him were the light, blue eyes of Pietro Maximoff.
"Clint! I've got you. Hold on!"
Strong arms lifted him into the air. His bow fell to the ground as he lost the strength to hold it. The thump as it hit the floor was unnaturally loud in Clint's ears. He wanted to tell Pietro to put him down so he could pick it up and carry on fighting but when he opened his mouth no sound came.
"Natasha! Tell Stark to get us out of here now!" Pietro yelled.
Barely 10 seconds had passed before they heard the familiar roar of the Quinjet. Wind whipped their faces as the jet ascended through the broken roof of the warehouse, causing the terrorists to scatter. The Hulk forced his way through the warehouse wall and lumbered away at a surprisingly fast rate. The doors opened as the jet landed and Pietro ran inside with Clint in his arms. Nat ran in, Wanda and Thor close behind her. Steve followed a short while after, slinging his shield on his back. He rammed his shoulder against the door and it shut with a bang. Pietro laid a shocked, sweating Clint gently on the floor as the engines roared to life and the jet took off. By this time Clint's heartbeat was fast and irregular and he was struggling to stay conscious; his eyelids flickering, his breathing coming out in short gasps.
"Tony get back to the tower as fast as you can, Clint's injured!" Natasha shouted as she ran over to inspect the wounded archer.
Clint swallowed painfully as Natasha crouched beside him; she put two of her fingers on his neck to check his pulse. Pietro knelt on Clint's right, his worried expression fixed on Natasha.
"Pulse is weak. He needs medical attention fast." She reported pulling her hand away.
She took out a dagger and cut open a large rip in his shirt, revealing a hole in his chest from which dark, red blood flowed down the side of his torso and dripped onto the floor. Clint did his best to breathe deeply but the pain in his chest was increasing and he had to grit his teeth. His body tensed as Natasha pressed a cloth around the bullet hole and he cried out as it touched the inside of his wound, gasping in short mouthfuls of air. Pietro laid a hand on Clint's head and whispered some soft words of comfort. But now Clint had no strength left to keep his eyes open. He slowly turned his head to look at Pietro, but there was no time to say thank you, before darkness claimed him and he fell into unconsciousness.