A/N: Woah! This chapter was born WAY faster and earlier than I imagined. We'll see what it means, quality and content considered…
DANG…! So many of you have joined this ride. (BEAMS) THANK YOU, so much, for your reviews, listings and love! You guys are awesome. (HUGS)
Awkay, because stalling is RUDE… Let's go! I really hope that you'll enjoy the ride.
Stings Like a Blade
/ "I've got a visual and I'm ready to take a shot."
Working with a young, testy agent named Tanner Milton made Phil Coulson miss Clint Barton. The famous Hawkeye was on a sick leave, nursing three gunshot wounds that – according to all probability – should've claimed the man's life. Which led to agent Milton, still green from recent training, being pushed to a mission the man absolutely wasn't ready for. Phil protested, so did Fury. It didn't help because Milton happened to be the son of someone very high on the food chain and if the brat wanted to take a mission…
Phil gritted his teeth and, not for the first time, counted slowly to ten. "Hold still, Milton. We've been tracking down this woman for ten months. Let's not mess up now."
"She's extremely dangerous and I'm ready to take her down", Milton protested, sounding like a petulant child. "She's getting into a car! Just give me the green light and I'll finish her off!"
"There are innocent bystanders everywhere!" Phil snapped. It wasn't often he lost his temper, especially with one of his charges, but this kid… "Do not risk them, do you understand? Don't take a shot unless it's clean. If she gets away we'll track her down again."
Milton quite obviously wasn't listening. "Ten more seconds and it's too late. I'm taking her down now."
"Milton…!"
Too late. The four gunshots were like hisses as they burst through a silencer. Each of them slammed into the car that was beginning to slide away. After the final shot the vehicle stopped violently. A man dashed from the passenger's seat just as their target opened the backdoor and stumbled out, her back towards them. She slumped to sit on the street, like a marionette on broken strings, and didn't get back up. There was blood, signaling that she was injured. How badly?
Phil was busy with those musings. But that was when he realized that the woman's five bodyguards had noticed the young, foolish sniper's hideout. It wasn't hard to follow the pattern of four bullets that came from the same spot.
"Milton, get out of there! They're coming for you!" he snarled. "Five hostiles are moving towards you!" His chest tightened painfully because as much as he disliked the man the thought of…
Milton followed his instructions for once. The youth encountered four of the bodyguards in the building's stairway. The hand to hand was a little sloppy and inexperienced but got the job done. Phil might've breathed a sigh of relief if it wasn't for hostile number five.
There was a one more gunshot. This time not through a silencer. Milton froze, then slowly brought a hand to the back of his neck. The limb came back covered in blood.
"Milton!"
But the kid was in no condition to hear anything anymore. The man swayed, so violently that he saw it easily on the computer screen. Then slumped down and didn't get up ever again. /
Nick Fury knew his agents fairly well. Or at least thought he did, before what used to be S.H.I.E.L.D came crashing down. Someone in his position was expected to have good people reading skills. The second Phil walked in it was obvious that something was horribly wrong. Phil was incredibly pale and the look in the man's eyes was nothing short of haunted.
Fury opened his lips. Phil was faster. "Olga Cherkov." The man sounded like he was growling. A breathtaking amount of pain was visible in those eyes. "She was supposed to be dead."
Fury sighed heavily, feeling the full force of the headache that'd been threatening to grab a hold of him all day. This wasn't the only lie he'd ever told, and this most definitely wasn't the worst lie. But the look on the other's face… "She was incarcerated. The last time I received any news she'd been attacked in prison and it was highly unlikely that she'd pull through."
Phil stared at him, horror rising into those eyes as an unthinkable possibility began to take shape. "She died. That shot cost me an agent." There was a long, loaded pause. "If she's still alive… Who else aside Milton died that day?"
Fury gritted his teeth. This was going to hurt, and it was in moments like this he absolutely hated his job. "It's been a long time…"
"She's taken Barton to punish me!" Phil's voice boomed, and the volume showed very clearly just how scared and worried the man was. "So who did I get killed? How much danger is he in?"
Fury groaned and closed his eyes for a few moments. It was incredibly hard to hold back a string of profane language. "You may want to sit down for this…"
"Oh, you poor thing…" The woman chuckled and shook her head, pity loud and clear in her eyes. "You really have no idea, do you?" She clicked her tongue, disgust flashing on her stunningly expressive face. "You've been their loyal little lapdog for such a long time and this is how they repay you."
Clint's eyes narrowed while his heartrate sped up. This was going to hurt, a lot. "What are you talking about?" he growled like a wounded wild animal. Even if a part of him was already suspecting a truth he didn't want to face.
"Phil Coulson is very much alive and well, little lamb." She searched his eyes and seemed to love the heartbreak and betrayal in them he couldn't hide fully. "Fury had him brought back to life. All hush hush, it's always delicate when people try to play gods." She tilted her head and sighed with mocked sadness. "It hurts like hell, doesn't it? To realize your true place." She giggled at his glare. "Did you really imagine that you're something special? That they actually trust you, a criminal they handpicked and trained like a once abandoned puppy?" She pursed her lips and looked away, a faraway look appearing to her eyes. "I guess I can't blame you. You're not the first one to make that mistake."
It hurt to breathe, and it had nothing to do with his injuries. Clint used all his willpower to keep the emotions at bay, to not give her the satisfaction. But it hurt, too much, and he had a feeling that his façade slipped and cracked.
'If we're going to continue working together you'll have to trust me', Phil's voice echoed in his head, taunting him.
"You still don't want to believe me", the woman observed. Curious, rather than insulted. "Stupid, But I guess it's human." She took her phone and dialed numbers. "I was supposed to call him, anyway. I guess that you deserve the chance to say 'hi', too." She brought the phone to her ear, then waited before putting it on a speaker.
In a flash Phil's entirely too familiar voice seemed to fill the entire space around them. It was full of tension and the phone distorted it a little but he would've recognized it anywhere. "Coulson."
Clint swallowed thickly, feeling sick to his stomach. The world swayed dangerously before his eyes, and for the first time he was glad he was tied. "You're really alive", he murmured, undisguisable ache in his voice. How was he supposed to hide it when his heart was getting torn to shreds?
Exactly three seconds of silence ticked by. It was easy for him to hear all the words Phil was forced to swallow back. "Are you alright?"
Clint gritted his teeth. No, he absolutely wasn't alright. "Yeah." It didn't sound convincing even to his own ears. He took a couple of deep breaths, during which he decided that his daughter's safety was more important than his broken heart and wounded pride. "This is no worse than Rio." He could only hope that his former handler – was it former friend, now? – still remembered that code words.
Another pause followed. "We already know who has you. We'll come for you, alright?"
Clint would've given a lot if he would've been able to believe Phil's words, like he did once upon a time.
The woman laughed. "Isn't that sweet? You'll actually come for him, won't you?" All of a sudden her eyes narrowed and her whole demeanor changed. "A yet another lie, though? You should finally be honest with the poor guy and admit that he'll be dead long before you get here."
The knife was plunged into Clint's abdomen long before he realized that she was holding a blade.
Somehow Clint managed to keep himself from screaming. Maybe it was the shock. He gasped, eyes wide and his heart racing. Then she grabbed the haft and twisted. The howl that broke through his lips didn't sound like it came from a human being.
Phil's voice seemed to come from somewhere far away. Maybe this was all a sick nightmare, after all. "CLINT!"
Smirking with satisfaction, the woman spoke out. "You want him back? Come and get him, but don't expect him to be alive." A horribly cold look appeared to her face. She looked at him as though seeing someone else entirely. "Because of you my son died in my arms. Consider us even." She hung up.
Clint was barely conscious while she sighed heavily, then looked at him. "Sorry about this, lamb. You seem like a good person and this isn't anything personal." She shrugged. "It's what happens with Coulson. Sometimes good people get caught in the crossfire." She kissed his forehead and ruffled his hair, then began to walk away without looking back. He lost consciousness staring at her distancing back.
/ While agent Milton died there was an even bigger tragedy happening on the street. It'd been impossible to see from Milton's angle that Olga had been holding a little boy in her arms. A boy with a gunshot wound on his head.
Her little boy, who just smiled like the sun when she sat into the car, peppering him with hugs and kisses.
Her little boy, whose last sound in this world was the gasp he emitted when a pulled burst through her shoulder and slammed at him.
Her little boy, who expelled his last breath in her arms.
Making the world believe that she was dead wasn't a challenge because she, as the person she was, did die that day. When she buried her son she buried herself as well. As from that day she was merely surviving. She spent the following two years observing, studying and planning.
She kept an eye on the apartment she used to call a home, watched through carefully hidden security cameras as the S.H.I.E.L.D rummaged through it. In particular she focused on Phil Coulson, who'd been in charge over the mission which cost her son's life. Venom filled her whole being as she witnessed him going through her diaries and personal belongings. In that time they learned to know each other. And Olga came to discover something very interesting.
The only person in the world Olga genuinely cared about had been killed. As she saw Phil with Clint Barton she realized that she might just be able to make him see how such a loss felt. She imagined that her chance was lost when the man was imagined dead. Somewhere along the way she almost died as well.
Then she discovered that Phil Coulson wasn't quite as dead as she'd presumed, and all of a sudden she had every reason to stick around for a little bit longer. /
Very little emotion could be read from Olga's face as she studied Clint's bleeding, heavily unconscious form. His wound had been patched up just enough to ensure that he wouldn't bleed out too quickly. She wanted him to still be warm when Phil got there, just like her son had been in her arms.
Collateral damage was an ugly thing.
"I just had it confirmed", a male voice from beside her announced. "Coulson's on the way. He has a team of five along, none of the Avengers."
Olga scoffed. "Most likely because none of them knows that he's still alive. No need to bother them, anyway. Coulson's a fool if he imagines that we'll be waiting here, standing in ceremony." She turned and began to take her leave, stubbornly refusing to look over her shoulder. She had no regrets, anyway.
"What do you want me to do with the kid?"
Olga placed a fiercely protective hand to her for the time being flat stomach. Her eyes narrowed. "Open the door. If you touch her… If you even talk to her… I will kill you."
Phil had his face buried into his hands as he sat in the jet. His heart thudded painfully, like Fury's words had been pulsating there as well as in his head. There was a ton's weight on his shoulders.
A rookie agent refused to listen to him. A child died. Now Clint and Lila…
He shivered and lifted his chin, feeling ill.
Tracking down Olga's call had been easy, as she'd wanted it to be. Which meant one of two options. Either they were headed for a trap or she knew that they didn't stand a chance of getting there before it was too late.
He betrayed Clint's trust. Caused this without even knowing. And he found himself wanting to pray for a chance to make it up to the Hawk.
/ "If we're going to continue working together you'll have to trust me."
Clint looked at him. So very young, angry, vulnerable and broken back then. The boy snorted, frustration seeping through. "Sorry, but no one I've met has been worth my trust. It's sort of hard to imagine that you might make an exception." The kid's jawline was incredibly tight while those sharp eyes searched his. "Why would you trust me, anyway? I'm a criminal."
Phil should've been annoyed, worried or maybe both. Instead he smiled. "Because when we first met you missed."
Clint stared at him, clearly surprised by the insight. For a few endless moments they were locked to an intense staring contest. Then, very slowly and tentatively, the boy lifted the hem of his hospital gown. Providing him visual to a wound that'd been bad enough before a recent debacle had popped several stitches. A lot of people would've found the injury and the amount of blood nauseating.
Phil wanted to scold Clint over his recklessness. Instead, however, he began to tend to the wound because he was the only one allowed to touch. Clint kept a close eye on him, tense but still.
Slowly but surely the facility's security team that'd gathered around them, four huge men who'd all had their guns drawn, began to relax.
"I haven't agreed to work with you yet, you know", Clint pointed out.
"Yeah, you have", Phil argued, his tone far softer than usual. /
A hand was laid to his shoulder. It startled him to a point where he shivered. He lifted his gaze to find Maria Hill looking down at him. He knew that she didn't appreciate what he and Fury did, she'd made as much adamantly clear. But at the moment there was deep sympathy on her face. "Hey. We'll find them."
Phil nodded. His head was still buzzing as he stared at the opposite wall. "He'll never forgive me." He rather focused on that than the possibility that he'd never get the chance to see if he was right.
"Maybe." Maria had never been one to sugarcoat the truth. "But he'll be alive to make that decision."
Phil wished that he would've been able to trust her words.
They sat in a silence while the journey continued. His memory kept tormenting him with the image of Clint's bloodied bow. The sting of guilt was worse than the stab which killed him.
The door screeched terrifyingly loudly and Lila jumped, her wide eyes darting immediately towards the sound. She stiffened until she was hurting, dreading. But no one came in. The space around her remained shadowy, empty and threatening.
Minutes, each one of them feeling like an hour, dragged by. She kept waiting tensely, scared and on alert. No one came.
Her eyes stung and watered from tears of fear but she wiped them away angrily, her hand trembling as she did.
Eventually Lila couldn't bring herself to wait any longer. She got up, pleased to discover that her feet agreed to carry her weight, and began to make her way towards the door. She didn't hesitate until she stood directly behind it.
It was terrifying, not knowing what was waiting for her. Then she gritted her teeth firmly. Her daddy had always taught her to be brave.
And so she pushed the door open, shivering at how loud it was.
At first the space in front of her was too dark for her to see anything. Then she realized that someone lay on the cold, dusty floor, their back towards her. Unmoving.
She gulped hard and licked her lips, caught up to an intense inner debate. Then, very slowly, she began to move. Scared but determined.
All of a sudden her eyes widened as a horrible recognition dawned. It was one of the most horrifying experiences in her young life to realize that she knew that person. "Daddy!" she shrieked, and nothing in the world would've been enough to hold her back.
He didn't answer her. Didn't even twitch. Wrong, all of it.
She fell to her knees beside him so hard that it hurt but didn't even notice. "Daddy!" His eyes remained closed. He was never supposed to be that still. There were so many bruises on his face…
Frantic and terrified out of her mind she grabbed his shoulder. She shook it, first gently, then firmly. His body moved free of his will but he wouldn't come back to her.
Tears spilled to her cheeks. This time she didn't bother to wipe them away, didn't even notice. Her lower lip wobbled and she bit it until it bled. "Daddy, please…!" she whimpered.
Nothing happened.
Lila wanted to run away. But she was too scared to even breathe properly. So she held still, clutching at her dad's shoulder as tightly as she possibly could. Held on to him through minutes that seemed like days.
The only sounds heard in the entire building were her sobs and her occasional, desperate cries for her daddy.
TBC
A/N: GOSH, poor Lila! And poor Clint and Phil! We'll see just how deep this royal mess becomes. (shudders and winces)
Ready for more? Thoughts? Comments? Do let me know! It'd be FANTASTIC to hear from you.
Awkay, I've really gotta get going. Until next time! I REALLY hope that I'll see you all there.
Take care!
Nightshade: Those poor things, right? Such a mess…! We'll see just how bad this gets…
It's an amazing compliment that you're so attached my tales and the characters! I absolutely adore them, too. (BEAMS)
Colossal thank yous for the review! Until next time.
Guest: That's REALLY good to hear! I really hope that what's to come won't disappoint.
Huge thank yous for the review!
Anonymous: I'm overjoyed that you enjoyed the kick-start so much! We'll see just what comes next… It'll be a bumpy ride!
Massive thank yous for the review! Until next time.
Alethea13: We'll see, we'll see… The next chapter provides some answers. (wiggles eyebrows)
Enormous thank yous for the review! Until next time.
