a/n: this takes place a few months after The Return to Asgard and Bagel Thursday. Just a fun little romp before the events of The Dark World change everyones lives.
In Which Hawkeye is a Pimp
Prologue
"How often is it that new contacts turn out to be a camel in the desert wearing a life jacket? Far stretch from a guy that can melt things with his hands." The woman said.
Her partner grinned. "Yeah, well, we don't always get to operate on the best intel. Not everything we see turns out to be an Asgard alien or guy bitten by a radioactive spider." He replied. He adjusted the duffle to his other shoulder. The pack was laden in the typical desert gear that kept them alive for the past day walking in the rough heat. The ground was anything but flat, making their boots work hard to keep above the sand and stones. They weren't far from the rendezvous now. He'd be happy to leave this desert behind for a little R and R in the Antarctic.
At the top of the first hill he turned to look down at his partner's progress. She'd made it abundantly clear how she was less than enthused about scrambling around on Tatooine, but she was doing her best. He looked back the way they'd come. The light wind had already covered their tracks in the sand. Ever since leaving the camel herd he had endured a strange feeling that they were being followed. It wasn't unsurprising. The area they were in now was relatively remote. The people that lived here didn't take kindly to outsiders and a random man and woman deciding to take a desert hike was definitely out of the norm. He had yet to actually see anyone, but that didn't make him any less wary.
He helped her to the rocky hill top. From their position they could see the mobile SHIELD base parked with their other four team members. The hill gave them a fairly good vantage of the area, despite the intricate rock boulders rising up on either side of them. The man threw an arm over his head and gave a wave down to the three staked out in lawn chairs around the van.
"I don't know about you, but I am taking a bath in ice when we get back." She said.
"You're going to have to beat me to that one." He said, heading across the small plane of flat rock to begin the climb down to camp.
She squealed in response.
He chuckled, turning to check her progress again but only caught a brief glimpse of his partner before the butt of a rifle slammed into his eye. He fell off balance and struggled to right himself as his training kicked in. He shifted left, grabbed the rifle and attempted to draw it in an arc to dislodge it from his attacker.
His partner screamed again.
Someone came at him from behind. Another rifle slammed into his side, dropping him to one knee. His hands slackened reflexively on the first man. He twisted backward, finding the handle of a knife that he worked free enough to use. The first now had three others behind him. The SHIELD agent took another heavy hit in the face and the world unfocussed. He fell forward. His head snapped sideways as his battered cheek impacted the rock beneath him. His eyes were toward the van. His fellow agents were standing, running, guns were drawn.
A final hit and the agent knew no more.
More fun to come ! Should have relatively quick updates on this one
Next Time: Thor Appears with News