Summary: After suffering a crippling and devastating betrayal from someone he trusted, Clint struggles with his demons as he goes on a quest for vengeance. Grace Balfour struggles to cope, after a traumatic ordeal that collides her with a vengeful archer. Co – Written with snowqueen79. Clint/OC, Bucky/OC, Steve/Natasha, and other pairings. Rated M for violence, upsetting scenes and eventual smut.

Downfall Of Us All

Chapter 1


Clint Francis Barton stared at the area where his two children had disintegrated in front of him, they were gone and unlike the others who had come back, Cooper and Lila weren't. His children were gone, and he'd never even gotten to say goodbye to them, his little boy and little girl were gone. He looked around for Laura, feeling hatred burn through him.

He stood up shakily, and looked at the uniform he'd worn into the battle against Thanos. It was black, and gold.

Ronin.

Clint leaned his head back, everyone else had come back but his two children hadn't. He heard a noise and turned around to see Laura pointing a gun at him. And next to her, was Rumlow.

"Laura, what the hell are you doing?" Clint asked wearily, seeing Rumlow smirking at him.

"Isn't it obvious, Clint? I never loved you, or our children. I was simply following HYDRA and the Red Room's orders; didn't you ever think it was strange I knew who Natasha was?" Laura asked coldly, and Clint watched in horror as she stepped closer.

"I was spying, and you are quite pathetic." She said cruelly, and Clint saw red as she smirked at him.

"Now, Natalia will suffer for betraying the motherland."

Clint lunged at her, tackling her to the floor as the front door was kicked open. Rumlow fired at him, missing him but grazing his left forearm. He cursed, and kicked at Rumlow in the face.

The man yelled in pain and pulled out a knife as Clint avoided being gutted by the man. What he hadn't considered, was Laura plunging the knife into the left side of his stomach. Clint could actually feel the pain burning through him, as he heard footsteps.

"Clint! Clint, don't you dare die on me!" Natasha said fiercely, her dyed blonde hair framing her face. Clint attempted to smile weakly, but his eyes strayed to the returned bodies of his children.

"Nat...Laura, she's...she's HYDRA." He rasped weakly, as two EMT's rushed into the living room.

"Move out of the way, Agent Romanov." The EMT said urgently, and they got him onto a gurney.

"Nat," Clint rasped, grabbing her hand and only then realizing it was covered in his own blood. "Be… careful. Please."

She squeezed his hand. "I promise. I'll be careful," she whispered, trying to smile. "Now let them put you back together. You're still not getting out your birthday party, you know."

He would have smiled for her except the pain was so damned bad. He didn't miss the tears that had gathered in her eyes.

It was bad. He knew it was bad.

"Pictures," he managed to say to her as they sped him out of the house.

Clint's mind spun as they rolled him out towards the waiting ambulance, the blurry view of the farmhouse where his children had grown and played, the simple yard with the tree swing that hung motionless from Lila's favourite tree burned into his memory. Cooper's bike propped against the porch was the last thing he saw before they closed the ambulance doors.

His babies were gone.

Nat would grab pictures of them for him. He still had Nat, his friend who'd been with him through so much. Budapest. Loki's enslavement of him. Sokovia. The births of his children. Unable to have children of her own, Nat had loved them so much.

But Nat was in danger.

Now, Natalia will suffer for betraying the motherland.

The EMT's worked on him, hooking him up to monitors and trying to stop the flow of his blood at his side. At best, he only had a few moments of consciousness left and the intense pain wasn't making that easy.

The physical pain was nothing when he thought he'd never see his children again, never hold them, watch them grow up, play with their children. The ragged hole their loss ripped in his heart? That would never heal, never fade.

Laura.

Laura had never loved him or their children? His children? She'd been HYDRA the entire time? Jesus. What had she gotten from him over the years and how had HYDRA used that information against him? Against their entire team?

And now she was after Nat?

Clint's world in the creaking, metal cave of the ambulance began to narrow down, fade.

"That's it," one of the EMTs, an older man, told him. "Try to relax. Breathe deeply."

Clint was fading, and he tried to ease into that darkness, knowing there was a good chance he wouldn't come back out of it. If he were reunited with his children, he could live with that. He wasn't leaving them behind and Nat had Steve to watch over her.

But if he did come back…

God help Laura. There'd be no place in heaven or hell where she'd be safe from him.

He started seeing black dots in his vision, and he could have sworn that he heard a female voice singing a lullaby to him. He smiled at the voice, and let the darkness take over him.


Natasha grabbed the pictures of Cooper and Lila quickly, Clint had asked for one thing. The least she could do, was give him these treasured pictures of his children. Tears silently slid down her cheeks, as she looked at the photo of Cooper smiling happily at the camera. It had been taken at his sixth birthday, and Clint treasured it.

Clint had to pull through... he had to, he was like a little brother to her. She couldn't lose him, after losing Cooper and Lila. She wiped her eyes and drove to the Avengers Compound where Steve was waiting for her. She got out of the car, and ran into the compound, where the others were.

Was Clint alright?

"How is he?" She asked quietly, Steve sucked in a deep breath and wordlessly held her tightly in his arms. He hated seeing Natasha like this, she was finally at breaking point.

"He's in surgery, the surgeon says that he has internal bleeding." He said grimly and held her close.


The air was hot around him, Clint shielded his eyes from the sun as he stumbled across a waterfall. He cautiously went through and saw a young woman with almost white blonde hair sitting cross legged.

She was wearing a black fringed dress, and her hair fell in gentle white blonde waves. She had light blue eyes, that had flecks of green in them.

"Hello Clint." She greeted softly, Clint wearily sat down in front of her. He was wondering where the hell he was and looked at her cautiously.

"Am I dead?" He asked quietly, the woman laughed softly, and her laugh sounded like bell chimes. She looked hauntingly beautiful, and not like Laura.

"No, you aren't."

Looking around, lush greenery sprawled all around them but there was not another soul to be found. His heart clenched in his chest as he watched, scanning the perimeter, hoping Cooper and Lila would come from beyond his line of vision, smiling as they ran into his arms.

Were they here?

"Is this a dream?" he asked the young woman.

Her head tilted as she seemed to study him. "Maybe."

Her gaze dropped to her hands, folded in her lap. Her hands were lovely, all long slender lines and fingers. Her skin was smooth with a few small, silver scars scattered across it. Her nails were short, bare.

"Who are you?" Clint asked.

Her eyes, magnetic pale blue-coloured eyes, lifted. Her gaze met his and she smiled softly. Whoever she was, she truly was beautiful. But there were shadows behind those amazing eyes, a myriad of emotions swirling in them. Her eyes held secrets, sorrows. Her gaze moved over him slowly and he shivered under that soulful gaze.

"I'm Grace," she told him.

The name suited her.

Grace is the absence of everything that indicates pain or difficulty…

The phrase stuck in his mind from a book he'd read while recovering from the attack on New York. At the time, he tried to remember the words as a mantra, a meaning he could focus on when things didn't make sense.

The words perfectly described this moment, sitting here with her. There was pain, difficulty. It lingered in the shadows all around them, ready to crash in on him like a dark wave. But for the moment, as he sat there with Grace, he felt calm. Peace.

"Where are we?" He asked.

Grace shook her head. Lifting her hand, her fingertips grazed the side of his face, her touch whisper soft.

"We're here," she said simply, her touch skimming along his jaw. Her palm flattened against his cheek and he leaned into that touch, her hand so soft and warm.

"Am I dead?" He asked quietly, wondering if this was limbo. He wouldn't be surprised if this was where he was trapped here. Grace simply smiled and shook her head.

"You're in between worlds Clint, you've flatlined. Your soul is in between the afterlife, and the living world." She explained softly, when he heard a noise in the distance.

"Where's my children?" He asked worriedly, fearing for Cooper and Lila's safety. Grace gave him a sad smile, and it frightened him.

"They're at peace, Clint. They moved on, when you helped defeat Thanos and touched the Soul Stone. Call out to them," She said gently, and Clint swallowed.

"Cooper? Lila?!" He called out hopefully, and nothing happened for a minute as he looked around. That was when, he saw two small figures running towards him.

"Daddy!" Lila called out relived, and he embraced them both tightly. Tears stinging his eyes, as he held his two children. He felt tears swim own his cheeks and held them close.

"I love you both so much, I'm sorry couldn't save you both." Clint whispered sorrowfully, self-loathing in his voice as he looked at the faces of his children.

"It's ok, Dad. We're happy, but you can't die... Auntie Nat needs you and so do the Avengers. You need to stop mom." Cooper said reassuringly, squeezing his father's hand tightly.

Clint watched as they began fading away, and he could hear voices whispering in the wind. He looked at Grace, who was starting to look worried.

"You need to return to the living, Clint. Everything has become unbalanced since the Reality Stone and Mind Stone are destroyed." Grace said urgently, taking his hand.

"I can't leave you here, Grace." Clint protested heavily, Grace shook her head sadly at him. She was starting to fade away, and he strained his ears to hear what she was saying.

"Tell Peter I'm sorry, that me and Soph are both sorry. Sorry, that we couldn't tell him what we are," She whispered regretfully, and Clint could feel himself falling.


Clint woke up gasping for breath and looked around to see he was in a hospital room. He yanked the oxygen mask off his face, as he saw Natasha waking up.

"I saw them Nat! I saw Cooper and Lila, and there was a woman with them!" He gasped breathlessly, his throat was dry.

"What do you mean Clint? Did you dream about them?" Natasha asked wearily, concern in her voice. Clint took a sip from the plastic cup filled with water and swallowed. He spoke about what Grace had said.

"It was a dream... But...she said her name was Grace."

"Clint, take it easy," Nat tried to ease him back down, but he struggled in her hold. "You've been through a lot."

"Nat?" Steve came through the door, surprised at the scene before him. While he was pleased to see his friend awake, he dashed to the other side of the bed, helping Nat by gently gripping Clint's arms. "Hey, pal. I need you to relax for me, okay? If you pull out those stitches…"

Clint stopped, taking in the concern in Steve's blue eyes. "Stitches?"

"Clint, you almost bled to death," Nat told him, eyes shiny with tears. "We almost lost you."

Clint swallowed hard, remembering what Grace had told him. That he had to return to the land of the living. Why couldn't he have stayed? His babies had been there. In his arms. Why couldn't he stay?

An ugly, raw sob ripped from his throat as he sank down into the bed. Nat followed him down, holding him without putting any weight on him.

"Oh, my God, Nat," Clint whispered as the pain in his heart threatened to tear him apart. "I had them. They were right there and now… now I'm…"

"I'm so sorry," Nat's tears sank into his pillow, smeared his neck. "I'm so, so sorry."

Steve gently rubbed circles into Nat's back, his hand on Clint's shoulder, letting him know he was there.

"They… said they were happy…But they said Auntie Nat needed me," Clint went on.

Nat sobbed along with him, her grip tightening on him in a way that his side throbbing. Clint didn't care. He'd take the pain. A thousand knives carved into him couldn't begin to compete with the loss he was suffering.

"It wasn't a dream," he whispered. "They… told me I had to stop Laura."

That got Steve's attention. "What happened, Clint?"

"I was in a forest, and I went behind a waterfall where I met this woman. She was sitting in a cave behind the waterfall, and she was wearing a black fringed dress. She told me that everything had become unbalanced, since the Mind Stone and the Reality Stone had been destroyed," Clint explained quietly, his grey eyes lost in thought.

'What else happened Clint?" Natasha asked gently, sensing that there was more to the story than what Clint was telling.

"I saw Cooper and Lila, they said I had to stop Laura and that I couldn't leave you. And the woman, Grace said something to me before I woke up." He said distantly, trying to remember what his dream had been.

It was confusing, as hell.

'Tell Peter, I'm sorry that me and Soph are both sorry. Sorry, that we couldn't tell him what we were,' Grace had said remorsefully, regret flashing in her blue eyes.

Somehow, Clint knew she wasn't talking about Peter Quill but about Peter Parker. Was that who she'd been talking about?

"She said that she wanted me to tell Peter, that she and Soph are both sorry. Sorry, that we couldn't tell him what we were." Clint explained quietly, causing Natasha and Steve to look at each other.

"I'll ask Tony and Bucky to see if Peter knows anyone by the names Grace and Soph." Steve said wearily, he kissed Natasha and squeezed Clint's right shoulder in a comforting gesture.

Clint nodded, and watched him leave as he turned to look at Natasha who was sitting down by his bed.

"Laura...she's Red Room, Nat. She was sent by HYDRA and the Red Room, she said you'd suffer for betraying the motherland." He warned grimly, Natasha held his hand.

"She won't get me, Clint. We'll make her pay for what she's done to you, Clint." Natasha vowed fiercely, Clint nodded silently.


"Any luck on finding this Grace, and Soph?" Bucky Barnes asked quietly, he looked at Tony who was looking at the screen in front of him.

"So far, nothing. You?" Tony asked civilly, Bucky shook his head when the Home Secretary Thaddeus Ross entered the room with a ruthless expression on his face.

"You Avengers are needed, we've discovered that two highly dangerous individuals have failed to sign the Accords. I want all of the Avengers in the conference room, Barton there as well," Ross said coldly.

"What's so dangerous about them?" Bucky asked wearily, Ross handed him a file to read.

"Their mother was a Red Room agent, Sergeant Barnes."

It was a small world.

"Hey, Buck." Steve stood in the doorway of the office, arms folded across his chest. "Find anything yet?"

Bucky shook his head. "How's Clint?"

Steve shook his head, walking around Ross to the counter where Tony worked, leaning against it. "We're lucky he's still alive. Severe blood loss. He flatlined on the table."

"But he is still alive," Ross said to Steve meaningfully, "and I want all of you in the conference room in an hour. Including Barton."

Steve pushed off from the counter to approach Ross. "Barton is recovering in his hospital bed. You heard what I just said. He's not going to be there, Ross. Be reasonable."

"I am being reasonable. More than reasonable where the lot of you are concerned," Ross explained.

"What's so important?" Steve wanted to know. "What's so important that we have to drag a team member who almost died into your meeting?"

Ross didn't look concerned. "One hour. Barnes has the file."

With that, he turned on his heel and left.

"Asshole," Tony muttered.

"What's this about?" Steve looked from Tony to Bucky.

Bucky's attention had been divided between Steve's confrontation with Ross and the file in his hand. The documents were intel on two women, sisters. He had to admit they were both beautiful. When he got to the back of the file, he found information on their mother, Anya Melnychenko, A Red Room agent who was highly regarded. But how the hell had a Red Room agent had two children?

What was the Widow Program?

And that's when he looked again at the names. Sophie and Grace.

They weren't Russian names, normally the Red Room gave the prospective future Red Room agents Russian names. These two names would be considered, western by the Red Room.

"Ross wants us to arrest two sisters, who according to him have failed to sign the Accords." Bucky said finally, anger in his tone and swallowed.

"Their mother was a Red Room agent, Steve."


Enjoy, and review, we hope you enjoyed the first chapter :)