SHIELD was preparing for war. Okay, that description is just a little over the top. But they were preparing for something big. That much Steve Rogers knew. So when Clint Barton showed up at the gym Steve frequented, he was a little apprehensive. Clint merely sidled up to him, Steve glanced at him warily. The man name Captain America tried to ignore the archer, instead focusing on punching the heavy bag in front of him. Right punch, right punch, left hook, right punch, left punch, left hook, left punch, right punch, right-
"I have a message," Clint stated, the archer looked indifferent, but Steve, despite being naïve since his unearthing, knew there was something wrong. He continued to punch the bag. Right hook, left kick, left punch, right hook, right hook, right hook, right-
"We're going to a competition Steve." Steve stopped in confusion.
"You came to tell me we're going to be in a competition? What competition could SHIELD possibly want us for Clint?" Steve asked incredulously. Clint grimaced.
"It's not just a competition. It's an intergalactic race you could say. All Nine Realms are going to appear and whatever rogues want to try their hand at it," Clint explained, still not looking the Captain in the eye.
"Okay, so what's the big deal?" Steve asked, unwrapping his hands as he listened to Clint warily.
"Well for one, it's in space. Somewhere, not really sure, all we know is we're going to be summoned in about a week's time," he explained further.
Steve nodded slowly. "Okay, so we get summoned and compete in this competition. What's the catch, you're not yourself Clint."
"The catch is it's a free for all Steve, we have no idea what we're going up against. Civilizations no one has ever heard of. Aliens we don't know anything about," Clint stressed. It dawned on Steve.
"This is a suicide mission," Steve mumbled.
"It could be, yes," Clint affirmed. The man had just gotten engaged, so Steve could almost see where his apprehension came from. "There is a prize as well."
"What's the prize?" Steve asked as he grabbed his gym bag, knowing Clint was taking him to SHIELD headquarters.
"No one knows, it's supposed to be mind-blowing though." And with that, the two were down the street, and on their way to SHIELD headquarters.
"What are we looking for?" Steve asked again, as he watched groups of people file in to the firing range and fire at the targets of the oddly shaped ships as they passed by the people. Gunshots rang in the room, faintly audible to the Captain from the room above. He watched Clint walk around with the shooters, dismissing them one by one until a new group had to come in. He looked exhausted. They'd already spent three days going through applicants to find another shooter for their ship. Well ship was a peculiar word.
The ship was a vehicle of sorts, not quite a plane yet it couldn't be described as an automobile. A hover car was closer to an accurate description, if a hover car could fly hundreds of feet off the ground and was armed to the teeth. Which was why they needed another shooter. Clint Barton, the renowned Hawkeye could not shoot and defend this ship by himself. Director Fury agreed with him. And with Steve as the pilot, they needed another shooter to defend themselves. So they set up a discreet challenge, find the next best shooter. There were some good shooters that arrived too. But none of them were comfortable around Hawkeye, they all took orders. They all trembled. They all feared his skill.
"Name?" Clint asked as he went through the next batch of shooters. It was a boy, about six feet tall, with brown hair.
"Andrew Granshaw, sir."
"Shoot the target, Andrew," Clint repeated.
"Yes sir," and shot all the targets, slightly off the mark where the people were pictured on the paper.
"You're dismissed." And with that Andrew filed out.
"Name?"
"Garrett Collins." Clint glanced at the boy, short with choppy blond hair.
"Shoot the-"
Bullets fired, hitting each face of the people in the pictures. Hawkeye blinked.
"You're dismissed."
"But I hit all of them!" Garrett seethed. Clint glared.
"You. Are. Dismissed." The boy stomped out of the room.
"Name?"
"Sarah Tracy." Clint glanced up at the second girl that'd come here today. Out of the hundreds of applicants he'd met. This one didn't seem any different. She looked at him for direction.
"Shoot the targets, Sarah," Clint repeated again for the hundredth time today.
"The people or just the target in general?" she asked, loading the gun. Clint blinked.
"Whichever you classify as the target," he said carefully. Gunshots fired rapidly and Clint glanced at the targets as they stopped moving. No people were shot but the shots were sporadic over the ships themselves.
"Why did you not shoot the people?" Clint asked curiously. She shrugged.
"Seemed more advantageous to shoot the engines rather than the people." Clint glanced at the girl once more before writing something down. He motioned at the balcony and saw Fury nod.
"Sarah, please go down the hall and to the first door on the left. Thank you for coming." And with that Clint continued down the line, grateful that at least one person seemed to make it through. He hoped Fury didn't scare her off. She seemed nice.
Nick Fury didn't have to wait long before the girl popped her head into the room, looking around before spotting him sitting down at a table. The room reminded her of the interrogation rooms on those crime TV shows. Fury motioned for her to sit down at the seat across from him. She hesitantly came in, shutting the door quietly before taking a seat but not pulling up to the table.
"Something you needed from me?" she asked. Fury didn't let any emotion escape from his face.
"Yes, why did you come to this challenge Miss Tracy?" Fury asked staring at the girl. She couldn't be more than nineteen years old.
"Well, I saw the flyer, thought I might as well try," she said with a shrug.
"You said that you shot at the engines because it seemed more advantageous. What did you mean?" Fury continued.
Sarah looked at the wall adjacent to the door, seeming to think before she answered.
"Well, shooting the people wouldn't do much good. I have no idea why I would shoot them. Nor do I know if one of them was a pilot. Or how good they were protected. Seems like an awful big risk to take by shooting at the people. And a waste of bullets too. I'd rather shoot at the engines, slow the vehicle down or stop it that way," Sarah said slowly before looking at Fury.
"I have a proposition for you Miss Tracy."
"I'm listening," Sarah replied, leaning forward slightly.
"So how'd she fare?" Clint asked Steve as he sat down for the first time that day. He was so tired of hearing gunshots. The girl was the only one he'd chosen and he hadn't heard from Fury yet. Steve sat down as well, cup of coffee in hand.
"She did well," Steve responded, taking a gulp of coffee. "Last I heard, Fury was giving her the details of the . . . competition."
"She's kind of young to be fighting an intergalactic contest don't you think?" Clint asked, starting to doubt giving her over to Fury without thinking of her well being. What if she had a family? Or a boyfriend? Hell, for all Clint knew, this girl could have a kid. Maybe she was finishing college. Clint shook his head in frustration. Damn him for not thinking about that. It wasn't often that Hawkeye felt remorse.
"I'm sure she'll do fine, if she decides to do it that is," Steve assured.
"I'm not sure I can stand spending the next four days going through more applicants," Clint admitted. His last four days on earth for all he knew.
"Well maybe-"
The door opened and they both turned to meet the uncertain gaze of the object of conversation.
"I'm sorry to interrupt. But is one of you," she paused, looking at the paper in her hand. "Clint Barton?" Sarah glanced up at the two. Clint nodded.
"I'm Clint. Sarah right?" he asked, standing and offering a hand. She looked at it before extending her own to shake.
"Yes, well I was told to come find you. Director Fury said you could tell me what's expected of me on this team?" she asked more than said. Steve smiled.
"Yeah we can inform you. I'm Steve Rogers by the way," Steve said, extending his own hand. Sarah shook his hand as well.
"Never thought I'd get to meet Captain American and Hawkeye," she admitted, "but I gotta say this is getting more interesting by the moment."
"Just wait till you hear what you'll be doing," Clint replied. And with that the discussion began.