Our tale starts on a dark night, where a dark man waits, with a dark purpose.
"You are late." Stick hissed at the young man, who rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever man."
"You have it then?"
The man looked almost offended, eyes rolling again as he pulled half of a golden circle out of his pocket, "I had to slit a few throats to get this."
As Stick held out his hand for it, the young man took one step back and smirked, "Ah, ah, ah… the payment."
Suddenly, a large hand grabbed the young man's shoulder, preventing him from moving, before snatching the golden half from his fingers. It was thrown over to Stick, who caught it inches from his face. "Relax…" the blind man sneered, pulling the other half out of his pocket, "… you'll get what's coming to you."
As soon as he put the two halves together, the circle shifted into some sort of bird and zipped off into the distance.
"Follow the trail!" Stick hissed, climbing into a car, with the large man already sitting at the wheel, the young man climbing into the back seat. They sped through the streets after the golden trail, until they reached the outskirts of the city, near the docks, in an abandoned warehouse lot.
The golden bird suddenly dived down, cracking straight through the concrete, the cracks spreading out. Fisk and the young man stumbled back in alarm, but Stick remained completely still, as a lion's head emerged from the stone concrete.
"Finally." He hissed, "After years of Searching, I've finally found it. The Cave of Wonders."
Fisk grabbed the young man before he could escape and pushed him forwards.
"Now remember…" Stick hissed, "… Bring me the lamp! The rest of the treasure is yours but get me that lamp!"
Slowly, the young man headed over to the giant lion head, missing the conversation going on behind him.
"Where did you dig this one up?" Fisk asked, a sneer on his face.
Stick remained silent, listening as the young man crept up to the lion's mouth, his heartbeat racing. When the young man went to step inside, the lion growled and rumbled, and the young man's heart rate sped up to a point where he sounded like he was having a heart attack.
"WHO DARES DISTURBS MY SLUMBER?!"
"J-J-Jimmy!"
"KNOW THIS. ONLY ONE MAY ENTER HERE. ONE WHOSE WORTH LIES FAR WITHIN. A DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH."
The young man hesitated, and Stick's grip tightened on his staff.
"Well? Go on then!"
Jimmy did as he was told… but as soon as he placed his foot on the first step, the lion roared and the mouth closed down on the young man, the concrete covering and suffocating him, making it look like nothing was ever there.
"FIND THE DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH!"
"NO!" Stick cried out in anger
Fisk grabbed the two golden halves that were lying on the concrete. "So, what's the plan now?" He asked, resisting the urge to gloat about how he 'told him so.'
"Isn't it obvious? We find this diamond in the rough."
…..
"THIEF! THIEF!"
Clint raced over the rooftops, grip fumbling on the loaf of bread that he managed to pinch for breakfast.
"WE'LL GET YOU THIS TIME HAWKEYE!"
"All this for a bit of bread." Clint rolled his eyes, jumping onto a washing line and swinging down to the ground, unintentionally covering himself in slightly damp clothing.
"YOU WON'T GET AWAY SO EASILY!" An officer yelled from the rooftops, prompting Clint to beam up at him, raising the bread, almost in a toast.
"You think that was easy?"
Hearing the giggles of some local housewives, and the yell for the police to split up and find him, Clint wrapped himself in the clothing and sauntered over to the women. "Morning ladies, lovely day isn't it?"
"Starting a little early, aren't we Clint?" One of the women wagged her finger in a teasing manner.
"Trouble? Ha! You're only in trouble if you get caught!"
Less than a second late, his shoulder was grabbed, and he was spun around.
"Gotcha!"
"I'm in trouble!"
Other officers had gun aimed directly at his head as a precaution, stopping Clint from reaching for any useful projectile… and then the officers' fell to the ground, suddenly unconscious and twitching.
"Excellent timing Nat!" Clint beamed at the red-head who joined him, her Widow bites still glowing.
"I'm always cleaning up your messes." She sighed, although the smile on her face was fond.
"You know you love me." Clint then clapped his hands together, "Right, now for Main Street."
"I knew you'd forget."
Turning around, Clint frowned in confusion, "Huh?"
"Main Street…. We can't go to Main Street because of the parade, remember?"
"…"
"The Princess? Going to see the Prince?"
When it was clear that Clint didn't remember, she rolled her eyes. "Come on."
As they got closer and closer to Main Street, something moved, catching Clint's eye out of his peripheral, prompting him to turn around and peer into the alleyway to his right.
Children… streets rats as they were commonly referred to. Children who ran away from their homes or orphanages and were forced to scavenge for food on the streets. These two were younger than most however, only about eight…. And Clint knew that he had a soft spot for cases like this.
Reaching into his pocket, Clint kneeled in front of them, a soft smile on his face as he held out the money, "Here…. For food and stuff."
When the oldest gently took the money, Clint got to his feet and continued to follow Nat to Main Street, where a large crowd was gathering, all eyes on the gorgeous woman waving from an elegant looking horse.
It was a little old-fashioned, but who was Clint to judge.
He shook his head at the show of riches…. He wouldn't turn it down if it were offered but rubbing it in someone's face was just obnoxious.
And then the children ran out into the road.
The horse reared back in alarm as the assistants holding the horse pulled it to a stop, with the princess clinging on.
"Miserable little brats!" she sneered from her saddle, removing a whip from the side of the saddle, "Move!"
It was just a threat, but that was enough for Clint. He darted forwards and grabbed the whip, throwing it to one side as he moved to stand in front of the children. "You know…" he smirked, "… with all that money, you'd think you'd be able to afford some manners!"
One of her guards grabbed him, throwing him to the ground, straight into a mud puddle, where one of his hearing aids fell out.
Nat rushed over, but Clint wasn't done.
"Hey look Nat! It's not often you see a horse with two asses!"
Offended was a good look on the Princess's face.
"You are a worthless street rat!" She hissed at Clint, "You were born a street rat, and you will die a street rat, with only your fleas to mourn you!"
The large gates shut behind her, and the crowd dispersed, with many not even sparing a second glance at the fallen Clint.
"Here." Nat handed him the muddy hearing aid, "I stopped one of the guards from stomping on it."
"Thanks." Clint pushed himself to his feet, scowling at the mud ripping off him, "Let's get out of here."
Together, they made their way back to their shared flat…. Their flat they were squatting in, but their flat nonetheless. It was dark and sparse, but the view more than made up for it.
Clint didn't care what everyone else said. He liked his life, and he wouldn't do a thing to change it.
No matter what.