It was an evening just like any other. The stars were showing clear outside and the moon light illuminated the open field ending at the tree line which was roughly 100 yards out from Clint's home. Even from the confines of his home, Clint could hear the crickets talking up a storm outside, adding to the tranquil atmosphere within his home. He loved the sounds and smells of the country which were always effective at making his soul feel at peace. In a way, spending time in the country was therapy to him. With all the action he sees while working with the avengers or the various other side jobs he performs, this was all he looked forward to.
Clint and his family were all sitting down at the table enjoying a nice meal Laura cooked up for them. It was Venison steaks that Clint himself shot about a week ago while out hunting in the woods. It was prepared with steamed veggies; mostly broccoli and carrots. He watched while his wife Laura, who was sitting across the table from him, fed their new born baby Nicole some of that God awful looking baby food. His two other kids Callum and Lewis were sitting adjacent to him while he was at the head of the table. He preferred this spot over any other, as it allowed him to see out the window all the way into the woods. Call him paranoid, but it made him feel safer. He could tell his kids were not really enjoying the meal as they were pushing their veggies all over their plates, trying to spread them out making it look like they ate more than they really did. He knew that game very well...
"You know you two..." he said to them,
"Pushing those vegetables around your plate will not fool anyone...You need to eat them all up else you will not be leaving from this table until you do so."
They both looked at him with an almost puppy dog like expression and then looked back at their plates. Callum gave a big sigh and attempted to eat his veggies. Clint chuckled a little and continued eating while watching their facial expressions turn to one of disgust as they attempted to eat the vegetables. It was almost too much for him to hold in.
He had it all. A loving wife, 3 wonderful kids, and an excellent home hidden all the way out in the country where no one could find them. He wouldn't give it up for anything. As such, Clint loved his family very much and would do anything to protect them and keep them safe. When he wasn't out with the avengers, or taking on jobs, he was with them. He provided food and shelter for them, and worked on the house and various yard work. Basically, Clint did everything to the best of his ability. It was his goal in life to be a good and loving father and an exceptional husband. If it made them happy, he was glad to do it.
Clint had just a few bites left of his steak, when he noticed that the crickets had suddenly stopped chirping. It was too silent. What was peaceful tranquility only moments before, was now replaced with alarm. He looked up at his family and could see that they were still eating away at their dinner as if nothing had changed.
"Honey" He said to Laura
"What dear?"
"You hear that?"
"Hear what?" She responded with a confused look on her face.
"The crickets...They just stopped."
Lifting himself off the chair just slightly over her so he could see more of the outdoors, he noticed something was off. Slightly squinting and focusing on the tree line, Clint saw what looked like about seven dark figures. The guy in the middle looked to be slightly deformed in his face by a layer of scars as if he experienced some sort of traumatic incident that took off a lot of his skin. Of the seven figures, all of them except one were holding what appeared to be 6.5 Grendel based rifles. The other, located at the end on the far right, had a rpg 7 which was pointing right at his home. At that moment, Clint felt something he hasn't felt in a long time. Fear. Fear for his life, fear for his home, and most of all fear for his family. He never wanted to put his family in danger but ever since he became an avenger, he always suspected one of his enemies would eventually find his home and attack him. He just always hoped he was wrong about that. Tonight, however, confirmed how very right he was.
There was a bright flash by the tree line as he saw the figure with the rpg pull the trigger. Clint yelled at his family to get down under the table and Laura grabbed Nicole as they all dropped to the floor like a bunch of rocks. Clint and Laura both put their arms around their kids preparing for impact. Only milliseconds passed until the whole house shook as the rpg made contact just one floor above them into his kids' room. Debris from the ceiling fell down onto their table as the roar of automatic weapons deafened the area and bullets started piercing into his house. Hundreds of rounds were flying past them, each one getting closer and closer to their targets. He knew it was only a matter of time before his family's luck ran out.
"What are we going to do?!" Laura yelled.
Clint could barely hear her through all the guns firing and the snaps and hisses of the 6.5 bullets penetrating into their home, whizzing past his head. He could see and feel his kids trembling between them. He knew they couldn't go outside unless they wanted to be gunned down. Looking around them, he noticed broken pieces of wood and drywall littered everywhere and was only increasing as the seconds raged on. Bullet holes were starting to make his home look like Swiss cheese. His best bet would be to get up into their room where his bow and sidearm were. At least from there he could give them a fighting chance and try to come up with a better plan.
"Grab your steak knife and take the kids up to our room! Stay low!" He said to her.
Laura nodded and put her hand up to the table and felt around for her knife. Once she acquired the knife, she placed it between her shirt and pants and with Nicole in her arms she began to lead her kids up the stairs while staying out of sight. He watched them as the bullets zipped past them, making sure that they got out of the room alive.
Gunshots and bullets continued to drown everything and Clint knew he had to move. The wall between him and his attackers was starting to fall apart as his attackers continued to riddle his home with bullets. They were moving closer and closer to his home. Reaching up to his plate, he grabbed his steak knife and began a low crawl to the living area. At that moment, he noticed a sharp burning pain in his right hip. Looking down he saw that he had been shot. Immediately, he felt his back and noticed that there was a clean exit wound. Blood was starting to pour out of the wounds and through his shorts, pooling onto the floor.
"Well, at least they are not using hollow points..." He said to himself.
Before he could move he had to stop the bleeding. Luckily, there was some cornstarch in the cupboard next to him. He quickly opened it up and applied it on both the entrance and exit wounds. It was all he had time to do in the given current situation
As Clint made the motion to continue following his family up the stairs, he noticed the glass and bits of wood and drywall that were all over the floor. He wished he had a long sleeve shirt on and full pants as he knew that no matter what he did, crawling over the floor was going to leave some nasty cuts on him. He prayed to God that his family would make it through this unharmed and continued moving across the floor.
The stairs were now just in front of him. Placing his right foot on the first step, the gun fire ceased and was replaced by the whispers of his attackers. One of them seemed to be giving the orders.
"I want you all to make sure that they are all dead...And bring me his head. Our employer wants confirmation and no witnesses! So make sure you all do your job."
Clint continued quietly up the stairs ignoring the pain in his hip and not noticing that he was limping pretty badly. Stepping into his room, he could see that his family was hiding in the master bath. The kids were sitting in the tub with the baby, and Laura at attention just itching to defend her kin.
"You've been shot!" She nervously said to him.
"I've stopped the bleeding. I will be fine for now." He responded as he quickly grabbed his bow and arrows.
"Toss me my Glock will you?" He asked of her. She opened up the medicine cabinet and tossed him the handgun. He caught the gun and placed it between himself and his shorts. He put his knife onto the nightstand.
The assailants were now in the house not being very quiet as they moved furniture around; tossing and turning everything in sight.
"Find them!" The leader shouted in a scratchy voice as if he was a heavy smoker.
"How is it possible that all you morons hit everything in this house and still miss the targets!?"
Clint could tell that the leader was very agitated and on edge.
Footsteps were coming up the stairs and Clint signaled Laura to move back into the bathroom and quietly decrease the gap between the door and frame. He placed an arrow in his bow and began to draw it. The footsteps stopped at the top of the stairs. Clint waited vigilantly, his eyes and ears focused on front door of his room.
The silence was lifted as his target opened fire through the walls on the top floor. Bullets were flying in no specific pattern. Clint dropped to the floor. He could hear the snaps and hisses of lead breaking through the walls that were just barely missing him. After about 15 rounds, the barrage ceased.
"What the hell was that?!" Someone yelled from downstairs.
"Did you find them?"
"Not yet. Thought I heard something" The thug responded.
Back on his feet, Clint slowly made his way to the door of his room. Clint heard as the thug began walking slowly. Clint peaked out the door ever so slightly and saw his threat entering his kids' room. That was the area that the rpg hit. Why the thug was spending time searching in there was beyond him. He re-drew his bow and pointed the arrow at the entrance of the room. There were loud crashes coming from the bedroom as the thug flipped over the beds and opened the closet.
Clint's eyes shifted as a shadow was making its way up the stairs towards him. He quickly aimed his arrow towards the top of the stairs, and saw the scalp of a rough buzzed looking man. Releasing his grip on the bow the arrow flew and pierced into the forehead of the attacker. His body crashed onto the stairs and made its way down to the first floor. The gun he was holding was right behind him and settled next to the corpse.
"Shit!" Clint whispered to himself. He knew he was now spotted and just made the situation worse.
"He is still alive! Find him!" He heard from the floor below.
"Upstairs now!"
The man in the kids' room came out facing him. As he raised his gun, Clint sent another arrow his way which entered right into the man's skull, pinning his head to the door frame. The weight of the thug was too great for the arrow which snapped, falling lifeless onto the floor.
A mad rush of feet could be heard from below as more thugs made their way up to him. Clint placed his bow onto his back and drew his Glock. He stepped back into his room and shut the door.
Frantic chatter was continuing to get closer to the room as Clint made his way to the other side of the master bed and peeked out the bedroom window. From there he could see that no one was outside. Clint and his family had to leave the room right away for they were no match for a full on frontal attack.
"They are in the closed off room!"
Clint opened the window and fired 4 shots at his door trying to suppress the bodies that belonged to the voices. He needed to buy him and his family some time. He motioned his family to hurry over to him and climb out the window which so happened to be located above the garage. They could hop onto the garage's roof and make their way down to solid ground. Callum and Lewis were holding their hands over their ears while stepping over the bed as he continued to fire another 4 shots at their attackers, the gunfire deafening the children as the sound bounced off the walls, making its way into their ear drums.
"John is down!" Someone outside the room yelled.
His kids were the first out the window. They were waiting on the roof waiting as Laura, who was still holding Nicole, stopped on the windowsill. Clint gave her a kiss and said "I will be right behind you." She nodded in agreement and made her way out onto the roof.
Automatic fire returned into the bedroom. Clint dropped in cover, prone on the floor between the bed and the door. The onslaught continued on for what seemed like minutes, but in reality, could not have been more than just a few seconds. He could see the bottom of the door from the gap between the bed and floor. The door busted open and 2 pairs of legs stepped in. One right in front of the other. Clint rose to a crouched position behind the bed and placed the first two 9mm rounds into the chest of the guy leading the pack, and another 2 rounds into the guy behind him in a good ol' double tap fashion.
Clint hopped right out the window just as another one entered the room, stumbling over the two bodies. He heard his wife scream for a split second before it was abruptly cut off. Bullets whizzed over his head and he dropped down onto the garage and made his way behind the building where there were no windows. His right leg completely gave out and he wanted to scream in pain. His wound was getting worse and he needed immediate medical attention.
Returning his Glock to his lower back, he grabbed his bow and aimed at the same window he came out of. A man in a black suit and business cut black hair looked out the window scanning the area for him. Clint released the arrow and it pierced right into the man's left eye.
A gunshot came from inside the garage and extremely worried that his family was in peril, Clint went to the side of the garage away from the house. There was nothing behind him but an open field. He crouched below the windows and peeked in. He could see that there were two men inside, both in black suits facing the entrance of the garage. His red suburban was just behind them. One who had to be the leader was wearing a fedora and had a marked up face as if someone took a carving knife to it. He was holding a rifle that was pointed at his kids who were on their knees with their hands behind their heads and heavily shedding tears. The other was a big stupid looking guy. As if he was hired from Henchman R' Us. He had his rifle pointed at Laura who still had the baby in her arms.
"Got it now you stupid kid? Try and run away again and next time I swear to you I will not miss that head of yours." The leader took his foot and placed it on Callums' back. He forced him down into the fetal position and put his gun onto the back of Callums' head.
"Now, where is your dad, or should I end your life now? Keep in mind, I don't really need you. I still got your brother, sister and mom left."
He was smiling in a most heinous way that almost made Clint want to throw up. Clint began his way towards the door of the garage. He wished that he could just take his Glock and start firing into the room through the windows, but he didn't want to give them any more excuses to kill his family. With barely a single idea of what he was going to do, he put his bow over his shoulder and drew his pistol. Checking the magazine, he saw that he had 4 rounds in the clip and 1 in the chamber. More than enough to take them out he thought. He put the pistol back again and drew his bow.
His heart was racing. This wasn't just another ordinary job that he could walk away from with no consequences of his own, this was personal. He gave another short prayer under his breath and opened the door. His entire family were sitting on the floor; his wife and baby were to his left and the other kids right in front of him. Both the assailants were behind them with their guns still drawn. The one red suburban they had was just next to Clint on his right. He had his bow aimed right at the deformed leader.
"Well, look who finally decided to show up." The leader said while keeping his foot and gun on Callum.
"You know you killed a lot of my men. So I think it is only fair of me to kill your family one by one right in front of you before we kill you."
He looked at his henchman "Don't you think that is fair?"
Smiling "Yes, I think that is more than fair"
Now Staring right into Clint's eyes, the leader order "You better put that bow of yours' down now! My finger is just itching to end your brat's life!"
Clint looked at his family. Tears were in his kids' eyes, but Laura looked like she was up to something. She looked at him and then down to her torso. There was a slight indentation of what looked like the steak knife. Clint put his bow down on the floor with the rest of the arrows.
"That's good." He smiled.
"Now on your knees with your hands behind your head!"
Carefully he as not to agitate his hip anymore, Clint dropped to his knees and put his hands behind his head.
"So Hawkeye...Or should I call you Mister Clint Barton, who do you want me to kill first?" He gave Clint a little smile just showing his yellow teeth.
Clint took a deep breath..."Before you do that, who are you and what is your motive? Why are you doing this?"
The deformed man gave him a puzzled look. "You're kidding right? Why should I tell you that? It's pointless as you're going to die anyways. You and your whole family...But whatever. You can call me Jigsaw. Like the puzzle. As you can see my face isn't what you would call attractive. You may even say the scars resemble puzzle pieces. As for your other two questions, let's just say it is about money. My employer put a big price on the heads of each avenger, and well you're my first target."
Clint's could feel the rage inside him building up.
"It's all just about money?!" Clint responded.
"Of course it is! I would be a fool to pass up the amount of dough waiting for me"
Jigsaw looked at each of his hostages, then back at Clint. "Enough of this bullshit talk. I don't have all night. Let's end this!"
Laura nodded at Clint and reach down and grabbed her knife. Holding onto Nicole, she stretched her right arm up and before the big buffoon knew he was in danger, she sliced his jugular. Immediately he dropped his gun and placed both of his hands over his wound in a feeble attempt to stop the blood which was pouring out like a cut water balloon. Clint grabbed his side arm and fired a round right over Callum and entered Jigsaws mouth and out the back of his lower skull, ceasing the connection between his brain and his nervous system. Both the man and his gun dropped to the ground. He was dead before he had time to realize what happened.
However, the same could not be said about his henchman. He was on his back on the floor, squirming and flopping around like a fish out of water; chocking on his blood. Grabbing his bow off the ground with his left hand and placing his gun in his pants, Clint when to Laura and took the knife from her and used it to pierce the man's heart, ending his earthly suffering. Leaving the knife in the man's he placed his bow over his shoulder and slowly sat down on the garage floor next to his wife careful not to agitate his wound more than it already was. With his right arm around Laura, he motioned his kids to come and join him.